Cleanse, Detox, and Energize with Spirulina & Chlorella, with Dr. Catharine Arnston

Spirulina gives you the nourishment you need and the energy you need for your day. And Chlorella is the cleanup crew. And the two of them work beautifully and completely differently. And you want energy in the morning and you're hungry in the morning. That's when you take Spirulina. You want to get rid of the toxins and have a deep sleep and get rid of all the junk in your trunk, as I refer to it, that's chlorella.

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Hello and welcome to this episode of the Feel Freaking Amazing podcast. I'm Wendy Trubo. So star sighting today. Ev Levitan. And triple star sighting because we have a newly minted PhD, Katherine Arnsten. Dr. Arnsten is an expert in algae nutrition, a wellness thought leader, an experienced entrepreneur, and a sought after speaker. She has an mba, ba, ons, is a board certified health coach and just got her PhD. So as we say in Boston, she's wicked smart and she has an algae company. So, Katherine, welcome to the show. First of all, it's lovely to see you again.

So, so great to see you. I didn't realize it had been two years, so well overdue. And I'm grateful to be back.

Great. So what are algae?

So algae. And what we'll talk about is how the reason why it's effortless is because we put it into tiny tablets that you can swallow or chew. So there's a couple of cool things about algae is. First of all, it was the first life on Earth, not just the first plant, but the very first life almost 4 billion years ago, and it's still here. And it was a cyanobacteria like spirulina. You're going to find out that spirulina, spirulina is not even a plant. It's a bacteria. It's a cyanobacteria. So I tell people there's something spiritual about being the first life on Earth. I now call Spirulina spiritualina for that reason. Right. But in addition to that, algae is actually a food. It's its own food category because it's not really a plant, certainly not an animal. And there's two main types of spirulina. There's that macro algae and there's microalgae. Let me tell you about macroalgae. We're going to be talking about microalgae today. But macroalgae is that big stringy stuff that you see washing up on shore, also known as seaweed. Now, it's good for you because it has lots of fiber, but it has virtually no nutrition. And it has iodine in it because it comes from the sea. It's only found in the sea, which is why it's called seaweed. Now, microalgae is completely opposite. It has virtually no fiber or no fiber. Like spirulina, it is everywhere, not just the sea, it's also in the lakes, the rivers, the streams, the soil, your aquarium. And it is the most nutrient dense food in the universe. You can get, you can't see it. It's called microalgae because it's microscopic in size. You can get something like a million microalgae on the head of a pin. So this is why it's when you consolidate it into these little tablets, this is how they take it in Asia. This is how we sell it. You can start to see why it's concentrated with nutrients. It has 40 vitamins and nutrients, the highest chlorophyll in the world, the highest protein in the world. And there are tens of thousands of strains of microalgae macroalgae. There's just a few. There's blue or, sorry, green, brown, red. But with microalgae, tens of thousands. And the two main ones people are aware of is blue green algae and green algae. Now, I mention this because lots of people will go online and they'll read about a blue green algae closing their favorite beach. Well, that's not the kind of blue green algae we sell or that you find in Whole foods or even Target, because one strain of blue green algae is spirulina and one strain of green algae is chlorella. And those two strains are harvested as food crops in freshwater farms hydroponically. So while there is blue green algae in the ocean, it is not spirulina. So the important thing is for people to know that spirulina and chlorella, which are two microalgae, are food. They are harvested hydroponically in fresh water, so no ocean toxicity, no microtoxins. And then we're well best known because of the quality of our production processes that restore, retain all the nutrients and ensure there are no toxins. Because I tell people growing algae isn't like growing broccoli or carrots. It's more like making wine. And when you make wine, the quality of the wine is affected by the angle of the sun. We grow ours in Taiwan, which is world renowned for having the highest quality spirulina chlorella. And it's also the production processes. And so the way we grow it, we preserve all these nutrients so that you get the best value from taking it.

Okay, there's a lot to unpack there. And I have a question.

Okay, okay.

