Archive | June, 2010

Organic Green Superfood: 3 Superfoods and What They Offer Your Body

Superfoods are being increasingly touted by nutritionists as being among the healthiest food sources available. There term superfood has a fairly broad definition depending upon whom you talk to or what you read. In essence, however, it generally refers to any food with a high concentration of phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are plant-derived compounds that are acclaimed for their health-promoting benefits by health food companies and scientific researchers alike.

Commonly-recognized superfoods include berries, leafy greens, and sprouts. Other well-known and often-written-about ones include bee pollen, aloe vera, raw cacao (chocolate), goji berries, and flax seeds, to mention a few. All of these foods are available at most grocery and natural food stores.

Notably, some of the superfoods that have garnered the most attention over the past few decades are three types of organic green superfoods: spirulina, blue-green algae, and chlorella (all of which are types of algae!). Each of these foods is extremely high in protein and other nutrients.

Here are some details about what each of these types of algae can offer in terms of nutrition and health benefits:

1. Spirulina:

Spirulina contains an unusually high amount of protein between 55% and 77% by dry weight, depending upon where it was grown and harvested. In fact, spirulina contains more protein per gram than any other food in existence. Furthermore, spirulina contains a complete form of protein, meaning that it contains all of the essential amino acids. It is generally considered to offer protein that is superior to typical plant proteins, like that of legumes.

Spirulina is also one of the richest sources of beta-carotene known to science. Beta carotene is an organic compound that is a precursor to Vitamin A, an essential human nutrient important for vision and bone health. Finally it is the highest source of the B vitamin complex, B12 included!

2. Blue-Green Algae:

Blue-green algae – also known as cyanobacteria – is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet, containing glycoproteins, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. Typically, blue-green algae are harvested in natural lakes such as Upper Klamath Lake in south-central Oregon.

Blue-green algae also contain one of the most concentrated forms of phenylethylamine, which is an important component of a certain neurotransmitter and contributes toward balancing the neurological system and brain.

3. Chlorella:

Chlorella is a type of single-cell algae that can contain up to 50% protein, as well as amino acids and vitamins. It is the richest source of chlorophyll of any food that names chlorella as the ultimate detox food. Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in most plants and algae. It is known to have a number of health benefits, including growth and repair of tissues, neutralization of pollutants in the body, assisting the blood in carrying oxygen to cells and tissues, and neutralizing free radicals that do damage to healthy cells. Overall, chlorophyll (and the chlorella superfood that carries it) is an excellent detoxifier.

The three green, algae-based superfoods spirulina, blue-green algae, and chlorella represent a robust and powerful source of nutrients for the body. Together, they offer an abundance of protein for healthy muscles, phenylethylamine for a balanced brain, beta-carotene for eye and bone health, and chlorophyll for tissue repair and overall detoxification. When looking for a power-punch green food combination for your health, these algae-based products are among your most promising options.

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How Chlorella Relates to Constipation

4743470711 2bd29c7082 m How Chlorella Relates to Constipation

What Is Chlorella?

Dubbed as one of the world’s most influential organisms over the course of it’s three and a half billon year lifespan, chlorella was the first link in the food chain and has continued to be one of the world’s “most powerful foods.” Chlorella was discovered in early twentieth century Germany, where German scientists were on the forefront of invoking the idea of making food from chlorella into action. The initial interest in the power of chlorella plant lied with it’s capabilities to be a reliable food source. In the late-fifties it was discovered that chlorella could not be a reliable source of food due to a low level of digestibility. Researchers then turned their sights on using chlorella as the ultimate promoter of superior health.

Chlorella, packing a combination of sixty percent essential amino acid proteins, has become a popular health supplement, Japan began using chlorella as a food supplement in the mid-eighties following more than three decades of studies involving chlorella cells. In fact, the Japan Chlorella Research Center was founded in 1957 and went on to become largest facility for cultivating chlorella. In 1975, one of Japan’s foremost publications on health, Japanese Journal of Nutrition, published the results of study that pointed to the link between a diet including chlorella and a lowered level of blood and liver cholesterol.

With the emergence of the twenty-first century, the United States and Europe begun pointing to the potentially helpful health hints offered up by chlorella plant cells and supplements. Chlorella cells draw their energy from the light of the sun, the cells then begin to demonstrate a characteristic trait that has been dubbed the Chlorella Growth Factor (CGF). The CGF trait divides the chlorella cell and increases it’s reproduction value. The Chlorella Growth Factor urges strong growth in children and provokes the repair of tissues that have been damaged. When chlorella is ingested, the body is believed to pick up some of the natural elements of the sun.

Chlorella and Constipation

Amongst it’s list of purported health benefits, chlorella’s chlorophyll contents from which chlorella draws it’s name, which are high in dietary fiber, are influential in preventing constipation. The chlorella plant contains more chlorophyll in just one gram than any other plant in the world. Chlorophyll is the one of the most reliable food sources for cleansing not only the bowel, but the blood and liver, as well. Chlorella has also been proven to help the body emit heavy metals and poisonous substance from it’s midst-and these detoxification effects can be paramount in hoisting consistent constipation. Chlorella is a union of green algae composed of a edible outer shell and a inner nucleus filled with fiber. The plant’s blood cleaning abilities is an important step of carrying waste away from the body’s tissues.

The Japanese medical community has become interested in chlorella for it’s solid abilities as a detoxifier. One of nature’s resident cleaners, chlorella stimulates and reinvigorates the constipated bowel by prompting the growth of a colon cleaning bacteria known as lactobacillus. Couple lactobacillus with chlorella’s resident acting agent, chlorophyll and the bowel has found itself a concoction to lead heavy metals and out of the intestinal tract. Oxy-Powder is a supplement that, like lactobacillus, works as the colon sweeping approach to curtailing constipation. Chlorella aides constipation in four essential ways:

  • Reinstates regular movement of the bowels
  • Normalizes bowel scents
  • Detoxifies the bowel
  • Assist with the repair of damaged bowel tissue

Chlorella’s Health Benefits

Chlorella supplements have become a source of biological essentials like vitamins, and chlorophyll. But the so-called “green blood cell” has a lot in the way of capability to knotch on it’s belt. Available in the form of powder, tablets, capsules, and granules, chlorella features a wide array of health related benefits. For starters, the chlorella growth factor in chlorella cells and supplements have been linked to an ability to promote metabolism. A nourishing source of chlorophyll, that element of chlorella is cited to be helpful in the healing of wounds. Chlorella contains the power of a combination of anti-oxidants with beta-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E. Some of the other chlorella health benefits are:

  • An increase of control over anemia due to the chlorophyll, iron, folic acid, and vitamin B12 contents of chlorella.
  • Prompting the body’s immune system
  • Reducing cholesterol
  • Protects the liver, kidneys, and bronchial systems
  • Improves skin conditions
  • Cleansing the blood stream, which can be beneficial in preventing the developement of high blood pressure

Chlorella studies have shown the plant’s cells are proactive in stimulating T-cells, and largely improving the immune system’s ability to ward off the formation of diseases like cancer, hypoglycemia, and bacteria. Chlorella’s high concentration of chlorophyll has been cited to eliminate halitosis in a matter of just days. And after reversing constipation, chlorella can improve the stink of heavily accented stools. There has also been some evidence that chlorella features anti-aging agents.

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