Spirulina

[Troy]

I'm slowly moving away from protein powders as a staple and opting for natural food sources so I'd like to add some Spirulina to my diet...

 

I don't know much about it, other than its a high vegetable protein source, but I'm planning on putting some in my "green smooths", or as my friend calls them "lake algae drinks"

 

Should I be looking for raw, dried, or frozen sources?

 

Any risks associated? Consumption limits?

 

Where can I buy it in bulk...?

 

L

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a

n and Green, I know you have thoughts to share...

[Lean and Green]

hahaha. Welcome to club green

 

Frozen sources imo are too expensive and not worth it. And I have not come across frozen spirulina. Frozen Wild Blue Green Algae from Klamath Lakes, yes, like e3 live but not spirulina. I have purchased e3 live and would do so again but not for supplemental protein more for nutrition.

 

I do not feel that you can overdose on spirulina so I take in ALOT. Based on my knowledge and research, as long as you are taking in your vitamins and minerals from whole food sources, your body can 'selectively absorb' what it needs and discard the rest, no matter how much in excess you consume of nutrition. Toxicity lies wherein when you consume a synthetic vitamin and your body tries to reconstruct it into a complex by accessing your pools of storage. This leads to deficiencies in where it took your own reserves and excess toxicity in the synthetic vitamin you put into your body. You cannot eliminate excess synthetic foreign vitamins, you must process it in this way. I hope this verse is read because it is very important to understand and process that. It virtually shaped my nutritional intake.

 

I'd wager to say the only reason why most people don't is because of it's cost at retail.

 

A lb of spirulina, even at a discount to retail at the mlm store I represnt, is still $40

 

Spirulina at Retail

 

When you get the product in bulk, it is much cheaper. I pay around $15 per lb (including the shipping), I believe, give or take a buck. When you save that much, you don't concern yourself with daily amounts. I consume anywhere from 60-240grams a day depending. You can only drink so many smoothies, sometimes i switch it up with other stuff.

 

Troy and anyone else for that matter, if you want bulk spirulina or any other raw material shipped to you, let me know. I have an arrangement worked out with the company I deal with. They won't distribute to the public but I have been affiliated for some time and established a relationship. It is impossible to get that rate retail.

 

May i also recommend considering the use of Chlorella, Barley Grass and Kamut Grass??

 

Spirulina = min order 50lbs

Chlorella = min order 22.8lbs

Grasses = need to get quote, prob 50lbs (generally cost around $30 p/lb as opposed to $100 p/lb and MORE retail....)

their site is Organic By Nature

Their retail company is Pure Planet and their mlm company is PHP (Purium Health Products) plus they formulate over 400 product lines for much of what you see on shelves.

 

The closer to the sun, where it grows, the more nutrition it can soak up, which is why hawaiian spirulina registers a higher nutritional value. Regardless, wherever it is grown, it is still very nutrient rich.

 

As far as how much to take, due to the highly cleansing aspect of algaes, I would recommend working yourself up to big doses. Your body gets used to it and handles it effectively after a bit. Start off with teaspoon, work your way up to a tablespoon and continue to gradually increase. I take 6 heaping tablespoons in a serving.

 

I have delivered and shipped algaes to several dozens of people and they all take it in fairly large amounts as it is cheaper and they feel good on it so it isn't just from my experience.

 

I really need to get to the gym, I will add more to this thread as it develops if need be.

[Troy]

Outstanding post.

 

Just did a quick search for other prices... the cheapest I found was made by a company called Starwest Botanicals. The website LifesVigor sells the Starwest Botanical Organic Spirulina Powder for $14.01 a pound (including shipping) with a minimum purchase of 12 lbs. Do you have any experience with this brand? Otherise, like you mentioned all the prices were anywhere from $20 to $50 per pound. I don't think I can afford 50 pounds right now so I might just go with the site I mentioned. Let me know what you think...

[Couture547]

Great site!! On the orders that are 50+ pounds can you mix and match or do you have to do 50 pounds of just 1 powder?

[offense74]

I drink spirulina and chlorella. Smoothies without it (I have forgotten to add them a few times) tastes weird. It takes some time to get used to though and it's quite expensive.

