Unearth How Algae Can Improve Your Gut Health

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

Welcome back. We’re continuing our conversation on Reversing Chronic Gut Conditions. I’m your host, Sinclair Kennally. And today I am joined by the wonderful Catharine Arnston, who’s an expert on algae nutrition, of all things. A wellness thought leader, an experienced entrepreneur, and a sought-after speaker. She has an MBA, B.A., and honorary and is a certified health coach as well. But what I really want to focus on today is Catharine’s expertise on algae and the science behind what algae can do for you as a healing tool. So welcome, Catharine. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Catharine Arnston

Well, thank you, and thank you for putting together this amazing summit. So, you know, we’re all,  there’s millions of us trying to help turn this big ship around and get people back in charge of their health because it doesn’t have to be this way and I say it’s never too late to feel great. So you need the tools that, we need education because the medical community isn’t sharing it with you. In fact, honestly, in many cases, they just don’t know it. So thank goodness for folks like you doing these kinds of summits so we can get that information out. The science is there. It’s just not been shared.

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

Yeah, exactly. Thank you so much for pointing that out. That’s a really important point. So and as the founder of ENERGYbits, I know that you are extremely data-driven and I would really love for you to demystify this for folks today. Like, first of all, what is algae? How should we be thinking about this as a tool for our health, etc.?

Catharine Arnston

Yeah, well, my pleasure. I’ve spent 13 years. I fell into this because my younger sister had breast cancer up in Canada 15 years ago and her oncologist, thank goodness, told her to change her diet to an alkaline diet because it would help with her healing. They didn’t tell her what it was, so I jumped in to help her figure out what that was. Turned out to be a plant-based diet because of the chlorophyll, the phytonutrients that build your immune system, and that led me to algae, the most alkaline, nutrient-dense, studied food in the world. Multi-billion dollar agricultural crops in Asia with healing properties that will stun you. We’ll go over some of them today, all science-based. But again, the science hasn’t made its way out to actually, in many cases, practitioners and definitely not to consumers. So what is algae? Well, it’s its own food category. Yes, algae is food. It is not a supplement. And I have some pictures here to show you an algae farm. This is a spirulina and chlorella algae farm. We grow and triple-filtered spring mountain water. There is algae in the ocean. There’s actually two main types of algae. There’s macroalgae and microalgae. Macroalgae is that stringy stuff that washes up onshore, also known as seaweed. And it’s only in the sea, which is why it’s called seaweed. And it’s still good for you because it has lots of fiber, which, of course, is very important for feeding, feeding the gut biome, those bacteria but it has virtually zero nutrition, zero nutrition, but lots of fiber. 

Microalgae, which is what we’re talking about, is completely the opposite. First of all, it’s everywhere, not just the sea. It’s in the oceans, the lakes, the rivers, the streams, probably your swimming pool. Definitely, your swimming pool, definitely your aquarium. But it is has virtually no fiber. There is one. There’s a chlorella that has a little bit of fiber, spirulina has zero fiber. But what it does have is the most concentrated nutrition in the universe. We have a quote from NASA saying one gram of algae is the same nutrition as a thousand grams of vegetables. So I call it very efficient nutrition. So maybe you aren’t eating vegetables because they give you gas or they’re too much work to carry home from the grocery store, clean, cook, even though you know they’re good for you. Or maybe you throw most of it out because you argue with your kids or your husband’s. Well, the problem is solved. If you have algae, you never have to take another vegetable again in your life if you don’t want to. Although it gives you all the nutrition, not the fiber. So first of all, algae is a food crop. The microalgae which we’re talking about are the most nutrient-dense food in the world. And it is grown as food, as food in Asia. Again, we grow it in fresh water. Why is that important to know? Because our oceans are toxic. And so you never want algae grown in a wild lake or an ocean because you cannot keep the mycotoxins out there which cause damage to your brain, to your gut, to just about everything. So never happens with our algae because it’s in a triple-filtered spring mountain water.  And also, very importantly, we then, we dry it into a powder without high heat. 

