It’s time for a deep dive into the world of chlorella supplements. This little green fella packs a whole lot into a small package.
What is Chlorella?
Chlorella is a single-cell freshwater algae. It has been around for billions of years, making it one of the oldest organisms on earth. It has a spherical shape and a deep green color due to its high levels of chlorophyll.
Nutrition in Chlorella
Chlorella is bursting with nutrition. These little green guys pack a huge nutritional punch. They contain many essential nutrients, such as carotenoids like beta carotene (a precursor to Vitamin A), vitamin K, iron, magnesium, and an important fatty acid called GLA (gamma-linoleic acid). It is also one of the richest food sources of real chlorophyll, unlike most "chlorophyll supplements," which are not actually chlorophyll but a semi-synthetic compound called sodium copper chlorophyllin.
B12 in chlorella
Chlorella, unlike spirulina, contains usable b-12 as well. In tests on the chlorella we recommend, using the LC-MS/MS method, which detects only usable b-12 (not the analogs that the body cannot use); a three-gram serving contains three mcg of usable b-12, which is slightly above the recommended daily amount of 2.4 mcg. This is an excellent way for vegans to get their b-12 from a whole food source.
Chlorella Broken Cell Wall
We’re not entirely sure who started the nonsense that Chlorella's cell wall needs to be broken, but we wish it would just go away because it is simply not true. Unfortunately, with enough money spent on advertising, many Chlorella companies have made people accept this myth, and no one really looks into it because it is repeated so often.
The digestibility of Chlorella is not significantly increased by breaking up its cell walls. Factors such as the drying process or the species (strain) of Chlorella used have a greater impact. This is summarized as follows in a publication by T. Kanno (2005), stating that “The original characteristics and the physiological effects of Chlorella are not changed by breaking up the cell wall” and “It is more to be feared that the process of breaking up the cell wall may degrade proteins, destroy vitamins, and fatty acids, thereby resulting in oxidation effects.”
If you look at “studies” that show that broken cell wall chlorella is better, they are almost entirely funded by companies that happen to sell broken cell wall chlorella. Shocking right?
The pH of stomach acid is 1.5 to 3.5, and the small intestine produces lysozyme. The combination of stomach acid and lysozyme is plenty for chlorella's cell wall to be broken without having to risk damaging the proteins, vitamins, and fatty acids and exposing them to oxidation that the methods of cracking the cell wall cause. The cell wall helps to protect the beneficial nutrients and compounds found in chlorella. It keeps all of the compounds intact until digestion. You do not need to buy cracked cell chlorella; it is just a marketing scheme.
What does chlorella do?
While people take chlorella for various reasons, the biggest one is that it adds a rich source of green vegetable nutrition to your diet. Most people are not eating enough vegetables, so it’s an easy way to get more in.
How to take chlorella
Chlorella is very potent, so starting slowly and gradually increasing the dosage to your desired amount is important. If you take too much at once initially, you may get loose stools or upset stomachs. Chlorella powder can be mixed with cold food and beverages. It should be taken with a full glass of water.
Due to chlorella’s binding ability, taking it at least two hours apart from medications and supplements is important because it can reduce their absorption. You should not take chlorella if you take warfarin or aspirin due to its high vitamin K1 content.
How much chlorella should you take per day?
We recommend slowly working up to three grams (3,000 mg) daily.
What to look for in a Chlorella supplement
Where does chlorella come from? As with everything, how and where it is grown is incredibly important from both quality control and ethical standpoints. Most chlorella is grown in outdoor, uncovered ponds in China, India, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. A few other countries also produce small amounts, but not close to the amounts that have grown in China and India.
You will see claims such as "only grown in pristine spring water" or "fed by mountain streams" and other wonderful things. Well, that may be true, but guess what? It rains everywhere. The rain in countries with very poor air quality, like India and China, brings down large amounts of pollutants. The water from that mountain spring may be pure, but the rain will not. Chlorella is a great bio accumulator (absorbing lots of stuff from its environment, including contaminants like pesticides and heavy metals); this is why you see reports of contamination in chlorella supplements. You also get things like birds going to the bathroom while flying over. This is an issue because you cannot wash algae off like some lettuce or berries because many contaminants will be absorbed into the algae. Some people might say we can test for possible contamination. In theory, this is great. However, environmental contaminants are often not part of the standard testing panel. In addition, there may be contaminants in the air that are being released that we are not even aware of. In China especially, there are a whole host of new pollution issues because many compounds are reacting together in poorly studied ways. The compounds created by this will not be on a normal chlorella testing panel, so you won’t know if they are in the chlorella. While good testing is extremely important, it is not enough, especially with chlorella. It’s essential to know precisely where and how your chlorella is grown, not just the country of origin. Otherwise, you have no way of knowing whether there are lots of pollutants coming down in the rain.
