spirulina

[caizar]

is spiralina powder green powder a super food any good for your health?

 

[felix_poker]

Yes, judging by the stuff I have read, and by personal experience, spirulina can be a useful supplement to an already healthy diet, but alone as a supplement it is no miracle pill.

 

[mariacallas]

No doubt it is one of the most nutrient rich, whole supplements out there.

Spirulina is a blue-green algae. It is a simple, one-celled form of algae that thrives in warm, alkaline fresh-water bodies. The name "spirulina" is derived from the Latin word for "helix" or "spiral"; denoting the physical configuration of the organism when it forms swirling, microscopic strands.

Spirulina is being developed as the "food of the future" because of its amazing ability to synthesize high-quality concentrated food more efficiently than any other algae. Most notably, Spirulina is 65 to 71 percent complete protein, with all essential amino acids in perfect balance. In comparison, beef is only 22 percent protein.

Spirulina has a photosynthetic conversion rate of 8 to 10 percent, compared to only 3 percent in such land-growing plants as soybeans.

In addition, Spirulina is one of the few plant sources of vitamin B12, usually found only in animal tissues. A teaspoon of Spirulina supplies 21/2 times the Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamin B12 and contains over twice the amount of this vitamin found in an equivalent serving of liver.

Spirulina also provides high concentrations of many other nutrients - amino acids, chelated minerals, pigmentations, rhamnose sugars (complex natural plant sugars), trace elements, enzymes - that are in an easily assimilable form.

I used to take spirulina before I would work out before, when I ran out of whey protein lol. I'm quite healthy tho and I get my nutrients from a wide variety of meat and vegetable sources so I don't feel the need to take spirulina....I think it would make an excellent supplement for those who are too busy/tired to cook and feed themselves properly.

 

[befuddle]

chorella is pretty good too, same sort of idea

 

[naturalhealth]

Spirulina is actually excellent for you. Even for those who have healthy diets, there are often still things lacking (few people are able to eat everything they need, and even if they do, soils are often depleted of nutrients and not yielding the nutrient-dense food they used to). So I'd say definitely try a spirulina supplement. You can get it as a powder to mix with water or a shake, or in pill form. I prefer the pill so as not to deal with the taste of the powder. It can help curb appetite as well. Definitely very good for you.

 

[asecin]

what about some of the other algae supplements ?

btw i asked similar question in thread before and nobody responded to it, so tnx a lot for caring enough to respond to exact same question to someone else. really appreciate that.

 

[chicpoena]

Yes! I love spirulina. I like the little carob spirulina chunks they have at the store. Superfood/Green Machine are my favorite overpriced fruit drinks. Even though I'm paying more to feel good about myself, I actually do feel better when I eat a lot of spirulina.

 

[Mehm]

I've only used it a bit, but it looks great on paper.

However, I've done a ton or research on growing the stuff. You can easily culture it in a fish tank (in the sun). It also grows in harmony with tilapia fish, which can also be harvested. Check out "ecogenics" on a search engine if you want to find out more. Very cool life form indeed.

 

[Dtergent]

Thanks for the info, Mehm. I am also interested in growing it, it seems everyone who has a farm these days has tanks of it.

 

[LivingInTheMoment]

Yes, it has everything one needs to survive and I know people who survived just on it for a long time, though I would not recomend it alone!
Having said that, you must find a good source, or else, most cheap versions do not do much at all. I had one which I was using, which is excellent, but it has been a long time ago and I have forgotten the brand.

 

[glitterbizkit]

Having said that, you must find a good source, or else, most cheap versions do not do much at all.

Is there really a big difference in quality? How do you find out which one is good? I just got bulk powder from ebay, it's organic and wasn't cheap but wasn't expensive either.

I've been taking spirulina for a couple of weeks now. Haven't noticed much difference in health or energy levels but then again my lifesyle has been really unhealthy lately. So maybe I'd be much worse off wihout it. My only problem is the taste. I make smoothies with fruit and spirulina, but it doesn't hide the taste. I find it awful Should've gotten tablets, but I have about 750 gms left of this powder to finish...

 

[ITWASME]

what about some of the other algae supplements ?

btw i asked similar question in thread before and nobody responded to it, so tnx a lot for caring enough to respond to exact same question to someone else. really appreciate that.

lol

 

[L2R]

a while back i used to use spirulina in my smoothies. it's a good energy source.

 

[LivingInTheMoment]

Is there really a big difference in quality? How do you find out which one is good? I just got bulk powder from ebay, it's organic and wasn't cheap but wasn't expensive either.

I've been taking spirulina for a couple of weeks now. Haven't noticed much difference in health or energy levels but then again my lifesyle has been really unhealthy lately. So maybe I'd be much worse off wihout it. My only problem is the taste. I make smoothies with fruit and spirulina, but it doesn't hide the taste. I find it awful Should've gotten tablets, but I have about 750 gms left of this powder to finish...

Powder form is hard to take I know, a bit of lemon might help or mixed in carrot juice, but the taste is realy strong so it overpowers everything else, but the lemon you might find a little salvation in. Tablets are better/easier to take.

It depends where they extract the Spirulina from and how it grows or pressed in tablet form that makes it good quality.

Check this one out, only a suggestion, I can't find the name of the one I used to use!
Perhaps send them an email and ask questions!

Cyanotech`s Hawaiian Spirulina Pacifica Achieves the Highest Nutritional Content Ever Recorded
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS155929+30-Jan-2009+BW20090130