Superfood Spotlight: Chlorella

May 2022 be the year of healing, for our bodies, our mind, our soul and the world.

We’ve all been through it these past couple of years. Living through a pandemic is tough, no matter to what extent, I’m sure it’s affected us all.

With that in mind, and with the beginning of a new year, I thought I would introduce a new blog series called SUPERFOOD SPOTLIGHT whereby I choose a different superfood every week, share its benefits and recommend uses.

I feel like I need to get back into the habit of taking better care of myself; I don’t know if its because of the holidays, or because I have far less time now that I have a baby or just life in general, I feel like I’m falling out of the good habits that I spent so long building.

I share more about this, my goals for this new year and ways that I’m staying accountable here: Hey you, it’s 2022!

For that reason, I decided to make sure I start falling back into these habits with the start of this new year, which I have (hopefully) dubbed, the year of healing.

NUTRITION is always where I start when I need to feel better. One way I ensure getting a lot of good stuff daily is a SUPERFOOD SMOOTHIE that I prepare every night to simply blend in the morning or to have as a snack throughout the day. I load it with nutrient dense foods including superfood powders that are a great way to get added nutrients really easily and quickly due to their highly dense nutrition profile. This week’s spotlight is on CHLORELLA – which I’ve used every day in my morning smoothie this week.

CHLORELLA

What is Chlorella?

Chlorella is a type of fresh water algae. It is green in colour and very nutrient dense. This is precisely the reason why it’s considered a superfood! Found in fresh water, there are many different species of chlorella which possess many beneficial nutrients.

Chlorella has a very tough cellulose cell wall which the human body cannot properly digest. For this reason, it must be consumed as a supplement (capsules or powder) rather than in it’s original / raw form.

BENEFITS:

It is a complete protein source; which means that it contains all the essential amino acids unlike most plants. Furthermore, chlorella is high in protein with approximately 50% of it’s total composition being made up of protein.

It is very nutrient dense containing substantial amounts of: protein, Vitamin B12 (also often scarce in most foods), antioxidants (fighting free radicals which lead to illness in excess), Omega 3s and fibre.

May aid in the relief of PMS by lowering inflammation in the body and the high content of B Vitamins which have been found helpful in the treatment of PMS.

Improves and maintain a healthy immune system

Improves and aids in digestion and reduces bloating

Studies have found that it is very beneficial for respiratory health and aerobic endurance

Helps regulate blood sugar levels

Aids in the reduction of harmful cholesterol

HOW TO USE IT

I have been using this in smoothies; I like keeping superfoods in their raw state to ensure I’m getting their full benefit. However I did read that some people like using chlorella in savory Asian dishes like Ramen to lean into the algae taste.

While the taste isn’t pleasant, it isn’t too bad – once you add some fruit like a banana or some berries, it’s definitely not bad at all! Here’s how I used it:

That’s it from me for today – I’ll be back with a new blog post Every Single week 🙂

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Thank you for taking the time to be here and read this ❤️

Until next week, be well xXx

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