How is chlorella grown?
There are three main ways of growing chlorella.
The first is the most common, open-air outdoor pond grown. This is where chlorella is grown in large ponds open to the environment. We have already gone over some of the problems related to this. The other issue with outdoor pond chlorella growing is that large amounts of nitrates are often used to feed the chlorella to make it grow faster. The issue is that the nitrate-rich water discharged when the chlorella is harvested runs off into the local environment, causing significant pollution and runoff. Nitrate runoff can cause huge problems, such as dead zones in waterways. As you can guess, we think it’s best to avoid outdoor open pond-grown chlorella for your health and the environment.
The second method is vat or tank growing. This is where chlorella is grown in huge stainless steel tanks in a factory. This method avoids the pollutant problems with outdoor open-air pond-grown chlorella, but it has one big drawback. It is not exposed to sunlight. Sunlight is really important for chlorella’s nutrient content. Vat or tank-grown chlorella has lower levels of nutrients and other compounds than chlorella grown in sunlight. While it is a better choice than outdoor open-air pond-grown chlorella, it is certainly not ideal.
Chlorella grown in glass tubes
The third way to grow chlorella is in a closed-loop glass tube system.
The chlorella grows in glass tubes, exposed to sunlight, and fed with mineral-rich spring water from deep underground. This provides the benefits of sunlight to the chlorella without the risks of pollutants from the environment. It does not create environmental pollution or problems like open pond cultivation, as the water is filtered before release. This is the best way to grow chlorella for your health and the environment.
How Should Chlorella Be Dried?
The next thing to consider when choosing a chlorella product is ensuring it is properly dried. The drying process makes a big difference in the finished product. The vast majority of algae products are high heat-dried. These intense drying methods can cause a loss of nutritional value. When drying foods, we want to leave them as close to their original state as possible. Choose gently dried chlorella to preserve as much nutritional value as possible.
Chlorella Ethics
The next thing to consider is the ethics of who is producing the chlorella. Determining who grows most of the chlorella products on the market is often impossible. Most companies buy their raw materials from middlemen, who usually buy chlorella from various sources that are mixed together. In China, where most of the chlorella are grown, there are estimates of over 25 million people who are forced into modern slavery. It can be almost impossible to verify if chlorella (or other raw materials) production is free of forced labor because of the vast web of shell companies and middlemen. It’s best to avoid getting chlorella from there for this reason alone. One company told us their supplier did not use slave labor, but their only verification of that was the supplier writing a letter saying they did not use forced labor. All vendors will say that. A letter stating it does not prove they don’t use forced labor.
How to find the best chlorella supplements
So, how do you find the best chlorella supplement? The first and most crucial step is knowing who grew it and made it. Only by having complete transparency about who, how, and where it was grown (not just the country) can you truly begin to investigate it. It is not enough to say it was grown in a pristine environment with mountain spring water. Buzzwords and marketing are not a substitute for actual information and data.
Then, you can find out what they are feeding the chlorella, drying, the growing method (glass tube, open pond, vat), testing, and how they mitigate environmental issues. You can also look into whether the company has problems with forced labor violations.
Our search for ethically produced, clean chlorella took us worldwide, from the US and India to Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Denmark, and Portugal.
Algomed Chlorella
Our search for the perfect chlorella ended in Klotze, Germany.
Algomed Chlorella is grown in glass tubes in the bright sunshine, and mountain spring water from deep underground is used, not surface water, to avoid contamination. It is never exposed to the outside environment, allowing for the production of super pure and contaminant-free clean chlorella.
Here is how they grow their chlorella:
“To start with, our tubular aquariums are filled with water. We source this from our own well, which is fed from an artesian aquifer more than forty-five meters down. This is very pure water that is nicely mineralized. Nutrients and an algae starter culture are then added, and the algae begin to grow. The advantages of our 500-kilometer system of glass tubing are obvious. The algae get an optimal supply of sunlight because there are no dark zones like you get in the lower layers of a pond, and no contaminants from the outside can get into the culture. When the algae are ready to be harvested, they are separated from the water by centrifuging and then gently dried. They can be consumed immediately or processed further.”
The entire cultivation process, from the first algae from their collection to the finished product, takes place in Klötze. The production process is, therefore, entirely in their hands and is certified according to the international standards HACCP, GMP, ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 50001, Kosher, and HALAL. They are vertically integrated.
Chlorella questions and support
If you have questions about chlorella supplements, please email us at info@rooted-nutrition.com, and we will be happy to help!