What is the benefit of eating chlorophyll-rich foods?

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What is the benefit of eating chlorophyll-rich foods?
What is the benefit of eating chlorophyll-rich foods?
Anonim

Vegetables are very useful for our health, but these vegetables and plants are especially highlighted by the Chinese expert. This is because they contain a substance that inhibits the development of cancer cells, which has an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect. And this is only a part of their useful properties.

Spring came and green shoots appeared everywhere. In the middle of the spring season, many peoples have the custom of picking wild edible plants, eating green donuts (made from rice dough with wild herbs or leaves) and steaming rice with the juice of young plants. They use a variety of recipes and turn fresh young shoots that sprout in spring into green food for their own dining table. This beautiful green color is concentrated in the leaves of plants and comes from the chlorophyll in the leaves. It's worth mentioning chlorophyll as everyone starts thinking about photosynthesis. Without photosynthesis, there would be no such abundance of plants, and without plants there would be no herbivores and carnivores.

Chlorophyll plays a key role in this magical process of photosynthesis.

Chlorophyll has anti-cancer effects

In fact, chlorophyll is important not only for plants, but also plays a significant role in human health.

To date, research has shown that the health effects of chlorophyll are extensive: it has antioxidant, anti-mutational, and even anti-cancer effects. It can prevent oxidative damage to DNA and inhibit lipid oxidation by chelating various metal ions that promote oxidation. In vitro studies have shown that chlorophyll can inhibit pancreatic cancer cells because it can suppress heme oxygenase mRNA expression and enzyme activity.

The scientific community has previously discovered that eating too much red meat can contribute to the development of colorectal cancer. This is because the hemes in meat can catalyze lipid oxidation. If there are too many of them, they can also contribute to cell proliferation and cytotoxicity. All of this is associated with an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer. If you eat foods that contain a lot of chlorophyll, then it will replace heme, protecting the human body from harm caused by excess heme. This is because chlorophyll has a porphyrin structure and contains magnesium ions, while heme has a porphyrin structure and contains iron ions. These two structures are very similar and there is competition between them.

Since chlorophyll can chelate various metal ions and has a particularly strong ability to bind with heavy metal ions, it is also used as a heavy metal contamination cleaner.

Chlorophyll can significantly reduce the absorption of aflatoxins

Animal studies have shown that administering spinach chlorophyll extract to obese mice caused by a high-fat diet can reduce endotoxemia and reduce multiple rates of inflammation. In fact, back in the 1990s, research showed that chlorophyll and its derivatives can suppress the mutagenic effects of various chemical carcinogens. More recently, human studies in aflatoxin-contaminated areas have shown that consumption of chlorophyllipt or chlorophyll-rich foods as a prophylaxis against contamination can reduce the levels of aflatoxin metabolites in the human body, which may help reduce the risk of liver cancer caused by aflatoxin contamination. Studies in areas with a high incidence of liver cancer in China have also confirmed that drinks made from chlorophyll, broccoli and bean sprouts are inexpensive methods of preventing aflatoxin contamination.

Animal and human studies have shown that chlorophylls can significantly reduce the absorption and metabolism of aflatoxins, as well as reduce their carcinogenic effects. There is scientific evidence that chlorophyll helps the body eliminate toxins, preventing the development of cancer.

However, the protective effect of chlorophyll is not limited to chemical toxins.

To summarize, the potential benefits of chlorophyll found in green leaves include:

- Antioxidant effect;

- Antimutagenic effect;

- Anti-inflammatory effect;

- Suppression of cancer cells;

- Purification from contamination with heavy metals;

- Reducing the carcinogenic effect of aflatoxins;

- Reducing the impact of excessive consumption of red meat on the development of bowel cancer.

The greener leafy vegetables are, the higher their chlorophyll content. The higher the chlorophyll content, the higher the ability of this vegetable to synthesize nutrients and, accordingly, the higher its nutritional value. Such vegetables and herbs include: spinach, water spinach, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, gai lan, sarepta mustard, tat soy, lettuce, green salad, fennel, vegetable chrysanthemum, white basella, celery leaves, radish leaves, pea leaves, luffa leaves, pumpkin leaves, sweet potato leaves (astragalus leaves), cilantro (leaves), allspice, shepherd's purse and other herbs … Any vegetables with dark green leaves and a high leaf-to-petiole ratio are considered leafy vegetables.

Food analysis studies have long found that chlorophyll content is directly correlated with the content of many nutrients.

Dark green vegetables are not only high in chlorophyll, but also rich in folic acid (vitamin B9), phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and magnesium, and are also high in vitamin B2, lutein, carotene, flavonoids and other elements. In addition, they contain a lot of vitamin C.

Take Chinese cabbage, for example: the outer green leaves are much higher in nutrients than the light yellow leaves in the center. Chinese cabbage is not a dark green leafy vegetable because its leaves are not saturated with color.

After reading this far, some may have a question: are the beneficial properties of chlorophyll preserved after cooking?

The answer is yes. So what are you waiting for? Eat them quickly!

Fan Zhihong (范志红) - Board Member of the Chinese Society of Dietetics, Chief Scientific Communication Expert appointed by the China Science and Technology Association, Doctor of Trophology.

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