Supplement Facts

Pines Wheat Grass is a concentrated green vegetable packed with nutrients that encourage optimum health. It’s real, it’s natural, and it’s certified organic — a whole food that’s been harvested at the absolute peak of its nutritional value. Think of it as concentrated "solar energy," or simply as an off-the-shelf source of the very best that greens have to offer. Either way, it’s good nutrition made simple: the vitamins and minerals your body needs, in the form your body was designed to use — without all of the additives and artificial ingredients you’ve been hoping to avoid! Pines Wheat Grass is organically grown and packaged using no artificial ingredients. Pines also offers Pines Barley Grass, Pines Alfalfa, Mighty Greens Superfood Blend, and Pines Beet Juice Powder, all offering concentrated nutrition.

The Grass Is Always Greener On The PINES Side Of The Fence!

1976. America celebrated its bicentennial, Jimmy Carter brought home-spun charm to the Oval Office, and we were inspired by Rocky. In Kansas, Bob Dole was re-elected to the Senate, the Kansas City Royals lost a playoff heartbreaker to the Yankees bottom of the 9th inning, and out in Hays, Kansas, a new force in natural nutrition was taking root.

That’s right: for Ron Seibold and Steve Malone, 1976 was the year they decided to grow cereal grass. So they founded Pines International, the first green foods company in the United States. They realized that this simple food had the potential to provide balanced nutrition for millions of people. Profits they hoped to earn would provide the seed money to purchase land in danger of being commercially developed, and to establish organic farming communities and wildlife refuges that would treat the land in a sustainable manner. Ron and Steve saw this as an opportunity to pursue their dream of building a business while staying connected to the land they grew up on, and work with some of their neighbors to develop a sustainable community.

In the thirty years since, they’ve grown from a two person business operating out of a van to an international company shipping cereal grass and other green foods to over 25 countries and thousands of stores around the United States. While advances have been made in harvesting, packaging and production, the basic product remains the same as it’s been for three decades: a convenient, powerfully nutritious, organically grown food that thousands of people take every day because it makes them feel better, plain and simple.

Why should 30 years matter to you? Because it means that, like the products they grow and package, Pines International's roots are strong and healthy, and their belief — that there will always be a market for the finest nutrient-rich cereal grasses that Mother Nature has to offer — has stood the test of time.

Cereal grasses are high in nutrients, which build up in the plant leaves. These are the same nutrients found in dark, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and dandelion greens. But in the cereal grasses, they’re present in much higher concentrations. Cereal grass nutrients include beta-carotene, iron, folic acid, calcium, and chlorophyll--as well as loads of natural fiber, which consumers have been hearing so much about lately.*

Taking seven tablets of wheat or barley grass, or a teaspoon of Pines powdered products—such as one called Green Energy—is equal to eating one serving of dark green, leafy vegetables, according to company president Ron Seibold. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends people eat three to five servings of these vegetables each day.*

“Most people find it difficult to prepare and consume that amount of vegetables," says Seibold. "So Pines products are a convenient and economical method to get the vegetable nutrition you need—in an instant.”

Seibold also says people shouldn’t think eating things like wheat grass is unusual.

“There is no grass that is toxic to anybody. Cereal grasses are the most concentrated in nutrients of all vegetables. They have been consumed by man since before biblical times. Most farmers will grab handfuls of grass and chew on it. Dogs and cats chew on grass. Baboons eat 80 percent grass in their diet, and they have a similar digestive system to man. It’s natural for man to eat green plant material. These (products) are simply dehydrated sources of plants. This is a way to include these vegetables in your diet. It all goes back to eating more vegetables.”

Wheat Grass or Wheatgrass?