All the other algae companies out there use high heat because they are lower-priced, higher-volume companies. So they need to get to market quickly. So they use high heat, but drumroll high heat kills many critical nutrients like superoxide dismutase. I know it’s a mouthful, but it’s an antioxidant that protects your mitochondria from damage, including the ones in your gut so that you can live longer and live better. And there’s also a blue pigment in spirulina called phycocyanin and also damaged by heat, proven to kill cancer cells. So these two nutrients alone are not in all the other algae companies because they use high heat. We don’t do that. So you get the real deal and then we press them into tablets that we call bits because they are bits of nutrition. There’s so much nutrition in a single tablet, it’s equal to the amount of nutrition in an entire plate of vegetables. So very efficient nutrition. So wherever you are, whether you’re at school, at work, traveling, you can get the nutrition that you need to heal your gut, to heal your brain effortlessly because they come in little tablets like this, again, each tablet has the same nutrition as an entire plate of vegetables. While I’m talking to you, I just had a plate of vegetables. How easy is that? And it’s so concentrated we sell them in bags of a thousand tablets. Each bag has the same nutrition as 551 pounds of vegetables. So again, you need the nutrition to heal your gut, to heal your brain, to heal your mitochondria, and algae tablets make it effortless and they’re safe for every single age group, from newborns to children, teenagers, and grandparents. Honestly, you give this to your grandparents as probably more nutrition, one tablet is probably more nutrition than they’ve had all week. So without any stomach distress, which, because it’s not just what you eat, it’s what you absorb more. And algae, the nutrition analogy is 99% bioavailable. I want to say that again because it’s very important. It’s not what you eat, it’s what you absorb. This is why you don’t want supplements. Most supplements are made from extracts that don’t exist in nature, so you may be taking ascorbic acid or lots of these other supplements. Your body doesn’t absorb them because they don’t exist like that in nature. So you’re flushing out 90% of what you’re taking in as a supplement. So it’s much better to get your nutrition from food because food, whole food exists in nature naturally and we are part of nature. So it’s an automatic win-win. It’s the key that fits into the log. That’s why algae is the key to fit into your health, because it gives you the nutrition that you need and unlocks very important nutrients for your brain health and for your gut health and the two algae do completely different things. And I want to explain that to you next.

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

Yeah, I think these are some really key points that you’re covering right here. We always say that people today are overfed. Yes. But they’re actually malnourished. Yes. That’s a big part of these chronic conditions. And then trying to reverse those chronic conditions when they’ve been, you know, brewing for years and even decades for us is quite a trick if you can’t absorb your nutrition. I experimented a lot with algae during my healing process for myself and my own chronic illness, and I absolutely found like a lift in my depression, you know, being able to see colors again with it. And I didn’t even realize that I wasn’t really seeing color like, well, wait a minute, where was the color before? You know, it’s just that a lot of unexpected side benefits from actually being able to absorb nutrients. You may not have had it in a very long time.

Catharine Arnston

Yeah, well, they always say that you should eat the colors of the rainbow every day. And I’m also a very spiritual person. Your chakra is all different colors. Food vibrates, color vibrates, and everything is energy. And so when you’re feeding your body in your mind, different colors and spirulina have two, two key pigments. The blue one is called phycocyanin and the green one is called chlorophyll. And of course, there are carcinoids which are orange. I mean, it offers you all the you know, all the important colors that you need, but they do completely different things. So maybe would this be a good time to go into the different, different algae?

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

Yeah. Can you explain what that means to people now that we’ve introduced that concept?

Catharine Arnston

You know, about colors? Yeah, well, that’s a whole, that’s podcast in its own contest.

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

Yeah. I mean the two different points, the two different types of algae.

Catharine Arnston

Oh yeah. Okay. Oh perfect. Okay. So spirulina is known as an energizing algae. It’s a blue-green algae, and the reason, we call our ENERGYbits, and it’s packaged in blue to make it easy for people to remember and what gives you energy are two things. It gives you energy in the moment because it has the highest protein in the world and all of the protein is already in amino acid form. Your body cannot absorb protein. It has to break it down into something smaller nuggets called amino acids. Now, animal protein can take up to three days to break down. You’ve called it peptides, which are smaller clusters of amino. Algae is individual aminos and it has 18 of the 20 aminos, including the nine that your body can’t make. So what happens is you take, and spirulina is a bacteria. It has no cellulose wall and zero fiber. The reason why you, that you might think, oh, no fiber. That’s not good. Actually, it’s very good because what happens is it gets absorbed into your bloodstream instantly because there’s nothing for your body to break down to get access to the nutrients, including the amino and the amino are already broken down. It can take up to three days sometimes for your body to break down animal protein. 

