The Dr. Tyna Show
The Superfood for Hormones, Energy & Aging—Why Algae Changes Everything | ENERGYBits
Thu, 10 Apr 2025
EP 205: Catharine Arnston, founder and Chief Scientific Officer of ENERGYbits, is back for another fascinating conversation—this time focused on women’s health, hormones, and the power of algae. We dive into how spirulina and chlorella support mitochondrial function, balance hormones, and deliver potent antioxidant benefits, all grounded in decades of research. Catharine's passion for algae began when her sister fell ill, sparking a journey that led to the creation of ENERGYbits. Her deep knowledge and infectious enthusiasm make this a must-listen for anyone curious about how a simple, sustainable superfood can make a big impact. Check Out ENERGYbits | Click Here & use code DRTYNA for 20% off Topics Discussed: How does algae support women’s hormonal health and balance? What are the benefits of spirulina and chlorella for mitochondrial function? Can algae help with symptoms of perimenopause and menopause? Why is algae considered one of the most nutrient-dense superfoods? How do antioxidants in algae improve overall health and energy levels? On This Episode We Cover: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:20 - Manufacturing process 00:04:22 - Different types of algae 00:06:37 - Manufacturing process 00:12:49 - Vegan collagen 00:14:43 - Mitochondrial health & estrogen 00:19:32 - Perimenopause 00:26:11 - Women’s aging & hormone health 00:28:49 - Estrogen levels 00:34:55 - Dr. Tyna’s experience with ENERGYbits 00:38:04 - Carnivore diet & chlorophyll 00:40:50 - Red light 00:45:43 - B Vitamins & decision fatigue 00:47:31 - Constipation 00:49:53 - Aging and finding joy 00:56:04 - Testimonials Further Listening: EP. 139: Algae 101 | Catharine Arnston of Energy Bits Hormones Playlist Sponsored By: ENERGYbits | Click Here & use code DRTYNA for 20% off Disclaimer: Information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This information is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional, or any information contained on or in any product. Do not use the information provided in this podcast for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing medication or other treatment. Always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medication or nutritional, herbal or other supplement, or using any treatment for a health problem. Information provided in this blog/podcast and the use of any products or services related to this podcast by you does not create a doctor-patient relationship between you and Dr. Tyna Moore. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent ANY disease.
Chapter 1: How does algae support women’s hormonal health?
Our soils are so damaged, our food is so over-processed, and it's almost impossible to be properly nourished. And everybody I know has a countertop full of supplements. And when you take algae, because there's 40 vitamins and minerals that we test, there's probably like 200 micronutrients in there we haven't just tested for.
You can eliminate many of your other supplements and they're gonna be much better for you anyways,
You are tuned into The Dr. Tina Show with Dr. Tina Moore. For more, visit drtina.com.
on this episode of the dr tina show i'm sitting down with catherine arnston catherine is the chief scientific officer and founder of energy bits she is literally the algae fairy as i joke she was on the show last year and we laid out all the scientific evidence around chlorella and spirulina and how algae can be a really beneficial superfood this time she came back because we wanted to talk about all things women
midlife women, hormones, mitochondrial health, antioxidants, you name it, we went through it and its relationship to algae, spirulina and chlorella specifically. I think you're going to find this conversation fascinating. I always enjoy talking with her. So let's jump in. Catherine, thank you so much for coming back on the Dr. Tina show today to talk about all things algae.
I had you on last year and it was mind blowing and I'm so excited to have you back.
Well, Dr. Tina, thank you. I love being a frequent flyer with you.
Awesome. I hope that I provide a good service. I've been flying around a lot lately in the last year and I have definitely got my opinions on different airlines. So I try to go for, you know. A high level of customer satisfaction here. No, I just, I love your product. And I think I shared this with you last time, but my grumpy old farmer husband, he is such a fan of it.
And he is all, if we even run low, I hear about it. Like we're not allowed to run out. It's always like, where's my algae? Where's my algae? And I think we particularly focus on just using it daily sort of as a, almost like a multivitamin, if you will. It's like, it's just kind of the no, like it's non-negotiable. Like that's the one thing we definitely take.
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Chapter 2: What are the benefits of spirulina and chlorella?
So understand that it's a foundational food. Let's go back a little bit. First of all, it was the first life on earth four billion years ago, not just the first food, but the very first life. I've now taken to calling spirulina spiritualina because there's something spiritual about being the first life. It was a cyanobacteria like spirulina.
And ultimately that cyanobacteria evolved into becoming our mitochondria, which we're going to do a deep dive on today. So it's no surprise to me why all the nutrients found in algae are critical for supporting mitochondria health because basically they came from the same place. So they're family. So within the category of algae, we have two main categories. One is called macroalgae.
