Spirulina is a blue-green freshwater algae and one of the oldest life forms on Earth.
In the ancient Maya and Aztec cultures, it was highly valued for its healing and strengthening effects and was widely used as a dietary supplement.
It was believed that this “food of the gods” provided quick energy and increased the body’s resistance and strength. Spirulina has also been used as a source of nutrition since ancient times by the African Knembu people.
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 be utilized by our cells. Spirulina’s impressive nutritional content is easily absorbed.
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 take?
Since spirulina is a food, the dosage is individual. There is no exact recommended daily intake. However, 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 to.
But keep in mind that it is more important to get a little good nutrition every day than to take large doses occasionally.
A good way to ensure you get some spirulina every day is to include it variably in your diet.
Here are 5 of our favorite spirulina recipes.
Are there any risks or contraindications with spirulina?
We often get questions about whether there are dangers in taking spirulina. Is spirulina diuretic? Blood-thinning? Can you take spirulina when pregnant or breastfeeding? Can you take it with certain medical conditions?
Spirulina is not diuretic in the way that, for example, coffee or tea is.
It is also not directly blood-thinning, but some nutrients found in spirulina can contribute to making the blood more fluid over time. In most cases, this is a desired effect but is also why people on blood-thinning medication should consult their doctor before taking spirulina.
Regarding taking spirulina when pregnant or breastfeeding, there are no studies showing it to be harmful, but we would still not recommend experimenting with new nutritional sources if you have not used spirulina with good results for a long time 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 medication.
– If you suffer from phenylketonuria (since spirulina contains the amino acid phenylalanine).
– If you have hemochromatosis (a disease 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.
2. 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 is to harness the benefits of microalgae to improve health and well-being. Their algae 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 around them: abundant warm sunlight, clean deep seawater, and freshwater.
The freshwater comes from aquifers (water naturally filtered through lava rock) and they add about 5% deep seawater (from 600 meters depth) to provide unique trace elements 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 is based on very cold, deep seawater to restore moisture and uses less than one percent oxygen to preserve the phytonutrients.
