How Does Chlorophyll Supplement Help You Lose Weight?

One of the latest crazes about supplements has been chlorophyll benefits for detox or improving your diet. There certainly already are a bunch of those and losing weight is one of the top priorities these days. It shouldn’t be surprising since the number one cause of any diseases is obesity and the majority of people in the western world are overweight. At the latest when you want to fit into your skinny jeans again, you definitely want to lose weight. As summer’s not far off, let’s have a look how chlorophyll benefits your weight loss goals.

What is Chlorophyll Actually?

Chlorophyll is contained in plants and plays a vital role in photosynthesis. There are two types of it, of which one serves for plants growing in the sun and the other for plants growing in the shadows. What both types of chlorophyll do is to convert UV rays from the sun into energy for plants. Apart from that, it’s also the pigment that gives plants their beautiful green colour. Yet alone for that reason, it’s often used as food colouring.

Considering what chlorophyll does for plants, science has already wondered for a while if it couldn’t also benefit the human body. There are quite a few studies which seem to support the idea of auspicious chlorophyll benefits. For example, it’s shown to be effective to support wound healing in the 1950’s.

From the nutritious point of view, chlorophyll is packed with vitamins such as Vitamin A, C, E and K as well as magnesium. It’s got antiviral and antibacterial effects for which it might be helpful to treat wounds.

How Chlorophyll Benefits Weight Loss Goals

At present, there are quite a few proponents who suggest chlorophyll to help you lose weight. To be plain honest, supplements may help you along the way. But only for a more holistic approach. The main pillars to lose weight remain a switch to a healthier diet and physical activity. However, two studies presently seem to confirm chlorophyll benefits for weight loss goals.

Less Appetite and Feeling Satisfied Sooner

According to a study in 2013 chlorophyll may regulate feelings of hunger and fullness. Chlorophyll appeared to make study attendants feel full earlier when they had a meal with lots of carbohydrates. Everyone knows the evil carbs are the main culprit when it comes to gaining weight. This might actually do the trick. However, you could as well switch to a low carb diet. If you can’t, you may want to give chlorophyll benefits a try. At least you’ll eat less unhealthy foods.

More Weight Loss

In another study in 2014, researchers conducted a double blind study with a group of study attendants across the span of 12 weeks. Both had a high BMI and intended to lose weight. One group of them took chlorophyll supplements and the other did not. In addition, they did physical activity. The group that took chlorophyll supplements lost 11 pounds after those 12 weeks, while the one on placebos only lost 7 pounds of weight. It might seem quite a significant weight loss. Their BMI and body fat percentage didn’t differ too much among those two groups. Hence, it’s hard to tell whether chlorophyll is as effective for losing weight.

Alkaline Diet

Influencers often claim chlorophyll would make the pH levels of your body more alkaline. That, in turn, would help weight loss. Technically does. Foods that form acids  are fried and sugary foods, processed and red meat as well as alcohol. All of them are pretty much forbidden when you’re on a diet. Alkaline foods are almonds, veggies, fresh fruit and lentils or soy products. All of those would be more on your meal plan when you’re on a diet. This means, you’d already make your body more alkaline. If you’re taking a supplement to speed up this process, it can backfire quite a bit and you’d become too alkaline.

How to Get Chlorophyll Benefits

Chlorophyll drops are fairly easy to use. You can simply add them to water and have a couple of sips throughout the day. That’s pretty much about it. Its green colour may not look appetising, but your water will not taste too different. To help you along with a better taste, you can also add chlorophyll to a berry smoothie.

Green Foods

When you’re trying to lose weight, you could skip supplements and just switch to a bunch of green veggies. Those that are especially rich in chlorophyll are:

• Kale
• Leek
• Green asparagus
• Broccoli
• Arugula
• Spinach

Also wheatgrass shots contain a lot of chlorophyll. However, if you truly want chlorophyll benefits to lose weight, you’d have to eat green veggies uncooked and raw. Most of their contained chlorophyll is already destroyed before you eat them and especially when cooked. That’s the only reason why people reach for liquid chlorophyll. Besides, green smoothies and wheatgrass shots are not everyone’s cuppa.

You can still eat a lot of green foods to get more chlorophyll benefits. They’re more calorie dense and you can eat quite a lot of them without eating too many calories.

Is Chlorophyll Safe for Weight Loss?

Chlorophyll is considered safe to use up to a dosage of 300 mg a day according to the FDA. Due to the lack of research, no one knows how much you may actually need. Pregnant women and children shouldn’t take it, but those two usually don’t have to actively lose weight.  If you’re taking too much chlorophyll, your body will definitely notify you. Signs would be:

• Nausea
• Stomach Cramps
• Diarrhoea

In some cases also the stool and urine can discolour to a green shade. Those would be signs that you overdid it with chlorophyll. At best, you start off with a low dosage and observe how you get on with chlorophyll benefits. Raise the dosage bit by bit over time so your body can get used to it. Keep in mind that it may not expect that much chlorophyll at one and might be a little overwhelmed.