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?
Chlorella 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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