One is microalgae. We're talking about microalgae today, but let me quickly define what macroalgae is. It's that stringy stuff you see washing up on shore, on beaches, also known as seaweed. And it's good for you because it has lots of fiber, but it has virtually no nutrition. It does have a lot of iodine in it because it comes from the ocean.
Now, the other type of algae is what we're talking about today and doing a deep dive on called microalgae. Now, microalgae is called microalgae because it's microscopic in size. You can't even see it. Something like a million of them could fit on the head of a pin. And it's completely opposite to macroalgae. First of all, it's found everywhere, not just the sea.
And it also has virtually no fiber. Macroalgae has high fiber. Microalgae like spirulina chloral, spirulina has no fiber because it's a bacteria. Chlorella does have some fiber, but very little. But it's the most nutrient-dense food in the entire universe. And that's not just my opinion.
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Chapter 3: Can algae help with symptoms of perimenopause and menopause?
We have a quote from NASA that says, one gram of algae has the same nutrition as a thousand grams of fruits or vegetables. So microalgae everywhere from the oceans, the lakes, the rivers, the streams, the soil, and it's harvested as a food crop. The two that are harvested as food crops are spirulina and chlorella. Now, microalgae, there's tens of thousands of strains.
One strain is called blue-green algae, and spirulina is one type of blue-green algae. and then there's green algae, and chlorella is one strain. But I want you to understand that while there is blue-green algae in the ocean, it's not spirulina. Spirulina and chlorella are grown in fresh water. Whether you buy it from Target or Whole Foods or from us, it's harvested.
It's grown hydroponically, like lots of vegetables, lettuce, tomatoes, whatever. So yes, there's algae, microalgae in the ocean, but what you buy packaged from us, it's not from the ocean and ours is not from China. We grow ours in Taiwan, which is world renowned for having the highest quality algae because growing algae isn't like growing broccoli or carrots. It's more like making wine.
So a couple of things on that point is the angle of the sun very much affects the quality of the algae, just like it changes the quality and the flavoring of your wine. Number two, the way that the wine is produced directly affects the outcome. Same with algae. And this is what separates us from pretty much almost anybody else.
Because A, we grow ours in not just fresh water, but triple filtered spring mountain water. So no toxins because algae will absorb whatever's in the water. So you need clean water. You can't keep mycotoxins out of the ocean or lakes. And there's a company that does grow algae
in klamath lake and i've got science that shows that there were our micro toxins in their in their algae because you just can't keep it out of wild bodies of water so very clean water and then the most important thing this is going to be a very large part of our conversation today is that we do not use high heat to dry it a lot of the uh pretty much most of the other lower quality lower priced algae
companies cut corners because they're lower priced, so they need to get market quickly. And what do they do to cut the corners? They use high heat to dry it so they can get to market quickly, yada, yada, yada. We've never done that because I chose all the processes when I started the company 15 years ago. And I started the company because my sister had breast cancer.
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Chapter 4: Why is algae considered a nutrient-dense superfood?
So everything we do is to really improve the health of everyone. And there were no corners to cut. I wasn't going to build that kind of company. This is so important because one of the nutrients we're going to talk about extensively, well, there's two actually. One is an antioxidant that protects your mitochondria called superoxide dismutase, which also happens to be an enzyme.
And when you use high heat, on enzymes, they deactivate the enzyme. Doesn't matter whether you're cooking it at home or using it in a production process. This is why a lot of your greens powders are not as effective as algae either, because they use high heat to make, usually to blend the tablets or the powder. We don't ever use high heat, so it preserves all these magical nutrients
many of them which are not found in any other food so you don't want to cheat yourself by getting the cheaper version because yes it may have been in there initially but using high heat deactivates it so that we're going to talk about superoxide dismutase also known as sod because this is critical for protecting your mitochondria particularly as you get into perimenopause
and menopause, and your body stops producing it. Your body stops producing things like melatonin and hormones as you get older. Well, it stops production of this stuff called superoxidismutase, which is probably not very familiar with you. But there are 25,000 studies documenting how this superoxidismutase prevents Alzheimer's, prevents heart disease, prevents insufflations.
So it's very heavily documented. But nobody knows that you get the highest concentration of it in algae, but only if it's not heated with heat over 114 degrees. So you could get fresh spirulina or frozen spirulina. Those would work just as well as ours, but you do need it to be raw. So that superoxide dismutase is one of the critical nutrients we're going to talk about today.
The other critical nutrient only found in spirulina, because SOD is also in chlorella, is the blue pigment found in spirulina. That's why it's called a blue green algae. And this blue pigment is called phycocyanin. I'm going to spell that for you. P-H-Y-C-O-C-Y-A-N-I-N. It too is deactivated by high heat.
So now you have these two critical nutrients found that are active in our algae that were originally in all algae. But if it's heated, used, dried with high heat, it's not there. It's like buying getting a great deal on a great car. And then you open, lift the hood and find out there's no engine in there. So it might look great, but it's not going to perform for you.
And we want it to perform so it can protect you because your mitochondria are on your side, but they need a little help from you to make sure that they can be alive and well to keep you alive and well. So our process separates us from 90% of all the other companies that are out there.
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Chapter 5: How do antioxidants in algae improve health?
And that's why I kept, I, we also do third party lab tests here in the United States, by the way, I needed to know why a algae was working so well to protect people and restore their health or protect their health and why B ours was working better than anybody else's. And we've done some of our own clinical trials and all, all since we've last spoken. So I'll, I'll, uh,
I'll reference some of those results as well. Just like I said earlier, the way that a wine is made affects the outcome, the taste, the quality, everything. And so, as I mentioned, growing algae is complicated.
And the more attention that you give to your production process and the higher standards that you set, the better outcomes that your clients will have because all the good stuff is preserved. And that's what we do for everyone.
I live in wine country, so I know you're so right. The way the sun is in a season, just the whole season itself can change things. There's so many factors that go into how the wine ends up being over time. So I know that it really is a science getting behind it and timing and everything. So I hear what you're saying.
Yeah. But what amazes me and what I'm so excited about and why I really dove deep into algae 15 years ago is because, as I mentioned earlier, our soils are so damaged, our food is so over-processed, and it's almost impossible to be properly nourished. And everybody I know has a countertop full of supplements.
And when you take algae, because there's 40 vitamins and minerals that we test, there's probably like 200 micronutrients in there we haven't just tested for. You can eliminate many of your other supplements and they're going to be much better for you anyways.
I also did some studies and found out that not only does spirulina have the highest protein in the world, it has the highest collagen in the world. Vegans can't take them because they're mostly from bones of animals and chickens and fish and whatever. So this is a vegan source of collagen. And in many cases, you're getting... Well, in most cases, you're getting more anyways. So it...
to melt the collagen down, they use chemicals. So that's not so good for the environment or for you. So you can eliminate your collagen. You can eliminate your multivitamin. You can eliminate CoQ10 and biotin, lots of nutrients. So these individual nutrients are like listening to soloists. They may be a great soloist,
But why would you listen to a soloist when you can listen to the orchestra, where the soloist is part of the orchestra and you get harmonies and synergies that aren't possible by just bringing a bunch of soloists together? Algae is your orchestra. All the harmonies are there so that they up-level each other.
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Chapter 6: Why is mitochondrial health important for women?
So if we can get your mitochondria back up, because think of mitochondria as the, they're not just the powerhouse, they're the light bulbs that keep the light in your body working. In your office tower, when the lights go out, you call maintenance and they come and replace the
light bulb for you can't do any work without any lights same with your body when your mitochondria which are the lights that keep everything working go out unfortunately you don't have a maintenance crew to come and replace it but you do have superoxidismutase which you can find in the highest concentration in our spirulina algae tablets energy bits and also to the second highest is in the chlorella
But spirulina gets in there faster because it's a bacteria. So we can turn your lights back on just with food, not a drug, not any kind of surgeries. It's almost a miracle if there wasn't so much science proving that this worked. And as I said, we did our own clinical trials. And you can't argue with 25,000 clinical trials about superoxidismutase.
So we just need to get the word out that, particularly to women, you don't have to struggle with metabolic dysfunction and weight gain and fatigue and brain fog as you enter this change of life, because it happens, it's just part of life. And so I tell people, as you get into menopause years, you can either get bitter, Or you can get better. I want you to get better.
And one of the ways to do that effortlessly, simply, and with food is with spirulina algae, if it's raw.
I think a lot of women are walking into those years with really tanked out mitochondrial function anyway. You know, they're fried out in their 20s and even earlier sometimes. And so they're, especially the younger generations and the foods that the younger generations have been raised up on, especially in this country.
So people are walking in with metabolic and mitochondrial compromise and then you add into it any drugs that they've taken, like the fluoroquinolone antibiotics, fry out your mitochondria. And so this is why we see, we even had a study come out last year showing that there's two periods in a woman's life where they age aggressively. One is around 44 years old and one is again in their 60s.
And it's true. I mean, mine hit later. I think it was probably, I was around 47, 48, but all of a sudden it was like night and day. Something just happened, you know? And it's not just the dropout of estrogen. It's all of it. This is why I say we have to train for menopause. We have to prepare for this. Yeah. Right, right.
Because it's hard to get on top of it when you're behind the ball, you know? Right.