Really basic question. I think I missed this part. What's the difference between cholerella and spirulina? Is it just that they come from different yet? So, okay, thank you. I was like, did I miss it?

Yeah. No, you didn't miss it. So I was setting the tone that there's algae is a food category. There's macroalgae and microalgae. Within microalgae, there's tens of thousands of strains, including blue, green and green. And one strain of blue green is spirulina, and one strain of green is chlorella. Now, they are completely different, and what they do in your body is completely different. It's as different as night is from day, black from white. So let me walk you through the differences. Spirulina is a blue green algae. It's called that because it has two pigments. One pigment is chlorophyll, which people are probably familiar with. The other pigment is a blue pigment called phycocyanin. Now, most people will never have heard phycocyanin. It's spelled P H Y C O C Y A N I N. And I want you to know about it and I want you to be able to spell it because it is proven to kill cancer cells. So you can go on Google and Google phycocyanin and cancer treatments, and you'll see that they're already using phycocyanin for cancer treatments. So that's pretty important. But nonetheless, the main thing that spirulina is known for is providing the body with energy and nourishment. We call our spirulina energy bits for that reason. The way it gives you energy is because it's loaded with amino acids. It has 18, the 20 of the 20, including the nine your body can't make. And it's loaded with B vitamins, which convert the aminos into glucose and energy. So you get an immediate increase in focus and physical energy. And it has nutrients that improve the Generation of cellular energy, which is called ATP. This kind of energy is quite different from the kind of energy you would get from a stimulant. When you take coffee, sugar, those are stimulants. And what they do is they. It's like putting paper on a fire. You get a burst of energy, but also a crash. When you take spirulina for energy, it's like putting a log on the fire. You don't feel it immediately. It's at the cellular level because it's generating ATP, which then is directed to whatever energy needs you have in the moment. Maybe you're an exam. It will give you brain focus. Maybe you're work doing a workout. It will give you more energy focus. So it's very cellular energy driven. So it's energy bits is what we call ours because of that. So very energizing and very healing to the mitochondria who generate all that cellular energy. Yes.

It has no idea. You have no idea where I'm going with this. But we were out. Where were we? Oh, Phoenix.

I was wondering when that I have.

To bring this up. So we were out in Phoenix and we were at a raw vegan restaurant, which I normally don't do that well with. I just. I don't know why. But that's not to say it's bad. I just don't do that well with it. But we got this drink. Catherine. I have not been able to find the drink. It was blue. It was the phycocyanin. I looked online to buy phycocyanin. I cannot find it. So I'm hoping you can direct me to where to find. Because I don't want a green drink. I want a blue drink.

Yes, that's not dyed. Yes, well, you will get. You will get phycocine. Our algae has the highest concentration of phycocyanin in the world.

Will it make my drink blue? If I blend it though, that's the most important thing.

If you take some of our spirulina tablets and you put it in a place, that's the color that comes out blue. Now you'll also notice that the blue pigment from the spirulina disperses evenly through the water. Water. That's because phycocyanin is a water based pigment as opposed to chlorophyll, which is a fat based pigment. They are completely different. So spirulina, the energy bits does have some chlorophyll in it, but it's only chlorophyll's Only in the green. Green algae chlorella and, and spirulina is the only place in the universe that has the blue pigment phycocyanin.

So I have some of your spirulina at home. So if I blend it in water, it's going to turn blue. Is this what you're telling me?

Well, yes, it should. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

Stay tuned. I'll do a little Instagram reel and I'll tag you once I go home and do it because I really want to drink a blue drink.

Well, because it will depend on what else you're putting in there. If, if you're mixing it with other greens, you know, the green could dilute the blue.

Who knows that? No, just spirulina.

