The Polarizing Yet Healthy Juice That Can Prevent Cancer And Lower Cholesterol At The Same Time

Enjoying juice with a meal or snack can be a nice treat for your taste buds and your body. In fact, one juice drink is thought to have both anti-cancer and cardioprotective capabilities. But many people just aren't fans of it, making it a bit polarizing.

The juice? Wheatgrass. It's hard to miss with its vibrant green color. And it brings with it a host of nutrients, including antioxidants, vitamin C, and vitamin E. Yet its earthy, bitter taste can be a turnoff to those who like their juice a little less, well, grassy.

If you can get past wheatgrass juice's distinctive taste, you may find that it can help you meet your wellness goals because of what drinking wheatgrass juice can reportedly do to your body, like decreasing your cholesterol. In a Cleveland Clinic interview, registered dietitian Joyce Prescott explained that in at least one animal study, wheatgrass consumption seemed to combat high cholesterol. "The animals that were fed a combination of a high-fat diet and wheatgrass overall had decreased levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol and total cholesterol."

Indeed, the cholesterol-reducing potential of wheatgrass juice has been studied on several non-human subjects. For instance, a 2021 study in Animals explored whether or not wheatgrass juice supplementation would lower the cholesterol readings of carp. It did. Likewise, a 2025 review of wheatgrass clinical studies in the Journal of Future Foods determined that drinking the juice appeared to correlate with lower LDL cholesterol and higher HDL (good) cholesterol levels. (It's always good to have yet more ways to increase your HDL cholesterol.)

There's just one hitch: Most of the wheatgrass testing related to cholesterol has been performed on animals. Science hasn't confirmed that human cardiovascular processes would respond the same way to wheatgrass juice or supplementation. Nonetheless, the positive outcomes from several clinical studies may be enough to get you to sip a little green stuff.

In addition to its heart-friendly potential, drinking wheatgrass juice may also help reduce the risk of certain cancers. A 2017 analysis in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research determined that when a wheatgrass infusion was introduced into a line of oral cancer-related cells, the cells' growth rate stalled. Meanwhile, authors of a 2024 review in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences determined that the high number of antioxidants in wheatgrass juice might protect against colorectal cancer development, though they added that more substantiating evidence was warranted.

Of course, you might be impatient and want to try wheatgrass juice before science catches up. It's not hard to find in many organic and natural groceries, as well as smoothie stores. And if you'd rather grow and juice your own wheatgrass, you can plant and harvest it indoors. Wheatgrass matures in less than two weeks inside most homes. Just be sure to purchase organic seeds and avoid eating any shoots that have mold on them. (You can also invest in a juicer that can handle wheatgrass to round out your list of wellness essentials to have in your home.)

But before becoming a wheatgrass juice fan, make sure you're not allergic or sensitive to wheat. True to its name, wheatgrass is a wheat plant. It doesn't contain any gluten, but it's still not recommended for those who stay away from wheat. Furthermore, wheatgrass consumption may have side effects, including an upset stomach and general allergic responses. It may also interact with some drugs taken by diabetics, in addition to drugs that are processed by the liver. Consequently, you may want to speak with a medical professional before adding wheatgrass juice to your diet.