Chlorophyll
Health & Fitness By KEMI ILORI
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

When we talk about fruits and vegetables and their nutritional benefits, we mostly mention the vitamins, minerals, more recently fibre. Hardly anybody talks about chlorophyll. My first awareness of chlorophyll was because of the challenge of having to spell it in examinations. This was understandable because it was in the later class of primary school. Like everybody, I had been eating the stuff, but could not be bothered about it. Many of us enjoy our green leafy vegetables without a second thought for the colour, but are more concerned with the taste. Today, we will look at what we are eating each time we swallow morsels of vegetables containing chlorophyll and the goodness therein.

What is Chlorophyll? Chlorophyll is the substance in leaves and other parts of plants which give them their green colour. Anytime you see greeen in a plant, you are are looking at a chlorophyllous or rather chlorophyll-containing plant. Plants rich in chlorophyll are usually green leafy vegetables like spinach, lettuce, etc. In fact, spinach tops the list of plants that are rich in chlorophyll; with 300 to 600 milligrams peer ounce (abut half a cup). It’s far and away the best food source for chlorophyll (that is until we do our own African research and find out better sources!). You may wonder that where does the chlorophyll in plants come from.

Well, chlorophyll is the green substance which plants manufacture through the chemical process of photosynthesis, using the sun. Chlorophyll absorbs sunlight and uses its energy to synthesis carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water. By so doing, it helps to purify the environment by taking in carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen. Chlorophyll has been described as "the plant’s blood". We have all heard the phrase that "the life is in the blood".

Conversely, chlorophyll can be said to be a plant’s life. More interesting though, is the fact that; the only difference between a chlorophyll molecule and a haemoglobin molecule (that of the human blood), is a central atom which is iron in blood and magnesium in chlorophyll. This synergy shows that God is really a great designer. Chlorophyll has been shown to have a lot of beneficial health properties and different ancient cultures revere the greenness in plants. Present day research and uses have identified some of the benefits and they are;

Therapeutic Properties of Chlorophyll
• It purifies the blood and the organism, cleaning it of toxins.
• Chlorophyll can help prevent cancer and is being used in cancer therapy.
• It detorifies the liver
• It cleans the intestines
• Helps combat anemia
• It helps to rejuvenate and energize the body
• Immune system stimulator
• Is beneficial against sinusitis, fluid buildup, and skin rashes
• Normalizes blood pressure
• It eliminate molds in the body
• One of the principal functions is combating bad odors, bad breath as well as body odor. This is due to the magnesium salts that it contains. Most people know chlorophyll for its ability to eliminate bad breath and overall body odor when taken internally.
From the foregoing, we have seen some of the benefits of chlorophyll. Aside from these, few know that it has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial effects.

Chlorophyll and cancer
Serious and reproducible research has shown that chlorophyll is an anti-mutagenic agent,. This simply means that it prevents changes in our body which can lead to cancer. It does this by inhibiting certain DNA-damaging chemicals and prevents the mutations that lead to various forms of cancer. In particular, chlorophyll is a powerful liver de-toxifier and anti-mutagenic agent.

In one study conducted by the Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, chlorophyll was found to reduce DNA damage caused by exposure to aflatoxin, a powerful carcinogen. The study results appear in the November 27, 2001 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Presenting the results, Dr. Thomas Kensler, PhD, professor of environmental health sciences at Johns Hopkins stated, "Our study shows that taking chlorophyll chlorophyllin in three times a day reduced the amounts of aflatoxin-DNA damage by 55 per cent compared with taking a placebo… Taking chlorophyll chlorophyllin or eating green vegetables, like spinach, that are rich in chlorophyll may be a practical way of reducing the risk of liver cancer and other cancers caused by environmental triggers." This particular research should be of interest to Nigerian men who drink beer.

This is because of the high amount of aflatoxins in the blood of habitual drinkers (according to research done in King’s College, University of London). They should not joke with their vegetable soup and should eat plenty of it regularly. A full pot of green vegetable soup is a must in my house every week. We are spoilt for choice, with the wide variety of vegetables that we have in this country.