Spirulina and Chlorella

[moina]

I would like to know if anyone has been using these superfoods and tell me their experience of whether it has improved their health. I have bought them in tablet form because I cant stand the taste.:(

[bario]

I got Spirulina in powder form and have only used it once as it tasted rancid. I keep meaning to try again using a smaller dose but the initial dusgust has put me off.

[Ratiocinator]

This is some of the best food available to us. It takes time to be able to tolerate the taste, but such a tolerance does come after a while.

These foods cure and prevent cancer; they are the highest dietary protein source available. They cleanse and enrich the body.

I mix chlorella and spirulina in with green juice and sweeten it with apples.

[armoured_amazon]

Heh, are they really that nasty? :D

[Ratiocinator]

Our sense of taste has been bastardized, and at a very early age. The dominant taste of nature is bitter. The dominant tastes in the stupourmarket are sweet and salty. We are raised on unnatural foods and tastes has thus have learned to loathe that which we should be eating and that which is our natural diet. The result is a disgraceful world and high disease.

[pinkfreud]

hiya moina. i take spirulina in a capsule form (ayurvedic- 1 each day, before going to bed) and it's done me GREAT so far.

spirulina is a power food really. i can't think of any bs vitamin or any other supplement that is as beneficial.

that's the only 'supplement' i take. i'm a healthy eater- not fussy at all; i eat all my fruits, veggies, pulses, legumes and blah blah blah. i also have lots of yoghurt.


Our sense of taste has been bastardized, and at a very early age. The dominant taste of nature is bitter. The dominant tastes in the stupourmarket are sweet and salty. We are raised on unnatural foods and tastes has thus have learned to loathe that which we should be eating and that which is our natural diet. The result is a disgraceful world and high disease.

oh yeah you're right. the other day i had original bitter chocolate my boyfriend picked up from mexico. (not the packaged/branded 'bitter' chocolate you get in supermarkets/retail outlets)

i can't tell you how BITTER that chocolate was. i gagged first, coz it hit the back of my tongue and i hated it. but my bf told me i'd get around to liking it the way it is.

i'm still learning, but that's true chocolate really. the chocolate that's full of rich antioxidants, minerals and 'good' cholesterol, not the sh*t in stores today :rolleyes:


edit: oh, and it smells heavenly. can make you very horny too, so all that talk about it being one of the best aphrodisiacs is true.


:o

[vidar]

I would like to know if anyone has been using these superfoods and tell me their experience of whether it has improved their health. I have bought them in tablet form because I cant stand the taste.:(
A lot of my patients take spirulina and/or clorella to great effect (as well as AFA, Chlorophyll, Barley grass and Wheat grass). Personally, i have had a lot more experience (personal as well as professional) with spirulina.

You can generally get it in a few forms, predominantly:

Powder, Capsule or Tablet (i used to see flake forms but haven't seem them around in years).

Generally speaking, powder form is the best as its the easiest to absorb and requires less energy to break down (as opposed to a tablet). Next best is capsule form and then tablet. Over here (Australia) they are usually sold in 500mg or 1g caps/tabs. For absorption purposes, its actually much better to take the 500mg tablets over the 1g tablets as the food source is less compacted into the same size tablet and is easier to break down.

I generally take capsule form as its easy to digest and doesn't taste as foul (nor ruins any smoothies) like the spirulina powder, whereas with the other 'green superfoods' i take in powder form.

However, as the various green wholefoods (like all the ones i mentioned above) contain different nutrient profiles, i rotate the different ones so as to get as wide a variety of nutrients from different food sources as i can.

The best ones i have found on the market that i take are:

- Wakasa Gold (the best available liquid chlorophyll supplement available - from Kyoto, Japan)
- Star Stuff - a powder containing: wild harvested baby wheat grass, super bee pollen, and wild traditional aboriginal bush medicine (desert fruits and flowers)
- EnLiven (organic superfood & probiotic powder from a multitude of organically grown vegetables)
- Spiruina (capsules) - from any company, though i try to avoid the ones coming from China (eg. Green-A Spirulina). While their spirulina is in quite small sized tablets which is good for those having trouble swallowing large tabs and i have never had any trouble with/from them, i tend to avoid herbs and supplements coming from China due to possible contamination issues.

