NUTRIENT-DENSE SUPERFOODS: All of Nature’s Nutrients. part 3

SPIRULINA: The blue-green algae

When sixteenth-century Spanish explorers saw the Aztecs harvesting this nutrient-dense alga, they dubbed it ‘blue mud’. Spirulina, a name that encompasses a few thousand species of blue-green algae, has served people’s health needs at least since the Aztecs’ time. Cancer management might be the strongest therapeutic role of this wonderfully concentrated source of nutrients. More research is clearly needed, but the initial studies have attracted some interest from scientists and nutritionists alike.

According to the results of animal experiments, spirulina enhances immune function, especially by stimulatin the macrophages, special white blood cells that help eliminate waste from the body. Some human research suggests that the alga may fight off oral malignancies. Scientists found that mouth lesions that are usually cancer precursors regressed completely for almost half of the tobacco chewers who took spirulina supplements for a year-long period. The spirulina takers’ blood levels of beta-carotene, one of the many nutrients in the algae, did not rise, which suggests that something else is deterring cancer.

SUPPLEMENT SUGGESTIONS

In addition to protein, В-complex vitamins, gamma-linolenic acid and a highly absorbable form of iron, spirulina contains what would seem to be vitamin B12, a nutrient not otherwise found in plants. But as with chlorella, you cannot rely on the algae to satisfy the body’s demand for this crucial nutrient. This form of B12 is not easily assimilated. The usual doses are 1-2 teaspoons or 6-9 tablets.