So now you’re getting all these rich aminos and it has high B vitamins. B vitamins convert the amino into energy. Now, the kind of energy you’re getting isn’t like a stimulant, like caffeine, chemicals, or sugar, which can be very abrasive to your stomach and your stomach lining. It’s very quiet, I call it quiet energy because it’s just from nutrition so you may not even notice it. The best way you’ll feel is you’ll feel alert, you’ll feel alive, awake, sort of like you’ve just had a great night’s sleep and how fabulous is that? So there’s no rush and there’s no crash, no drama with algae. It’s just, I call it Steady Eddie. So that’s the energy you get in the moment. So people use it for, in the morning when they get up. It’s also zero carbs. So it can be using low fasting or intermittent fasting. It’s ketogenic and does not decrease your ketones or increase your glucose, yet it can satisfy your hunger. 

You could have 20 or 30 of these for lunch. That’s one calorie. So for 20 calories, you can be nourished and alert, have your stomachs, not be hungry, not grumbling. It’s not going to fill you up like a big pasta bowl would be, but it gives you all the nourishment that you need. And when you are nourished, you’re not going to crave things. This is one of the downsides of dieting. People cut out quantities and selections of foods, and so you end up craving things. And then you go down this deep spiral because you’re craving stuff, never happens with algae. So that’s the immediate energy that you get in the satisfaction of your hunger. But on the long term, it has nutrients. I know I mentioned a couple of them earlier. They’re very long called superoxide dismutase, also known as supp as SOD. And what it does is an antioxidant that protects your mitochondria. Now you have high amounts of mitochondria in all of your cells. There are two nutrients. One is called phycocyanin and this is highly concentrated in the spirulina superoxide dismutase and has been proven to stop heart disease and prevent Alzheimer’s. It protects your telomeres and whatever happens in your brain honestly affects what’s going on in your stomach. There’s this super highway between your brain and your gut. It’s called the vagus nerve and communication goes back and forth between the two of them. So when your gut is damaged, your brain picks up the damage and it doesn’t function properly. And when your brain isn’t working properly, your stomach picks up those signals and it doesn’t work properly. And there’s a great book that came out about this called Brain Energy by Dr. Chris Palmer, psychiatrist, and doctor at the Harvard Medical School. He talks about how all brain issues, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and absolutely everything is due to damaged mitochondria. And why is that? Because your brain has the highest amount of mitochondria in all of your cells. There are 2 million mitochondria per cell. That’s a very packed cell. So when they get damaged, your neurotransmitters don’t work properly, nothing works properly. You get inflammation and that affects your ability to digest food, processed food, absorb food, and put them to good use. So the key is this nutrient called superoxide dismutase that protects your mitochondria. So that doesn’t happen. 

There’s also a blue pigment in spirulina called phycocyanin and it’s proven to kill cancer cells in what’s called senescent cells. These are cells that are subdivided over and over and over again and don’t have any juice left in them. Sort of like someone who’s retired, but so that cell doesn’t die, just like someone who’s retired. They don’t want to leave the office. They keep coming over and they knock over garbage cans. They’re inflammatory. They’re just a pain in the ass. So phycocyanin gets rid of those so very powerful nutrients that you need that are killed by high heat but not in our algae. So those protect your brain, that protects your gut. So while there’s no fiber for the gut, there are all these important nutrients that protect the brain. And because they are talking to one another, they work together in conjunction. So that’s spirulina, very nourishing, energizing, healing to the brain, which affects the health of your gut. The other algae is a gut. We call it a gut algae. 

