About 2
years ago I was given a big bag of dark green powder from a client of mine.
She’d been into Holland & Barratt and spent a fortune on dozens of healthy
goodies for herself but decided to treat me too. Her gift was a bag of
something called spirulina, which is to be the subject of this blog post.
Now, many
readers will have heard of, and perhaps even tried, spirulina in the past. You
may have come across the claims of its health benefits which I’m going to flesh
out a bit today.
Spirulina is
a form of blue-green algae. Yes, I know it sounds gross but please read on. The
people in the know claim that this was the first form of plant life on earth
and it has an UNBELIEVEABLE nutritional profile.
Firstly,
spirulina is made up of roughly 60% protein, which is gram for gram around 3
times more protein than steak! This protein is what can be called a ‘complete
protein’ as it possesses all essential amino acids, which are basically the
building blocks of protein and cannot be made in the body, therefore have to be
sourced from the foods that we eat. The amino acid proportions are very close
to what you’d find in human breast milk, which is undeniably packed full of
nutrition. What I think’s particularly great about this is that vegetarians and
vegans, who often struggle to include enough protein in their diets, have a
fantastic option here in plant form.
Spirulina is
known for its array of nutrients – many of which I’m not going to go into in
this post. However, something I do want to focus in on is its ability to
provide the body with a fast-acting source of energy. Spirulina is absorbed
ridiculously quickly into the blood stream. Its absorption is so fast that it’s
a great option for pre-workout nutrition. Spirulina’s high concentration of vitamin
B3 (niacin) also makes it a good to take before exercise because of its effect
on the circulatory system. The niacin produces nitric oxide which relaxes the
blood vessels, reducing blood pressure and allowing for a generous oxygenated
blood flow to the working muscles. Incidentally, this is the same effect you
may have come across beetroot having.
There have
also been some promising studies that have looked at spirulina’s antioxidant
profile. One of the most powerful antioxidants is called beta carotene. It so
happens that spirulina is the richest known natural source of this particular
carotenoid, which is one of the many reasons why consumption of this algae might
genuinely be life changing for a big portion of the population.
If I were to
put on my sceptical hat, it would be easy to question the bioavailability (how
much of what’s in them actually get used in the body) of these products. But
surely something with such nutrient density needs to be tried.
I’ve personally
only occasionally used the bag of spirulina that my client bought be all those
months ago. Maybe I should check the use by date! But what I do pretty much
every day is use a greens powder which includes spirulina along with loads of
other forms of plant and algae. I do feel that it energises me and I hope that
it’s working its magic under the skin too.

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