Even in Absence of Disease, Chlorella Improves Immunity Health

by | May 14, 2013 | 2013, Immune Health

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. In a study of 51 patients, supplementation with chlorella improved markers of immunity by 152% and 93% over the control group.

Chlorella is a single-celled green algae popular in the Asian diets of Japan, Taiwan and Korea. It has gained popularity in the United States because of research showing a wide number of health benefits. Rich in essential amino acids, protein, minerals, vitamins, dietary fiber, and  antioxidants, chlorella has been shown to help patients suffering from high cholesterol (1), abnormal blood lipids (2), high blood pressure (3), increasing antioxidant levels in smokers (5) and improving blood sugar control in mice (5).

All of the research demonstrates chlorella’s ability to improve health in the presence of disease. Now a recent study (6) suggests chlorella may improve health, specifically immune system health, in the absence of disease.

The study involved 51 patients aged 34 to 38. Twenty-eight patients  (10 males/18 females) took 5 grams of Chlorella and 23 patients (10 males/13 females) took a placebo in the form of 12 pills each day (4 after each meal) for 8 weeks. Height, weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, and blood samples were taken before and after the study. The subjects also provided dietary information via a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (7).

To confirm the health status of each subject, the researcher confirmed they were free of all of the following:

  • Clinical or electrocardiographic evidence of coronary artery disease, stroke, heart attack, or blood vessel disease
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Abnormal liver or kidney function
  • Thyroid or pituitary disease
  • Acute or chronic inflammatory/immune disease including malignant tumor, lung disease, leukemia, autoimmune disease
  • Lactose intolerance
  • Orthopedic limitations
  • Body weight loss/gain≥10% in the past 1 year;
  • Regular use of any medications that could affect cardiovascular function and/or metabolism
  • The number of white blood cells >8 × 103/microliter

By the end of 8 weeks, no side effects were noted from the chlorella. They found no statistically significant changes in either group for calorie intake, weight, blood pressure, white blood cell count, or body mass index. What was statistically different was the level of a type of immune system cell called natural killer cells. Specifically, those in the chlorella group saw the natural killer cell activity to increase by 127% (7.5 to 17%) compared to a 25.6% decrease in the placebo group (10.75 to 8%) (p < 0.05).

In addition, the Chlorella group saw a 53.3% increase in an immune system cell called gamma interferon (IFN-gamma – 1.5 to 2.3 picograms/millilter) compared to a 40% decrease in the placebo group (1.75 to 1.05 pg/mL) (p< 0.05) and a 45% increase in another immune system cell called IL-1B (0.4 to 0.58 pg/mL) compared to a 14.6% decrease in the placebo group (0.48 to 0.41 pg/mL) (p < 0.001).

The importance of increasing natural killer cell activity is it helps defend the body against infection (8) while IFN-gamma and IL-B help maintain healthy levels of inflammation and healthy cell division (9). For the researchers, “These results may suggest a beneficial [immune system stimulating] effect of short-term Chlorella supplementation which enhances the natural killer cell activity and produces [IFN-gamma and IL-B cytokines] in healthy people.”

Source: Kwak, Jung Hyun, Seung Han Baek, Yongje Woo, Jae Kab Han, Byung Gon Kim, Oh Yoen Kim, and Jong Ho Lee. “Beneficial immunostimulatory effect of short-term Chlorella supplementation: enhancement of Natural Killer cell activity and early inflammatory response (Randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial).” Nutrition journal 11, no. 1 (2012): 53.

© 2012 Lee et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

Click here to read the full text study.

Posted May 14, 2013.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

References:

  1. Okudo M, Hasegawa T, Sonoda M, Okabe T, Tanaka M: The effects of Chlorella on the level of cholesterol in serum and liver. Jpn J Nutr 1975,33:3–8.
  2. Fujiwara Y, Hirakawa K, Sinpo K: Effect of long-term administration of Chlorella tablets on hyperlipemia. J Jpn Soc Nutr Food Sci 1990,43:167–173.
  3. Nakamura T, Hasegawa T, Ueno S, et al: Effect of g-aminobutyric acid-rich Chlorella on blood pressure in mildly hypertensive subjects. Jpn Pharmacol Ther 2000, 28:529–533.
  4. Lee SH, Kang HJ, Lee HJ, Kang MH, Park YK: Six-week supplementation with Chlorella has favorable impact on antioxidant status in Korean male smokers. Nutrition 2010, 26:175–183.
  5. Queiroz ML, Bincoletto C, Valadares MC, Dantas DC, Santos LM: Effects of Chlorella vulgaris extract on cytokines production in Listeria monocytogenes infected mice. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol 2002, 24:483–496.
  6. Kwak JH.  Beneficial immunostimulatory effect of short term Chlorella supplementation: enhancement of natural killer cell activity and early inflammatory response (randomized, double-blinded,placebo-controlled trial).  Nutr J 2012 Jul 31;11:53. doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-11-53.
  7. Shim JS, Oh KW, Suh I, Kim MY, Shon CY, Lee EJ, Nam CM: A study on validity of a 299. semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire of Korean adults. Kor J Community Nutr 2002, 7:484–494.
  8. Brombacher F, Kopf M: Innate versus acquired immunity in listeriosis. Res Immunol 1996, 147:505–551.
  9. Cheng FC.  Effects of Chlorella on Activities of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, Matrix Metalloproteinases, Caspases, Cytokine Release, B and T Cell Proliferations, and Phorbol Ester Receptor Binding. J Med Food 2004, 7:146–152.