The greatest benefits that i have personally experienced from taking spirulina are:

- Appetite control: not so much eating less but eating better quality foods. I remember that soon after i started taking spirulina tabs (6x 500mg tabs, 3x per day - due to a VERY active training regimen at the time), i soon lost my cravings for junk food and soft drinks and actually started craving nutritious food!
- A noticeable increase in energy
- A strong feeling or health and well being (this was noticeable even over my excellent fitness at the time)
- And i 'believe' it helped me with recovery from training, though i cannot recall if it helped me exceed my level of fitness, as that was some time ago.

Also, in my experience, all the different spirulina companies seem to have the same product. ie. giving the same effect, contrary to each others claims. I have never really encountered one product that is much better that another spirulina product. Like i said earlier, just stick to 500mg tabs over 1g tabs or go for caps/powder, and cycle your superfoods. This will not only give you a wider spectrum of nutrients, but also save you money (from having to use several similar items at once).

Hope that helps :)

[fuggles]

the main algaes that i know of are

spirulina
chlorella
blue green algae
e3 live
marine phytoplankton,
crystal manna

if you want to get into algae, look into e3 live shots, because its in liquid form and a lot easier to take than spirulina powder

marine phyotplankton is also in liquid, and therefore a lot easier to eat than powdered spirulina etc

[neuf08]

I definitely am more in favor of taking the spirulina in capsule or tablet form than powder form. I'd just rather not deal with the taste, although I can deal with it. I also prefer to be able to just swallow the pill quickly in the morning as opposed to needing to drink down a whole glass of it. But the spirulina (http://www.seacoastvitamins.com/product_info.php?products_id=1201) is definitely a great super food. It's great for energy and the immune system.

[d3v_]

My philosophy on superfoods is that they are pointless until you have either a juicer or blender in your kitchen providing you with liters of fresh raw fruit and vegetable drinks on a daily basis.
All these expensive superfoods should be seen as merely supplements to the above practice.

[motleyhoo]

I use both a spirulina/chlorella/barley grass capsule formula and a product called Boku Superfood powder that I put in my smoothies. I can't tell if it has made me healthier, but I have a good idea that I would be unhealtheir wihout it.

[onourwayto2012]

hiya moina. i take spirulina in a capsule form (ayurvedic- 1 each day, before going to bed) and it's done me GREAT so far.

spirulina is a power food really. i can't think of any bs vitamin or any other supplement that is as beneficial.

that's the only 'supplement' i take. i'm a healthy eater- not fussy at all; i eat all my fruits, veggies, pulses, legumes and blah blah blah. i also have lots of yoghurt.




oh yeah you're right. the other day i had original bitter chocolate my boyfriend picked up from mexico. (not the packaged/branded 'bitter' chocolate you get in supermarkets/retail outlets)

i can't tell you how BITTER that chocolate was. i gagged first, coz it hit the back of my tongue and i hated it. but my bf told me i'd get around to liking it the way it is.

i'm still learning, but that's true chocolate really. the chocolate that's full of rich antioxidants, minerals and 'good' cholesterol, not the sh*t in stores today :rolleyes:


edit: oh, and it smells heavenly. can make you very horny too, so all that talk about it being one of the best aphrodisiacs is true.


:o

Ok... so where can you get this authentic aphrodisiac chocolate????

[onourwayto2012]

My philosophy on superfoods is that they are pointless until you have either a juicer or blender in your kitchen providing you with liters of fresh raw fruit and vegetable drinks on a daily basis.
All these expensive superfoods should be seen as merely supplements to the above practice.
Very good point d3v!!

[lostwonderer]

I bought spirulina a few days ago and it absolutely stinks. What drinks do you use to disguise the taste?

[fuggles]

I bought spirulina a few days ago and it absolutely stinks. What drinks do you use to disguise the taste?

freshly squeezed orange juice , but thats could be too sugary

try freshly squeezed grapefruit juice also

[motleyhoo]

I bought spirulina a few days ago and it absolutely stinks. What drinks do you use to disguise the taste?