Yeah. But I do want to point out that, and this is what you know, harking back to our high quality phycocyanin, the pigment phycocyanin is deactivated by high heat. And when you buy dried phycocyanin, which you can get on Amazon or if you get it from a lower priced algae, they usually use high heat to dry it. So you'll get the blue. But when you deactivate the phycocyanin, it will no longer have the cancer killing capabilities if it was kept intact without high heat. So anyways, going back to Spirulina, nourishing 40 vitamins and minerals, heals the mitochondria, improves cellular energy, improves it satisfies your hunger. Both algae have zero carbs by the way, so they're great for intermittent fasting. A lot of people use the spirulina when they are doing intermittent fasting because it does not interfere with the F and it satisfies your hunger and gives you energy. So you know, problem solved. So anyway, so very, very. So we that's with energy bits or spirulina. Very, very nourishing, very, very satisfying for your hunger. People are on the GLP1 drugs. Of course they're not eating, so they're not getting nourishment which can also help, you know, what will lead to muscle loss. Spirulina is also known for having the highest protein in the world. This is why it's been endorsed by the United nations for 50 years. In 1974 they had a global conference endorsing spirulina as the answer to world hunger. Because it has the highest protein in the world, 64% protein for our. And it's a sustainable protein, it's a crop, it's not animal so those are the key attributes of spirulina. Now, this compares to chlorella, which we call ours recovery bits because it's a health and recovery. Algae does not energize you, does not satisfy your hunger, is not used as much for mitochondria health. It's detoxing algae. It has the hardest cell wall in the plant kingdom. So it does have fiber. Spirulina, which is a bacteria, has zero fiber, which is a why. And the reason that's important to know is because it gets absorbed almost instantly. There's nothing for your body to break down. Zero fiber. To get access to all the nutrients. Chlorella takes about an hour and a half to be fully absorbed. Now, that hard cell wall does two really great things. One is it attaches to heavy metals, all toxins, alcohol, lactic acid, alcohol, sorry, aluminum, all the metals, glyphosate, pesticide, anything, and detoxes them.

So it's mycotoxins. Don't forget the mycotoxins. We all have them.

Yes. And there aren't any in our algae, which there are in most of them because they don't pay as much attention to the way it's grown, but nonetheless very, very detoxing. Spirulina is cleansing, but not detoxing because it's this hard cel wall that attaches to the toxins and pulls them out. Chlorella al. That hard cell wall has fiber in it that feeds your gut biome. So the, you can. The bacteria will, the good bacteria will be increased to help any kind of restoration of any leaky gut and improves the population of the healthy gut. So that's really good. Also, chlorella has the highest concentration of glutathione in the world. There's a. Which is also a detoxing antioxidant. So the hard cell wall removes toxins. The glutathione also helps remove toxins. The fiber feeds the gut biome. And chlorella has also 40 vitamins and minerals, but slightly different proportions, and they're the right nutrients that heal the immune system. 80% of your immune system is in your gut. And so you need to feed your immune system the nutrients that they need so it can defend you. Because your IM system, I tell people, it's sort of like your police force. It identifies invaders or, you know, removes them and makes sure that they don't come back. And so, but you, you, you know, or, or think of it as a fire. The fire department, it will protect you when a fire breaks out. But you got to give the fireman a hose with water in it. You've got to give your immune system the equivalent of a hose with fire, which are with water, which is what the chlorella does. It, it, it gives your immune system what it needs to go to work for you. And that's all in the chlore. Other cool thing about chlorella is that it has the highest chlorophyll in the world. That's why it's called chlorella, because of the high chlorophyll. What's so cool about chlorophyll? Well, number one, as I mentioned, it's a fat based pigment, so it heals the cell walls. We take omega 3, vitamin E, all these healthy fats to heal the cell walls so that nutrients can get in and toxins can get out. Chlorophyll does the same thing. So that's important. Number two, the chemical composition of chlorophyll is virtually identical to your hemoglobin that's in your red blood cells. When you have healthy blood, you're going to have a healthier body. You need healthy blood to deliver nutrients and oxygen to your brain, to your cells, to your mitochondria. And the only difference between chlorophyll chemical composition and the, and your hemoglobin is that chlorophyll has magnesium in the middle and your hemoglobin has iron. Otherwise they're virtually identical. So chlorella builds your blood and that is very healing. Chlorella also has the highest tryptophan in the world, so which helps you get into a deep sleep. This is why we recommend chlorella, which we call recovery bits before bed because this is when your body goes through a detox repair cycle. So if you have chlorella in your body before you go to sleep, while you're getting your beauty rest, you got, you got the cleanup crew getting rid of aluminum in your brain, toxins and pesticides from your cells. Oh, and I forgot to mention, chlorella also stimulates peristalsis, fancy word for saying a bowel movement. So I tell people it's not just what you, the nutrition that you put in, by the way, it's not just what you eat, it's what you absorb. But you also have to remove what I call the junk in your trunk. So that's what chlorella does. Because if you, this is why colon cancer is on the rise, because people don't like to talk about it. But if you're on medication, you're probably constipated. If you're traveling, you're probably constipated. If you're eating dairy, you're probably constipated. If you're eating processed foods, you're probably constipated. And what happens is all that junk in your trunk sits there, and your blood circulates around and picks up the junk that your body didn't want, including toxins, and recirculates them. It's like having the garbage truck parked in front of your house forever. So chlorella stimulates that process of removing them. So. So this is how I tell people. Spirulina gives you the nourishment you need and the energy you need for your day. And chlorella is the cleanup crew. It's. I made. I came up with this analogy because I stay at hotels when I speak all the time. I realized spirulina, because it gives you so much nourishment and energy for the day, it's like having room service at a hotel. And chlorella, because it cleans out all the junk in your trunk and makes everything work and tidy, that's like chlorella. So spirulina is like room service. Chlorella is like housekeeping. And the two of them work beautifully and completely differently. And you want energy in the morning, and you're hungry in the morning. That's when you take spirulina. You want to get rid of the toxins and have a deep sleep and get rid of all the junk in your trunk, as I refer to it. That's chlorella.