And it helps you build your immune system, which of course, is in your gut. 80% of your gut or your immune system is in your lower intestine, in your gut. And we call our chlorella RECOVERYbits because it helps you recover everything and how does it do that? Well, spirulina has the highest protein in the world. Chlorella has the highest chlorophyll in the world. What I show you is the picture of your hemoglobin and the chemical composition and the chemical composition of chlorophyll. They are virtually identical. So chlorophyll builds your blood and when you have healthy blood you’re going to have a healthier brain, you’re going to have healthier organs, you’re going to have a healthier stomach. Your blood is what carries nutrients and oxygen to the rest of your body. And when it’s not, then there aren’t enough nutrients or enough oxygen. That’s when you run into health issues. But the trouble is, our food supply, our soils are so damaged that even if you are eating vegetables, you are no longer getting proper amounts of chlorophyll. My arugula turns yellow after day three. I don’t know about you. That’s because it didn’t start with much chlorophyll anymore. The chlorella has 500 times more chlorophyll than arugula. Think about 500 times and it has 25 times more chlorophyll than liquid chlorophyll. Liquid chlorophyll is having a moment these days on TikTok, but I tell people why would you have liquid chlorophyll when you can have chlorella which has 25 times more chlorophyll and it has 60% protein and 40 vitamins and minerals, and glutathione which pulls out toxins and all that sort of stuff. So number one, chlorophyll builds your blood and when you have healthy blood, you have healthier organs. Number two, chlorophyll is a fat-based pigment. Now all your cell walls are made of lipids, which are a fancy way of saying fats. And that’s why we need D-3, why we need Vitamin E, why we need Omega3. Well, because they heal your cell wall. And when your cell walls are healed, including the ones in your stomach, nutrients can get in and toxins can get out. Chlorophyll does the same thing. That’s why I call it sort of like having dirty windows. If you have dirty windows, you can’t see out and sunlight can’t get in. So thing of chlorophyll is window washers for your cell walls. That’s why when people do cleanses, very often it’s vegetable juice. It’s the chlorophyll that’s cleaning and nurturing that cell wall. So nutrients in and toxins can get out. 

And while we’re talking about toxins, what it’s not? Well, it is a toxin. You’ve probably heard of lectins and oxalate. These are very sharp proteins that are found in particular vegetables often called one group is called nightshade. Vegetables like tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, or lectins are found in places like almonds. These can puncture your stomach lining because they’re very sharp proteins and that can allow food to move out of your stomach because there’s only one cell layer protecting your stomach from the rest of your body and food can get into your bloodstream and cause autoimmune disease. Well, a lot of people go paleo or carnivore because they don’t want those kinds of damage or maybe they’ve had damage on their stomach lining. But I’m here. I’m here to tell you good news. You don’t have to. You can take algae because it doesn’t have any lectins or oxalate. Why? Because the plants develop those lectins and oxalate as a way to protect themselves from bugs and predators evolutionarily because they taste terrible and they hurt their stomachs too. But algae started in the ocean. It’s never had to develop lectins and oxalate to protect itself. So you can get all the benefits of eating plants without any of the downside, which is very, very, very important.

That’s why Dr. Steven Gundry is a big fan of our algae because and I’ve been on his podcast, he has a book called The Plant Paradox that addresses this very issue that plants are important because of the fiber and the phytonutrients. But there’s a downside with these lectins and oxides, and you never have that downside with either algae, spirulina, or chlorella. But let’s get back to chlorella because we’ve short-changed it. So we told you about chlorophyll, and it builds your blood and your cell wall and it also kills bacteria. And this is very important as it goes through your digestive tract. Only about 10% gets absorbed by your stomach and then it goes through your liver and down through your colon where it’s killing bacteria. There’s a lot of colon cancer because people aren’t having bowel movements, which is the other great thing about chlorophyll. It triggers what’s called peristalsis. That’s a fancy word for saying bowel movement. You’ve got to get rid of the junk in your trunk and chlorella does it for you, especially with the chlorophyll, but it has all the nutrients. So when you move all that, all that stuff that’s in your colon, that’s stuff your body said, Hey, I don’t need this, or thanks for the fiber, got what I need. Let’s get rid of all the rest of it. And if you don’t get rid of it, then you have those toxic clumps sitting in your colon and your bloodstream picks up all those toxins and recirculates them. It’s like being on an airplane all the time, having all that recirculated air where people are coughing and it’s hard to stay healthy. I don’t know how the people, the airline people do it, but. So you don’t want that junk in your trunk. You want to get rid of it. Chlorella stimulates peristalsis, that the chlorophyll kills bacteria so you can use it topically to kill bacteria. And the best thing is that the chlorophyll, borrelia has a hard cell wall. Yes, it has fiber that feeds the gut biome and that hard fiber attaches to toxins. All of the heavy metals, lead, mercury, radiation, all the other nasty stuff like glyphosate, pesticides. It attaches to them and pulls them out so that you can and this is one of the reasons why we recommend it at night. We recommend spirulina in the morning because that’s when you’re tired and hungry and you want energy and so you can get up with your day. And chlorella because it’s very cleansing and because it pulls out toxins and your body goes through a detox repair cycle when you’re sleeping. 

