Did you eat your vegetables today? Everyone agrees that they’re vital to good health, especially the dark green, leafy ones. They provide antioxidants, folate, potassium, fiber, lutein, flavonoids, and other important nutrients. The darker the leaves, the more nutritious these veggies are.
But it takes time and effort to prepare and consume large amounts of these greens each day. That’s one reason a growing number of supplements contain alfalfa, barley grass, chlorella, green tea, kelp, spirulina, or wheat grass - all of which are considered green superfoods because they contain nutrient-dense, energizing, nourishing, and pH-balancing substances.
A Variety of Greens: Alfalfa contains calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus along with vitamin A, C, B-1, B-2 and niacin. Green tea is a powerful antioxidant that contains catechins, which may help prevent cancer and tumors. Like other sea vegetables, kelp is a rich source of vitamins and minerals, including iodine, which helps correct an underactive thyroid. Spirulina is high in protein and may help improve immunity, lower cholesterol, and stabilize blood sugar levels. Chlorella, another nutritional powerhouse, nourishes the body and helps protect it from damaging chemicals. Wheat grass and barley grass have similar properties. Dr. Ted Morter teaches that barley green is the most alkalizing food on earth. And remember that cancer cells cannot grow in an alkaline environment.
What Makes Greens Super: Enzymes, the biological catalysts essential to life, and chlorophyll, the pigment that makes plants green, may be the heroes in green superfoods. Chlorophyll appears to help the growth and repair of tissues, mitigate the effects of pollution, deliver magnesium, oxygenate the blood, neutralize free radicals, deodorize the breath and body, interfere with the action of carcinogens, and treat infected wounds.
In Prescription for Natural Cures, James F. Balch, MD, recommends green superfoods for antiaging, cancer prevention, detoxification, muscle aches and cramps, hemorrhoids, and psoriasis.
Consider chlorella, the unicellular green algae that has been a popular food supplement in Japan for decades. Rich in protein, chlorophyll, and carotenoids, chlorella extracts have been found to protect against gamma radiation as well as the adverse effects of several drugs and toxic chemicals. In a recent clinical trial, some patients with moderately severe symptoms of fibromyalgia improved significantly on 10g daily of chlorella tablets.
Additional research suggests that chlorella reduces dioxin levels in breast milk, improves overall health, supports detoxification, improves digestion, and helps treat hypertension. In another, Korean researchers suggest that lutein and zeaxanthin (best known for their vision benefits) in chlorella have a powerful antitumor effect, particularly in colon cancer.
Ever since the late Ann Wigmore made wheat grass a household name, enthusiasts around the world have been taking powdered wheat grass supplements. Thanks to Wigmore’s prolific writing and teaching, many consider wheat grass useful for cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome as well as a treatment for detoxifying the liver, purifying the blood, neutralizing pollutants, improving energy and circulation, and slowing aging.
Most of us simply don’t get enough raw green foods in our daily diet. Green superfoods are an important part of my daily regimen. I believe they work from the inside out. They are the fuel that energizes me and keeps me on the run. They also contribute to younger-looking skin and sharper eyesight.
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