Chlorella is a nutrient dense algae. It has been traditionally used as an important source of protein for global population. It is considered as ‘health boosting super food’ for its numerous therapeutic advantages.

Nutritional profile

• It contains lesser amounts of carbohydrates
• It contains dietary fibre as well
• It is considered as a complete source of protein as it contains all the essential amino acids
• It contains healthy fat especially contains omega-3-fatty acid
• It is packed with various imperative micronutrients, which include Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B1, B2, B9, B12, magnesium, copper, zinc, iron, phosphorus and calcium
• It contains chlorophyll too

Chlorella Vs spirulina

Chlorella is recognized as a close cousin to spirulina and they both are nutrient dense algae but chlorella contains comparatively higher amount of omega-3-fatty acid, zinc, magnesium, iron Vitamin A and Vitamin B2 than spirulina.

Biological activity

Antioxidant activity

• Chlorella is consisting of several important compounds like Vitamin C, beta carotene, lutein, lycopene, chlorophyll, which exert strong antioxidant activity
• It helps to decrease the concentration of free radicals in body hence reduces the prevalence of oxidative damages

• It also helps to protect various important biological substances like nucleoprotein, lipid, from oxidation thus helps to sustain their functionality
• It helps to prevent lipid peroxidation, which ultimately helps to reduce the risk of developing various diseases especially cardio vascular diseases
• It helps to prevent cellular damages as well

Detoxifying activity

• Environmental factors, life style and dietary patterns are responsible for exposing our body to various toxins, which can cause severe damage to the body thus it should be eliminated from body
• Chlorella plays significant role in detoxification. It has seen that chlorella is extremely effective for enhancing the body’s ability to clear toxins
• It also helps to reduce the consequences of heavy metals toxicity as it helps to bind with heavy metals and flushing them out from the body before the body absorbs them

Anti-inflammatory activity

• Violaxanthin is an important substance found in chlorella that exhibits strong anti-inflammatory effects and helps to protect the body from inflammatory damages
• Inflammation is responsible for developing various diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, arthritis gastrointestinal disorders etc and thus recognized as the leading cause of death throughout the world
• An individual should consume a diet, which contains anti-inflammatory substances thus it helps to prevent inflammation and chlorella is not an exception
• It has seen that chlorella is closely related with decreasing the level of pro-inflammatory mediators in body thus delays the onset of inflammatory events hence decreases the risk of developing chronic inflammatory diseases

Health benefits

Role on immunity

• Immune system is one of the most complex systems of the body, which is composed of several cells as well as mechanisms that ultimately help to enhance the body’s ability for fighting against infections
• Consumption of chlorella is very effective for strengthening the immune system of the body by regulating the immunological responses hence helps to keep an individual healthy
• It helps to increase the synthesis of antibodies in body
• It is also associated with improving the activity of immune cells 

Role on endurance

• Chlorella plays significant role in enhancing the endurance level especially aerobic endurance level
• It has seen that it is associated with increasing the oxygen saturation to lungs thus athletes who consume chlorella significantly improve their performance
• Branched chain amino acid components of chlorella are considered as the principal components accountable for improving aerobic performance

Role on maternal health

• Pregnancy is a special physiological condition of female body and in this condition the requirement of iron and folic acid get increased in many folds for supporting the expansion of maternal blood volume
• It has seen that iron as well as folic acid play imperative role in promoting the synthesis of hemoglobin and also help in the maturation of RBC thus they should be provided to the pregnant women and chlorella is an important option for them as it contains significant amount of iron, folic acid as well as Vitamin B12

• Its consumption is also related with inhibiting the prevalence of pregnancy induced hypertension

Role on nervous system

• Its antioxidant activity is responsible for protecting the brain from various oxidative damages thus improves the functionality of entire nervous system
• It helps to improve the memory
• It plays significant role in improving the symptoms of dementia
• It also helps to prevent age related mental decline

Role on eye

• Lutein and zeaxanthin components of chlorella help to promote vision and also protect the eye from various injuries
• It significantly reduces the prevalence of age related macular degeneration

Role on digestive health

• It helps to prevent bloating
• It also helps to enhance the growth of intestinal beneficial microbes thus promotes gut health
• Its antioxidant as well as anti-inflammatory activities are accountable for protecting the gastrointestinal tract from damages thus reduces the risk of developing digestive disorders like inflammatory bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, constipation etc

Other health benefits

• It helps to promote hepatic health as well
• It is also extensively used for promoting oral health. Its chlorophyll content plays significant role in improving the health of gum as well as teeth and decreases the prevalence of oral infections thus helps to promote oral hygiene

• It is very effective for enhancing skin health too. Its antioxidant activity is accountable for preventing ageing and it also helps to provide the skin a younger look
• It also helps to improve the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

Medicinal uses

It has been extensively used for treating several diseases, which include –

Hypertension

• Unsaturated fatty acid and potassium components of chlorella play imperative role in decreasing the stiffness of blood vessels, which ultimately helps to promote the endothelial functions hence helps to prevent hypertension
• It helps to enhance blood flow thus facilitates the supply of oxygen, nutrients, hormones, enzymes and other important biological substances throughout the body

Cardio vascular diseases

• It has potent hypolipidemic activity that helps to reduce the concentration of LDL, VLDL, and triglyceride in body thus reduces the prevalence of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease
• Its cholesterol regulating activity, blood pressure regulating activity and endothelial function regulating activity make it an imperative therapeutic substance for preventing cardiovascular diseases

Diabetes

• It helps to decrease the concentration of glucose in blood by enhancing insulin sensitivity
• It significantly reduces the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Respiratory disorders

• Its anti-inflammatory activity is responsible for preventing various respiratory disorders like asthma or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• It has seen that consumption of chlorella is very beneficial for reducing the prevalence of wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath
• It also helps to promote the functionality of lungs

General consideration of using chlorella

• Chlorella supplement can be consumed in tablet or liquid or powdered form
• Chlorella powder can also be added to salad dressing or baked goods or beverages before consumption for enhancing their nutritive value

Risk factors

• Over consumption of chlorella may develop various gastrointestinal disorders like nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea
• It may affect the immune system if consumed in large dose thus individual who suffer from auto-immune disorder should avoid its consumption
• It may also develop allergic reaction in some people

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Panahi, Y., Darvishi, B., Jowzi, N., Beiraghdar, F. and Sahebkar, A., 2016. Chlorella vulgaris: a multifunctional dietary supplement with diverse medicinal properties. Current pharmaceutical design, 22(2), pp.164-173.

Prabakaran, G., Moovendhan, M., Arumugam, A., Matharasi, A., Dineshkumar, R. and Sampathkumar, P., 2018. Quantitative analysis of phytochemical profile in marine microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. Int J Pharm Biol Sci, 8(2), pp.562-565.

Rani, K., Sandal, N. and Sahoo, P.K., 2018. A comprehensive review on chlorella-its composition, health benefits, market and regulatory scenario. The Pharma Innovation Journal, 7(7), pp.584-589.

Sawant, S.S. and Mane, V.K., 2018. Nutritional profil, antioxidant, antimicrobial potential, and bioactives profile of Chlorella emersonii KJ725233. Asian J. Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research, 11(3), pp.220-225.

Silva, J., Alves, C., Pinteus, S., Reboleira, J., Pedrosa, R. and Bernardino, S., 2019. Chlorella. In Nonvitamin and nonmineral nutritional supplements (pp. 187-193). Academic Press.