So when you’re getting your beauty rest, chlorella is in there, scrub a dub, getting rid of the toxins and your heavy metals in your brain, getting rid of all the pesticides in your stomach if you had any alcohol, will pull that out too. And then it stimulates peristalsis. So you get up in the morning, have a nice little pretty trip to the bathroom success, and then you’re ready for your day. So this is very much spirulina is very much a morning energizing algae again quiet energy from the cellular energy and up is very much a detox, evening algae. Now I speak at a lot of conferences and hotels and I came to the realization that because spirulina is so nourishing and we generally want it in the morning to get out for our day, it’s sort of like room service gives you everything that you need for your day. Very nourishing and it’s right there. No work requires no work. This is effortless. If you can swallow water, you can get the nourishment you need and be a habit absorber. Because again, it’s a bacteria. No work for your body to do. 

Chlorella is like housekeeping, you know, you’re out there doing your stuff and it comes up and cleans all the junk that you don’t need, junk in your trunk. And then you can have a nice evening sleep and have a restful sleep and get up the next morning and do it again. So think of spirulina as a morning algae more like a room service and chlorella as an evening allergy sort of like housekeeping. And so the two of them work completely differently on different parts of your body. The other way to remember it is because spirulina has so much nourishment for your mitochondria and your brain has so many mitochondria and your brain is so full of fat. And so it is spirulina. It’s got essential fatty acids like omega-3. I tell people you can get rid of that and make that omega-3 thing as you’re taking, which is probably rancid anyway because where do you think the fish get the omega-3 from? Yep, they get it from algae. So think of spirulina as brain food. You know, you eat a lot of fatty fish and it’s fatty fish is known as brain food, so it’s spirulina and chlorella because it has the fiber that feeds your gut biome. It’s very cleansing because of the chlorophyll. It stimulates peristalsis and it kills bacteria. It’s a gut health algae. So the start this works on you from the bottom up and this works on your health from the top down.

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

Yeah, that’s a really beautiful distinction to make and I really appreciate you demystifying some of the things that are hard for people to grasp about, you know, the power of algae. It’s just very interesting when you look at the landscape of like solutions that are out there right now, so many of them don’t take into account just how much the body is on the back foot if you have a chronic condition. And that does mean that you have mitochondrial dysfunction. And there is no escaping that in this day and age. And so asking your body to heal something that could be fixed very quickly, if only you could digest your food, absorb it, and you have the energy production to do the repair work, but you actually have to heal in order to get those three things back. It’s quite the catch 22 and it’s very frustrating really why they persist for so long, even though you’re resilient.

Catharine Arnston

Well, the thing is, your mitochondria people know it as the powerhouse of the cell. It generates all of your cellular energy. And we’re not talking about the energy you need to run to the store to grab some lunch. We’re talking about the cellular energy you need to live. This is it. It provides your body with the energy for breathing, walking, talking, sleeping, lymphatics system elimination, cell replication, DNA protection, and communication. And so the mitochondria, I call the mitochondria, I make the analogy they’re like air controllers at an airport. They control everything. So when your mitochondria DNA gets damaged and I can explain why they get damaged, then everything crashes. The communication isn’t correct or they die or they give. It’s like, you know, someone from the US driving in the UK and they’re on the wrong side of the road like, like there’s an accident ready to happen. So when your mitochondria aren’t working properly and as you get to the age of 40 they don’t. And you know why? Here’s why. Because our bodies have us, Mother Nature is so intelligent. She’s given us everything we need. And also in Mother Nature has provided it to us. We just have to pay attention to it. 

But from the moment we’re born, we have these antioxidants. One of them, as I mentioned, is superoxide dismutase. I know one long mouthful. Another one is glutathione and another one is melatonin. And these three antioxidants are the only three that I have found. Well, plus chlorophyll but your body does not make it but Mother Nature does that can get into the mitochondria to stop free radical damage. So you have all these nutrients from the moment you’re born that are yay, she loves us. But the problem is, after the age of 30, your body stops making them and basically leaves you as a sitting duck. Because you no longer have protection from these antioxidants that are created during the process of ATP production. So after, they so you have them from the moment you’re born until the age of 30 and then after 40, you have virtually none. 50 is even worse. 60, forget about it. So this is exactly when people are having chronic illness. This is when you’re having gut issues, this is when you have a fibromyalgia, this is when you’re having cancer, heart disease. And I believe it’s because, at that moment, that’s when our body stops generating these antioxidants that have been protecting us all of these years. You know, when you’re younger, you can go out and party or do whatever or bounce back from a cold, boom. It’s because you’ve got a strong immune system because you’ve got healthy mitochondria. But after the age of 30 or 40, most will have damaged mitochondria. Now, the good news is all of the nutrients that your mitochondria need are found in the highest quantities in our algae. I can’t speak for other people because one of those antioxidants is superoxide dismutase, which is an enzyme killed by high heat and almost everybody else uses high heat. Another antioxidant is glutathione, which can be damaged by high heat. And there’s another one called phycocyanin. 

