Currently a hot topic for the health conscious, wheatgrass is a health supplement that has been getting a lot of attention from people unfamiliar with the little green sprouts. According to many advocates, wheatgrass can help people increase oxygen circulation in the blood by accelerating their body’s ability to produce hemoglobin, which in turn helps prevent infections, ward off the symptoms of diabetes and prevent tooth and bone decay over time.

Further purported benefits include acting as an anti inflammatory agent, treating bacterial infections and reducing the risk of several types of colon and stomach cancers. Nutritional benefits, such as consuming wheatgrass for doses of vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E, iron, calcium, magnesium, and amino acids, are also touted.

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As for wheatgrass side effects, however, there appears to be very few associated with the supplement. This could be in part due to the nature of wheatgrass, a young sprout of the commonest wheat strain that has only grown for eight to fourteen days, retaining the grass like appearance young shoots of wheat have. Since wheat is an integral part of the human diet and has been consumed by people for centuries, consuming wheatgrass entails little to almost no risk.

Nevertheless, wheatgrass is consumed in highly concentrated doses. Most wheatgrass is rendered into a very dense powder that is usually added to water or juice and then consumed. Wheatgrass is also available as a concentrate, a greenish pea soup looking substance that is downed like a shot of alcohol, leading to the common wheatgrass serving term ‘a shot of wheatgrass’. If any side effects of wheatgrass do exist, they are usually reported as a loss of appetite, nausea and diarrhea.

However, this lack of side effects can also be indicative of lack of knowledge regarding wheatgrass. While this health supplement is popular at many nutritional supplement stores and health centric juice bars, little research exists that confirms or denies the claims made by wheatgrass advocates. Indeed, such claims, including wheatgrass acting as a cancer preventative or a detoxifying agent, are rather suspicious sounding. Research is ongoing into the effects of wheatgrass but, so far, the only solid evidence of wheatgrass’ benefits relates to its rich vitamin content.

Side effects are rare but may include:

• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Diarrhea

Should you take wheatgrass then as a supplement for your health? A short answer isn’t really available. While there is no evidence indicating that there are wheatgrass side effects for those who ingest it over long periods of time, there is equally a lack of evidence confirming that wheatgrass is beneficial in the long run. Essentially, wheatgrass should be consumed with a skeptical state of mind. Consuming this supplement can be beneficial and it is true that wheatgrass is an excellent source of many essential vitamins. However, do not be lured in by egregious claims about wheatgrass being some sort of wonder drug or cure all. Keep your expectations low, along with your investment into wheatgrass, in order to avoid many of the pitfalls provided by hucksters and snake oil salesmen.