The superfood that helps fight disease.

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Chlorella is an oriental algae that should be a stock item in our medicine

cabinets.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/wellbeing/6028408/Chlorella-the-superfood-that\

-helps-fight-disease.html

 

You wouldn't exactly call chlorella an overnight success. The health benefits of

the green algae that grows in freshwater ponds in the Far East have so far been

limited to those in the know, and its progress to British medicine cabinets has

been slow. Since it became available in tablet form in the UK three years ago,

it has achieved an almost cultish appreciation as a superfood, but now

scientific research could catapult it into the mainstream.

 

New research from Japan suggests that this green algae could be effective in

fighting major lifestyle diseases. It has been shown to reduce body-fat

percentage and blood-glucose levels and help those suffering from Type 2

diabetes, obesity or heart disease. Its benefits include boosting energy, aiding

digestion and fighting depression.

 

What excited the scientists, including the notable Carnegie Institute in

Washington DC, was that this green algae proved to be almost a dream food. It is

packed with protein - twice as much as spinach - and about 38 times the quantity

of soybeans, and 55 times that of rice. It also contains nine essential amino

acids, as well as vitamins and minerals.

 

These are the latest in a long line of health claims - ranging from boosting the

immune system in cancer patients to improving the symptoms of irritable bowel

syndrome.

 

Chlorella is a tiny, unicellular green algae, three to eight micrometres in

diameter, which when grown in large quantities in South East Asia and Australia

gives lakes and rivers a green tint. Before being used as a supplement, it must

be gathered, dried to a paste,crushed to a fine emerald green powder, and

converted to tiny, soft, crumbly tablets, which smell vaguely of the sea.

 

Although chlorella was discovered by a Dutch microbiologist in 1890 and studied

as a potential protein source by German scientists, it wasn't until after the

Second World War that the reality of food shortages, combined with the

expectation of a population boom, led to bureaucrats globally examining

chlorella in the hope that it could be used to feed the masses cheaply - this

proved uneconomic. Later, NASA studied it with a view to feeding it to

astronauts, and perhaps growing it on space stations.

 

It is currently being used in the UK to help cancer patients. Nadia Brydon,

senior therapist in complementary medicine at Breast Cancer Haven, the charity

that supplies integrated health care to support women with breast cancer, is

convinced it is an important food source with many health benefits.

 

" So many of us eat a calorie-dense, nutrionally-deficient diet that it is no

wonder we're all getting sick and tired all the time, " she says.

 

Nadia says chlorella is a great way of taking on magnesium, which can be found

in green vegetables. " Magnesium is one of nature's antidepressants and helps us

cope with stress. One of our best sources is from chlorophyll in green plants -

and chlorella is bursting with that, " she says.

 

Nadia also believes chlorella is highly protective against toxins. " We are

bombarded with chemicals in pesticides and fungicides; chlorella helps to get

them out of the body. It is a fantastic detoxifier and deodorant. "

 

Tests have shown that chlorella stimulates the growth of probiotic or friendly

bacteria, and its cell walls absorb toxins within the intestine and encourage

peristalsis - the muscular contraction that moves material through the bowels -

preventing constipation and toxic material in the stool being reabsorbed into

the bloodstream.

 

As it is a natural food, chlorella is safe for most people to take; but one

exception seems to be those who are prescribed warfarin. This is because

chlorella contains vitamin K1, which is important in helping blood clotting -

the very opposite of warfarin, which acts as an anticoagulant.

 

But it's not just the alternative medicine fraternity who are fans. Prof Randall

Merchant, professor of Neurosurgery and Anatomy at Virginia Commonwealth

University, in the US, has been involved in research into brain tumours,

traumatic brain injury, and stroke. In 1986, he began clinical trials, funded by

chlorella producer Sun Chlorella 'A', into whether the algae might boost a

patient's immune system.

 

" Fascinating, " is how he describes the results. " It didn't make brain tumours go

away or shrink, so it didn't cure the cancer, but it did help the patients by

boosting their immune system so that they resisted opportunistic infections. "

 

Since then, Prof Merchant has performed clinical trials to test whether

chlorella could be useful in helping with chronic conditions such as

fibromyalgia, ulcerative colitis and hypertension. In the first two trials, his

team found that " patients' symptoms diminished quite nicely " . For hypertension,

the results were more dramatic; while it lowered blood pressure in about 50 per

cent of cases, which was promising, the studies showed that it also

significantly lowered serum cholesterol.

 

In 2008, he examined the effects chlorella has on those with metabolic syndrome

- the collection of symptoms that often lead to the cells in our bodies becoming

less sensitive to insulin, and therefore a precursor to diabetes.

 

Prof Merchant says: " It seems that chlorella turns on the genes that control the

way insulin is normally used by the cells in the body. This research shows that

chlorella could in theory help correct the problems of metabolic syndrome. It is

not a magic bullet, but taking it is one other preventive thing you can do, like

exercise or watching your diet. "