[Guest]

I use wheatgrass powder(not as much protein as spirulina but I've done that before too...I just got too sick of the taste). Just a little because I don't want too much protein. I bought it super cheap on ebay in a 2lbs bag.

[cubby2112]

I have never seen sources this cheap. I may have to invest in some.

[xjohanx]

offense: do you know anywhere were we vikings can find cheap spirulina? i've looked around but it's ridiculously expensive everywhere.

[offense74]

offense: do you know anywhere were we vikings can find cheap spirulina? i've looked around but it's ridiculously expensive everywhere.

Chlorella is a bigger problems for me. That's all about the Benjamins...

500SEK for 400g chlorella will make you think twice. I don't think spirulina is as bad (although it's certainly don't cheap).

I usually buy mine at Gröna Boden in Göteborg.

[xjohanx]

cool dude, what brand do you buy?

chlorella is too expensive for me to even look at.

[offense74]

I buy Lindroos spirulina:

 

Spirulina

[Lean and Green]

Troy,

 

I have never heard of them and i'm not sure where they source it from, they probably buy in bulk from someone but it looks just fine to me. The price is right and it is certified organic which is cool.

 

That's amazin that you were able to find a bulk distributor, I was never able to. The only bulk suppliers of algae dealt with the non organic type. I guess if anyone could do it, you could, nice job!

 

I actually once had a supplier of chlorella who dealt with smaller amounts, they were called free spirit living and had an ebay store. Unfortunately, they no longer exist.

 

I would say go for it. And if you ever need anything you cannot find in bulk online, hit me up. Enjoy the 'got green' smile that will have others looking at you like you're a nut

[geode]

i'm really interested in spirulina too! what i was wondering is how much of it would i have to consume in a day to get enough EFA's?

 

Also, i'm wondering: do we covert EPA into DHA, or do i need to ingest both of those omega 3's.

 

I've been taking flax to get omega 3, but i recently read in numerous sources that not all humans have the enzymes to convert the short chain ALA into the long chain EPA and DHA; and for those that do have the required enzymes, they're only capable of converting, at max, 15%. Since it's really the EPA and DHA that are essential i'd like to ensure i'm getting enough of these very vital lipids.

 

One source i read is URL The Omega-3 Connection: The Groundbreaking Anti-depression Diet and Brain Program. it explains how algae produces omega 3, critters then feed on the algae, fish feed on critters, we fed on the fish and omega three gets passed along to us. Anyway, the books goes on to explain the role and importance of EFA's - Primarily as a treatment for psychological issues.

 

on a side note, i read somewhere that in the 30's or 40's folks thought we'd all be eating spirulina, in a soylent green kind of way...

[Lean and Green]

 

Also, i'm wondering: do we covert EPA into DHA, or do i need to ingest both of those omega 3's.

 

on a side note, i read somewhere that in the 30's or 40's folks thought we'd all be eating spirulina, in a soylent green kind of way...

 

As far as I know there are only two types of essential fatty acids....

 

Linolenic and Linoleic

 

The body is capable of converting them into whatever is needed and you do not need to have any other types of fat in your diet to survive. Any other hype is just marketing strategies.

 

There can never be enough mention of soylent greens, what a wonderful movie!

[cubby2112]

I have heard though not required, it isn't a bad idea to get some direct source DHA to be on the safe side. If that is mostly what you are after, you could take some water4life (or something like that...) or Dr. Fuhrman's DHA Purity I believe it is called.

 

I read a long article on JSTOR once that talked about how the government was looking into mass-producing chlorella to either have people eat directly or to use as livestock feed to deal with the problems inherent in traditional farming. They also wanted to develop ways to grow and consume it for NASA on space missions and such since it is such an efficient food to grow and has some fairly complete nutrition. Spirulina I think came about in the 70s or so, after the government had abandoned these ideas.

[DV]

Troy,

 

How about if you do an amino acid comparative analysis with the rest of the protein powders? Here is the info for dried spirulina. Ounce per ounce, it has about 2/3 the protein content of soy, rice or pea protein.

