I originally heard about ENERGYbits® on the Ben Greenfield podcast. Ben Greenfield continually mentions that he pops these little nutrient dense bits like popcorn, with nothing but good things to say... Minus the mouth changing green color they typically leave behind if you dare to chew them. ENERGYbits® is a flourishing company based out of Boston, MA. and they are trying to make algae a common household vegetable in North America. Catharine Arnston, the CEO and CSO of ENERGYbits®, is a board certified health councillor in nutrition and also recently appeared on the Ben Greenfield podcast. After listening to the interview, I decided to give these supposed miracle veggies, which have been researched by both the UN and NASA, a try (partly because Catharine and I share a similar Canadian heritage). The following post is a combination of what I have learnt through that interview, my own personal trial and a further deep dive into the literature on these prehistoric plants (or technically bacteria in spirulina's case).

So what in the world are these little "bits"? Put simply, either spirulina or chlorella algae. Regardless of the product that you purchase on the website, you are either receiving little pill sized portions of spirulina algae, chlorella algae, or a combination of the two.

"ENERGYbits® are tiny algae tabs so nutritionally dense, they eliminate fatigue and hunger instantly. Want a healthy, natural way to fuel your game or fire up your brain? ENERGYbits® are for you! NO caffeine, sugar, chemicals, gluten or soy, just pure, plant based nutrition, all for just ONE calorie per tab"

- Catherine Arnston

Spirulina (ENERGYbits®) is a blue-green algae mainly because of it's, not surprisingly, bluish-green color. Spirulina is technically not even algae (a plant) at all but actually a bacteria, known as cyanobacteria, which makes energy through photosynthesis. The reason for this is only technical (it doesn't contain membrane bound organelles such as chloroplasts) and involves the difference between a Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic cell, which I will avoid getting into with too much detail in the interest of my readers. If you are interested in the topic, please feel free to leave a comment or question. The molecule, phycocyanin, is actually what gives the cell it's bluish color and is directly responsible for capturing light from the sun and with the help of water, turns that light into usable energy producing oxygen as a "waste" product. Interestingly, spirulina is one of the first "plant-like" cells on earth and is thought to be one of the main contributors in putting oxygen into the atmosphere 2.3 billion years ago. Being a "bacteria", spirulina has no hard cellulose wall like other plants, so it is easily broken down by our digestive system and its nutrients are absorbed into our blood stream super quick, within 5 mins of swallowing a "bit" or nearly instantly if that "bit" is chewed.  Catharine notes that the nutrient profile of spirulina is incredibly similar to that of mother's milk, which I will admit, I have not double checked.

Chlorella (RECOVERYbits®), on the other hand, is a green algae that came later in the plant genetic tree of life. Chlorella is, in fact, a true plant... cellulose cell wall, organelles and all. It is because of this hard cellulose wall that chlorella takes about 1h 30m to be digested and for the nutrients to get into your blood supply. This is after the cells have been manually "cracked" as well. Well, not exactly manually but mechanically broken. Think of spirulina as the house made with feathers and chlorella as the house made with concrete and rebar in the "three little pigs" fairytale. It is claimed that chlorella pulls out toxins from your system similar to activated charcoal however, it binds toxins after they have been processed by the liver. This is important when consuming things like multivitamins, because chlorella will not soak these up like a dry sponge before the vitamins can be used. There are also studies that state chlorella has the highest concentration of RNA and DNA per gram and that this helps with DNA turnover, repair, aging, etc. etc. etc. I am a little more skeptical on this highly touted fact because RNA and DNA are broken down into their nucleic acid building blocks, which are found in anything that you eat with a cell. Including all vegetables, legumes, fungi, fruits, meats, eggs, accidental insects, etc.  Chlorella does, however, have the highest concentration of Chlorophyll per gram in the world which is not found in everything with a cell, so there's a benefit.

