Alberto Zizzi, owner of Universal Living Sprouts, believes that eating fresh and organically grown food is an important part of living a long and healthy life.
Based in The Acreage, Universal Living Sprouts offers a variety of organically grown mineral and nutrient-rich wheat grass, buckwheat lettuce, five varieties of beans, and sunflower and pea sprouts — all “living foods.”
For 35 years, Zizzi has been growing sprouts and wheat grass, and has mastered the process. He began growing when he lived in Canada out of his garage. “I first started just growing for myself, then for my neighbors, and finally for a health store,” Zizzi recalled.
He has always been interested in health and ways to better his life. “I came across a book one day about the Vatican diet, and it mentioned wheat grass and its benefits,” Zizzi said.
After reading the book, Zizzi began doing more research about growing wheat grass and bean sprouts. He frequently attended lectures given by the Hippocrates Health Institute.
“The owner would come every year to Montreal to give lectures,” Zizzi said. “One year I decided to visit Hippocrates in West Palm Beach, and I was surprised what I found there.”
There, he found many people growing wheat grass and doing exactly what he was doing in Canada. “I knew I had to move to Florida to join them,” Zizzi said.
Zizzi moved to Florida and began working at Hippocrates. “While working there, I saw so many miracles happen because of the wheat grass,” he said. “It can cure many things, and it did for me.”
After working there for five years, Zizzi decided to start Universal Living Sprouts out of his large back yard. “This April will make it 11 years since I started,” he said.
Everything is grown in a greenhouse under a controlled setting. “This is how we get everything we grow to be truly organic,” Zizzi said, adding that the benefits of wheat grass are extensive. “It’s medicine for the human body. It can heal many things — even cancer before it spreads.”
Many Universal Living Sprouts products are used as a form of alternative medicine, such as wheat grass, which can be consumed every day either by juicing it or mixing it with something else. “It has a very sweet taste; that’s why we recommend people mix it with some fruit juice rather than having it by itself,” Zizzi said.
For people with illnesses, Zizzi suggests they take 2 ounces of it twice a day on an empty stomach before a meal. “If someone just wants to take it for maintenance and they are healthy, we tell them to take 2 ounces only once a day in the morning,” he said.
To experience the full extent of the benefits of drinking wheat grass, Zizzi said it has to be coupled with proper nutrition. “Eating less meat and eating more raw greens can help alkalinize the body of acids, which is what makes people very sick,” he said. “You have to balance your PH and clean your blood, and eating the right food will help do that.”
Eating various bean sprouts can also have a positive affect on a person’s health, according to Zizzi. “We have many different kinds of sprouts that we grow here, and it depends on the person’s needs and which one they want to try,” he said. “You can put them on your salad, make them into soup, or put them in a smoothie.”
Universal Living Sprouts is located at 6238 Royal Palm Beach Blvd. The products can be shipped by UPS next-day delivery and are available at any one of 15 pickup locations throughout South Florida.
For more information, including a list of pickup locations, call (561) 795-2554 or visit www.ulsprouts.com.
Above: Universal Living Sprouts owner Alberto Zizzi holds a tray of wheat grass.
