Spirulina

Spirulina is a blue-green algae that has been known since prehistoric times. It is a real health booster.
We have recently mentioned this in our article about Superfoods, and would now like to dig a little deeper into this substance.

It has become very "trendy" to call healthy and nutritious foods Superfoods. As mentioned in our recent article, Superfoods are for instance: oats, watercress, broccoli, blueberries, pomegranates, and blue-green algae.

And it's almost incredible, but spirulina existed long before the dinosaurs were around, it's really billions of years old.

It is an extremely rich source of nutrients like antioxidants and chlorophyll, vitamin B12, iron, the essential fat GLA (gamma-linoleic acid), and on top of that, it contains 60-70% protein! (In comparison: the spirulina crop contains 20 times as much protein as soya beans do in a similar size area!) The combination of this all makes it a fantastic aid to support a healthy immune system, give an enormous boost of energy, stabilise blood sugar levels and reduce cholesterol.

Children who don't like - or simply refuse! - to eat green veggies, will benefit from the intake of spirulina. Elderly people or people who are recovering from an illness, and athletes, they will all - in their own way and for their own special health aspects - benefit from this very nutritious product. Let's not forget the category of vegans, because lack of dairy or meat could - if not compensated in the right way - cause a vitamin B12 deficiency. This vitamin is essential to keep the red blood cells in optimal condition. But also if you're fit as a fiddle (as far as you know), taking spirulina will give you just that bit extra, to fight all the stress and to cope with all the strains of life.

You could of course - in theory - choose to eat spirulina in its fresh form, straight from the water, but you may have trouble in finding it. In many Northern European countries, among which the UK, it is not available fresh. But don't let that discourage you, because fresh spirulina tastes very strong, and is a somewhat slimy substance, comparable to seaweed.

A more friendly alternative is available as a food supplement in powder and tablet form. The powder is relatively cheaper and mixes well into (healthy!) drinks like fresh fruit juice or smoothies, or vegetable juice. But you can also simply blend it with cold water.

Fresh spirulina needs a warm and sunny climate, at least 25°C and alkaline, salty waters to survive. It's mostly grown for commercial purposes in Australia, Mexico, Japan and Hawaii.

As a supplement, spirulina is often taken by people who follow a cleansing diet, or detox. There are even rumours that US space scientists are exploring the possibility to grow spirulina in it in space stations!

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