So when you start taking algae, let’s say you’re saying spirulina because you want the energy in the morning and you want rapid absorption because you’re having difficulty absorbing food. By the way, we work with a lot of gastric bypass surgeons who recommend our products because after you’ve had a stomach stapled, you can’t eat a lot of food. And so they were having a hard time getting the nutrition they need to live or people who are an like I mean, you’re not eating at all. And so they’re getting diseases because they’re not getting their nutrition. You can’t run a car without gas. You can’t use your phone without recharging it. And as much as ozempic is helping you lose weight, you still need nutrients to process your body. It needs electricity and you get it from algae. So a lot of people may be taking the spirulina for the nutrition or the energy or the hunger, but you’re also getting at the same time, the long-term protection of the mitochondria, whether it’s the mitochondria in your brain, the mitochondria in your stomach, it works for everything. So it’s very, very important for long-term health to take spirulina and it has all those other benefits. I mean, you might take it for energy, but it has more collagen than collagen powder. So you’re going to have better skin, you’re going to have better hair, or maybe you’re taking it because you want the chlorophyll, which is very cleansing to your gut or to your colon. But you’re going to find you’re going have a stronger immune system and the chlorophyll will get into the inner membrane to protect your mitochondria. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. 

And the trouble is people either don’t know about algae, period, or they go, Oh yeah, that’s superfluid. I put a scoop of it in my smoothie and it does have good nutritional high protein. It’s the highest protein in the world. But what you don’t know, people aren’t aware of are these long-term benefits to prevent chronic disease, because it’s, as you mentioned earlier, it’s you can’t get your leg up if you’re constantly behind the game because you’ve got this chronic illness. You’re not absorbing the nutrition and you’ve got to heal those mitochondria which are inside the cells. The mitochondria are inside the cells and inside the mitochondria is where the ATP is produced but nobody tells you is that where free radicals are also produced. Mitochondria DNA is constantly getting fried and when they get fried, they die or they don’t work properly. And then this translates into bad digestion, poor absorption, mental disorders. And you’re all roads lead ultimately to the mitochondria. And there is and there are 100,000 studies documenting the nutrients in algae that protect the mitochondria. So it’s very well studied. It’s just not well known.

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

Yeah, that’s a really great way to say it. And I think first of all, I really appreciate you highlighting how accessible the tool is, especially for people that have been sick for quite some time because that, you know, as we’ve discussed, once you get to that level of chronic conditions, it’s very difficult to find tools that your body can tolerate to help you on the healing process. It’s like, yeah, that sounds great. Hypothetically, if only I could digest or absorb any of those benefits. So I also really appreciate you highlighting the cleanliness of the sourcing. We really emphasize that within our practice and with our students and our audience. We just, you cannot be too careful in this day and age. And, you know, the way like, for example, you filtering the water the way you do, people do not realize just how toxic, you know, most of our water sources are. So if you’re going to purchase something that is supposed to help heal you, but it’s grown in water, like don’t make any assumptions about that.

Catharine Arnston

You got to, really do your research. The trouble is the companies don’t share this. And I, you know, because I’m such, I call myself a citizen scientist because I’m so, so I’m all self-taught. But I found things like this, this is in a science paper that shows phycocyanin and the quality, the the value of it drops dramatically once it hits 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which is what everybody’s using. And I know this isn’t necessarily related to your gut health, although people do get stomach cancer. Here’s a chart, a test that was done. They took cancer cells and dyed them purple and then they put phycocyanin into the petri dish and this is a 24-hour lapse chart that shows you that after 24 hours the cancer was basically gone from, just from putting phycocyanin into the petri dish. And one of our spirulina tablets has a 4000 times phycocyanin, which is the blue pigment that they used in this, in this example. The chemotherapy companies use phycocyanin in their treatments because that’s how they kill the cancer cells. Phycocyanin and spirulina are Mother Nature’s way to protect us from cancer. But who is going to tell you that? Right. So it’s so there’s so many nutrients that we sort of dismiss things like pigments. They oh, yeah, they’re pretty, they’re color. No, they have healing properties that are way beyond. 

