CHIA PET = Food!

If you live in the Sacramento area and love smoothie type drinks then you are familiar with Jamba Juice. One of the things Jamba Juice has on the menu is a shot of wheatgrass for $1.95 an ounce. If you are not familiar with the benefits of wheat grass let me enlighten you briefly.

Wheatgrass refers to the young grass of the common wheat plant, Triticum aestivum, that is freshly juiced or dried into powder for animal and human consumption. Both provide chlorophyll, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and enzymes. Claims about wheatgrass' health benefits range from providing supplemental nutrition to having unique curative properties. Some consumers grow and juice wheatgrass in their homes. It is often available in juice bars, alone or in mixed fruit and/or vegetable drinks. It is also available in many health food stores as fresh produce, tablets, frozen juice and powder.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Myself, sitting on $35.00 worth of Jamba Juice giftcards (love Jamba Juice), has been daring enough to drink this concoction. I was doing it quite regularly for several months until we bought a house and I could no longer afford that luxury. It comes with a orange wedge and I must definitely have that orange wedge after getting that stuff down. It taste like, well, grass. This brings me to my subject for the day regarding the new health food fad.

An article from the Sac Bee printed on Sunday April 27th in the Scene section talks about the benefits of Chia seeds, yes the ceramic animal with hair. Apparently chia seeds have a range of benefits such as:

• Leveling blood sugars
• Controlling weight via soluble fiber
• Increase energy, endurance, and strength
• Helps with colds and other things.

Very interesting. Apparently not cheap either. Some places are selling the seeds for $21.95 a pound. But if they are small seeds then that is likely going to be a pretty big bag. My suggestion would be to get a chia pet grow it, shave it and consume. If you have wheat grass grinder/juicer already, you are all set.