Advice and When We Take It
The Story of Wheatgrass and Me
Have you ever thought to yourself about what somebody should do in the face of difficult times? Like if they were sick, you might say or think, “Well, that’s just what happens when you don’t go to the doctor.” Or, you might say, “You know, if you had taken care of your body the last 25 years, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”
People make their choices, and shit happens.
You, however, do not have one bit of control over that. You get the chance to be a guiding light when you are a parent with young children, but once they are in their teen years, they are going to start to make their own decisions. Good or bad. And that’s what you cannot, nor should you control.
There is nothing wrong with some friendly advice. We all can use that. You could say, “Why don’t you try…” or “I found if I stretched my arm out every day in the morning, my shoulder finally loosened up. It wasn’t magic, and sometimes it hurt a lot, but finally, I was able to brush my hair properly.” That one is a personal experience that I do have the authority to talk about.
I just went and bought some of those “greens” people talk about. I remember more than twenty years ago, I had a shot of wheat grass. It was a shot. What’s a shot — 3 ounces? It wasn’t much. It’s a good thing it was such a small amount. I don’t think I could have handled more than one swallow of it. It was like I was drinking grass clippings, which, if you think about it, was exactly what it was. What I also remember is that for the next three days, I felt good. I felt better than good. It was amazing how good I felt. It was like I had a new lease on life. I had energy. I had enthusiasm. The world was good. What I felt was better than any ordinary good.
So, the story here is that in all those years, even though I felt so good after drinking that wheatgrass, and that’s all it was, I never attempted to drink another bit of wheatgrass. There were trays of it growing in the shop I went to. None of it was higher than three or four inches.
Now, they’ve got all sorts of powders out there with all sorts of greens advertised. I suppose I could buzz up some in my blender, but I’m also interested in convenience right now. My friend also said that she’s taking a vegetable beet supplement with some other things that I can’t remember off the top of my head right now.
Do you know how you have to listen to an advertisement 100 times before you might act on the suggestion? Cold calls are the same way — 100 calls before you get a nibble. I don’t know that my friend has told me 100 times about her experience, but she’s told me enough. I bought a jar of the stuff from Amazon the other day based on her story.
Okay, I couldn’t keep writing about this without having tried it. I used a little shaker bottle with one of those wire balls inside with 8 ounces of water. I threw in two ice cubes, which brought it up to 10 ounces. The scoop was tiny. I didn’t measure it, but it only looked to be the size of a teaspoon to me. The jar says the scoop is 7 grams. I dumped it into the bottle and shook it for a minute.
This isn’t bad. I couldn’t taste a field of grass. It is green, but it does not taste like grass because of all the other stuff in it: beets, raspberries, blackberries, wheat grass, and carrots. There is a picture of some green leafy vegetables on the label, which I’m guessing is spinach. In fact, I’ve still got some in the glass beside me, and I am sipping it. Not downing it in one fell swoop. I’m sipping it like a grown-up person. There are 30 servings in the jar. The brand is Amazing Grass Greens Blend. There’s all the fine print that I can’t read.
I went and got my magnifying glass out. Holy crap, there’s a lot of stuff in this: maca root, acai berry, pineapple, green tea, and green coffee extract — turmeric, garlic, basil, cinnamon, blueberry, cherry, kale. There’s even more than what I’ve just listed. It’s 25 calories. I did pay $20 something for it, and I know there are tons of products like it on the market, but I made my choice. There was some sludge at the bottom of the glass, so I poured in a little of my coffee to loosen it up. That was fine.
So, I’ll see. It all looks promising.
I showed my husband the drink I had mixed up for myself. He made a face. So, either he will cave in and try some eventually, with a bit of nagging on my part, or I slip a scoopful into the next smoothie I make for him. I’ll let you know.
The Links: Amazon Amazing Grass Greens Blend 7.4 oz — 30 servings Note that I am not getting any sort of credit from you for purchasing from this link.