Wheatgrass – Chlorophyll and Detoxification

First — let’s make sure we understand what “detoxification” is. Detoxification is the removal of toxic substances from the body.

Breathing:

We take in the gas oxygen by breathing. Blood in capillaries run next to the lungs and pick up this oxygen, then travel along the one-way street capillaries and deliver it to cells. The cells give the blood carbon dioxide (which is a by-product waste of cell activity), which takes it back to the lungs, which breathe it out.

This is detoxification — and you’re doing it with your every breath.

Next — let’s see how chlorophyll works to detoxify your body:

How chlorophyll detoxifies:

Chlorophyll works during digestion both to detoxify your body of existing toxins (which are poisons produced by certain plants, animals, and bacteria) and to prevent absorption of more toxins. Here’s how:

Absorption:
Some cholorophyll is absorbed into the bloodstream during digestion. One of its stops in the body is the liver, where it promotes the liver’s cleansing and carcinogen-neutralizing actions – by increasing the action of the Phase II detoxification enzymes.

What’s Phase II detoxification? It’s a process in which the liver uses one of two major enzyme pathways to change a toxic substance, such as an anticancer drug, into a less toxic substance that is easier for the body to excrete. In phase II detoxification, liver cells add a substance (such as cysteine, glycine, or a sulfur molecule) to a toxic chemical or drug, to make it less harmful.

Chlorophyll complexes and certain breakdown products of chlorophyll have neutralizing effects on mutagens (substances that alter cellular DNA in ways that lead to cancer).

Big Bonus Benefit:

Chlorophyll appears to prevent the absorption of dioxins:

What are dioxins? They are known carcinogens (agents that cause cancer). They are poisonous petroleum-derived chemicals which are produced when herbicides (substances used for killing plants) are made or when plastics are burned. Dioxins cause skin disease. In animal tests, dioxins cause birth defects, miscarriages, mutations, and carcinogens.

Dioxins are persistent pollutants found in many of the foods we eat, they are readily absorbed into the body and stored in fat. Studies find that chlorophyll-rich foods increases the excretion of dioxins – the amount that pass through you without being absorbed.

W A R N I N G:
Serious risks in drinking fresh wheatgrass juice:

Fresh wheatgrass juice is the most popular form of wheatgrass. And yes: there are some serious drawbacks.

What’s one of the most popular ways to get your detoxifying chlorophyll? By making fresh wheatgrass juice in a juicer.

But for now, know this:

Wheatgrass is chock full of cleansing chlorophyll!

Source by John J. Fike