Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Spirulina: what is it?

A brief guide on what is spirulina.
What is spirulina?

Arthrospira platensis (spirulina), is a pure, natural superfood; due to the diversity and concentration of nutrients it contains.
It is a nutritious uni-cellular blue-green microalga that contains many vitamins, minerals, all the essential amino acids and powerful antioxidants. Spirulina can help your body achieve and maintain optimum health and wellbeing.

Spirulina is extremely nutritious and is the most nutritious, concentrated natural wholefood (gram per gram).
Most spirulina has a constitution of over 50% protein, containing all essential amino acids.
Spirulina has no hard cell wall (no cellulose), which means it can be digested easily - it can nourish individual cells and is highly assimilated.
Spirulina 'superfood' has a very high phytonutrient content; it is 31 times more potent than blueberries in comparison and 60 times more potent than spinach.
Nutrient profile of Spiralyne spirulina tablets (known to have one the highest nutrients content) compared to other foods:
290% more calcium than whole milk
830% more protein than tofu
4500% more beta carotene than carrots
8000% more iron than spinach1
(Based on a typical analysis of Spiralyne arthrospira platensis and the above foods).
There is more antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity in 3 g of spirulina than in five servings of fruits and vegetables2

Spirulina is the best whole food source of Gamma linolenic acid (GLA) – an important fatty acid; it is rich in vitamins, minerals, trace elements, chlorophyll and enzymes; and it is abundant in other nutrients such as; carotenoids, sulfolipids, glycolipids, phycocyanin, superoxide dismutase, RNA and DNA.

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1 www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
2 Moorhead K, Capelli B, Cysewski G (2005), Nature's Superfood: Spirulina ISBN #0-9637511-3-1

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