10

I was surprised to see in advertisements for "miracle" natural / alternative / herbal etc. medicine that they contain "liquid chlorophyll" and that is really useful for our health.

I wondered how it can be, because chlorophyll is actually what plants use for photosynthesis, so humans could make absolutely no use of it. Even if our whole skin could photosynthesize, it would provide only a small fraction of the required energy. By the way, absolutely any plant we eat contains chlorophyll, so why would anyone not eating exclusively meat require additional chlorophyll, even if it was useful?

The Wikipedia article shows absolutely nothing about any medical uses of chlorophyll. A Google search for chlorophyll and "medical uses", "health benefits", etc. returned only sites belonging to companies actively selling it, and describing it as a miraculous cure-all. I did not manage to find any independent or independent-seeming article about the subject.

Improve this question
3
  • 4
    We have a similar question about wheatgrass, where chlorophyll is also mentioned in the claim.
    – Mad Scientist ♦
    Nov 27, 2012 at 19:02
  • actually only greens contain chlorophyll, it's what makes them green
    – ratchet freak
    Nov 28, 2012 at 9:12
  • As far as I can tell, chlorophyll is a major source of dietary magnesium. Still looking for a definitive source, though.
    – Mark
    Dec 20, 2016 at 0:00

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
-1

Chlorophyll Revisited: Anti-inflammatory Activities of Chlorophyll a and Inhibition of Expression of TNF-α Gene by the Same looked at a topical application of decoction of leaves onto injured rats' paws, and found:

chlorophyll a, and not chlorophyll b, when applied topically, showed promising anti-inflammatory activity

Improve this answer
0

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .