Spirulina is a blue-green freshwater algae and one of Earth's oldest life forms. In the ancient Maya and Aztec cultures, it was highly valued for its healing and strengthening effects and was frequently used as a dietary supplement. This "food of the gods" was believed to provide quick energy and increase the body's resistance and strength. In African Knembu communities, spirulina has also been used as a nutritional source since ancient times.
What is spirulina good for?
Spirulina provides a broad spectrum of nutrients with many benefits. Its cell walls contain no cellulose, which allows the nutrients to easily pass through the intestinal wall and benefit our cells. Spirulina's impressive nutritional content is highly bioavailable. Spirulina contains complete and easily digestible protein (all essential amino acids), carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, gamma-linolenic acid, chlorophyll, phycocyanin, antioxidants, and SOD.
How much spirulina should you consume?
Since spirulina is a food, the dosage is individual. There is no exact recommended daily intake. The most common recommendations range from 1 teaspoon up to a couple of tablespoons per day. If you haven't tried spirulina before, we recommend starting with one or two teaspoons and possibly increasing the dose if you feel you want or need it. But remember that it's more important to get a small amount of good nutrition every day than to take large doses occasionally. A good way to ensure you get some spirulina every day is to incorporate it into your diet in various ways.
You can find 5 of our favorite spirulina recipes.
Are there risks or contraindications with spirulina?
We often get questions about potential dangers of consuming spirulina. Is spirulina diuretic? Does it thin the blood? Can you take spirulina when pregnant or breastfeeding? Can you take it with certain medical conditions? Spirulina is not diuretic in the way that coffee or tea is. It's also not directly blood-thinning, but certain nutrients in spirulina can contribute to improved blood flow over the long term. This is in most cases a desired effect but is also the reason why people taking blood-thinning medications should consult with their doctor before taking spirulina. Regarding whether you can take spirulina when pregnant or breastfeeding, there are no studies showing it would be harmful, but we still wouldn't recommend experimenting with new nutritional sources unless you've used spirulina with good results for an extended period before pregnancy.
If you have any of the following health conditions, you should consult your doctor before taking spirulina:
– If you are taking blood-thinning or immunosuppressive medications.
– If you suffer from phenylketonuria (as spirulina contains the amino acid phenylalanine).
– If you have hematomakros (a condition that leads to excessive iron levels in the body).
Two of our favorite spirulina brands
Glimja's own Spirulina from a reputable manufacturer in the USA. It is of the highest quality as it is grown in a very remote location in America, in southeastern California, far from cities. This powder therefore contains no chemicals, herbicides, or pesticides.
Pure Hawaiian Spirulina Pacifica was founded in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii in 1990 by Dr. Gerald Cysewski, an expert in microalgae and carotenoids. Their mission was and continues to be to harness the benefits of microalgae to improve health and well-being. Their microalgae farm is located on the pristine Kona coast on the Big Island of Hawaii. The microalgae farm was carved out of land that was once a barren lava flow. There they now have freshwater ponds where they cultivate spirulina, utilizing the natural resources that surround them: abundant warm sunlight, pure deep seawater, and freshwater.The freshwater comes from aquifers (where water is naturally filtered through lava rock) and they add approximately 5% deep seawater (from 600 meters depth) to obtain unique trace minerals in the final product. They have a special technique they call: Ocean Chill Drying™ – a system that eliminates oxidation and damage to carotenoids, enzymes, and other nutrients that can occur with conventional drying methods. This system dries the spirulina in just 3-7 seconds. It relies on very cold, deep seawater to restore moisture and uses less than one percent oxygen to preserve the phytonutrients.