Popularized in the 1970s by Dr. Ann Wigmore, tray-grown wheatgrass juice is a favorite in juice bars, natural food stores, and the homes of do-it-yourself juicers worldwide. Wheatgrass juice has been associated with many health benefits as told in The Wheatgrass Book by Dr. Wigmore. However, many who purchase "fresh" wheatgrass juice don’t realize that it has not reached its full nutritional potential.*

Pines Wheat Grass grown outdoors in its natural climate, has significantly higher levels of vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll and other nutrients than does tray-grown grass. The nutritional disparity is due to vast differences in the growing process.*

Pines Wheat Grass, available in tablets and powders, is grown outdoors for more than 200 days in Kansas, an ideal locale for growing wheat, barley, oat, and other cereal grasses. The climate allows for a natural growing cycle, which in turn produces more nutritionally concentrated wheat grass than the accelerated tray-grown process does.*

When Pines' wheat seeds are planted in the fall, the leaves only grow about one inch above the soil in the first month. Yet the root system already reaches deep below the frost line, preparing to sustain the plant’s life during the cold winter months to come. During winter dormancy, the roots slowly absorb and store nutrients from the soil.With warmer daytime temperatures in the spring, the wheat plant again converts sunlight into energy, and utilizes the nutrients stored in its roots to transform simple sugars into complex carbohydrates, vitamins, amino acids and other nutrients, resulting in beautiful, nutritious blades of grass.*

Note: This is not a complete nutritional analysis! This analysis only shows those nutrients for which Pines International has paid to have independent testing done. Most whole plant foods contain hundreds of nutrients, including carotenoids, pigments, trace minerals, and phytonutrients. Pines has tested the most commonly known and asked about nutrients, to offer you a fair benchmark for comparison with similar foods.

NOTE:Percent Daily Value (%DV) amounts are based on a single 3.5 gram serving (1 teaspoon or 7 tablets). Pines recommends two to three servings per day. An asterisk (*), that means the Daily Value of that nutrient is less than 2%. An “na” means no Daily Value has been determined.

With no fat and only 15 calories per serving, Pines Wheat Grass is a winner on any scale! There are a number of ways that Pines can contribute to a healthy weight management program:

Healthier Than Diet Pills

Encourages Healthy Elimination

• Vitamins, Minerals, And Antioxidants - Wheat grass is one of the best food sources of beta-carotene, which is converted by the body to Vitamin A. Though synthetic Vitamin A has some questions swirling around it, natural beta-carotene is non-toxic. As an antioxidant, it is thought to protect the body against some types of cancer and is beneficial to the immune system. Wheat grass is also a source of iron, folic acid, and Vitamin B-12, all necessary for healthy red blood cells and immunity. It also contains over 20% vegetable protein, as well as Vitamin C and a variety of trace minerals - all of which are vital to immune health.*

• Chlorophyll - Pines is a particularly rich source of chlorophyll, the "green blood" of plants, which is structurally similar to blood hemoglobin. Chlorophyll has traditionally been valued for its wound healing, antiseptic and cleansing properties. Research has shown it to be detoxifying and deodorizing.*

• Fiber - Crucial for proper waste and toxin elimination. When taken with plenty of water, fiber will adhere to and flush out accumulated waste matter in your system. Pines Wheat Grass contains a large quantity of vegetable fiber (twice the fiber of bran), and is used by many to normalize colon health.*

It Just Makes Good Sense

The 1st safeguard is the environment in which Pines products are grown. Pines wheat grass, barley grass, and alfalfa are organically grown without herbicides or pesticides in rich Kansas soil. This fertile, mineral abundant farmland is located in the perfect climate for cereal grasses and alfalfa. Kansas ranks number one in the production of wheat and other cereal grains, and that’s no accident. Cereal grasses planted in the fall and grown through the Kansas winter are nutritionally superior to products grown elsewhere because the grasses grow slowly and develop naturally in an ideal climate. Just as cactus grows well in the desert, wheat grass grows well in Kansas.

The 2nd safeguard is harvesting just prior to jointing. Seventy-five years of research clearly establishes the fact that the highest levels of nutrients occur during this period. Pines harvests just once a year during this critical window of opportunity.

