Why, why, why is this happening to me? (Chlorella)

Chlorella supplement questions
Q. I read somewhere that chlorella removes toxins from the body. Is that true? Also, I read that one needs to check their blood iron level before taking chlorella.
A. When people talk in such vague terms as 'toxins,' it makes me think that either they do not understand the complexity of the human body, or they are just scammers, trying to hype their product. I have not seen any studies where chlorella was found to remove 'toxins' from the body. How are these 'toxins' defined, anyway?
It makes no sense to me that one has to check their iron level before taking chlorella. It's like saying one has to check their iron level before eating meat products. There are several milligrams of iron in a few ounces of meat. Three capsules of chlorella will have less than one mg of iron. Unless you plan to take half a bottle of chlorella capsules a day for months and years, forget about the silly advice of checking iron levels.

Q. Dear Dr. Sahelian: Since you are a respected authority whose input and knowledge I respect, I wanted to ask: In your opinion, does chlorella have any value as a memory enhancement supplement? The flyer from Sun Chlorella claims that a study where seniors took10 a day of their Sun Chlorella pills, in addition to the liquid extract, proved that it has memory enhancing properties. Have you had any experience with Sun Chlorella? I think its probably a pretty good detoxifier. But I've never heard you mention it. I love the products you formulate and have just finished reading your Mind Boosters book. Thank you for your time.
A. We have searched Medline and could not find studies with Sun Chlorella and memory. Even if there were one study that showed some benefit, it would pale in comparison to the many studies done with other brain nutrients that are discussed in the Mind Boosters book. Chlorella, in moderation, appears to be a healthy addition to one's diet and supplement intake, however it is one of countless other beneficial supplements that are available.

Q. I am a healthy 19 year old who participates in sports including lacrosse and kung fu. I have recently been introduced to the health benefits of chlorella and spirulina, but I'm on a student's budget (one who's putting himself through a big university) and even though I'd like to take both, I have to choose. I was just wondering if there are certain reasons why I should take one over the other (spirulina versus chlorella).
A. I am a believer in ingesting a variety of supplements rather than the same one(s) all the time. As such it may be a good idea to take spirulina first, once the bottle is finished to take a week off, and then take a chlorella supplement. It is a good idea to take breaks in between.

Chlorella side effects testimonials
Q. I started taking a chlorella supplement several weeks ago. I did not take them everyday. Last Monday I took Chlorella about an hour after I ate lunch. Within 3 hours I had an upset stomach and threw up several time that night. The next day I was alright. I did not take chlorella for the rest of the week due to I thought that it may have something to do with my sickness. Yesterday, a week later I decided to try chlorella again. This time I took it right after I ate. within in three hours I was violently sick. I was throwing up every 2 to three seconds. It was so bad I got dehydrated within an hour and was so disoriented that an ambulance had to pick me up to take me to the Hospital, By this time the Paramedics said I was throwing up a lot of bile. The doctors at the emergency room told me that it was more likely a reaction to the chlorella. Has anyone else had these kind of side affects? I do not even take the complete recommended dosage. What could have caused such a reaction. I have had stomach viruses before. This was the worst thing that I have ever had. I thought I was dying. How can something that is suppose to be good for you cause such a reaction?
A. This is the first we have heard of a chlorella supplement causing this side effect. What brand was it, and was it mixed with other herbs or ingredients? Perhaps this particular batch was contaminated? It's best to contact the manufacturer who made this product. What brand was it? Were there other herbs in it?
Q. The brand is Source Naturals Yaeyama Chlorella. It had just vitamins in it and mixed carotenoids.
A. Since this first report from 2006, we have had several other chlorella side effect emails.

Q. I read the posting above regarding chlorella side effects and this happened to me as well when I took a chlorella supplement. I tried it on two different occasions and vomited for a least an hour after taking the chlorella supplements. I thought that I was the only one who had this experience because I hadn't seen any comment or questions like this before concerning chlorella pills. I'm quite sure there are several other people who have had this experience with chlorella pills.
A. This is the second report we have had regarding vomiting side effect after taking chlorella supplements.

