You Can’t Escape Toxins, But You Can Fight Back!
Our food, soil, and air are flooded with industrial chemicals. Learn why Chlorella is your body’s secret weapon in the modern toxic world.
How Chlorella Became Our Algae Ally Against Modern Day Industrial Toxins
Have you ever imagined what life would be like without the fast-paced nature of our day-to-day? How would it feel to slow down and move through life with intention? Why is this such an uncommon way of living nowadays? The short answer is – industrialization. The effect of industrialization has revolutionized our way of living, so much so that it’s hard to imagine what life would be like without it. While this has been a positive shift in many ways, expanding job opportunities, bringing more comfort to daily living, and pioneering technological advances, the shift to quantity over quality has undeniably harmed our ecosystem.
What we have seen since industrialization is an increase in fossil fuels, deforestation, and air, water, and soil pollution. Government supported farmers have turned to utilizing machines, fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to yield the highest for-profit crops. What this means for our food system is a lack of nutrient-dense plants and an increase in heavy metal saturation in our crops. According to experts within the field of soil health, the emphasis on maximizing crop yield has decreased organic soil matter, resulting in poor soil structure, and water-holding ability, which adversely effects microbial communities.1 Soil researchers are recognizing that with an increase in heavy machinery used in high-yield farming, there is an increase in soil compaction.2 Why should we be concerned about soil compaction? When soil is compressed together, water infiltration and air flow is inhibited, causing a reduction in root growth. Root growth is essential for crops to be able to access water and nutrients. Impaired root growth, paired with heavy metals exposure creates a perfect storm for lost nutrients in crops.
“Chlorella doesn’t just detox—it gives back.”
It binds heavy metals without stripping away vital nutrients. That’s detox with intention.
How do heavy metals create nutrient depletions in plants? The short answer is – competition! As you may know, plants contain many trace minerals, essential for human health. When heavy metals are introduced to the plant, specifically cadmium, copper, and lead, they compete for the nutrients from the plants roots by following the same uptake path. Please do keep in mind that minute amounts of these metals exist within each plant, it is when they become heavy metal dominant that toxicity is created.3
How can we tell that a plant is imbalanced and toxic with heavy metals? There are a couple of visual clues:
1. The plants pigment becomes altered. When overloaded with heavy metals, the metabolic pathways of the plant become altered through interference of their natural enzymes and methods of action. 3
2. Yellowing leaves. This can indicate that chlorophyll production is impaired. Heavy metals can interfere with the physiological process of photosynthesis by disrupting the flow of electrons, enzymes, and by altering the structure of chloroplasts. 3
3. Stunted growth. As mentioned before, heavy metals interrupt many naturally occurring metabolic processes, another one of which is gene expression. When gene expression is altered, it’s a telltale sign that there is cellular damage within the plant.3
The effects of low nutrient-dense food and heavy metal exposure are detrimental. Humans inflicted with heavy metal toxicity may not notice symptoms right out the gate. In most cases, symptoms begin well after exposure. For example, if somebody has grown up on farmland, they may have had chronic exposure to pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers at a baseline level, causing symptoms to appear later in life. More specifically, a common herbicide known as RoundUp ®, has been under investigation for cancer-causing risk since 2015. In 2017 officially, the active ingredient in RoundUp®, glyphosate, was classified as a carcinogen.4 Evidence suggests that glyphosate toxicity spans anywhere from endocrine disruption to respiratory issues.4 Furthermore, a monumental 2022 study was able to link glyphosate to neurotoxicity, suggesting that chronic exposure to the chemical may result in neurodegenerative disorders, such as dementia.5 Specifically, the study looked at the increased use of glyphosate on crops such as corn and soy, and linked exposure through the blood brain barrier to the production of TNFα – a proinflammatory cytokine responsible for neuroinflammation.5
What we have seen since glyphosate and other toxic chemicals have “come online” is an increase in class action lawsuits involving the companies that have distributed these chemicals without effectively warning people. Since 2015, Bayer, the company that owns Monsanto who produces RoundUp ®, has paid approximately $11 billion in allegations linking the use of RoundUp ® to cancer.6 Further class action allegations include well-known and loved Girl Scout cookies. Although still under investigation, preliminary research on a small sample size suggests that many varieties of Girl Scout cookies contain glyphosate well above the average amount, posing a risk for harm.7
How do I know that my body has a high toxic burden? It may be obvious in symptoms like headaches, nausea, or a sore throat. In cases of chronic exposure, it may show up as neuroinflammation such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, OCD, and in some cases, may be at the bottom of kidney/liver dysfunction, digestive dysfunction, chronic skin inflammation (psoriasis/eczema), hormone dysregulation, and neuromuscular challenges. Why does this happen? The body has a gentle and unique process for protecting itself. When heavy metals are introduced into the body, they can interfere with those processes by hindering cellular function, interrupting various organ systems, building up in tissues, and causing oxidative stress.8
When discussing this topic, it’s important to consider who is likely to experience toxic exposure. The harsh reality is that all of us are exposed to some degree. Whether its children playing in chemically sprayed yards, a family growing up near a mechanized farm, an adult living in a food desert with access only to highly processed goods, or an older person who had dental work done decades ago, come to find out they are slowly being poisoned by mercury from their amalgam fillings. With a high toxic burden in our surroundings and a lack of nutritious food, we suffer in silence because there are few nutrients available for our bodies to utilize for detoxification. Regardless of who you are and where you’re located, the point is not to wait until you’re symptomatic to begin doing the work. The key is to begin now, to set your body up for success in the future.
Why does Chlorella pull out heavy metals from our bodies?
Chlorella is a naturally occurring algae and has been studied for its ability to bioremediate, or in lay terms, clean up environmental waste, especially heavy metals. Knowing this could lead you to believe Chlorella would have off the charts heavy metal toxicity, but this is why finding high quality Chlorella is so important. Wuji Chlorella’s Certificate of Analysis (COA) and third-party US testing indicates values below detectable Prop 65 and legal limits for heavy metals. The compounds that exist within Chlorella’s cell wall, such as the polysaccharides and proteins, act as binding sites for heavy metals, making Chlorella with a cracked cell wall essential to serve its purpose as a chelating agent.9 In addition to pulling toxins from our tissues, Chlorella has a high antioxidant content, combating oxidative stress and free radicals.
Unlike other detoxifiers, Chlorella has an equal “give and take” with the body. Meaning, while Chlorella does detox toxins from our system, it does not detox other essential nutrients that our body is in desperate need of.10 Chlorella’s ability to isolate toxins from the system to detox is pretty profound! In addition, Chlorella is so packed with nutrients that it is always going to give the body something in return. For this reason, Chlorella stands as a superior option to many other comparing detoxifiers, for the simple matter that it takes the bad and nourishes the good.
Curious to know more about your toxic burden? Explore these potential avenues to get some data on where your body is at:
- Hair Mineral Analysis
- Blood Labs (Heavy Metal Panel)
- Urine Labs
- Fingernail Test
By Mary Lambdin, MSACN, CNS candidate