SupplementsHerbs & MushroomsChlorella

Chlorella

organic broken cell chlorella

A single green cell, full of nutrients, inside a wall so tough your body struggles to get through it.

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A chlorella capsule
Builds up
Weeks
In your body
No single number
Per 1 capsule
500 mg
30-day supply
$8.99One capsule a day, plus packing and delivery

What is chlorella?

Chlorella is a tiny freshwater alga. Each one is a single cell, far too small to see. They're grown and dried into the green powder in this capsule.

It's unusually rich for something plant-like: protein, iron, folate, carotenes and chlorophyll, plus vitamin D and B12, two nutrients plants don't normally supply.

Ours is organic broken cell chlorella, 500 mg a capsule. The label doesn't name the exact species or list amounts of individual vitamins.

What it does

  • NutritionProvides protein, vitamins, minerals and carotenes from a plant-based source.
  • Immune systemSupports the normal activity of your immune cells.
  • Plant-based dietsCan add to the nutrients that are harder to get without animal foods.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

The full guide · 16 min readChlorella benefits, side effects and how to take it: what the evidence showsWhich form, how much, when to take it, and whether it's worth it, with the studies behind each answer.

What people take it for

How long it takes

It's a food-like supplement, so think weeks, not hours. One immune marker in saliva had moved by 4 weeks, the B12 marker by 30 days, and natural killer cells were measured at 8 weeks.

A B12 shortage marker improving, at 9 g a dayTypical pattern
Already down about a third by 30 days
Holding at 60 days
Start60 days
  1. Early onDon't be alarmed if your stools turn green. That's the chlorophyll
  2. About 4 weeksWhen an immune marker in saliva rose in a small study
  3. About 8 weeksWhen natural killer cells and fatty liver markers were read

How long it stays in your body

Chlorella is a whole food with many parts, so there's no clean number. Each nutrient goes its own way. If you take warfarin, vitamin K is the one to watch whenever you start or stop.

What's in a capsule

One capsule holds 500 mg. Studies used a lot more: about 1.2 g a day in people with fatty liver, 5 g for immune activity and 9 g for B12. One capsule won't match what those studies saw.

Why broken cell, and the vitamin K catch

Chlorella protects itself with a thick, stubborn cell wall made of tough sugars and proteins. Animals with stomachs like ours have a hard time getting through it, which keeps much of the good stuff locked inside. That's why many products, ours included, are sold as broken cell, meaning the wall has been cracked open during processing.

The catch is vitamin K. Chlorella has a lot of it, and vitamin K is the very thing the blood thinner warfarin works against. In one reported case, a 75-year-old man's warfarin control went off track after he started chlorella. So it's the first thing to bring up if you take that medicine.

The B12 story is interesting too. Most plant foods don't offer usable B12, but in that small study of vegans and vegetarians, a marker of low B12 called methylmalonic acid dropped by an average of 34%. Nobody was left without chlorella to compare against, though, and the amount was many times more than a capsule. So it's far from proof that chlorella can stand in for a B12 supplement.

Read the full guide to chlorella

What it interacts with

Goes well with

Side effects

  • Nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps and gas.
  • Green stools, which are harmless.
  • Your skin may react more to sunlight, in rare cases.

Check first if

  • Taking warfarin: talk to your doctor first, because of the vitamin K.
  • Allergy: reactions, including asthma and severe allergic reactions, have been reported. That includes people who only handled it at work. Get help right away if you have trouble breathing.
  • Quality: algae can pick up metals like arsenic from where they grow, and a case report raised this concern with algae supplements. It's a good reason to care how a product is tested.
  • Pregnancy: chlorella has been studied in pregnant women, but check with your doctor first.
  • Breastfeeding: probably fine, though it has turned breast milk green in at least one report.

The blood tests that go with it

Work it out

Two fingertips resting on the pulse at the neckHeart · CalculatorLDL calculatorLDL from your lipid panel, with the newer equation.A clean fork and an empty plate, composed like jewelleryBlood sugar · CalculatorHOMA-IR calculatorInsulin resistance from fasting glucose and insulin.

Supplementation

Or start from a ready-made protocol.