The 3rd safeguard is direct cutting so that the leaves never touch the ground and are moved quickly (within an hour) to our dehydrators.

The 4th safeguard is a specially designed, low temperature dehydrator which helps keep nutrient levels at maximum levels. (The dehydrator is a triple bypass drum dehydrator, through which the grass leaves fly for 2-3 seconds, so that the cell temperature of the leaf never goes above 106F, to help retain maximum levels of heat sensitive nutrients like betacarotene and enzymes).

The 5th safeguard is the extensive in-house quality control testing on every 1,000 kilogram batch. Samples are also sent to an independent lab for verification.

The 6th safeguard is careful storage of the cereal grasses and alfalfa in pellets, greatly decreasing the surface area to reduce oxidation and loss of nutrients.

The 7th safeguard is the nitrogen filled pharmaceutical grade "supersacks" used for storage, further limiting oxidation and nutrient loss.

The 8th safeguard is frozen storage where the nutrient content of the products remains virtually unchanged indefinitely.

The 9th safeguard is the removal of product from frozen storage only as needed to package our bottles. It is at this point that the pellets are ground into powder with a low temperature grinder, and then either the powder is bottled, or moved  to the tableting room.

The 10th safeguard is the high compression, low temperature process which makes tablets that are 98% pure.

The 11th safeguard is the in-house and indpendent lab-testing of the finished product to ensure the safest, most nutritious wheat grass, barley grass, and alfalfa possible.

And in the 12th safeguard, all finished products are nitrogen packed in amber glass to restrict the effects of light and oxygen, once again to keep nutrient levels maximized.

Pines follows these safeguards to ensure that these highly concentrated foods arrive in your home nearly as fresh and nutritious as the day they were harvested.

From their fields to your shelves, Pines products are made with the utmost care, with the focus on creating and maintaining maximum nutritional value every step of the way. Beyond that, they aim to have minimal negative impact on our environment, and where possible, restore and protect what has been damaged by the shortsighted farming and development activities of others.

Additionally, Pines aims to infuse an ecological perspective into every aspect of their operations. They recycle office paper, cardboard, and shipping pallets. They use recycled paper in all their printed materials. They print their promotional Pines t-shirts on organic, unbleached cotton with a company that uses water-based inks. And they continually look for new ways to conserve natural capital, whether it be energy, trees, water, or the cleanliness of the air we all breathe.

Pines has made significant progress in bringing chemically abused farmland under organic certification. All of the land they farm is maintained without the use of herbicides or pesticides, and they have brought over 1,000 acres into organic certification since their founding. Pines has also encouraged and aided many local farmers in bringing their land into organic certification.

An important part of the Pines mission is to give back to the community. They sponsor local efforts to support clean rivers, bicyclists, and Native American rights in their homebase of Lawrence. They also reach out to the global community, contributing computers to a school in Belize, and perhaps most important, sending hundreds of thousands of servings of wheat grass to food relief projects in the U.S. and around the world.

Four years after publishing and promoting their message of “Eat More Greens,” another cereal grass product hit the market. Five years after that, scores of wheat grass and barley grass products were sold in stores. In addition, chlorella and spirulina were introduced. All used Pines’ message of increasing the intake of dark green vegetation by using a naturally concentrated food in a tablet or powder form. Several of the new cereal grass products may currently outsell Pines’ green barley and wheat grass, but none have yet matched the label concentration of beta carotene and other key green food ingredients.

Q: The nutritional content on your food facts panel is considerably higher than companies who claim their dehydration method is revolutionary. How do you explain that?
Seibold: Processing methods vary between manufacturers for any food. The key factor is how good the food is before you start to process it. We follow a tradition in Kansas that goes back more than 70 years. We know how to do it right. We know the right way to grow cereal grass and the right time to harvest it. We know the importance of keeping product under nitrogen and in storage conditions that greatly reduce nutrient loss. Further, our processing method creates a denser product than those from some other producers. A teaspoon of Pines weighs as much seven times more than some other cereal grass products. Even if Pines were nutritionally equal to them by weight, Pines would provide seven times more nutrition per teaspoon because it weighs seven times more per teaspoon.

Q: A consumer might appreciate using only one teaspoon of Pines instead of many teaspoons of another product to get the same nutrition, but doesn’t Pines cost more?
Seibold: That’s a good question. Actually a bottle of Pines is very comparable in price with a similar sized bottle of other products. Our bottles simply have more nutrition in them, so it is really costs much less for equal nutritional levels per serving. For a comparable price, you can increase your nutrition with Pines by using the same number of teaspoons or tablets.

Q: You mentioned nitrogen. What is that?
Seibold: Nitrogen is 70% of our atmosphere. There is really nothing special about nitrogen. The point is that nitrogen does not react with plant material. It is inert. Oxygen, which is about 20% of the atmosphere, is what causes dehydrated plant material to slowly lose nutrition through oxidation. We keep our raw product and finished product in a 100% nitrogen environment. That removes the oxygen. I don’t know of anyone else who does that. The nitrogen packaging in amber glass bottles helps keep the nutritional level high, even if the product sits on a store shelf for several months or years.

Q: What about after I open the bottle, won’t the nutritional level start to drop?
Seibold: Yes, it will, but it is a very slow process. Most people will use up a bottle of Pines long before any significant nutritional loss. When you consider that most green products are not nitrogen-packed and many are packaged in plastic bottles, which offer much less protection than glass, you are already getting a product that is much fresher than any others. If you really want to keep the level at the highest possible level, you could keep the bottle in the freezer, but it isn’t necessary.

Q: Pines is a very respected company in the Natural Foods Industry. People point to your commitment to organic farming, wildlife habitat, your feeding programs and other charitable work. Has that always been the case?
Seibold: It has always been the case that our primary goal has been those kinds of things. It took quite a few years of hard work to get to a point where we could make a real difference. For most of our first 15 years, Steve and I did most of the work. I slept at the office and took phone calls. Steve typed the orders and did the shipping. We both worked on making tablets and filling bottles, but we did use part-time college students to help.

Q: How did you get the product into the health food industry?
Seibold: Initially, Steve and I traveled through 35 states and walked into 2,000 health food stores. We would get the product on the shelves of a good number of stores and then contact local distributors to supply them. Once we had a good distribution network, we could then focus on mailings and attending trade shows to build on our initial work.

Q: Who ran the office and made your product while you traveled?
Seibold: We really didn’t have an office, but two of our stockholders volunteered to fill orders out of their garage. At that time we contracted with farmers, dehydrators, tablet-making and packaging companies, but that started changing as soon as we returned from our trip late in 1977.

Q: Wasn’t that expensive to do that much traveling?
Seibold: It should have been, but we stayed at KOA Campgrounds at first. When we started getting a little more money, we decided we could stay at motels as long as they didn’t cost more than $15 per night. We’d hit a town, make up cards for each store and mark them on a map. I’d navigate and Steve would drive. We’d hit as many stores as we could between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day.

Q: You mentioned stockholders. Were you well financed?
Seibold: Not really. We started with $50 that Steve contributed. With that, we opened a Post Office box and photocopied a prospectus. Within a few months we had about 40 stockholders. Most of those who invested money only invested a hundred dollars or so. We only had $8,000 in cash. Most of our stock was issued for services. We paid our landlord in stock. We paid the farmer in stock. We paid the dehydrator in stock. We paid our employees in stock.

Q: That’s interesting. Most companies start because of one or two large stockholders or from a single loan.
Seibold: It didn’t work out that way for us. Part of it was our philosophy. Our goal was to make a difference in the environment, in people’s health, in agricultural methods and in land use patterns. We wanted the company to be an example of using the capitalist system to do something for the common good. We wanted a broad number of stockholders. The year was 1976, America’s Bicentennial. Our Nation had just been through the transformations of the sixties and the Vietnam War. We wanted to prove that free enterprise could still work. We wanted a company that was broad-based and that cared about more than just the bottom line.

