To Your Health

Q. What do "green drinks" provide in the way of nutrients, and are they any better than eating green vegetables?

A. Green drinks are made by drying the juice from one or more of several plants. Since these plants are typically 90% water, the usual serving (1/2 ounce or 20 capsules) of the green powder roughly equals one serving of a green vegetable. An extra serving of green vegetable each day doesn't sound like much, but on average we Americans eat only two servings per day. According to the National Cancer Institute, even a small increase in vegetable intake would reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, for instance, by about 20%.

Chlorophyll is the substance all green drinks have in common. Chlorophyll structure is almost identical to hemoglobin, except chlorophyll has a magnesium atom where hemoglobin has an iron atom. Our bodies require magnesium to utilize the energy we obtain from our food, and chlorophyll from plants is an important dietary source of this essential mineral.

The plants most often used to make green drinks are two single-cell organisms, chlorella and spirulina, and the young leaves of alfalfa, barley, or wheat. Besides being rich sources of magnesium, these plants supply reasonable amounts of protein, vitamin E, and essential fatty acids such as gamma linolenic acid, an essential fatty acid that is hard to obtain in the typical American diet.

Just as it is prudent to consume a varied diet, it is sensible to use a mixture of the dried greens. A wide variety of other foods are often mixed in with several of green foods, which is OK as long as the greens are the main ingredient. The greens need a little help with taste, so you may find maltodextrin, stevia, or noni juice added for flavor.

In addition to known nutrients, chlorella also has something called Chlorella Growth Factor that may aid in human tissue repair. The May-June 2001 issue of Alternative Therapy and Health Medicine reports that a daily supplement of chlorella given to 18 sufferers of fibromyalgia reduced the average "Tender Point Index" from 32 to 25 after two months. Additional benefits were reduced blood pressure, accelerated wound healing, and enhanced immune function.

Researchers have also described complex sugars in chlorella that are 100 and 1,000 times more powerful than those currently used clinically for cancer immunotherapy. These complex sugars appear to be cell-to-cell messenger chemicals that stimulate white cells.

One component of spirulina is phytocyanin, a potent antioxidant and immune booster that seems to work better than the common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen.

It is less expensive and tastier, no doubt, to acquire nutrients from whole foods, but if your lifestyle makes it prohibitively difficult to eat as you should, we are fortunate that in America another option exists.