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Chapter 7: What role does estrogen play in women's health?
she was working at a chocolate factory yeah i love that chocolate factory you know uh conveyor belt and she couldn't keep up so she was stuffing all the chocolates in her mouth or throwing them over her shoulders well when you eat carbs this is what's going on your molecules in that electron transport chain can't keep up because carbs release the most free radicals and so your poor little cell is getting so dumped on by free radicals because they escape from this
process the electron transport chain. So the best thing to do, even if you don't want to go keto, just reduce your carbs. It will make your electron transport chain more efficient. So fewer free radicals, more electrons, because when they escape, they turn into free radicals. So you want to reduce the free radicals and you want to eliminate them. And that's what the SOD does. So
Anytime you can stop eating from using intermittent fasting or fasting, it reduces the load of electrons being moved along the electron transport chain. So your cell has a chance to clean up and algae has no carbs. So A, it helps with the autophagy and the apoptosis, which also happens when you're doing cold plunges or cryotherapy. But even on its own, it's very much the cleanup crew.
And I tell people, you know, lots of times, They only think of algae as the thing that's closed their favorite beach. And I remind people, well, algae is the cleanup crew in nature too. You can't see the toxins or bacteria that are in the water, but the algae shows up to get rid of them, to absorb them and to kill them. And it does the same thing in your body too, especially the chlorella.
So it's the cleanup crew. So maybe you have a big mess to clean up or a little mess to clean up, but it will clean it up and get you back on track. And it does it from food.
Yes, yes. And chlorella has B vitamins in it as well, which are something that a lot of us end up very deficient in throughout life. Our stress response gets off the charts when we are not getting enough B vitamins. And so finding just different ways to get food sources, you know, without having to take a whole litany of bottles of pills. Yeah. And think about it.
That's the thinking about it part. It's overwhelm. It's decision fatigue. Honestly, that is my favorite thing about the energy bits. I was skeptical when I was first presented with them and I started taking them. And I told you the story. My husband started first and he was like, these really work. He takes whatever I tell him to take, but he never compliments any of it.
And he's like, these really work. And then I realized the decision fatigue of looking at like, am I getting enough of this and enough of this? And it's just, it's exhausting.
I know. And also foods become political and there's so many different things that you have to do if you pursue a paleo or a carnivore diet. And so even if you change nothing else, nothing, and just started taking these, you would feel an improvement. And as I mentioned, it saves you money, it saves you time. Let's go out and use that extra time to
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Chapter 8: How can algae help combat aging and energy loss?
Yes, I said elimination. Chlorella is a beautiful thing to help with bowel movements. And most people aren't talking about constipation or pooping, but if you're taking medications, you're traveling, you're eating a lot of dairy, you're eating a lot of processed foods, you're eating a lot of gluten, I can almost promise you, you are constipated.
And chlorella, not spirulina, only chlorella will help you get on top of that and have a happy bowel movement in the morning because elimination is very important. So it's not just what you're taking in nourishment wise, it's what you're getting rid of because there's this stuff that I call the junk in your trunk.
And you want to get rid of that because if it's sitting there, your blood circulates around those because those are toxins and stuff that your body just didn't want. And so it's recirculating. It's like having a garbage truck parked in front of your house permanently and And who wants that? So we want to get rid of that junk in your trunk and you do that with chlorella.
So it offers you all of the benefits of a plant-based diet, the fiber, because it has the fiber in it and it does the stimulation of the peristalsis. They work so beautifully together. Spirulina, by the way, I also call it brain food because remember I mentioned your brain has the highest mitochondria, 2 million per cell.
And so the first thing that turns back on is your brain because of the high concentration of mitochondria and the high superoxidase mutase in the spirulina that's getting to your brain. So We all know that fatty fish are brain food. Well, spirulina is very much a brain food. And then chlorella, I consider gut food because it has the fiber for your gut biome.
It has the chlorophyll that kills bacteria. It stimulates peristalsis. It has the 40 vitamins and minerals that build your immune system. So it's very much your gut health algae. And if it helps you at all to think about it differently, I've come up with some analogies. I travel a fair amount and sometimes I get room service.
And so it nourishes me for the day and I get out the door, I have lots of energy. I thought, hmm, that's sort of like spirulina. So think of spirulina as room service. And then chlorella, you come back to your room and it's all cleaned out. The garbage has been taken out. It's like, huh, that's sort of like chlorella. So think of chlorella as housekeeping.
Spirulina is your room service and chlorella is your housekeeping. They do completely different things, but they are both really essential for living well and living optimally. And I tell people, it's never too late to feel great. I don't care what age you are. By the way, I'm turning 70 next year. I know, that's what I was going to ask.
I was going to say, you got to tell them how old you are.
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