[geode]

Troy,

 

How about if you do an amino acid comparative analysis with the rest of the protein powders? Here is the info for dried spirulina. Ounce per ounce, it has about 2/3 the protein content of soy, rice or pea protein.

 

i concur, that would be rad. i already copied and pasted the other charts into an email that i sent myself for future reference.

 

my questions about spirulina and efa's were answered in threads that DV directed me to (now i just gotta do the math..):

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9561

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9462

 

 

EFA analysis of spirulina: http://www.a-vital-life.com/page.php?p=essential_fatty_acids

 

edit:

Spirulina I think came about in the 70s or so

you got me. for the sake of simplicity i substituted spirulina for chlorella in that tale.. sorry

[DV]

As for the safety of spirulina, there have not been many studies done. There is also need for more studies to prove or disprove any health claims, according to Medline.

 

The only peer-reviewed information I could find on chlorella is here.

 

As with any supplement, moderation or "traditional" doses are usually best if you wish to avoid negative side effects.

[Troy]

Funny you should ask, I did it the other day when I became intrigued by it, but didn't think anyone be interested in it. I'll post it in a few minutes, once I upload a captured picture from my computer. I'm looking to move away from micronutrient deficient supplements like protein powder. Although I think Gemma has a very nice AA profile and its dirt cheap, it also adds calories with no nutrients. I think spirulina might be the answer to the fill that gap. I've replaced the Udo's oil with all chia, flaxseed, and walnuts. Likewise I'm going to slowly phase out gemma, I only have about a weeks supply left from the 20 lb order I had roughly 6 months ago. I don't think I'll be adding as much spirulina as I did gemma, probably a serving or two after post workout. This might lower my protein percentage to below 20%, which I am skeptical about, but we'll see what happens.

[Troy]

I think this might be a more accurate representation of the EFAs for dried spirulina. Source: Nutritiondata.com

 

1 ounce (28 grams)

 

Total Omega-3 fatty acids 230 mg

Total Omega-6 fatty acids 351 mg

[Troy]

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f115/troyloferski/procompare.jpg

 

 

 

The 2:1:1 ratio for each protein is:

Leucine:IsoLeucine:Valine

 

"4:3:2" represents an estimated ratio for the Vega protein formula. Note that this could be entirely inaccurate, yet if it is accurate, it is very close to Gemma and the ideal 2:1:1 ratio for building muscle.

[Troy]

Here is another fun thing I put together for myself. I like to compare the macronutrient ratios of a few of my staple foods with significant amounts of protein or fat. Here is how they compare.

 

Source: Nutritiondata.com

 

 

 

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f115/troyloferski/Foodmacrocompare.jpg

[Troy]

Sorry for continuing to post but I was going through the EFA links and O6:O3 ratio. I am going to keep my flaxseed intake to maximum of 28 grams a day due to some of the negative things I've read about it. Then I found it amusing to play with the amount of walnuts and chia added to my diet to get the right amount of total fat with a virtual 1:1 ratio of O6:O3. Walnuts being higher in O6 and chia higher in O3, it was a little bit of tinkering but was amusing none-the-less, and yes, geeky too.

Edited May 28, 2008 by Troy

[geode]

I think this might be a more accurate representation of the EFAs for dried spirulina. Source: Nutritiondata.com

 

1 ounce (28 grams)

 

Total Omega-3 fatty acids 230 mg

Total Omega-6 fatty acids 351 mg

 

for 28 grams of spirulina, the link above claims:

Total Omega-3 fatty acids 459mg

Total Omega-6 fatty acids 100.8 mg

 

(250 mg capsule x 4) x 28 = 28 grams

 

I'm not making a distinction between which numbers are more accurate, but unless my math is off, this seems like a big discrepancy... confusion reigns.

[Troy]

this seems like a big discrepancy... confusion reigns.

 

Indeed... its quite possible that different samples from different parts of the world were tested, etc... however, the link you posted sells products so I am less likely to believe the company selling something as a reliable source of accurate information. Nutritiondata.com is a non-biased general all purpose source for information.