Okay, I think. I think we should not step over here, Catherine, because I'll say to someone, are you constipated? They go, no. I go, great. How often are you having a bowel movement? Every two or three days. Okay, that's constipation. If you are not having a bowel movement every day, you are constipated. And it should not be bunny poops. Bunny poops mean you're constipated. So I just want to put a plug in for every day. It's called. I don't know if you remember.

I know there's a chart that shows you the different types of bowel movements.

Yes, the Bristol chart.

There's the wiener one. There's the.

So look at the Bristol chart online. It'll show you what kind of poops you're having. But there's also something called the oro anal reflex that when you eat, you're supposed to poop. And we have gotten away from that as a community, because partly what we're eating, we sit a lot, we're not on the move. So at least once a day, three to four times if it's formed, is totally fine and. Okay, so my second point is how much of this do you need for it to have the effect you're hoping for? Because I'm assuming for the spirulina that. That a cancer prevention approach is different than a cancer remediation or treatment approach.

Absolutely. Thank you for asking. So we tell people, because it's food, it's up to you how much you have, and there's no upper limit. But we do have a recommendation for people. So for the spirulina, for maintenance of your health, making sure you're getting all the nourishment that you need. And I do call spirulina nutritional insurance, because you'll get 40 vitamins and minerals, all the protein that you need to maintain your cells and your muscular skeletal needs. 10 tablets a day is sufficient. However, if you are in a situation where you are trying to correct or prevent a health condition, maybe you have diabetes, maybe you have a weight loss, you know you're overweight, maybe you have cancer or had cancer, heart disease, any kind of health condition, the protocol would be 30 tablets. Now, you can sort of, you know, vary it a little bit. They don't have to be all taken together. You can take 10 in the morning, 10 at lunch, 10 in the afternoon. Or you can have all 30 in the morning or 15 in the morning and 15 at lunch. It doesn't matter. But for we call it therapeutic amount, 30 tablets would be sufficient. By the way, you could take way more than that. We fuel NHL teams, Olympic teams, triathletes, and the NHL players. They take 75 spirulina before every game because they need lots of focus and lots of energy on the ice. And then, by the way, they take 75 chlorella after the game because they want it to pull out the lactic acid so they don't have sore muscles. So just to recap.

