Chlorella is a single-celled, green algae that grows in the sunniest parts of freshwater bodies. According to Dr. Beth M. Ley, author of the book Chlorella: The Ultimate Green Food, it is one of the Earth’s oldest living organisms, and has been harvested as a food source for thousands of years. However, a true understanding of chlorella’s nutritional value only emerged in the 20th century, when Western scientists began to study its chemical composition. By…
Zinc is an essential trace mineral that is found in many high-protein foods. It is the second most common mineral found in our bodies after iron, and is present in several systems and biological reactions. Despite being an essential component of our genetic material, however, we only require small amounts of zinc to function properly. Zinc is a classic example of an element that everyone knows is important, but who don’t really understand its precise…
Copper is an essential trace element that is widely distributed in nature. Though the tissues of our bodies contain it in trace amounts, with our brains and livers containing the most, we all need to obtain our copper from food-based sources to function properly. Fortunately, our bodies don’t need much copper to function properly – which is just as well, since even the most mineral-rich foods contain only small amounts of it. What Copper Does…
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and one of the most important vitamins for our overall health. Though five forms of it are known to science (vitamins D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5), the two forms that matter most to us are D2 (ergocalciferol, a synthetic form made by irradiating fungus and plant matter) and D3 (cholecalciferol, a natural form created in our bodies from sunlight exposure). Aside from being more natural, vitamin D3 is…
The B vitamins are a group of 8 water-soluble vitamins that are found in whole, unprocessed foods. Though these vitamins – which were once thought to be a single vitamin, “vitamin B” – are chemically distinct from one another, their roles in our bodies often overlap. These roles can be summarized as: Aiding cell metabolism, maintaining brain and nerve function, producing red blood cells, and breaking down carbohydrates, fat, and protein for fuel. This article,…