On amazon you can buy a tool called The Capsule Machine, you can then buy the empty vegetarian capsules and whatever you want to put in them. I just bottled up 96 '00' sized capsules made of equal parts organic spirulina, chlorella, wheat grass, and barley grass. The money I saved on that one bottle already paid for the machine. Each bottle of 96 will only cost me about $2 from now on.

I also grew a batch of organic alfalfa, red clover, and broccoli sprouts which I dried, powdered in a coffee grinder, and capsuled. Powdered sprouts is one of the most expensive green supplements you can get. The 24 capsules I got from one batch of sprouts cost me about $1.

If I had known about this and how easy it is I would have started doing this much sooner, and now I'm thinking about making most all of my supplements myself. It took me 30 minutes to fill 96 capsules using the machine.

[lostwonderer]

On amazon you can buy a tool called The Capsule Machine, you can then buy the empty vegetarian capsules and whatever you want to put in them. I just bottled up 96 '00' sized capsules made of equal parts organic spirulina, chlorella, wheat grass, and barley grass. The money I saved on that one bottle already paid for the machine. Each bottle of 96 will only cost me about $2 from now on.

I also grew a batch of organic alfalfa, red clover, and broccoli sprouts which I dried, powdered in a coffee grinder, and capsuled. Powdered sprouts is one of the most expensive green supplements you can get. The 24 capsules I got from one batch of sprouts cost me about $1.

If I had known about this and how easy it is I would have started doing this much sooner, and now I'm thinking about making most all of my supplements myself. It took me 30 minutes to fill 96 capsules using the machine.

I prefer taking anything in powder form, rather than capsules. Seems to work better for me.

[motleyhoo]

I prefer taking anything in powder form, rather than capsules. Seems to work better for me.

I do too, but often I do not have the time or all of the ingredients to mix a good drink, and the capsules avoid having to deal with the terrible taste of things like spirulina. For me personally, I believe sprouts are the most nutritious foods out there, but I hate eating them because of the taste. I can low-temp dry them, powder them, capsule them, and pop a couple with a glass of fresh apple or grape juice with my meals. It's a lot more convenient (albeit with upfront preparation) than getting out the blender, juice, mixes, and fruit everytime I need a boost. I can also pop a couple before bed or before a bike ride with a glass of water without having to clean anything up.

I still like my superfood smoothies, but I get really tired of them outside of the summer months. On dreary or cold days I can have a couple of sprouts or greens capsules with a cup of warm tea.

Anyway, to each his/her own I guess.

.

[cleft_asunder]

I would like to know if anyone has been using these superfoods and tell me their experience of whether it has improved their health. I have bought them in tablet form because I cant stand the taste.:(

I have chlorella which I put into 00 capsules and it makes me go insane when I take perhaps due to my mercury poisoning.

[motleyhoo]

I have chlorella which I put into 00 capsules and it makes me go insane when I take perhaps due to my mercury poisoning.


You're prolly just taking more than your body can stand at one time. I haven't noticed this effect. I would suggest mixing the chlorella with some other greens like I did. I'm no expert of course, but I am learning as I go. :)

[cleft_asunder]

You're prolly just taking more than your body can stand at one time. I haven't noticed this effect. I would suggest mixing the chlorella with some other greens like I did. I'm no expert of course, but I am learning as I go. :)

I shouldn't have made it sound like chlorella is bad, because it's not. But if a person has mercury poisoning, I've read accounts of serious side effects. And yes, it's better to take it with a meal.

[pacoquerak]

Huh? Bitter? Tastes like crack rock msg to me! Seriously, reminds me of that shreaded dried bbq pork hairy stuff (loaded with msg) I used to buy when I was a tot at the chinese grocery.
I get raw organic powder, I would use it as a cooking flavoring if it wasn't 50 a # and raw...

I just don't like drinking water or eating plain powder very much... I might try mixing it in with milk or mabee a salad dressing?
Mabee I just don't find it bitter because I cram mouthfuls of things like dock, dandalion, wild lettuce, burdock by ###s

Just to say though, I don,t think bitter nessisarily means good, I think the bitter exterior of many nuts is not so good for you and is best soaked off

[obsidian knighthawk]

I've been consuming wheat grass, spirulina and chlorella for a year now.
I know that at first their taste and texture can be quite arresting and unpleasant but consider what they've got to compete with-
synthetic chemical sweetners, various harmful fats, high sodium content, colourings, preservatives, emulsifiers and flavourings.
These substances are used to make products seem tastier and they do the job but it's sensory overload and when you go back to natural foods it makes them seem dull and even unpalatable by comparison.

