Episode Details

https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/algae2

My guest on today's podcast is Catharine Arnston, and she puts my own algae consumption to shame, eating 75 pieces of chlorella and 75 pieces of spirulina every day. She holds an MBA from Western’s Ivey School of Business, and a BA in geography and economic development from Queen’s University. She is a Board Certified Health Counselor from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition and a REIKI Master. She is also an algae expert and the CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of ENERGYbits, a sports nutrition company that sells algae in tablet form to athletes and consumers (click here and use code BEN to save 10% on any of their algae products). Catharine founded ENERGYbits eight years ago after she became aware of the health and athletic benefits of a plant based diet. When she subsequently learned that algae was the most nutrient dense plant in the world and that Asians had been growing it and benefiting from it for fifty years, she made it her life mission to bring algae into the mainstream so others could benefit from this superfood too. You may also recognize Catharine from this SharkTank episode!

Anyways, Catharine makes the bold claim that a lack of chlorophyll (greens) in diet leads to the ten different leading causes of aging and disease worldwide.

-What is chlorophyll? [10:50]

Chlorophyll is a fat-based pigment that makes plants green. It is the substance that is responsible for photosynthesis – the usage of light energy from the sun to convert water & carbon dioxide into nutrition (glucose) for the plants. What foods are high in chlorophyll? Green foods! The darker the green, the more chlorophyll. In fact, algae has the highest concentration of chlorophyll in the world, containing 100-1000 times more chlorophyll than any other plant or vegetable (50 times more than wheat grass). Chlorophyll is a phytonutrient that oxygenates & detoxifies the blood. It is rich in enzymes and high in amino acids. It alkalizes the body, is anti-inflammatory, is an antioxidant, chelates heavy metals, been shown to repair damaged DNA and speed up the healing process of wounds. It even helps mitochondria ATP with a fuel source that is cleaner than glucose (with the addition of sunshine). The structure of chlorophyll is nearly identical to that of hemoglobin in our blood. The center atom of chlorophyll is magnesium (green) while the center atom of hemoglobin is iron (red). Magnesium is what helps alkalize the body and deliver oxygen to cells & tissues. Chlorophyll helps promote the formation of hemoglobin and red blood cells.

In my article How To Eat Algae (The Ultimate Guide To Fueling With Spirulina And Chlorella) and my podcast Is This The Most Dense Source Of Nutrition On The Face Of The Planet? 

I introduce chlorophyll, but in today's show, Catharine and I take a deep dive into how chlorophyll intake can manage everything from excess acidity to inflammation to accelerated aging and beyond.   During our discussion, you'll discover a host of new information (and a big credit to Catharine for gathering the research presented in the comprehensive shownotes below!):

-How algae can reduce cellular inflammation due to its high concentration of essential fatty acids, alkaline composition and high concentration of