The power of Chlorella

I have been experimenting with my own bar recipe. I recently had food allergy tests done because of the issues I was having and found out that I needed to eliminate quite a few things out of my diet. One of the issues is that I have an extremely limited selection on what kind of bars I can eat while I ride my bike. Bars that are vegan and unprocessed typically have almonds. Bars that don't have almonds typically have gluten, or some form of dairy or soy. I had been eating great bars before, but the whole almond thing has really thrown me for a loop. So I am going to have to experiment with making my own recipes. This morning's batch was just okay. It is definitely not developed to the place where I can post the recipe. One of the misses, was that I put in chlorella. While the taste is extremely strong and did not work in the bars, it led me to do a quick refresh on the powerful nutritional benefits of chlorella.

What is it? Chlorella is a single-celled green algae. It is a nutrition powerhouse. It is filled with vitamins and minerals and chlorophyll. In particular, it contains natural B12 which is plentiful in animal foods, but not in plant foods. If you are a vegan, chlorella is a fantastic way to get B12. B12 is important for red blood cell formation, developing nerve cells and metabolizing macronutrients (carbs, fat, protein). Chlorella is great to take after a tough workout. Not only is it a complete protein containing all essential amino acids to speed up recovery, but it also contains chlorella growth factor which speeds up the cell repair and growth. Perfect for muscles broken down after a long training session. It also helps increase good bacteria in the gut to improve digestion. This is a plus for recovery as well since it helps absorb recovery food and all its nutrients much better.
In addition, chlorella has powerful detox properties that help reduce cell damage from free radicals.

When buying chlorella, look for cracked cell. The cell wall needs to be broken for people to digest it. It is important to not to take a processed version or a version with extra fillers. I like the Yaeyama brand.

You can take the tablets with water, or you can blend it into a smoothie. Just be careful not to over do it- the taste is very strong!