What Is Chlorella About?

 

What Is Chlorella About?
What Is Chlorella About?

Unlike Spirulina, which is a cyanobacteria, chlorella is a single celled freshwater algae, that its supporters say, has many health benefits. As it is often found in health food shops with spirulina, and in some cases mixed with spirulina, we decided to look into it further. So what is chlorella about exactly?

Where Does It Come From?

Originally coming from Japan and Taiwan, apparently some 10 Million Japanese use it frequently. Which it is claimed, is more than North America´s use of vitamin C, which is one of the most common supplements used in the USA.


==>Click Here If You Are Interested In Buying Quality Spirulina Or Chlorella<==


Why Do People Take It?

Weight Loss – It Might be Worth A Try

Its proponents say that chlorella supports weight loss. We know from personal experience, that combined with exercise, that spirulina helps with weight loss. But what about Chlorella? The suggestion is that chlorella helps to control cravings for food. We found a Korean study (1) that indicated that by including chlorella in a diet, it appears to block the production of fat cells and seems to shrink existing fat cells. And a small Japanese study (2) involving 17 “healthy people” demonstrated that taking Chlorella resulted in “noticeable” reductions in the percentage of body fat, serum total cholesterol, and glucose levels. So, if you are looking to lose weight, it might be worth a try*.


==>Click Here If You Are Interested In Buying Quality Spirulina Or Chlorella<==


Detox of heavy Metals

It’s also highlighted as being good for detoxing heavy metals. If so, then it has this in common with spirulina. We have researched claims for detoxing heavy metals with spirulina and found evidence to support this. But Chlorella? There is some limited evidence. An animal study (3) found that it helped to counteract heavy metal poisoning and in a further animal study (4) it was found that it was helpful to control lead poisoning.


Boost The Immune System?

The suggestion, is that chlorella might increase the number of healthy bacteria in your system, and so support the immune system. So far, we have not found any substantive supporting evidence. So, we would advise caution if you are planning to take chlorella to support your immune system. We continue to research. Typically, those making the claims, have links to official sites with broken links. Perhaps this is a controversial claim.


Cancer

Some people apparently take chlorella during chemotherapy, but the evidence is sparse and the American Cancer Society do not even have chlorella in their search engine. We would advise caution and recommend you speak to your medical professional, if you are considering taking chlorella e.g. during chemotherapy.


Why Else Do People Take It?

Some say that chlorella helps to manage respiratory diseases. e.g. asthma, & chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This could potentially be really significant with regard to patients who have recovered from Covid-19. We are investigating these claims. Our page on asthma and spirulina describes the evidence we found on how spirulina might in certain circumstances, help with asthma symptoms. But so far, nothing significant regarding this claim and chlorella.


Eye Health

Due to the fact chlorella contains lutein & zeaxanthin, there are also claims it helps with eye health. In particular, lowering the risk of macular degeneration. We are researching this in detail. We know that spirulina does help to reduce the risk of macular degeneration* and so helps with eye health. Anecdotally, as a regular user of spirulina, I have noticed that my eyesight seems much sharper. Studies say the level of zeaxanthin in spirulina is a major factor in supporting eye health, so if chlorella contains high levels of zeaxanthin, that may similarly be a factor. But no speciic supporting evidence for chlorella so far.


Chlorella And PMS – It Might Help

Early anecdotal evidence suggests it might help PMS, perhaps due to the fact that it contains calcium and B vitamins. We are researching more detailed evidence.


Conclusion

Chlorella seems to help with weight loss and cholesterol and we have found some supporting evidence for this. And it seems to help with detoxing heavy metals too. The other claims however seem to be quite anecdotal. We will continue to look into chlorella, and when we find the supporting evidence, we will post it here. In the meantime, we are trying some chlorella and so far, we have noticed, that it does control the appetite. We will be watching the scales !


==>Click Here If You Are Interested In Buying Quality Spirulina Or Chlorella<==

Is It Safe? Where To Buy

Like spirulina, the growing conditions are really important, as it seems to soak up anything in its growing environment. We are investigating the production methods of different brands. We have started to take chlorella from a reputable brand mixed with spirulina. We can confirm anecdotally, that combined with spirulina, it does seem to control the appetite more than spirulina alone.

If you would like to try some, we have highlighted two brands on our where to buy page, that we understand to be good quality.


We recommend you speak to your doctor or medical professional before taking chlorella.


Thank you, For Visiting

Thank you for visiting whyspirulina. We hope you found this information helpful. If you have any comments or questions, kindly leave them below and we will get back to you.


Affiliate links

You might have seen the “affiliate link” button at the top, that links to a page.  This basically means we could make a tiny commission, if you purchase anything using one of our affiliate links on this page.  It helps to keep us in coffee, making a small contribution, allowing us to research and write articles on the benefits of superfoods. You will not pay more by making a purchase via one of our links.


Sources

(1) Chlorella methanol extract reduces lipid accumulation in & increases the number of apoptotic 3T3-L1 cells.

(2) Nutrigenomic studies of effects of Chlorella on subjects with high-risk factors with lifestyle-related disease

(3) Effect of Chlorella intake on Cadmium metabolism with rats

(4) Protective effects of Chlorella vulgaris in lead-exposed mice infected with Listeria monocytogenes


*Please see our “About” page. Nothing on this website should be interpreted as personal medical advice. Always consult a qualified Doctor or health care professional before changing anything related to your healthcare.

4 thoughts on “What Is Chlorella About?”

  1. This sounds like a very good source of nutrition. I have read many of the things it is help with, depression and anxiety and autism. I get anxiety quite often. And I have never found a cure for it, or anything to just make it stop for a few days or anything, spirulina is something I have never ever heard of, and I’m now thinking maybe it is something I should try. Maybe a cure for me. Thanks for this great information.

    Reply
    • Thanks for stopping by Miriam. Yes spirulina is a great source of nutrition. Did you have a chance to check this page that has a video from a scientist explaining that just 3 grams of spirulina is the equivalent of 3 kilos of fruit and vegetables, in terms of nutrition? The evidence we have found is that spirulina seems to help with the symptoms of depression. It certainly gave me a boost. Do check out our FAQs for a full list of different conditions where it can help (or not in a couple of cases). The possible help with autism was a surprise to us at first, but the evidence is there, for those with autistic children, it might be worth a try to see if it eases symptoms.

      Reply
    • Dear Juan, Thank you for stopping by. Indeed you should. But be careful to follow the suggestions in the article and make sure you purchase fresh and clean supplies. E-Vitamins and Whole Foods are terrific specialist suppliers. Did you have a chance to check out our FAQs on spirulina? The History and how much to take is also worth reviewing. Thanks again for your comment.

      Reply

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