ChatterBank22 mins ago
can humans eat grass
9 Answers
Does anyone know if this is possible?
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Hello SizzleSquid
Grass is amazingly nutritious but pretty undigestible. To benefit from it properties simple chew out the juices or juice the grass in a specially made juicer like the 'Greenstar'. Wheat and Barley grass matches haemoglobin 100% - wow. Enjoy but wash first incase of nasties. Namaste!
Grass is amazingly nutritious but pretty undigestible. To benefit from it properties simple chew out the juices or juice the grass in a specially made juicer like the 'Greenstar'. Wheat and Barley grass matches haemoglobin 100% - wow. Enjoy but wash first incase of nasties. Namaste!
Hmm, I'll assume here that you've seen the facetious answers given to this question recently in Food and Drink and would like a proper answer.
First of all of course humans can eat grass just as the majority of other animals can do. However, I'm sure what you're trying to ask is whether humans can digest grass and get nutritional benefit from it. Well, the answer is no.
First of all you have to realise that grass species are very difficult to feed on. Grass contains silica and other related very hard substances which are very abrasive to teeth over time. Human teeth would be worn down to the gums in no time at all on a diet of grass and because adult human teeth do not continue to grow throughout the lifetime, the teeth would be useless from then on. You also have to remember that for any animal to get nutritional benefit from grass, huge amounts of grass have to be eaten. Human teeth are simply not up to the job.
So what about the teeth of cows and sheep then? Well in these animals, the teeth constantly grow throughout the animals lifetime and no long lasting harm is done by eating grass. If anything, eating grass keeps teeth growth in check. Grass eating animals have many teeth devoted to grinding food with the aid of their powerful jaw muscles. The result is that even before the mash of grass is swallowed, the teeth have burst open the grass cells and released the nutrients inside.
(continued)
First of all of course humans can eat grass just as the majority of other animals can do. However, I'm sure what you're trying to ask is whether humans can digest grass and get nutritional benefit from it. Well, the answer is no.
First of all you have to realise that grass species are very difficult to feed on. Grass contains silica and other related very hard substances which are very abrasive to teeth over time. Human teeth would be worn down to the gums in no time at all on a diet of grass and because adult human teeth do not continue to grow throughout the lifetime, the teeth would be useless from then on. You also have to remember that for any animal to get nutritional benefit from grass, huge amounts of grass have to be eaten. Human teeth are simply not up to the job.
So what about the teeth of cows and sheep then? Well in these animals, the teeth constantly grow throughout the animals lifetime and no long lasting harm is done by eating grass. If anything, eating grass keeps teeth growth in check. Grass eating animals have many teeth devoted to grinding food with the aid of their powerful jaw muscles. The result is that even before the mash of grass is swallowed, the teeth have burst open the grass cells and released the nutrients inside.
(continued)
So what happens next? Well after the food is swallowed, it reaches a different type of digestive system to the one that we have. Herbivores (grass eating animals) have a digestive tract that contains many cul-de-sacs. In these cul-de-sacs, microorganisms grow and the grass gets trapped inside them. This means that unlike the human digestive tract, food can spend days or weeks in the stomach of a herbivore whilst these bacteria get to work breaking down the cellulose in grass cell walls to sugars.
In humans, the digestive tract is more or less a tube designed to work along the lines of a conveyor belt with hardly any stoppage of processes. Herbivore stomachs are quite the opposite. Nevertheless, as far as cellulose goes, even if we had stomachs like herbivores, grass would be of no benefit to us as the microorganisms cannot live in humans.
Cow stomachs are very well adapted to this method of feeding and contain four separate compartments each with it's own clearly defined function. One of these compartments does nothing but ferment and grow the bacteria needed to digest grass. The ability of the cow to regurgitate food for more chewing also aids grass digestion.
In humans, the digestive tract is more or less a tube designed to work along the lines of a conveyor belt with hardly any stoppage of processes. Herbivore stomachs are quite the opposite. Nevertheless, as far as cellulose goes, even if we had stomachs like herbivores, grass would be of no benefit to us as the microorganisms cannot live in humans.
Cow stomachs are very well adapted to this method of feeding and contain four separate compartments each with it's own clearly defined function. One of these compartments does nothing but ferment and grow the bacteria needed to digest grass. The ability of the cow to regurgitate food for more chewing also aids grass digestion.
Incidentally, as I've tried to explain, grass is virtually devoid of nutrition as far as humans are concerned. It is certainly not "amzingly nutritious" as cherrygarden asserts.
I'm also baffled by cherrygarden's remark that "Wheat and Barley grass matches haemoglobin 100%". Haemoglobin bears no physical, chemical or structural resemblance to any species of grass. Therefore, this is not true either.
I'm also baffled by cherrygarden's remark that "Wheat and Barley grass matches haemoglobin 100%". Haemoglobin bears no physical, chemical or structural resemblance to any species of grass. Therefore, this is not true either.
cherrygarden, on thinking about it, it may be you're talking about the resemblance of the chlorophyll molecule to that of haemoglobin. You should note that this resemblance is present in all chlorophyll containing plant material. It's not exclusive to the species you cite.
The so called health benefits of extracts of certain grass species on blood is something that's never been proved despite the fact that these extracts have been sold by quacks as "blood tonics" for countless generations.
The so called health benefits of extracts of certain grass species on blood is something that's never been proved despite the fact that these extracts have been sold by quacks as "blood tonics" for countless generations.
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