Start from one of these, or add it to your own. Everything comes in one pouch each morning.

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  • cGMP-certifiedFacilities
  • FDA-registeredFacilities
  • Accredited labsIndependent testing
  • Non-GMOIngredient options
  • OrganicIngredient options
  • VeganFormula options

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Want it more precise? Get the app.

A page can only tell you about Chlorella. The app tells you about you: whether it fits, when to take it, and whether it's working.

  • Checked against your blood work and everything you already take
  • On your daily timeline, around your sleep, training and meals
  • Followed over time, so you can see what moved
Download the appStart on the web
09:41
74LIFE FORCE›
09:00— 12:0011:05now
ChlorellaOPEN 09:00
Checked for youTHIS MORNING

Chlorella against your blood work, your sleep and what you already take.

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Questions

What is chlorella good for?

Mostly it's used as a nutrient-rich food, especially on plant-based diets. People also take it for immune support. The evidence is still early.

How long does chlorella take to work?

Think weeks. In studies, markers had moved at about 4 to 8 weeks, at much higher amounts than one capsule.

What are the side effects of chlorella?

Usually mild: nausea, diarrhea, cramps, gas and green stools. Allergic reactions and sun sensitivity are less common but do happen.

Who should not take chlorella?

Anyone allergic to it. If you take warfarin, or medicines that suppress your immune system, talk to your doctor first. The same goes for pregnancy.

Can I take chlorella with warfarin?

Only with your doctor's knowledge. It's high in vitamin K, which works against warfarin, and it has thrown off one patient's clotting results.

Can I take chlorella every day?

That's how studies gave it, for up to about 3 months. There's less to go on beyond that.

What does broken cell chlorella mean?

The tough outer wall has been cracked open during processing, because your gut has a hard time getting through it on its own.

Does chlorella clean out toxins?

You'll hear this a lot, but the evidence in people is thin. One line of research found lower dioxin levels in the breast milk of women who took it during pregnancy. That doesn't show it cleans out your whole body.

Is chlorella a good source of B12?

It can contain B12, and a small study looks promising, but the amount isn't fixed or listed on our label. If you're vegan, a B12 supplement and a blood test are the surer route.

Why are my stools green?

That's the chlorophyll in chlorella, and it's harmless.

Sources
  1. NIH Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed). Chlorella.
  2. Ohkawa S et al. [Warfarin therapy and chlorella]. Rinsho Shinkeigaku, 1995.
  3. Bito T et al. Potential of Chlorella as a Dietary Supplement to Promote Human Health. Nutrients, 2020.
  4. Pinto-Leite M et al. The Role of Chlorella and Spirulina as Adjuvants of Cardiovascular Risk Factor Control: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Nutrients, 2025.
  5. Jafari A et al. The beneficial effects of Chlorella vulgaris supplementation on health-related indices in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a GRADE-assessed systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Cardiovasc Disord, 2026.
  6. Kwak JH et al. Beneficial immunostimulatory effect of short-term Chlorella supplementation: enhancement of natural killer cell activity and early inflammatory response (randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial). Nutr J, 2012.
  7. Otsuki T et al. Salivary secretory immunoglobulin A secretion increases after 4-weeks ingestion of chlorella-derived multicomponent supplement in humans: a randomized cross over study. Nutr J, 2011.
  8. Merchant RE et al. Nutritional Supplementation with Chlorella pyrenoidosa Lowers Serum Methylmalonic Acid in Vegans and Vegetarians with a Suspected Vitamin B₁₂ Deficiency. J Med Food, 2015.
  9. Ebrahimi-Mameghani M et al. Glucose homeostasis, insulin resistance and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Beneficial effects of supplementation with microalgae Chlorella vulgaris: A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial. Clin Nutr, 2017.
  10. Lopes PA et al. Testimony on a successful lab protocol to disrupt Chlorella vulgaris microalga cell wall. PLoS One, 2022.
  11. Over-the-Counter Supplement Overuse: A Rare Potential Cause of Arsenic Poisoning and Bradycardia. Cureus, 2025.

Written by LifeFrom from these sources, and not yet reviewed by a clinician. Talk to your doctor before starting a supplement.

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