As far as health benefits, that's really too subtle a thing to notice. The body works away very discreetly and it may take a year or more of good living before you can reflect and see a major change in your all round health and well being. I certainly look much healthier these days.:)
Anything that makes you feel instantaneously great will probably be harmful in the long term.
Before-http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss268/ObsidianKnighthawk/S4010078.jpg
After-http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss268/ObsidianKnighthawk/4503446466a10433749363ml.jpg
If you really can't stomach the taste here's some ideas-
Make fruit smoothies and mix through.
Add 'stevia', natures healthy alternative to sugar.
Cook into other dishes.

The great thing about spirulina is it's high vitamin, mineral and amino acid content which your body can readily absorb, it's a one stop shop for most of your bodies requirements.
When you take these in, non-whole food form (pills) there's usually additives included, like binders and lubricants which are best avoided-like magnesium stearate (not to be confused with plain magnesium, which is good for you) and you're body won't readily absorb them due to their very low bioavailability (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0pl61omuUbEC&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=low+bioavailability+of+vitamins&source=bl&ots=V4F1iIGfkQ&sig=Hfsu1T37OX8wma5i3eU7199CkSM&hl=en&ei=lf0PSu_9MIORjAfZl93kCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#PPA25,M1).

[e7304]

I have been taking chlorella and sprirulina for about 18 months now. I consider them a "food" not a supplement, so their cost is part of my shopping bill. I drink too much and smoke too much and especially chlorella is very protective of the liver, which is a wonder for me , as I do not get hangovers anymore.(with this I mean that you can get reasonably "pissed" and not have to worry about any real hangover... but getting totally shitfaced will still cause problems)

These 2 "foods" have the potential of stopping world hunger, as they provide everything the human body needs. All they need is sunlight and PURE water. BUT when grown in bad water, they absorve all the crap in the water. So avoid any stuff grown in Mexico or china. Of course, as usual, they wont be mentoned as a potential saviour of starving millions, because food in reality is abundent, but its the distribution that is the problem. But keep it in mind.....

Chlorella has shown that it can remove radio actice particles from the body. So if we are nuked, make sure you have some with you....:) It removes many toxic chems from the body.

I was diagnosed with a duodernal ulcer at the age of 20. I took all their drugs until the Oz team found out that these ulcers were formed by bacteria that could live in hydrocloric acid. So for 20 years I took their shit....and what it has done to me I dont know, but my stomach has a mind of its own to this day.

I used to take vitamins in the fizzy form, but they never seemed to help. It was then I read about the enzymes that are needed in the gut to absorve the nutrients that we consume. I knew my gut was f##ked so I started on the enzymes and turned to these "whole foods" of chlorella and sprulina, and it has been the best thing I have done.

They are not cheap. But for me, and I have to say everyone is different, I have been able to put muscle on where prior it would not occur. I take enough so that my "poo" comes out green. Sometimes it doesnt, and thats when I know my body is stressed so I up it a bit with the amount I take.

Some people cannot handle chlorella. So u have to test yourself. 5 grams a day of chlorella and 10 grams of spirulina should keep anyone healthy.

[fuggles]

I found a great way to take them. I currently use chlorella powder, .

Citrus press half a lemon, and half an orange. Cut it with water to dilute it.
Add in the chlorella powder.
Drink from a pint glass, dilute with water up to just below half a pint.

This disguises the taste of the powder enough and isn't using too much sugar to do so. And cutting it with water slows down the sugar of the orange and gives a good taste.

Use cold water though.

[arty2000]

Heh, are they really that nasty? :D

I use spirulina and it tastes ok to me havent tried chlorella:)

[al209]

i use 1 heaped teaspoon of spirulina, 1 tbsp wheatgrass powder, 2.5g magnesium citate and 1/4 tsp acetyl-l-carnitine. blend that with a little water and add to a pint of celery/apple/lemon juice about 1/2 hour after rising.