Both spirulina and chlorella contain 18 of the 20 amino acids, including all 9 essential amino acids. They also contain 40 different vitamins and minerals including chlorophyll, beta carotene, vitamins B-6 and B-12, Vitamin E, Niacin, Calcium, Manganese, Potassium, Iron, and the list continues. These little bits actually contain "more protein than steak, more iron than liver, more calcium than milk, more chlorophyll than kale, and more antioxidants than blueberries" per gram. Pretty hard to believe for such an old school food. This makes spirulina and chlorella two of the most nutrient dense foods per gram and also two of the most alkalinizing foods on the face of the planet, a whole other blog post in itself. These bits only cost you 1 calorie per tab with a recommended minimum dose of 30 tabs per day for adults, or more if you're an athlete in the midst of hard training.

It is important to note at this point that most algae is poisonous, so don't go eating a bloom out of your backyard pond. Spirulina especially, as it can absorb a lot of toxins from the environment around it. ENERGYbits® are made from 100% organically grown, non-GMO algae, grown in highly controlled fresh water tanks in Taiwan, with no filler added, so you can rest assured... provided they are true to their word.

So, the big questions is, should you buy it? Catherine casually comments about how NHL and MLB players currently use it to boost performance, but that's not really what I am interested in. I do love the fact that this is a whole food and not a supplement (really important to note). You are eating a plant, just in a unique pill form as opposed to boiling out all of the nutrients and chewing away. These "plants" will, in turn, make your body more alkaline and provide you with oxygen and phytonutrients that reinforce your bodies immune defense systems. Research has pointed to this reducing inflammation, risk of cancer and risk of heart disease. We also all know that consuming more veggies will likely help with insulin sensitivity and diabetes, provided its not followed by a 12 pack of donuts. It is an eco-friendly and sustainable source of protein that, when grown properly, can provide 100 times more protein per acre than cattle. Side note, I am not a vegetarian, and I am not saying everyone should be, but if you are a vegetarian, it is important to note that these little guys pack absorbable DHA (a brain building omega 3 fatty acid) that vegetarians cannot find in non-animal sources like chia seeds and flax seeds.

That is all good and well, but this can't be a 5 out of 5 in my opinion for a few reasons. First, and foremost. I do not have the resources to do proper testing to support the claims on these plants. Ideally, I would have loved to do a blood panel prior to my month of ENERGYbits® and RECOVERYbits® and then another at the end. So all of my experience is just based on perception, and I have no placebo control because this study only has a single participant, me. I will say this, eating a mixture of ENERGYbits® and RECOVERYbits® first thing in the morning helped me keep my diet on track throughout the day. Also, I do think that consuming RECOVERYbits® after my exhaustive workouts helped me bounce back a little better the following day. However, I did not see the change in body acidity that I was hoping for. This is quite likely, because of my training and not taking over the 30 bits prescribed dose. Which brings me to my next caveat, these things are expensive. It is hard to justify popping double the dose after hard workouts if its going to cost you $200+ a month. Other products can be found that aren't as expensive, but I would never recommend these because of the risk of contamination described earlier. ENERGY bits® are grown in Taiwan with very high standards. They are air dried (no flash heat) so it's a raw food, which preserves a ton of the nutrients. Chlorella is cracked using sonocation (sound waves) instead of tumbling with glass beads which lessens the heat and also lessens the contamination (lead from the glass).

Finally, and this is not necessarily a problem with the product but I don't like the fact that folic acid is listed on the label instead of folate. If this is an all natural product, then the synthetic version of folate should not be included on the label. Also, amino acids are spelt wrong on some labels, such as Threonine (spelt: threanine) and Histidine (spelt: histicline). These are things that sneak by when there is no regulatory oversight and concerns me about how statements can be made with no true regulation from an external agency, but that is just the biotechnologist in me. Finally, there is a section on the handout that states a minimum, recommend and best results dosage... why aren't you "recommending" the best results dosage? Again, not all of these problems are found on every label, but when paying for something this expensive, a little peace of mind in the attention to detail goes a long way.

All in all, the benefits far outweigh the cons in my personal opinion. I think from here on out, I will only purchase the chlorella RECOVERYbits® and use them sparingly after tough workouts or when I need a bit of a detox. If I continued my daily consumption, I may have to start asking for donations. I love what Catharine and her team are trying to do here in North America and I look forward to watching their growth continue. If you've enjoyed this post, please subscribe for free to receive notifications of new content as it arrives.

*I have no financial interest in ENERGYbits as a company and I was not given any free samples from the company. I purchased my own supply and have an unbiased opinion of the company.