Q: It seems like you’ve done that. So what is ahead for the next twenty-five years?
Seibold: More of the same. So far we’ve brought about 2,000 acres into organic certification. We’ve set up a foundation to protect about half of that acreage as permanent wildlife habitat. Most of the rest is set aside for organic farming. We’ve provided several million servings of wheat grass to feeding programs around the world. We have supported scores of organizations dedicated to protecting the environment and helping people. Certainly, we intend to continue to spread the health message of “eating more greens” to people around the world.

What can wheat grass do for me?

Or put another way: what can eating enough green vegetables every day do for you? Hundreds of private and government studies suggest that increased consumption of vegetables may reduce incidence of cancer and heart disease, and lead to fewer health problems across the board. However, if you are in among the 9 of every 10 people who fail to eat at least 3-5 servings of vegetables every day, you clearly could use a convenient source of greens.*

Pines Wheat Grass is that source. In less than a minute a day (and for as little as 50 cents per day) you can get 2 to 3 servings of greens. How is that possible? Pines Wheat Grass is nutritionally equivalent to a spinach salad, but much more concentrated. How much more? Just 1 rounded teaspoon or 7 tablets of Pines Wheat Grass weighing a mere 3.5 grams is equivalent to a spinach salad weighing a full 50 grams! (Full disclosure: that comparison is amazing in part because we remove the weight of the water, but it’s impressive even with that factored in. Not to mention that the price of organic spinach is more than double the price of Pines Wheat Grass, and spinach doesn’t keep more than a week at best.*

What is wheat grass?

Pines Wheat Grass is the young wheat plant, grown under optimum conditions, carefully harvested at its nutritional maximum, dehydrated, and bottled for your convenience.

What is the recommended serving size?

Pines Wheat Grass, Barley Grass, or Alfalfa:
7 tablets or 1-1/4 teaspoon of powder (3.5 grams) is the recommended serving size. Two to three servings per day will ensure you get a beneficial quantity of organic greens every day. Like with exercise, the benefits of eating well come from consistency over time.

The 3.5 gram size is the equivalent of a single serving of dark green leafy vegetables as defined by the USDA.

How many servings should I take per day, and when is it best to take them?

The answer to the first is: it depends. In general, 2 to 3 servings per day is good, because humans benefit from at least that many servings of greens every day. It’s a great foundation for health, at minimal cost or effort. That said, we have customers who take as little as 1 serving per day, on up to as many as 5 to 7 servings per day. So feel free to experiment to see what works best for you.

Ideally, take your wheat grass (or barley grass or Mighty Greens) between meals with a good amount of water or other liquid. This helps your body take full advantage of the nutrients without competing with other foods, and may also take the edge off your hunger so you don’t eat as much at meals. Mid-morning and mid-afternoon are great times for a green energy pick-me-up.

However, what’s most important is that you take it at a time that is convenient for you, so you get your greens every day. For many people, that means right away in the morning, or right before bed. That way you are sure to start (or end) your day on a healthy note.

Are PINES products organic?

Pines Wheat Grass Powder, Barley Grass Powder, and Beet Juice Powder are 100% organic.
Pines Wheat Grass, Barley Grass, and Alfalfa tablets are 98% organic.
Pines Wheat Grass Juice Powder is approximately 80% organic.
Mighty Greens has many organic ingredients, including many Pines ingredients, and is tested herbicide and pesticide free, but it does not have enough certified organic ingredients to qualify as organic.

Is PINES Wheat Grass equal to a shot of fresh wheatgrass juice?

