It claims to reduce high blood pressure, improve blood sugar disorders, melt excess fat in the system - and, along the way, perform other sundry tasks such as increase haemoglobin content, fight tooth decay and turn white hair black.
It would be easy to dismiss this miracle substance out of hand. But it isn't a drug, and some claims about the grass having therapeutic values have actually come to pass, made by respected members of society.
Now for the first time in the UAE a Sharjah-based outlet appears willing to enter the public arena to have it tested.
"I consider wheat grass quite simply the ultimate health nectar," stated Suman Suneja, a lifelong yoga practitioner, who along with his wife Vanita has just opened Healthway in Sharjah, opposite the City Centre, to offer residents a healthy option.
Wheat grass juice tops the menu, with a three-ounce serving going for Dh5 a shot.
"Any more, and the human body would not be able to take it. Do you know, one ounce of wheat grass is equivalent to almost a kilo of fresh fruit and vegetables?"
The businessman-turned-resta-uranteur explained that wheat grass picks up 92 of the 102 known minerals in the soil, and contains all the vitamins.
It is also very high in enzymes and contains up to 70 per cent chlorophyll, creating an environment that is unfriendly for bacteria to grow in.
"Extensive research conducted by Dr Ann Wigmore at her naturopathy institute in the U.S. for over 25 years shows wheat grass therapy having been most effective against cancer skin disease, and ailments related to the blood," Suneja explained.
"It has obtained varying degrees of success with diabetes and high blood pressure, and is also good for obesity since it is a complete food in itself that also is a natural appetite suppressant."
The restaurateur noted the juice is very popular in Australia, the U.S. and elsewhere, but he personally considers it more as a very good health tonic than for its curative properties.
"We have been selling both the juice and one-week packs for customers - of whom there are already 20 regulars - only for a month now, so it's still a new introduction here," he pointed out.
"But if you're asking me whether yoga can cure such diseases, I can give no better example than myself, effecting a 100 per cent cure from my ailments, and proving in the process all the allopathic doctors wrong in their beliefs."
Back in 1989, Suneja developed acute arthritis and spondylitis, and all allopathic doctors in Dubai and New Delhi were unanimous: he would have to live with it all his life, the condition was irreversible, and all he could try were painkillers.
That is when he was forced to reassess his life. "I chucked my job, and ultimately went to Kottakal Ayurvedic School, which after two months helped effect a partial cure, in that I could once again practise yoga - which I used to follow as a child, but had given up since.
"I spent three months at Vivekanand Ashram near Banga-lore learning yoga in a scientific and systematic manner. The place is run by an ex-Nasa scientist who has all the equipment to measure BP or diabetes; even your brain waves, to determine the defective auras.
"It was then I grew convinced yoga is the perfect science available to mankind for keeping good health and effecting cures."
The born-again yogi has not looked back since.
Ever since, he has been conducting free yoga classes on the Sharjah Corniche, looking upon this as his mission in life, more than anything else. Along the way, he has seen blood pressure patients and those suffering back pain fully cured, startling allopathic medical practitioners.
"Our Healthway outlet is in a way an extension of my yoga, showing people healthy eating options - and here, my wife Vanita, who has studied nutrition, has helped immeasurably."
He stressed that the venture is not aimed merely at profiteering: "My other lighting fixtures business yields enough for me."
A further extension of such missions is a four-day workshop series he is conducting, offering self-empowering tools to individuals.
"Earlier too, I used to conduct such events - but these are now on a different scale, and I'm offering them free.
"The only commitment I myself seek from the participants is they eat healthy with me on all four evenings, washed down with a health nectar shot, for an all-inclusive meal priced at Dh35 per day."
Gulf News 2003
