Chlorella Facts

Chlorella Facts: What is Chlorella?

Chlorella is a tiny, single-celled water-grown green algae

Green algae have been around for literally billions of years. They are some of the earliest and simplest life forms on the planet.

These single-cell organisms range in size from 2 to 8 microns, about the same size as a human blood cell.

Chlorella is thought to contain every nutrient required by the human body, in near-perfect ratios.

Chlorella is a whole food, not a nutritional extract.

Chlorella has the highest concentration of chlorophyll in the plant world, ranging from 3 to 5 percent chlorophyll content. (Leafy green vegetables typically contain less than half of one percent chlorophyll). Commercial liquid chlorophyll supplements contain only about 1 percent chlorophyll.

Chlorella is grown for the marketplace by commercial processors who grow these superfoods in vast water farms.

• Chlorella contains 58% highly digestible complete vegetarian protein. This protein is more dense and more digestible than any animal-derived protein.

• High in essential fatty acids, including omega-3 fatty acids and gamma linolenic acid (GLA), an omega-6 fatty acid. GLA is known for regulating blood sugar and providing important nutrients to the brain; it also exhibits immune-boosting properties.

• zero refined carbohydrates

• rich in antioxidants

• a naturally alkaline balance

• vitamins A, C, E, and K, and D.

• the complete vitamin B-complex, with more B-12 than liver by weight. (Vitamin B-12 is almost never found in plant foods).

• one ounce of chlorella contains far more calcium than one ounce of milk

• magnesium, zinc, potassium and many more minerals

• an abundance of phytonutrients, many of them not yet identified

• nucleic acids (RNA & DNA) for cellular growth and repair

• beta carotene (more than even carrots) and lutein

• Chlorella Growth Factor (CGF), which offers many of the antiaging benefits found in human growth hormone

Recommendations for
Buying and Using Chlorella

I'd recommend getting chlorella in a bulk powder form, since you'd have to swallow more than 20 tablets or capsules a day to get the equivalent of one tablespoon of chlorella powder.

Tablets or capsules are convenient to take with you, and you can swallow them quickly to avoid the taste. They do end up costing more than twice as much as the powder, however.

Chlorella is a whole food. Think of chlorella as a nutrient-dense green food, rather than a nutritional supplement. The more of it you can fit into your diet, the better. Start out with about a half-teaspoon a day and work up to a tablespoon or more — you can't eat too much.

Just one teaspoon of chlorella powder has the nutritional value of 3 servings of dark green leafy vegetables! I personally use chlorella (and spirulina) daily, simply for this reason. If you don't eat many dark green leafy vegetables every day, chlorella can make up for it — and then some. Chlorella also contains concentrated, easy-assimilated nutritional benefits not found in any other food.

Smoothies are a great way to get your chlorella every day!

My favorite method is to blend chlorella (and spirulina) into a green smoothie every morning. My basic recipe uses almond milk, a frozen banana, two raw organic eggs or protein powder, and a tablespoon of chlorella and/or spirulina combined in a blender. Bananas blend well with chlorella, and mask the bitterness completely — just make sure you use very ripe ones.

Chlorella can turn your ordinary fruit smoothie into a nutrient-dense meal with the antioxidant benefits of 6 servings of fruits and vegetables — your entire minimum daily requirement!

If you're not hip to smoothies yet, they're hands-down the best way to get you going in the morning and keep you going. Anytime you want a quick and amazingly-healthy meal without having to cook, a smoothie fits the bill!

I've devoted an entire section on smoothies elsewhere on this website. If you skip over to my page on How to Make Healthy Smoothies, you'll find some great tips on how to get started.

Jarrow Yaeyama is the chlorella powder that I use and recommend. — it's the highest quality in the world, grown in the environmentally pristine coral reef region of Japan's Ishigaki Island using mountain spring water and intense tropical sunshine.

If you're looking for the best bargain in green superfood powders — this is it! A one-kilogram tub of Jarrow Yaeyama Chlorella yields about ninety generous tablespoon-size servings (12 grams) for about 50 cents each!

Chlorella is my personal favorite among all the green superfood powders because of its ability to draw out toxins from your system and eliminate them. Most of the green superfood powders include chlorella in their recipes because its nutritional value is second to none.

Chlorella is very nutrient-dense, and its taste reflects this — chlorella has the strongest taste of all the superfood powders I've tried. Spirulina is not far behind. I find that a ripe banana added to your smoothie really helps to mellow out these flavors better than anything else.

What's the best place to buy chlorella
and other natural health products?

For price, selection and service, it's hard to beat iHerb.com. Why? Just take a look at what they have to offer:

Other pages in this website related to chlorella:

Have you improved your health
by using chlorella?

If you have any story about how your health improved by using chlorella, would you like to share it with my readers? Tell us how you took it, how much and how often. Do you have a favorite recipe using chlorella?