Spirulina (Page 1 of 2)

I just bought a package of Spirulina capsules at our local health food store. I just took 5 capsules. I'll see how they go.

Spirulina is not tolerable to my system except in some dried forms. I have no food allergies except scallops, which I like the taste of,

but which make me ill, and spirulina. Twice I have gotten chilled smoothie drinks with fruit and spirulina, and both times I have gotten

violently ill. The last time (and that was the last time I'll ever take it), I was so ill I thought I was going to die, I had violent spasms

wracking my body even after having expelled every last bit of food.  Since I also practice shamanically, I sensed that I was sent

psychic darts to cause me to make a poor choice of drink for me, and thus kill me by my own freewill. That second time, I thought,

well, I'll give spirulina a chance again...and I become more sick than I've ever been. I have never been that sick in my life. I had to

get a healer to pray for me to fend off the death darts. If I hadn't, I would have died....feel pretty certain of that.

So that's my lovely spirulina experience. Everyone's system is different. I'm not warning people away from spirulina, but I certainly

don't think it's safe in every form for every person. Perhaps freshness is a factor. If the chilled sprirulina is not absolutely fresh,

it becomes an expecially potent form of food poisoning. I don't know, but it's something to consider.

Ooooh SednaSphere, that's rough! I can't take spirulina either, though it doesn't cause quite that level of difficulty for me. I do get the runs though, rather quickly. And a general overall feeling of "not well-ness". I get a very similar body response to soy products, actually.

Spirulina is a cyanobacteria... there are many of these bacteria being harvested and packaged.  There are many of them that produce  neurotoxins, hepatotoxins, cytotoxins, and endotoxins.  I would wager some companies are not as reputable as others and in either their own production of the pond scum or the harvesting of it, they are getting things that aren't what they think they are.  OR Whatever their process is alters the DNA of the bacteria.

Just a thought on why it would or could make some people ill.  There have been many cases of contaminated batches being seized by the FDA.  But again, this would likely be from irresponsible producers, harvesters or marketers etc.

Check out AFA also known as Blue Green Algae, harvested only from Klamath Lake in Oregon. It is distributed by Power Organics:

http://www.powerorganics.com/index.htm

Power 3 is a combination of blue green algae, spirulina and chlorella, or you can get capsules of just the blue green algae.

There is a great smoothie recipe on the website which I've been enjoying for a few weeks, it is called the Five Element smoothie:

1 banana + other smoothie fruits
1 lemon, peeled and white pithy core taken out, but seeds included
pinch of cayenne (up to 1/8th tsp)
1tsp of Himalayan salt crystal brine
1tbsp flax seed oil

blend with pure water and drink immediately (the flax oil is sensitive), and take two to four capsules of blue green algae along with it. I also have been adding hemp protein powder and maca to this. Good stuff!

Tim

For me I noticed that I didn't get the energy boost with chlorella the way I do with spirulina, so for that reason I take the chlorella at night, since it won't amp me up, and the spirulina during the day when I need the energy.  But maybe it all depends on the person, as well as the brands of chlorella vs. spirulina they're taking, I don't know.

Last night I just put together a batch of capsules of chlorella for myself (I buy the powders for spirulina and chlorella and the separate veggie capsules and put it all together myself).  I found that this seems to be a cheaper way to do it than to buy the pre-made capsules of S or C.    For instance, at our local Whole Foods they charge almost $30 a bottle for a 2 month's supply of high grade spirulina capsules.  (Most directions on the bottles will tell you to take about 5 caps, or 3 gm/1 tablespoon equivalent of spirulina, and the bottles will contain about 300 caps.)   However, I can buy a 1 pound container of high grade organic Hawaiian spirulina powder at i-herb.com for $20 and make many more months worth for myself.

For Chlorella I buy Jarrow Formuulas Yaeyama Chlorella through i-herb.com.  A 100 gram bottle of loose powder cost about $8.  It seems to be a bit more pricey when you buy the pre-made caps at health stores though, like maybe twice the cost, but I can't remember offhand.  I'll have to check next time I'm out and about.   And prices will vary of course for brands, with some being higher grade, and thus higher cost, than others.   As far as how much to take:  My bottle of loose powder says to take 1/2 teaspoon's worth (that would probably translate to two 00-size veggie caps I'm guessing) and that there are 50 servings per container. 

[i-herb's one good place to get supplements for cheaper btw, although they're limited in what brands they carry.  They won't have the full spectrum that a good health store will have.  But everything has its pros and cons I guess.  ]

And when doing it yourself, veggie capsules themselves can be pricey if not purchased correctly.  Again, at Whole Foods a bag of 100 veggie caps costs over $8.  But recently I just bought a bag of 750 veggie capsules through i-herb that were actually better quality than the ones offered at WH (they don't crack and break when manipulated) for only $12.    So, 7.5 x the amount of caps for only $4 more.  Much better deal economically.     

I also happen to have a bag of silica freshness packets that i bought from a retailer on e-Bay for like two dollars or something for 50, and I always put a packet in my supplement jars when I make stuff for myself, or if I buy a bottle of something that doesn't have one.   What I noticed with Earthrise brand spirulina for instance is that they charge several dollars more per jar for the jars that contain these freshness packs!!!!!!   I am not even kidding.  I was cross comparing two bottles of Earthrise spirulina at WH, both the same size, same quantity of caps, but one had a yellow label and one had a blue, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the difference was between bottles, why one was $4 more a bottle than the other.  In buying one of each at different times, I later realized that the only difference  seemed to be that one had a silica packet and the other didn't. !  (It noted that on the bottle too.)  So, that was a little weird.   Who needs that kind of rip off malarky.  !   I just bought 50 of these little packs on e-Bay for $2.  Let's do the math here! 

Anyway, that's the info. I can provide, maybe somebody else has additional insight.