Q. I was reading your article on chlorella supplement and was interested to see that more than one person has had a nasty experience after ingesting this chlorella product. I decided to buy some about a month ago and took it in powder form for about 2 weeks. It seemed to agree with me ok, then one day I took it and within one hour I was experiencing the worst case of what felt like food poisoning you can ever imagine. Severe vomiting and diarrhea for several hours. I waited about a week to try again( not believing it could possibly be this wonderful food supplement that I was so impressed by initially) and sure enough the same thing happened. Still, I was undaunted and a week later I tried again but this time I took only 1/8th of a dose. Within one hour once again I was vomiting etc. and the day was ruined due to the fatigue of just getting it out of my system. I am stymied by this and now I'm concerned about what might be causing me to reject it. I have no known diseases or conditions. The chlorella product I took is reputable (Sequel) and has been stored properly. I ate only very benign foods at the time of ingestion and felt fine 'til after it was taken.

I just wanted to add my two cents to the issue of immediate sickness and side effect after taking chlorella supplement. I was reading your chlorella supplement questions site, and noted a couple of people had been violently ill when taking it. This has also happened to me, more than once first when taking a chlorella supplement prescribed by my naturopath and then yesterday, July 2008) when unknowingly drinking a fruit smoothie that contained chlorella. The sickness was debilitating vomiting, diarrhea, etc. and left me on the bathroom floor for four hours. Someone should do chlorella studies on this effect, as it appears I’m not the only one.
We have had several chlorella side effects reported in terms of gastrointestinal upset.

I saw on your section on chlorella about how someone vomited when they took chlorella. In the past I was able to take it with no problem (NOW chlorella powder). But when I tried it a few weeks later, I vomited all day and was very, very sick. Then I tried it again about a week later and the same thing happened. I don't know if I became allergic to it, or what, but I won't take any type of chlorella now.

I just want to report vomiting violently several hours after taking chlorella supplements - this happened two times and I will never use it again. As in one of the comments on your site an ambulance was called one time. In my experience the chlorella applies itself systemically - I felt sensations from the head to the feet. It also moves one into an altered state of consciousness, the kind of state one enters any time one is quite ill. The brand I used was BioPure. I had another brand a while back and never had any problem with it.

I am witting you to report to you how very ill I became after taking chlorella supplement. The first time I took it the response was delayed (24-48 hours, after I first started). The next time, I tried it, it was only a matter of 4 hours or so, before I was violently vomiting. It took about 24 hours to recover, each time.

I read your post on the chlorella page and The last few were all saying they got sick. I have been taking chlorella for years along with my wife, my two brothers, their wives, my parents and at least 20 friends and acquaintances. No body I know has ever been sick. Since chlorella and spirulina are a food, not supplements, (there is nothing added to pure chlorella and spirulina), that's like trying to say I vomit violently from eating green beans. I know that the drug cartels (prescription drugs that is) go to great lengths to suppress anything like chlorella and spirulina as many people find it does make them very healthy. Speaking for myself and all the people I know, it does make a huge difference in our life and health. Now I did do quite a bit of research on chlorella and did find that there are good manufactures and ones you really should stay away from because of contaminates in their product. My wife suffers from migraines. After taking chlorella and spurulina (10 grams a day each) she had not suffered a disabling migraine (it used to happen at least once a month). Now she may get headaches but they are handled with Tylenol and such. Coincidence? Maybe but I think not. She stopped taking this stuff for about a month and suffered a disabling migraine for the firs time in two years. I told her to get back into the routine and she has been fine since. Anyway, I took the time to write this because I really have seen the benefits of chlorella and spurulina.

I have about a tablespoon of chlorella powder everyday. I had previously read that it's a "food" and that you can't eat too much. Now I've seen warnings on another health website that over-use of chlorella can lead to excessively high iron levels.
As with most supplements, it is a good idea to take breaks from use.

I was reading your section on chlorella and saw the abundance of reader comments on several reactions after ingesting chlorella. I also noticed the absence in your comments and research citations of the profound role of chlorella in heavy metal chelation. Chlorella is an essential oral chelator. There is much research on this. It would be a great service to readers if this could be addressed on your site and research could be posted. I think that the reactions people were experiencing have to do with the heavy metal toxic burden being mobilized and reabsorbed or redistribution. I personally experienced a difficult reaction to chlorella - similar to what other readers described - when taking it for heavy metal chelation. I have read that higher doses should be taken in such cases, as more chlorella is needed to sufficiently bind to the metals it mobilizes.
I have not seen human studies regarding the role of this supplement in terms of chelating heavy metals. Some people think such reactions are due to chelation, but that may not necessarily be so. I question the wisdom of taking more in such cases of getting these unpleasant reactions or side effects.