That’s why I say people put a smoothie, a scoop of spirulina on their smoothie because they think it has high protein. The nutrient and the healing properties, the medicinal properties are way, way beyond just having a little bit of extra protein in your, but it doesn’t, you don’t get it when you buy cheaper, poorly grown. You know, I tell people algae is like wine. It’s not like broccoli. Broccoli is broccoli. Right. Wine. It’s affected by the angle of the sun, that kind of water, you use the production stuff. So it’s completely different depending on, you know, what, how you make it. Algae is the same way. And some people just think of algae as a, you know, something that closes their beach and it’s pond scum and that there are algae that do that, but it’s not spirulina or chlorella, and yes and the reason why algae shows up on your beach is because it kills bacteria. So somehow toxins and bacteria got into the water, which you didn’t see. And algae will show up to kill the bacteria and it absorbs all the toxins. That’s why you never want to get close to an algae bloom. But what I want you to know is that it’s not spirulina or chlorella which are grown carefully. These stars are in triple-filtered spring mountain water and it does kill bacteria in your body as well. I chew my tablets because I just love the flavor of them they are an acquired taste. This is the spirulina. This is the chlorella. This is the blue-green. This is the green. But I will tell you, if you can get used to chewing them, you get additional benefits of A they get into your body faster and B, they kill the bacteria in your mouth. So we work with biological dentists and they will know that if your mouth is full of bacteria, you’re swallowing that all the time and it’s getting into your stomach and it’s continuing to help you maybe foster Candida. And when you have Candida that interferes with your ability to absorb nutrients. So, again, spirulina, and chlorella have nutrients that feed your gut and the healthy bacteria so they can win the war against the unhealthy bacteria and get you back on track and it’s effortless. This is effortless nutrition. I call it fast food because if you can swallow water, you can chew it. If you can swallow water boom in 2 seconds. You’ve just got the nutrition that you need that you will absorb. That’s the key. You will absorb it to help bring you back to balance. And speaking of balance, your cells need to be there’s a PH of a range of alkalinity to acidity. And you want your cells to be slightly alkaline, which is 7.1. And when they are slightly alkaline, that keeps things like cancer and disease out. And that was discovered by a German scientist in the forties, thirties, and forties by the name of Otto Warburg. He won a Nobel Prize for that. Algae is the most alkaline food in the world, so it will help restore your blood PH and your cell PH so that you can, you know, prevent those kinds of illnesses. Because as you know, when you’re already sick, it’s really hard to get back on track and you need something that’s easy and effortless. And lots of people are on chemo programs and they are very weak and they can’t digest food. So spirulina gets you gives you some nourishment to get you back on track and the blue phycocyanin will kill those remaining cancer cells. And if you are taking chemo, the chlorella will pull out the excess chemo so that you’re not as nauseous. So again, you see how they work together to help bring you back to feeling well again. And as I said, it’s never too late to feel great.

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

I’d love that. I totally agree with you. I mean, the body is absolutely brilliant. And especially when we’re talking about gut conditions, we’re talking about a system that is so inherently resilient. It’s designed to have things that are less than ideal, happen to it and to write itself. So we just need the building blocks and components to see a little bit of strategy to work with your body.

Catharine Arnston

Yeah, this is the easiest thing you’ll ever do. The easiest and best thing. I’ve been taking my algae tablets for the 13 years since I started the company. I have a lot. I’m not going to tell you how many because people get all weirded out. But if you took ten spirulina of the ten, the blue-green algae in the morning if you’re healthy, that’s sort of the dose that will get you going. And then the ten of the chlorella at night that will build your immune system. But if you want to detox, you need 20 or 30 of the chlorella. But we fuel NHL teams and they put they have 75 spirulina before a game because they need lots of energy and focus on the ice and they have 75 of the chlorella after the game to pull out the toxins. But ten a day is a good starter. But if you have any health conditions, urge you to double or triple it and consider taking 20 or 30 a day until you get a clear diagnosis. And we usually recommend a physician. So it’s got the size of a baby aspirin. They’re really, really tiny. And I just had another no salad, no another plate of vegetables, see how effortlessness it is. And if you have pets, the pets love them. And honestly, they’re smarter than we are. So they know that this stuff is good for them. And where else can you have a snack with your pet and have the same thing but they get the same stomach. This issue disruptions, they have the same health issues, very, very healing to the body way beyond just improving your protein or chlorophyll, which is very beneficial. But there are properties in algae if grown and dried carefully, are not duplicated in any other food in the world. So Mother Nature has our back. We just have to pay some attention to it. And algae was the first life on earth 4 billion years ago, so it just needed somebody to explain it to you, that was me.

