The Darker Side of Chlorophyll. Here’s What No One Tells You. Yep, It’s Ugly.

I was so enthralled with the health promises of chlorophyll, that it can help clear up your skin, undo sun damage (something that is very appealing to me, who spends a ton of time outside) solve digestive issues, work to banish hunger, and even possibly promote weight loss, that I decided to buy it and give it a try.

When my little Amazon box arrived I ripped open the bubble wrap (which in itself should have been a clue that the makers do NOT want this stuff to spill, lest they have to pay for a warehouse of dark green-dyed stuff! Imagine if my bottle had accidentally busted open and leaked onto a beautiful new cream-colored Gucci handbag sitting right under it on the truck?) As I would soon learn, Chlorophyll has a dark side. And it's ugly.

So excited was I that I actually bought this stuff twice, and by the time the second bottle arrived (there was a problem with my first order, something to do with a rejected credit card, but that's a whole other story), I was too scared to pack it on my upcoming long weekend trip. It's like mercury or a Genie. Once it gets out, it's hard to put it back into the bottle.

Day 1: I have my water at the ready, open the bottle and start to squeeze the little black dropper, as I slightly fumble with my phone to film this inaugural act for posterity, or at least this article. I was so excited by the idea of swirling tendrils of green hitting the water that I spilled some of it, on my fingers, my countertop, then my phone. I tried to wipe the phone off and got it on my favorite Rag & Bonne cotton shirt. Now a fairly green-dyed mess, I am determined to keep going. Onward. A little mess never deterred me from reaching my healthy living goals.

I read the instructions and found out you are supposed to take 15 drops twice a day. Counting, the drops come fast and furiously as I barely squeeze the dropper and allow tiny little green chlorophyll droplets to fall into the water. 1, 2, 3, 456, wait was that 7 and 8? Should I just keep going? The water is quickly turning a dark, dark shade of green, like a swamp monster's blood. I finish off what has to be 15, though I only counted to 12, and hope I am not overdosing. It's four in the afternoon and I am eager to sip this puppy down so I can get some reaction or at least feel "refreshed" by the minty mix well before dinner time.

Sip, sip sip. It was minty and swampy, musty and fresh both. But I had the distinct impression I had over-done the droplets and the dark green fir-tree color of the water was a turnoff. Now mostly done with my eight-ounce glass (after deciding there is no way I am supposed to drink all this chlorophyll in one fell swoop) I poured the last third down the sink and realized that the sink was getting green as I poured.

I returned my attention to the white and grey marble kitchen countertop and realized it too was stained with green ringlets, which after sponging hard for a minute turned into light green cloudy patches. Uh Oh. That's when I realized: My fingers were dark green, in ugly swatches of stain that looked like I had spent the afternoon tie-dying T-shirts with some imaginary child who may or may not also be dark green. Then, horror of horrors, I looked in the mirror as I was scrubbing my fingers with hot soapy water, and digging into my skin with a washcloth that I had gotten a little dot on my outside nose and now was looking at what appeared to be a green freckly on my nose. Scrubbing did not get it out. This was a disaster.

After what seemed like hours of scrubbing my hands and nose toned down a bit from dark green to a lighter shade of mossy green. But it would not be until a full 24 hours later, with more scrubbing and showering, that the stuff truly disappeared. One thing to know before pouring your chlorophyll: It has a way of getting on everything, and not coming out!

The upside of chlorophyll is also astounding

Something else surprising happened. I forgot to have dinner that night. Literally I just never got hungry for about six hours, or longer. This is highly unusual for me. Normally I would eat something (nuts, hummus, or a meal) every four hours, and I never, ever skip a meal. I can be sick as a dog or traveling time zones or distracted with work, and I would still want supper. So I don't know what happened there. I decided b about 9 pm that dinner didn't seem like something I wanted to eat. I was practicing intuitive eating at the time, and with my husband out of town and it being just me and the dog in the house, skipping dinner was no biggie.

Was this something to do with the chlorophyll? I will never know. But my skin is looking pretty clear and smooth, and I have nothing else to point to for a rare event of having no pimples, no hunger (that day at least), and a crazy amount of energy that let me build my entire garden fence in one short afternoon and evening. I may keep going with this stuff. If you see me looking green (oh yes, it turned my tongue green too, but that seemed minor in comparison to the other stains I had to deal with) just know it's for a healthy reason.