The nutritional profiles of PINES dehydrated whole leaf tablets and fresh juice are quite different, so any comparison is a rough estimate. Given that, roughly 1/2 teaspoon or 3-5 tablets will offer similar nutrition to an ounce of fresh juice. However, there’s much more to the story.*

Differences in soil conditions, growing time and environment lead to significant differences in nutritional content. Pines Wheat Grass is much more nutritionally concentrated and complete than fresh wheatgrass juice.*

Pines Wheat Grass is naturally concentrated, and provides a wide array of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and more, some of which is shown in their nutritional analysis. Fresh wheat grass juice, while highly regarded by many for its potential therapeutic value, simply isn’t given the time to develop fully, and can’t compare with wheat grass grown the way nature intended.*

I am allergic to wheat. Is it safe to eat PINES Wheat Grass?

It is recommend you check with your doctor or allergist to be certain, but most likely yes, it is safe. As you probably know, wheat allergies are usually a reaction to the gluten found in the wheat berry. Wheat grass is a vegetable, cut before the wheat plant forms the grain (berry). Pines Wheat Grass has no gluten. In fact, since Pines Wheat Grass offers so many nutrients and is grown without herbicides or pesticides, it is likely to be an excellent food for a person with allergies.*

Can I take PINES Wheat Grass during pregnancy?

Pines Wheat Grass (or Barley Grass, or Alfalfa) is perfectly safe to take before, during, and after pregnancy. In fact, it’s smart to eat Pines Wheat Grass and other organically grown greens during pregnancy, since they are a good source of folic acid, as well as many other important nutrients.*

I’ve heard barley grass is better. Is that true?

No. There is little nutritional difference between Pines Wheat Grass and Pines Barley Grass. Further, barley grass products tested from other companies have proven to be nutritionally inferior to Pines grasses, sometimes significantly inferior. You may prefer the taste of wheat grass over barley grass, or vice-versa, but for nutritional value, it doesn't matter which you choose.*

What is Mighty Greens? How does it compare with PINES Wheat Grass?

Mighty Greens Superfood Blend Powder contains both wheat grass and barley grass, as well as 22 other ingredients that combine to give it a sweeter taste, and reportedly a quicker boost of energy for some people who take it. It tends to be used in place of sports drinks, or as a midday snack. Nutritionally it is about equivalent to Pines Wheat Grass by serving size, but the serving size is about twice as big, and costs a bit more. For your daily dose of greens, Pines recommends the pure wheat grass or barley grass, simply because they offer more nutrients per penny. Butas a healthy alternative to coffee, sports drinks laced with high-fructose corn syrup, or caffeinated energy drinks, Mighty Greens is awesome!*

What makes PINES better than other wheat grass or barley grass?

The simplest answer is that Pines Wheat Grass (and Pines Barley Grass) offer more nutrients per penny than any other wheat grass or barley grass products on the market.

A few other reasons you may feel better buying from Pines:

They were the first company in continuous operation in the U.S.A. to offer dehydrated wheat grass and barley grass to the public, starting in 1976. (To be fair, they were the first after a couple decades hiatus. In the 1940s and 50s, Cerophyl was the multivitamin of choice for thousands of Americans, prescribed by doctors for diseases borne of nutritional deficiencies. Cerophyl was simply dehydrated cereal grass, grown and processed in much the same way Pines does, though they’ve made some improvements over the years.)

Pines grows and processes their products in the U.S.A., so the majority of profits that don’t go into wildlife refuges or converting land to organic farming make a short stop in their pockets before going back into the local community.

Pines offers full ingredient disclosure for their products, and try to give accurate information about others when they can find it. Ultimately, Pines wants you to feel the benefits that come from eating more greens every day, and if you feel better using another product, they can live with that. Still, you should be aware that there are differences between green foods packaged in plastic versus nitrogen-packed amber glass, including:

1. Glass is completely non-toxic.
2. The oxygen-free atmosphere inside glass bottles stops oxidation. The only other way to stop oxidation is to freeze the product.
3. Even after being opened, glass bottles keep product fresher than plastic. Plastic is a porous material that cannot hold a 100% nitrogen environment. Glass is not porous and gives off no chemical residue.