Spirulina – What Is It, Why Is It Good For You?

By: Darrell Miller

Spirulina has generated a great deal of buzz in the neutraceutical community as well as medical circles in recent years, and for good reason. It contains an unusually high content of a variety of nutrients and other bioactive compounds. Studies involving controlled clinical trials provide very strong evidence for its purported roles in warding off diseases and keeping up overall health.

The earliest mention of spirulina can be found in the Spanish accounts of city states in the New World of present-day Mexico. The Aztec and related ethnic groups – collectively known as Mesoamericans – consumed, as a vegetable, the blue-green algae that they referred to as “the stone’s excrement.” This food source was quite popular, being a common sight in the marketplace, where it was sold as cakes.

Today, spirulina is collected from lakes and ponds in Mexico and in Chad (Africa) and is used in the same way. It is dried out in the sun and added as broth stocks to soups and stews.

The cultivation of spirulina has surged to a large-scale production, since the latter half of the 20th century, when two separate groups of European researchers conducted initial studies in Lake Texcoco in Mexico and Lake Chad in Africa, and learned the enormous potential of spirulina. Before long, the United Nations World Food Conference, in 1974, began touting the many health benefits of spirulina, and thus catapulted it to the mainstream press, as spirulina was dubbed – the best food for the future.

Why? Let’s examine how Spirulina contributes to maintaining a healthy human body.

Complete Protein

The protein content of spirulina is, surprisingly, higher than those in red meat and vegetable sources like soy. In fact, it holds dietary amounts of essential amino acids in proportions adequate for daily use by the human body. Which is the reason why, it is classified, by nutritionists, in the same category as most dairy products, poultry, and fish. These food sources are all identified as a source of complete protein. Sufficient intake of sources of complete protein is important, in supporting physiological functions that require the presence of amino acids.

Essential Fatty Acids

Certain forms of omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9 fatty acids are present in spirulina, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) reputed for their roles in preventing cardiovascular diseases. More importantly, it is one of the food sources that contain all essential fatty acids: alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linolenic acid (LA). Both of which are necessary for cellular functions, but are not produced inside the human body. It’s labeled essential because we must get these nutrients from our diet.

Vitamins and Minerals

In addition, spirulina is a good source of many vitamins and minerals. It contains vitamins A, C, D, E, and B complex such as thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinamide, pyridoxine, folic acid, and cobalamin. No one will ever contest the health benefits of potassium, calcium, chromium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, sodium, and zinc, which are all present in spirulina.

Make no mistake about it: spirulina is of great nutritional value and can easily be added to anybody’s diet. Look for quality spirulina at your local or internet vitamin store.

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Just a few grams of Spirulina powder a day have been shown to have definite health benefits. Spirulina is by far the most-studied nutritional algae, both in terms of its benefits and lack of harm. It has been shown to make a difference in preventing and treating ailments from obesity to malnutrition, cancer to heart disease.
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