by Sherrill Sellman
We all love our super heroes.
They perform amazing feats with their super human abilities. Super heroes reveal their many hidden gifts and talents and always fight on the side of justice, goodness and protection of the innocent. When we are in the world of super heroes, we feel safer knowing that they will come to our rescue in time of need.
While super heroes exist in the human world, there are also super heroes that exist in the plant world that will also come to our rescue in time of need. One of the greatest super heroes is a humble, single-cell algae organism called Chlorella (C. vulgaris). Don’t be deceived by its very small size. In fact, Chlorella performs Herculean tasks that support our health and wellbeing as well as the health and wellbeing of our animals.
First of all, Chlorella is nature’s own power-packed multivitamin, containing all the essential nutrients required to sustain life. Chlorella is rich in vitamins A (beta carotene), C, E, and vitamin K, containing all the B-complex vitamins (including B12), zinc, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, selenium, iodine, omega-3 essential fatty acid, and the enzyme pepsin. Chlorella also contains 58 to 70 percent of bio-available protein and all the essential amino acids. It is one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D. The iron content of chlorella is particularly impressive and can provide up to 40 percent of our daily requirements. Chlorella is also a rich source of the eye nutrients; carotenoids, lutein, and zeaxanthin.
But, perhaps, its greatest super hero feat is Chlorella’s unique ability to safely eliminate all the environmental toxins that we are exposed to every day. Very modest estimates have suggested that we are exposed to more than 700,000 different toxic chemicals on a daily basis. In addition, other nasty toxins such as mercury, lead, cadmium and radiation find their way into our bodies through the air, food and water. It definitely takes a super hero to safely and efficiently detoxify so many toxic exposures every single day!
Glyphosate: A Super Villain to our Health
Glyphosate is the main ingredient in many weed-killer products and is the active ingredient in more than 500 products approved for use in Australia, many of which can be found on supermarket and hardware store shelves and used by backyard gardeners. It is certainly of concern to know that Glyphosate was found in multi-grain, wholemeal, spelt, rye and white breads, savoury biscuits and crackers, and rice-based breakfast cereals and baby cereals, flours and crackers in Food Standards Australia New Zealand’s (FSANZ) latest Total Diet Survey.
Exposure to glyphosate occurs either through environmental contamination or through genetically modified foods. Over 80% of genetically modified (GM) crops grown worldwide are engineered to tolerate being sprayed with high amounts of glyphosate herbicides. People and animals that eat GM glyphosate-tolerant crops are eating potentially high levels of glyphosate. So exposure to glyphosate is everywhere.
The problem with glyphosate is that it is not only impairs the physiology of all humans. Glyphosate is a disaster to the human microbiome, which contains trillions of bacteria playing crucial roles in maintaining our ecology. It’s not just the human microbiome that is severely impacted by use of glyphosate, it also affects all life forms.
Exposure to glyphosate presents serious health risks to humans including altered gastrointestinal function, immune disorders, infertility, accelerated ageing, and insulin dysregulation. Since GMOs were introduced in 1996, the percentage of Americans with three or more chronic illnesses went from 7% to 13% and there has been an unprecedented rise in autism, food allergies, digestive disorders, and reproductive issues. In addition, GM foods are believed to be contributory to the epidemic of diabetes and obesity. The same increase in these conditions is also happening in Australia.
The most common GMO foods in Australia include soy, rice, potato, tomato, corn, canola oil, papaya, beets and zucchini. New South Wales lifted its ban on genetically modified crops in 2021, after an 18-year moratorium. It follows the repeal of a similar moratorium in South Australia last year, making Tasmania the last Australian state with a blanket ban on GM crops.
There is another serious risk with glyphosate, it is recognised as a carcinogen. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organisation (WHO), and considered the foremost authority on cancer research, has reclassified glyphosate in Group 2A ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’ category.
Glyphosate also has many other undesirable impacts as well:
- Damages the mitochondria, the energy producers of the cells
- Promotes oxidative stress
- Disrupts hormone signaling
- Acts as an endocrine disruptor
- Chelates minerals, contributing to nutrient deficiencies
- Inhibits detoxification
- Adds to the total body burden of chemicals
- Destroy the tight junction of cells
Unfortunately, glyphosate exposure and GM ingredients and foods are ubiquitous in our daily life. Finding a safe solution to eliminate this dangerous chemical from our body is essential for insuring our health and the health of future generations. This is when we are really need help from a super hero!
