Nature has provided us with some amazing and truly great green foods which have many nutritional and gut friendly properties.
This is why AGM Foods has chosen to use quite a few green superfood ingredients in our Grainfields probiotic fermented food formulations. The unique FloraFerm fermentation process makes the nutrients in these green foods more bio available and adds good flora. The greenest in the Grainfields range include Grains & Greens (oat grass, wheat grass, barley grass, and spirulina), Organic Supergreens + Dunaliella (barley grass, alfalfa grass, chlorella, and kelp) Organic Protein Powder (pea protein, broccoli and spinach) and Liquid Spirulina.
From microalgae to green vegetables to cereal grasses. One substance we get in abundance from green coloured foods is chlorophyll.
Just as haemoglobin is a vital component in human red blood cells, chlorophyll is similar in chemical composition and is an essential component of plants. Chlorophyll is responsible for transforming carbon dioxide in the air to oxygen and it uses the energy of the sun to manufacture nourishment for the plant.
All life depends upon energy, and nearly all of our energy comes from the sun. Chlorophyll is a concentrated sun energy that can be assimilated and released into the cell structure of the body, cleansing us of toxins, energising the immune system, strengthening cell membranes and boosting natural energy.
“When you’re green inside, you’re clean inside”
— Dr Bernard Jensen —
All green foods contain chlorophyll as well as other interesting properties. So, there are many reasons why we should include them in our diet.
Leafy greens contain a particular type of sugar molecule called sulfoquinovose, which has been found not only to feed the good bacteria in our gut but also limit growth of bad bacteria. Popeye knew all about great greens, spinach is a great source of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, calcium, iron and magnesium. Also, don’t forget about great green leafy herbs such as parsley which contains more vitamin C by volume than oranges.
Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, brussell sprouts and cabbage are high in sulphur which help stimulate liver detoxifying enzymes.
Green cereal grasses such as oat, barley, alfalfa and wheat are high in protein, minerals and Vitamin A.
Chlorella is an algae which gets its name from the chlorophyll it possesses. Chlorella contains more chlorophyll by gram than any other plant. It is also alkaline and helps balance the pH within the body.
Spirulina is a blue green algae which one of the oldest and greatest green foods on the planet. It has been named by the World Health Organisation as a superfood. Spirulina is a nutritionally rich food which is why NASA use it to feed astronauts in space. Spirulina contains 25 times more beta carotene than carrots and is loaded with protein, iron, essential fatty acids and antioxidants.
Kelp is a type of seaweed eaten in many Asian countries and contains the minerals magnesium, calcium and boron and vitamins B, C and E.
Even though they may not have known why, parents throughout history have told their children to eat their greens. Research has shown that our gut flora thrive when we eat a diverse range of green plant based foods.
So why not give your diet an extra boost by making a choice to eat more green foods and foods which contain great greens! If your greens are fermented, that is even better!
Sources: The Baby Boomer Diet by Donna Gates, The Healing Power of Chlorophyll by Dr Bernard Jensen, Salad Greens: getting the most bang for the bite- Harvard Medical School Publishing April 2021.