Wait, are they swallowing them or are they chewing up?

Well, they're putting them into. In most cases, they're putting them to a smoothie. So, but that's a good question. Most people, I will tell you, swallow the spirulina because it's so chewy, because it has so much essential fatty acids, which I didn't mention, so high in protein. But I chew them. You can, but I will say most people do swallow them or add them to a smoothie. But if you like the chewy flavor and you're okay with them, stick, you know, feeling a little sticky to your teeth. Completely chewable. Kids love to chew them. Why? Turns their tongues green. They think it's hilarious. So moms and for kids, by the way, both algae are particularly. Spirulina are great for children of all ages. Pets, your grandparents. There's probably more nutrition in one tablet. One tablet, more nutrition probably than your grandparents are getting. If they're in a assisted living center, then they're getting all week. It's crazy what this stuff does. So any amount you can get into people. But we generally, for most adults between 18 and 60, we're suggesting 10 tablets a day. But if you. For therapeutic dose, 30 or more. We didn't get to the dosage amounts for chlorella. Very similar as spirulina. 10 tablets a day will give you the cleansing nutrients like the chlorophyll and all the other K2, which is really good. Lots of very healing properties. Chlorella also has something called chlorel growth factor, which speeds up the growth of your. Of your own cells. So another reason why it's so healing. We've had athletes who have healed from surgery in half the time. We had people had Lasik surgery, they healed in half the time because of the healing properties and nutrients found in chlorella. So 10 tablets will give you the chlorophyll and the other healing properties. But for detox, same with, with the, the. The Therapeutic dose is 30 tablets. Same with spirulina. Therapeutic is 30. So, so, and, and again, we. You can take it any time of day. You can take them together separately with food instead of food with water, whatever you want. In fact, we even have a brand where they're. They're blended. But definitely take the 30 for therapeutic dose. We have clients who are on chemotherapy and one of the toxins this pulls out is radiation. So in fact, the United nations used chlorella after the Chernobyl accident back in the 60s to pull out radiation. After the Fukushima disaster In Japan about 10 years ago, the entire global supply of chlorella was bought up within 24 hours by all the Asians because they know it's the only thing that would pull out radiation. So there was no chlorella for almost two months. Because it's a plant, we had to wait for it to grow again. So, so therapeutic dose is definitely 30 tablets.

I think that's the point to end. So before we end, I know that you had generously offered to Provide a link that we will put in the, in the show notes for people to get a discount on the product. And then where can people find out more about you?

Absolutely. So our website is energybits.come e n e r g y b for boy I t for tom sforsam. By the way, we call our little tablets Bits because they're just bits of nutrition, bits of food. Nothing else in it, just 100% nutrition. So energybits.com is where you can learn more, you can buy the product. We have a 20% discount code, as you mentioned. The code is five journeys, all one word, no space in between. Five journeys. It works on all the products, not subscriptions, but all the other products. And we are very science based. So if you want just quick, quick videos or, or sound bites about nutrients, come to our Instagram handle Energy Bits. We also do it on Facebook, Energy Bits. But that will give you a really fast visual on some of these facts about protein and chlorophyll and healing properties of mitochondria. Everything ultimately comes down to healing your mitochondria. And if we can just get these nutrients that are missing from all of our other food but found in algae and into you, you will protect your mitochondria. I tell people I never eat alone. I always eat with my mitochondria because they're what generate life for you. They are your electrical system.

Right. All right, so we'll make sure everything goes into the show. Notes. And on behalf of everyone, thank you so much. For the listeners, this is Katherine Arnsten, the founder of Energy Bits and a newly minted PhD. Congratulations.

Thank you. I have my certificate right here.

Thank you for being here for this episode and sharing this because it's amazing information that everybody needs to know. So thank you.

Well, thank you for allowing me to share and Mother Nature thanks you too.

Amen to that. All right, have a great day, everyone. Thanks for joining us for the Feel Freakin Amazing podcast.

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