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My Experience with Chlorella




My latest health food supplement is Chlorella. I have heard of Chlorella for about a year now and started looking around for it and reading up about it for the last couple months. Finally a couple of weeks ago I picked up bottle of 150 tablet of 500mg of Chlorella.

If you know nothing about it, Chlorella is a single cell fresh water algae that is sold as tablets or just powder. There are a lot of reasons that people are taking it these days that I will point out below but most important probably is what Chlorella contains. Although popular as a supplement here in North America Chlorella is actually used as a food source in Japan.

What is in Chlorella?

chlorellaChlorella is It is an attractive potential food source because it is high in protein and other essential nutrients; when dried, it is about 45% protein, 20% fat, 20% carbohydrate, 5% fibre, and 10% minerals and vitamins.

Chorella contains vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C and E. as well as the minerals magnesium, potassium, iron and calcium. Also Chlorella has a balance of all the essential amino acids as well as being really rich in Chlorophyll.

For most people the initial dose of Chlorella as a supplement is about 1 and a half grams a day for the first week and then increasing that to about 3 grams a day after the initial week.

Why take Chlorella?

When I first heard about Chlorella I ws a little surprised at the lack of claims about this algae. It seeme that people would jut say that it was good, it gave them energy, it was a complete food, and that it was a vegetarian option for protein.

I guess all of this is true but there are also some great anecdotal and scientific evidence that this is indeed the newest popular superfood because it is linked to such great healing claims.  The main reason I have wanted to take this superfood is for the detoxification benefits. I figure always that the cleaner and more efficient your body is then the better it will work for you.

Here are some of the claims with links to them as to why Chlorella is really a great superfood to add to your diet.

Detoxification – Chlorella has an amazing ability to bind with toxins like chemicals and heavy metals, and move them swiftly out of the body.


Digestion – Chlorella promotes the production of healthy flora, bacteria and probiotics throughout the digestive system. This is essential for good digestion and overall health, and also makes chlorella effective for fighting candida and yeast

Cancer – Chlorella is known for its remarkable cancer-fighting benefits, possibly because it is rich in natural carotenoids, which can prevent oxidation

Fibromyalgia – Many have reported chlorella reduces pain associated with fibromyalgia. In one study

Heart Disease – Studies have demonstrated that chlorella can improve triglyceride and LDL cholesterol levels, and may also benefit those with high blood pressure

My Chlorella Experience So Far

I have now been taking Chlorella for about two weeks now and it seems to be fine. One of the problems that you run into in the first week are “Cleansing like symptoms” by that I mean some diarrhea, lots of gas and bloating, but no other real problems. No hot flushes or anything.

This week has been good. I feel like my energy is up but the trouble with any natural food supplement is that you hae no idea if it is the pill or the lifestyle changes that you are doing that are helping you or hurting you. I can not tell if I am losing any heavy metals out of my system but the fact is that I seem to feel quite good lately and I will have to wait a few weeks to see if there are any good effects from the Chlorella.

One thing that seems to be critically important when shopping for Chlorella is to make sure that it has broken cell walls. Chlorella is a single cell algae but the cell wall is very hard and is very hard for your body to break down and use so making sure that it is taken care of for you is important to get the health benefits.

So as far as whether you should be taking this superfood or not, I think the jury is still out in my house. I know that any kind of pure food is going to help anyone but the fact is that it is far better if you eat a non-clean diet to straighten that our first.

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables as well as drinking lots of water, and of course avoiding processed foods as much as possible are going to make a bigger difference to your health and lifestyle. But, if you are interested in trying Chlorella out I hae looked around and it seems to be about $30 for a months supply of Chlorella pills.

If you do end up trying Chlorella or if you have used it in the past then post a quick comment. I would love to hear what other people have to say about it.


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Visalus – Body by Vi




Visalus has become a very popular meal replacement program that is also marketed as a lifestyle choice. Very popular is an understatement with people becoming passionate about the product and the sellers of the product bringing in lots of celebrity sponsors to help promote.

So what is Visalus exactly?

Visalus Body by ViVisalus at it’s core is a powder that is used as a meal replacement that is used to replace your breakfast and lunch or on maintenance just one meal. There are several different plans depending on your goals including a Visalus Balance Kit, Visalus Shape Kit, Visalus Core Kit, Visalus Transformation Kit, and Visalus Fit Kit.

All of these kits have the core 2 lbs bags of the shake mix and flavorings but as you go up in price and program you get more bags of the mix plus more vitamins, minerals, and even energy drinks.

I want to just focus on the Visalus Shape Kit as this was the one that my wife has tried out.

Visalus Shape Kit info

Visalus Body by Vi

Visalus Shape Kit

Here is where the real info starts. My wife heard about the Visalus program a few times and finally took the plunge buying the Shape kit which is basically two 2 pound bags of the shake mix along with some flavoring packets. This package costs $99 for about a months supply of breakfast and lunch replacement (actually it last longer than a month which is kinda nice) so the cost per serving is about $1.50 each.


The drink itself tasted pretty good, I tried sips of my wifes drinks a couple of times and yes it does taste good depending on what you add to it. The flavoring at the core of the shakes is just vanilla and you mix it with milk or almond milk as well as whatever you would want (everything you add is a calorie though, remember). There is a great support system that gives lots of people lots of ideas as well.

The Protein to Carbohydrate to Fat mix is high on the protein side which I personally like at a ratio of 12-9-2.5 grams per serving and since you will be likely adding fruit to it you will have a higher amount of carbs as fruit is mostly water and carbs.

