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In their first experiments, Wang, Lin and Tung found
that feeding chlorella to rats before giving them the ethionine
helped protect the liver from damage and produced faster recovery
times. Following up on these studies, the Formosan scientists
designed another experiment to see how 5% chlorella supplementation
of the diet would affect more specific liver functions. Rats fed the
chlorella supplement had lower levels of total liver fats,
triglycerides and glycogen (stored sugar), and less liver damage,
than rats fed the same diet without chlorella, after ethionine was
given to both groups. The chlorella fed rats also recovered more
rapidly. Earlier experiments showed that malnutrition caused
abnormally high levels of glycogen in the liver and high levels of
triglycerides due to liver malfunction. The authors of the study
concluded that chlorella protects the liver from damage due to
malnutrition or toxins when used at a relatively low level (5%) of
supplementation.
In 1975, Japanese researchers published an
article in the Japanese Journal of Nutrition, showing that
chlorella in the diet lowered both the blood cholesterol and liver
cholesterol. There was a definite effect by chlorella on liver
function.
Chlorella and the Channels of Elimination
One of the first
things we find out about chlorella is that it stimulates and
normalizes an under-active bowel. Dr. Motomichi Kobayashi, director
of a hospital in Takamatsu, Japan, prescribes chlorella for all his
patients who are troubled with constipation. A US Army medical
facility in Colorado found that scenedesmus, an alga similar to
chlorella, combined with chlorella and fed to volunteers, increased
the amount of waste eliminated by the bowel.' Secondly, in 1957, Dr.
Takechi and his associates in Japan found out that chlorella
promoted rapid growth of lactobacillus, one of the bacteria that
promotes colon health. The chlorophyll in chlorella helps keep the
bowel clean, while the tough cellulose membrane of chlorella (which
is not digested) binds to cadmium, lead and other heavy metals and
carries them out of the body. The CGF stimulates repair of tissue
damage. To summarize, chlorella restores bowel regularity,
normalizes beneficial bowel flora, assists in detoxifying the bowel
and stimulates repair of damaged tissue.
Numerous testimonies from Japan are available, showing how
chlorella has taken care of lung and bronchial problems, kidney
troubles, bowel problems and skin conditions. Some of these will be
presented in a later chapter of the book. The main point is,
chlorella improves elimination in all four elimination channels,
which is the key to detoxification of the body. This allows the
rebuilding and rejuvenation of the natural defense system as a whole
and the immune system, in particular.
Chlorella Helps to Clean the Bloodstream
A clean bloodstream, with an abundance of red blood cells to
carry oxygen, is necessary to a strong natural defense system.
Chlorella's cleansing action on the bowel and other elimination
channels, as well as its protection of the liver, helps keep the
blood clean.
Clean blood assures that metabolic wastes are efficiently carried
away from the tissues. My experience has shown that the buildup of
metabolic wastes in the body is probably as serious a problem as the
accumulation of toxic materials from undesirable foods, pollution
and exposure to chemicals on the job.
Chlorella Helps to Balance Blood Sugar
Experiments have
shown that chlorella tends to normalize blood sugar in cases of
hypoglycemia while numerous personal testimonies show that it also
helps take care of diabetes. In hypoglycemia, blood sugar is too
low, while in diabetes, blood sugar is too high. Proper levels of
blood sugar are necessary for normal brain function, heart function
and energy metabolism, all of which are crucial in sustaining good
health and preventing disease. The liver and pancreas are involved
in the regulation of blood sugar, particularly the Islands of
Langerhans in the pancreas. So, we find that chlorella supports and
balances pancreatic functions as well as the other organs we have
discussed.
Chlorella Helps to Reduce Catarrhal Conditions
A large-scale experiment, mentioned earlier, with chlorella was
conducted on nearly a thousand Japanese sailors on a training cruise
from Japan to Australia and back, over a period of 95 days. Two
grams of chlorella per day was given to 458 randomly selected crew
members, while 513 others served as a comparison group and did not
take the chlorella. About 30% fewer cases of colds and flu were
experienced by those who took chlorella. A substance called "chlon
A", extracted from the nucleic material of chlorella, stimulates
interferon production and helps protect cells against viruses.
Chlorella Helps to Heal Wounds
Another important aspect of chlorella is evident when we look at
hospital cases in which ulcers and wounds that refused to heal were
treated with chlorella and Chlorella Growth Factor (CGF). Japanese
doctors found that ulcers healed rapidly and that wounds which were
unresponsive to various medications and treatments finally healed
when the patients took oral doses of chlorella and Chlorella Growth
Factor. Experiments have shown that a substance in CGF stimulates
both plant and animal cells to reproduce at a faster rate, which
stimulates healing. For many years, I have emphasized that only
foods can build new tissue, and this is the ultimate secret of true
healing.
Chlorella Helps to Normalize Blood Pressure
For many years now, chlorella has been known to normalize blood
pressure in many documented cases, High blood pressure is one of the
major risk factors in heart attack and stroke, which account for
more fatalities in the US than any other disease.
Laboratory experiments have shown that regular use of chlorella
reduces high blood pressure and prevents strokes in rats. Cases of
low blood pressure are not as numerous, but when chlorella has been
used consistently over a period of months, the low blood pressure
often increases to normal.
Chlorella Helps to Build Up the Immune Factors
Science considers the trillions of white blood cells (leukocytes)
and antibodies that circulate in the blood and lymph as the body's
main defense system against disease. A protein called interferon
protects cells against harmful viruses. Leukocytes of various types
not only circulate, but cluster together in lymph nodes and in
lymphatic tissue such as the tonsils, spleen and appendix. They line
the walls of liver passages, where they are known as Kupffer cells,
and portions of the small intestine where they are called Peyer's
patches.
These "soldiers" of the immune system are said to patrol the
blood and lymph, or stand on guard in the lymph nodes, liver,
spleen, small intestine and so forth, destroying harmful bacteria,
removing foreign matter and taking old blood cells out of
circulation. The great scientist Metchnikoff won a Nobel prize for
his discoveries about the immune system in 1908.
Cells and antibodies of the immune system can be destroyed by
radiation and chemotherapy. Research has shown a significant loss of
white blood cells from sunburn alone, since the white blood cells
moving through the skin capillaries are destroyed by the ultraviolet
light in sunlight. White blood cells (leukocytes) and antibodies
both require a balance of nutrients and high-quality proteins. If we
are not eating properly, the immune system is harmed along with
other parts of the body.
Recent Research
Some of the most recent scientific experiments in Japan and the
Republic of China concern the effects of chlorella on the immune
system in cases of degenerative disease. Several years ago, Japanese
doctors discovered that giving chlorella to cancer patients going
through radiation therapy or chemotherapy helped prevent leucopenia,
the sudden drop in white blood cell count which usually accompanied
those therapies. Leucopenia is characterized by fatigue, low energy
and low resistance to infections and catarrhal conditions. Doctors
found that if chlorella was given in advance of the treatment, the
white blood cell count would not drop as low, and it would bounce up
again more quickly than usual.
Research at the Kitazato Institute indicated that chemical
substances in chlorella stimulated the production of interferon, a
chemical natural to the body which protects cells against viruses
and which is believed to slow the growth rate of cancer cells.
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