Sun Chlorella USA: Research Suggests That Chlorella Pyrenoidosa May Help To Improve Symptoms For Mild To Moderate Hypertension While Maintaining Healthy Serum Cholesterol Levels
January 23, 2009
Hypertension (sustained high blood pressure) is a serious public health problem, affecting an estimated 50 million Americans.
High blood pressure is defined as a mean systolic pressure (upper number, the force of the heart’s contraction) greater than 140 mm Hg, or a mean diastolic pressure (lower number, the force of the blood filling the heart) of 90 mm Hg or higher. Hypertension increases the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease and can damage the kidneys as well. While treatment of hypertension with drugs which lower blood pressure decreases the risk of these diseases, this benefit often unfortunately means lifelong use of the agent which for some people produces adverse side effects which interfere with their quality of life.
For this reason, non-pharmacological interventions which provide an effective means to lower blood pressure are being investigated more and more with the hope of finding a useful way to both prevent and treat hypertension. The four principal non-pharmacological therapies are weight control (or loss), diet modification, exercise, and reduced alcohol consumption. Dietary modification studies have focused primarily on the beneficial effects of reducing sodium intake and lowering the amount of fat in the diet, as well as using supplements to increase intake of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and fiber.
Randomized controlled clinical trials and population studies for example, have both shown that the blood pressure of hypertensive subjects can be lowered with a vegetarian diet. Such a diet is characterized by relatively low saturated fats, a high polyunsaturated/saturated fat ratio, and a high intake of fruit, vegetables and other fiber-containing and vitamin rich natural foods. These comprehensive studies, however, have failed to uncover which specific nutrient(s) in the vegetarian diet accounts for the blood pressure-lowering effect and rather have suggested that it is these "whole foods" with their complex combination of nutrients acting in concert that is responsible.
Chlorella Pyrenoidosa is a unicellular green alga that is grown in man made fresh mineral water pools. It has the highest content of chlorophyll of any known plant and also contains high concentrations of certain vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, nucleic acids, amino acids, enzymes, and other nutritive substances. This alga has a strong cell wall that prevents its native form from being adequately digested, so that only after DYNO®-Mill processing to break its cell wall can the organism be digested by humans. Research has suggested that Chlorella helps detoxify the body of harmful toxins while nourishing the body at the same time. A key component derived from the nucleus of the plant called the Chlorella Growth Factor (CGF), stimulates the immune system, promotes growth to maintain the tissues and revitalizes the body at the cellular level.
In a recent three-month clinical study, conducted by Randall Merchant, Ph.D., Professor of Anatomy and Neurosurgery at Virginia Commonwealth University, 24 participants with mild to moderate hypertension (mean diastolic blood pressure between 90 and 115 mm Hg) supplemented their diets daily with Chlorella tablets and Wakasa Gold liquid. Following standards for clinical studies, participants received a placebo of both Chlorella products for the first month to clear out of their system of whatever medication they had been taking, and to confirm that without such medication they in fact had mild to moderate hypertension. For the next two months, they took the real Chlorella supplements.
The results of this study were presented in April 1999 at the annual meeting of the Federation of the Societies for Experimental Biology in Washington, D. C.
At the end of the study, 38% of the participants had lower blood pressure, and another 29% maintained the same blood pressure level as they had when taking their anti-hypertension medication.
An unexpected finding was that the average serum cholesterol level for the entire study group showed a statistically significant drop of 14%. Dr. Merchant hopes to conduct further clinical studies with Chlorella in order to show if similar drops in cholesterol occur in people with high cholesterol, but who do not suffer from hypertension.
Even though the results of Dr. Merchant’s study indicate that Chlorella may be beneficial in the control of hypertension and cholesterol, it is extremely important that anyone who suffers from hypertension, not take it upon themselves to substitute or stop any form of their own prescribed medication. Proper supervision and consultation with their doctor is imperative!
As a result of the unique DYNO®-Mill process, Sun Chlorella “A” is the only Chlorella that is more than 95% digestible with a true broken (pulverized) cell wall, which allows the body to absorb and utilize its maximum nutritional benefits. For this particular reason, Dr. Merchant chose Sun Chlorella
“A” to be the “whole food” supplement in his studies conducted with patients who suffer from chronic illnesses.
However, do not assume that Chlorella is beneficial only to those who are burdened with a chronic health concern. We believe everyone can benefit from Chlorella because of its capacity to fortify the body's own natural defenses through its detoxifying abilities and enhancement of immunological functions. According to Dr. Randall Merchant, “Chlorella is clearly a Superfood that should be a part of everyone's diet”!
You can find Sun Chlorella in tablet, granule or liquid form over the counter in most natural health food stores.
For additional information or for free sample of Sun Chlorella, please call (800) 829-2828 ext. 2455