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

I know, right? Well, we all have our contribution to make. So thank you so much for so many gems today. And we’re really demystifying this concept and this tool for folks is super helpful, especially within the context of reversing chronic conditions and reclaiming your own ability to heal and to make your own energy. We should be a little energizer bunnies. Yeah. Exact every stage of life. So.

Catharine Arnston

And I just came back. I’m sorry. Go ahead.

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

Your company is called ENERGYbits.

Catharine Arnston

Yeah, my company’s called ENERGYbits because it’s cellular energy. People get confused. They think it’s like a caffeine drink and those are stimulants that give you a rush and a crash and they also can damage your stomach. Sugar is very damaging. It definitely causes too much candida, it causes inflammation. There is not a single redeeming thing about sugar. So you need to wean yourself off. And if you’re using sugar or caffeine for energy, this is, this is good news. You can start taking the spirulina for your energy needs and at the same time start feeding your mitochondria, which are going to protect your brain, which is going to connect your gut. You know,  think of them almost like your parents, right? You can’t hide anything from your parents. You know, you think maybe you make a deal with your mother not to tell your father or vice versa. They talk and so, so does your brain and your gut. And they talk every single second they are talking.

So sometimes the brain needs to be healed first to pull on the gut, and sometimes the gut needs to be healed first and it will pull along the brain. Either way, you win because when they’re working properly, they’re on your side too. I think sometimes we think we’re fighting with our body and it feels that way when it’s not working properly and you get so afraid and then you when you’re afraid, they’ve done studies that show that it blocks out the ability of your executive thinking power to start to work. So the trick is to relax. By the way, speaking of relaxing, the best thing you can do for yourself when you’re eating is eat quietly and with presence. Do maybe, do some meditation because if you’re anxious, your body goes into flight or fight mode, which does not release enzymes. So now you’re eating and you’re not digesting. So you’re certainly not going to be absorbing. But again, the allergy gets absorbed so quickly, that you don’t have to worry about that for. But when you are eating please do it thoughtfully, mindfully, and that alone should too frequently that will help with the new machinations. So the food is easier to be broken down so that they can be moved to your mitochondria for ATP production. So don’t deny the power of silence. I went to a Coppola Center, which is a meditation center here in Massachusetts a number of times. You know, 30 years ago, I was into this stuff and the dining room is silent and, you know, I was like 20, 20 years old for some. I thought, Oh, what’s all this about? But it forced you to pay attention to what you’re eating. And I drink in the colors and it prepares your body and your stomach for digestion. Honestly, Mother Nature created us perfectly. But we were in such a rush to get to the future. And there is nothing like the present. And the present is a gift to us. So try to take the time to be present in everything that you’re doing and everything else will work better and I guess I love algae. It’s all about simplicity. Ultimately, you are looking for the big fancy technology and the hyperbaric, you know this and be able to 25,000 for that and 50,000 algae. Algae, the things that’ll make you healthy. Algae but you do have to pay for it, but it’s the very most efficient nutrition in the world. Sleep that’s free, a movement that’s free, fresh air that’s free, attention to yourself that’s free. These are the things that will make you healthy. I know they’re unglamorous, but I work small steps.

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

Yeah, and it’s a great point. So I think that’s actually the perfect note to end on is how accessible healing is, which is need to really make sure the basics are covered and then see how far we get with those and then we fine tune from there. Exactly. So, my friend, this is a real delight.

Catharine Arnston

If you want to include algae in your healing journey, please visit us at ENERGYbits.com e n e r g y bits and we have a 20% discount code guthealth. All one word works on everything all the time, so no panic. Take your time. If you don’t want to buy a whole bag, you can go to Amazon, buy a little pouch for $6, try it out, and then come back and use the gut health discount code. But I tell people, algae is not new. It’s just new to you and just like ten years ago you didn’t know about collagen powder or maybe Chia or Kellogg’s. It’s been around for centuries, so give it, give it a try. Just learn about it. Give it a try. It stood the test of time, 4 billion years still here. So, yeah, it’s very simple. It’s very basic. So thank you, Sinclair, for letting me share.

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC

Thank you so much for sharing your passion with us. It’s great to connect.