Visalus 90 Day Challenge

To be really clear this Visalus system is not just about the shake, there is a 90 Day Challenge where you take a before picture, an after picture, and chart your weight loss and body size changes and your goal is to make great changes in 90 days. I really love this as everyone may want to lose weight but they really don’t have any clear goals or timelines  90 days is a nice long enough time to change your habits and life and see results with any changes that you make.

The company tends to be a bit heavy handed with this and I can imagine that since people lose and change at different rates that it can be very discouraging if you are not losing weight as quickly as other people are, again the weight loss industry is full of the “look at me, I won” kind of mentality that a lot of people will just cringe at.

Along the same lines as this there is a few support forums where people will help each other out and share their favorite shake recipes (My wife was addicted to finding new ones all the time) and that support system really helps anyone that gets involved and interacts.

The Dark Side of Visalus

Nutritionally Visalus is always pushing the fact that the nutrition in their drinks is ridiculously high in nutrients but really the a couple of great posts seem to tell us a different story. Sheleana at Young and Raw who I really like does not like the obviously processed and not natural part of this product. On the nutritional side Graeme from Graeme Thomas Online did not at all like the nutrients in comparison even to cheap multivitamins.

Anyone that has seen or been involved with Amway or any other multilevel marketing system will recognize the business side of Visalus. I am not a bit fan of multilevel marketing but it is highly ingrained as part of the Visalus system. As a user of the product you can opt into being a promoter and the more that you sell and the more product that people you recruit sell the more money you make. The rewards can be very very high and because of this you will always find people that are really aggressive in promoting and selling the dram of the product sales.

This is just a marketing system where the money that would go into marketing the product on TV or other media is replaced by putting that money into the hands of the distributors. Trouble is this always comes across to me as greedy and opportunistic even if this is not the way the person selling the product to you is really like.

One other problem that we have found with Visalus is that if you do not make it very very clear that you want to cancel you will be charged every month and get a new months stock sent to you. We accidently didn’t cancel and after trying and trying the company finally found room on our credit card and charged and shipped another months supply, guess it is our own fault but it had been a few months since my wife had tried the product the first time. She doesn’t mind doing another month though anyway.

Should You Try Visalus?

I am not sure if this is the product for everyone but there are a few things that I really like about this product.

First the idea of serving sizes is foreign to almost everyone, we all end to eat too much per meal unless we are careful. The other great thing about this product is the fact that it seems to be filling, tastes good, and will boost your energy and cut sugar cravings, at least that is what my wife found.

On the bad side is that nutrition. I have found at least a couple of reports that show the nutrition may not be all that great but please don’t look for yourself as Google seems to be ranking only the pro-visalus side in the rankings lately and it took me pages of results before I could find not biased info.

So balance this as you would like. I think if you are looking to jump start a weight loss plan then this may be a great start but in the end I always like to make sure that people are eating as many whole foods as they can to stay in shape or get in shape and more importantly stay healthy.



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Halloween Candy Eating Tips




Halloween Candy Eating Tips

Halloween Candy Eating Tips

Halloween Candy Eating Tips. Kids love candy and Halloween is a great time to celebrate that love. However, what is a parent to do if they are worried about tooth decay from all this candy consumption? Candy usually contains sugar, which the bacteria that cause tooth decay dine on.

Halloween Candy Eating Tips

So eating a food loaded with carbohydrate or sugar feeds the bacteria that cause tooth decay. Consequently, to avoid negative impacts from candy, we have to do two things:

1) Avoid excessive consumption of these sugary treats and

2) Lessen the amount of time the sugar is present in the mouth.

As the owner of Mitchell Dental Spa, a dental spa facility in Chicago’s Water Tower Place, I’d like to offer the following Halloween Candy Eating Tips to for protecting your kids teeth at Halloween. Do you have any Halloween Candy Eating Tips of your own?

Examine your child’s candy to see if it meets your approval

  • It is okay for your child to eat any candy that you approve of, but to help lessen the chance for tooth decay, have them brush as soon as possible (after eating the candy). If a child or adult brushes right after, the impact of the candy on the teeth is minimal.
  • Avoid sticky candy such as taffy, gummy bears, caramel, etc.  Sticky Candy adheres to teeth and causes decay
  • Kids can eat candy ANYTIME, there is not a good time of day/night to eat candy
  • Prior to Halloween, visit your dentist to have sealants put into the child’s teeth grooves

Second Halloween Candy Eating Tips is if brushing soon after eating

is not possible, then try the following

  • Consume the candy with a meal. The increased saliva production while eating will help wash the sweet off the teeth.
  • Rinse the mouth with water.
  • Chew a sugarless gum (especially those containing xylitol) after snacking on candy. The increased saliva from chewing will help wash the sugar off the teeth and xylitol gums help control the bacteria that cause tooth decay.
  • Eat the candy quickly in one sitting to decrease the amount of time it is contact with the teeth. Avoid eating any candy slowly over an extended time or over multiple sittings. Recent studies have shown that length of time eating a sweet can be more harmful than the amount of sweet consumed. This means hard candies, breath mints, etc. (long residence time in the mouth) can actually be worse for your teeth than a chocolate candy bar (shorter residence time in the mouth).

Halloween Candy Eating Tips is to avoid sugary sodas

1) Loaded with sugar (often over 10 teaspoons per 12 ounce serving),
2) Are acidic enough to dissolve away tooth enamel, and
3) Are often sipped for long periods of time, resulting in teeth that are being bathed with sugar and acid almost continuously throughout the day.

For more information, please visit www.MitchellDentalSpa.com.

I know that my son is a big candy eater but my daughter is not. So please give me some Halloween Candy Eating Tips of your own.