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Is chlorella good for you?

Chlorella does not have the toxins which may be present in blue-green algae supplements and spirulina.

December 1, 2010 |
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Supplementary Info

Is chlorella good for you?, 5.0 out of 5 based on 2 ratings

Sources Cited

R. R. Quigley, K. E. Knowles, and G. C. Johnson. Disseminated chlorellosis in a dog. Vet. Pathol., 46(3):439-443, 2009.

Am J Clin Pathol. 1983 Jul;80(1):102-7. Green algal infection in a human. Jones JW, McFadden HW, Chandler FW, Kaplan W, Conner DH.

Acknowledgements

Transcript

What about blue-green algae, though. Harmful, harmless, or helpful?
In 2007 I was concerned about the neurotoxins in blue-green algae like chlorella, which is still a significant concern—harmful—but was creeped out this year by a report in the journal veterinary pathology. A golden retriever was killed by chlorella, but not by some toxin. The chlorella itself invaded her body and started eating its way to her brain. This is showing the algae creep up her spinal cord. When plants bite back.
I’m all for live food—but not this alive. And yes, there are also reports of human infection as well.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

There are also videos on spirulina and blue-green algae supplements. Please feel free to leave any questions below and I'd be delighted to answer them.

For some context, please check out my associated blog post: The Best Foods: test your nutrition knowledge.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

    There are also videos on spirulina and blue-green algae supplements. Please feel free to leave any questions below and I’d be delighted to answer them.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

    I am forever indebted to The Healthy Librarian (check out her excellent blog Happy Healthy Long Life) for correcting my confusion of chlorella phylogeny. I had mistakenly lumped chlorella in with blue-green algae, and they’re not even in the same biological kingdom! Unlike cyanobacteria (spirulina and blue-green algae such as Klamath Lake Aphanizomenon flos-aquae), chlorella does not appear to produce muscle, nerve, or liver toxicity.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/LachicaveganaComefrutas/ Lachicavegana Comefrutas

    It isn’t playing for me right now.
    But it did still take over that dog’s body, right?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      Are you still having problems viewing the video? Live chlorella can indeed infect humans and animals, but what we buy in stores is dried and dead and therefore harmless (but you still might not want to take dips in scummy ponds with open wounds).

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

    Doesn’t the Chlorella Growth Factor call for some concern in humans? Wouldnt this be similar to IGF, promoting unnecessary growth of our bodies?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      I’ve never even heard of that! Do you know if that’s just some marketing ploy or a real entity? I couldn’t find anything in the National Library of Medicine database under that name. But if you can find out what it’s really called (if it indeed even exists) I’d be happy to hunt down info about it.

      • Bob

        IGF – Insulin-like Growth Factor, very popular among the bodybuilding industry

    • elsie blanche

      You have raised an interesting possibility. Have you come to any conclusions or obvious reasons to avoid ingesting chlorella, in regards to IGF similarities? I have always had some concerns with chlorella, and would not be surprised to see a study in the future showing negative attributes, yet many vegans just adore and have gratitude for the product.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

    Maybe it is just made up by the marketers. their selling point was that it quadruples in size everyday so it would aid in tissue repair.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/aramis/ Aramis

    Dr. Greger,
    I am currently going through a Detox therapy due to some heavy metals contamination (G.I. Tract, etc – mainly Hg – Mercury). Chlorella was prescribed by my M.D./Biochemist Nutritionist/and Nutritionist both Ph.D). I was surprise to see on your DVD #5 that your recommendation was to stay away from it due to BMAA bacteria. In my research some companies test to ensure their product is BMAA tested. Do you still recommend to stay away from it. My levels of Hg are coming down and I haven’t even started to do DMPS yet.
    Thank You!
    Aramis Ortiz
    San Diego, CA

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/aramis/ Aramis

    Note: In the analysis done it showed that I have Mercury, Aluminum, Lead, and Arsenic. Natural chelation with Chlorella and cilantro is one process. Synthetic aminoacid such as DMPS and DMSA is another method. I also did a one week Sauna Detox.
    Again Thank You!
    Aramis Ortiz
    San Diego, CA

  • Jazzie

    If any algae is grown hydroponically do you still have to worry about toxins? If spiralina is grown hydroponically can I take it along with chlorella?
    Thank you in advance for your advice.

    • Toxins

      The issue is not with how the spirulina is grown but what byproducts are produced by it. Therefore it shouldn’t matter how the spirulina is grown.

  • Michael Greger M.D.

    For some context, please check out my associated blog post The Best Foods: Test Your Nutrition Knowledge!

  • Javier

    Hello,
    Recently I have read an article that have create on me confusion about cholorella. This article, which source is natural news, was explaning that most of the cholorella that we consume comes from China, Japan and Korea has a very high concentration of Aluminiun. Have you heard something about it? Do you have some information, research that prove this fact or clarify a litlle bit this issue. Wre live in World that we do not know who we trust even brands that they are bio they are doing funny things and at the end they get money through or most precious give our health. I would appreciate all the information you can share with us.
    Thank you.

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