The Super Hero Chlorella Can Save the Day
While studies have demonstrated that Chlorella can successful detoxify heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, cadmium, titanium, lead and arsenic, we are shining the spotlight specifically on glyphosate since it so pervasive in our environment, food sources and our bodies. It is interesting to note that Chlorella is so intelligent that it only detoxifies the toxic metals fro the body but not the beneficial minerals.
Chlorella has multiple mechanisms for doing its amazing job of cleansing and detoxifying the body. Biosorption is the ability to attach harmful chemicals to its surface and remove them out the body. Chlorella can bind or attach to herbicides and pesticides found in the gastrointestinal tract and assist in their elimination from the body instead of letting them linger in the body and cause damage to our health.
Bioaccumulation is another way involved in the detoxification of toxic chemicals using Chlorella. It is also almost like a biosorption mechanism. The good fat content of Chlorella accumulates toxic compounds such as pesticides as waste molecules and then removes them from the body.
Chlorella can bioconvert pesticides. This process converts harmful pesticides into less toxic, soluble, degradable, and hydrophilic compounds. This conversion prevents pesticides from causing harm to the body during their transient stay in the body before their elimination with Chlorella.
Chlorella also enhances liver function, which is necessary to assist in detoxification. Chlorella has the ability to enhance phase 2 enzyme activation in the liver, which is essential for eliminating toxic chemicals. Chlorella can also increase blood antioxidant levels and reduce oxidative damage in the body. The increase in antioxidant levels is essential to control the oxidative damage caused by glyphosate and other pesticides.
Chlorella enhances the natural detoxification process of pesticides and herbicides and protects our bodies from the harmful effects of these chemicals. Many foods are effective for giving the body its required nutrients but only a few are equally successful at removing the toxins ass well. Chlorella is one of them. As a super hero, Chlorella is one of the best known biological detoxifiers found in nature.
The Secret to the Super Power of Chlorella
Now that you know the power of Chlorella to detoxify the body from all forms of toxins, especially glyphosate, it is essential to be sure to use only the best Chlorella product. Knowing the source of your products is always critical, especially with Chlorella. Only when Chlorella is grown in a pristine environment of clean air, soil and water, is it able to ensure all of its amazing health benefits.
When choosing a Chlorella product be sure to source the Chlorella that is farmed in the purest environment, especially organic Chlorella that is free from herbicides, pesticides, and environmental contaminants Research the best Chlorella products that are grown, harvested and processed in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef region.
There is no doubt, that Chlorella should be a part of everyone’s diet to support our wellbeing, detoxification and healing. Modern technology has been able to unlock Chlorella’s phenomenal potential not only as a superfood but as super detoxifier. We need such super heroes in our toxic and polluted world. Thank goodness that Chlorella has come to our rescue!
Listen to Dr Sherrill Sellman’s interview with Cyndi O’Meara:The Health Dangers to All of Life from Glyphosate. Cyndi O’Meara is a nutritionist, film maker, bestselling author, speaker and founder of Changing Habits, a whole food company that believes everything begins and ends with food and that health food should actually be just that – healthy.
Sherrill Sellman,ND, is a Naturopathic Doctor, best-selling author, women’s health expert, contributor to health magazine worldwide, lecturer and host of two weekly podcasts. She can be found at www.drsherrillsellman.com and @sherrillsellman.
References:
Gillezeau C, van Gerwen M, Shaffer RM, Rana I, Zhang L, Sheppard L, Taioli E. The evidence of human exposure to glyphosate: a review. Environ Health. 2019 Jan 7;18(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s12940-018-0435-5. PMID: 30612564; PMCID: PMC6322310.
www.foodstandards.gov.au/science/surveillance/Pages/australiantotaldiets1914.aspx
(National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) https://wwwn.cdc.gov/Nchs/Nhanes/2013-2014/SSGLYP_H.htm
https://www.i-sis.org.uk/Glyphosate_is_Carcinogenic.php
Stur E, Aristizabal-Pachon AF, Peronni KC, Agostini LP, Waigel S, Chariker J, et al. (2019) Glyphosate-based herbicides at low doses affect canonical pathways in estrogen positive and negative breast cancer cell lines. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0219610. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219610
http://billsorganics.com.au/news/10-most-common-gmo-foods
Ferruzzi MG Digestion, absorption, and cancer preventative activity of dietary chlorophyll derivatives. Nutrition Research 2007
Fahey JW, Stephenson KK, Dinkova-Kostova AT, Egner PA, Kensler TW, Talalay P. Chlorophyll, chlorophyllin and related tetrapyrroles are significant inducers of mammalian phase 2 cytoprotective genes.Carcinogenesis 2005;26:1247 – 55.
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