Should We Eat Wheatgrass, Barley Sprouts, Or Alfalfa Sprouts?

Reader's Question: I want your opinion on wheatgrass, barley sprouts, and alfalfa sprouts.

Andrew's Short Answer: None of these foods are ideal, and there's no reason to eat them.

Andrew's Long Answer: It's not that I'm proclaiming myself against these foods, but rather that I'm strongly for whole, raw fruits and vegetables.

Things that require processing to become edible or palatable are immediately called into question, in my book.

Most people gag when they try to eat wheatgrass whole. You probably can't keep down more than a two or three tablespoons of wheat berries.

We are not meant to eat grasses, and we cannot digest the cellulose that makes up a large part of them.

Put off by their unpalatability, most people juice them instead of eating them whole. There is no case in which removing the fiber from foods makes the end product healthier than the whole food itself, so it's not a practice I recommend.

I go into greater detail on wheatgrass in this article.

I talk about sprouting foods in general, including legumes, here.