An amazing study published in the Journal of Cell Science reveals an entirely new reason why it is essential that you 'eat your greens,' as mother always said, namely:
it enables your body's mitochondria to produce more ATP energy when exposed to sunlight.
(Brussels: More greens = more ATP energy in your cells!!!)
The study titled, "Light-harvesting chlorophyll pigments enable mammalian mitochondria to capture photonic energy and produce ATP", ...
... indicates that by eating a chlorophyll-rich diet mammals (and by implication humans) can capture specific wavelengths of sunlight radiation
.... that will translate into increased energy within the powerhouses of the cell known as the mitochondria.
We show that dietary metabolites of chlorophyll can enter the circulation, are present in tissues, and can be enriched in the mitochondria.
---------------------------------------- When incubated with a light-capturing metabolite of chlorophyll, isolated mammalian mitochondria and animal-derived tissues, have higher concentrations of ATP when exposed to light, ...
... compared with animal tissues not mixed with the metabolite.
We demonstrate that the same metabolite increases ATP concentrations, and extends the median life span of Caenorhabditis elegans [worm], upon light exposure;
supporting the hypothesis that photonic energy capture through dietary-derived metabolites may be an important means of energy regulation in animals.
The presented data are consistent with the hypothesis that metabolites of dietary chlorophyll modulate mitochondrial ATP stores by catalyzing the reduction of coenzyme Q.
These findings have implications for our understanding of aging, normal cell function and life on earth.
------------------------ Br: I find that extremely cool, that eating greens will help powering our mitochondria.
I take chlorella for more than a decade. In great amounts (now less, but during lyme, it was really a lot).
Without chlorella, I would still be sick with lyme, I have no doubt. That is how much I think chlorella helped me.