It’s Easy Being Green if You’re Spirulina

Before I get started on my post, I just wanted to mention that the winner of the $50 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods was Emily of Healthy Eating, Naturally – congrats!

Now on with the show!

When I was pregnant with YS2, I consumed fair amounts of spirulina and hemp protein (both powder and seeds, I prefer seeds over powder any day though) thanks to my wonderful hubby, who was so diligent in making most of my meals, including daily smoothies. He is after all, what I call, the Smoothie Master.

We think those two superfoods are some of the reasons we’re so blessed to have such a caaaalllmmmm baby. I ain’t kiddin folks! No, he wasn’t born with dreadlocks and singing Bob Marley but people always comment how chill and laid back he is. I’ve even been offered to trade kids. Ha ha ha! No.

Jump to the present – he still loves this stuff. He’s our spirulina boy. Most of the soft foods we feed him are topped with spirulina. I didn’t realize HOW much he loves it though until recently. I had made him squash, one of his faves, and went to top it with spirulina. I’m usually so careful to not dump a ton so I either “spoon” it out with a fork or sprinkle it into the lid before dusting it on his food. Not sure what happened exactly but I poured some in the lid but ended up dumping a ton on his squash! Whoopsie! Turned his squash the same deep dark green as the jar of spirulina itself. Gave a sample to Caleb and SNARF! I thought what the hey and gave him more. He continued to eat his portion with no problem before during or after. Atta boy! He even sported a ‘beard!’ That means it’s good stuff.

Maybe many of you know about all the goodies of spirulina but I only knew a couple of the basics so I did a little research. Here’s a sampling of the health bennies.

• Supports and strengthens the immune system
• The richest beta carotene food (10x more than carrots), so that means good for your eyes/vision and provides anti-cancer protection
• Contains the rare yet essential fatty acid Gamma-linolenic acid aka GLA; GLA in mama’s milk helps develop healthy babies – bonus!
• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-aging
• Easily digested; 90% +/- digestible, compared to 18-20% digestibility for meat protein
• Concentrated nutrient value
• Antioxidants galore
• Highest protein food (60%+ all veggie protein) with all the essential amino acids, meaning a complete protein (see article: http://www.naturalways.com/spirulina-analysis.htm)
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Other trace minerals, including potassium, calcium, manganese, and zinc
• Highest natural source of B-12
• Perfect for everyone, including athletes, elderly, children, pregnant and nursing moms
• Heart healthy
• Lowers the bad cholesterol (LDL), raises the good cholesterol (HDL)
• Improves digestion
• Beneficial for those suffering from heavy metal poisoning or other toxins (see article: http://www.naturalnews.com/027740_spirulina_chlorella.html)
• Accelerates detoxification during fasting/cleansing
• Phytonutrients - including chlorophyll, phycocyanin and polysaccharides (see article: http://www.naturalnews.com/008421_spirulina_cancer_food.html)
• helps protect Vitamin C from potency loss

(sources: http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-spirulina.html, http://spirulina.com/ and misc)

If you have a bottle, please follow the recommendations and dosage amounts listed to be safe. Take too much and you could experience problems as noted in this post. Another article talks about some possible side effects and is there such a thing as too much spirulina? I share this info with you because you should discover the pros and cons for yourself and as with most things there are always two sides. For me, spirulina is a good thing.

In our household, it takes a good long while to go through a jar. In fact, I’m not sure we ever have. So the cons in this case aren’t going to be happening anytime soon. The cost could deter some people but since it takes us awhile to go through a jar it's justified.

I will say eating spirulina is an acquired taste. Uh yeah. By itself or in larger amounts, it’s kinda nasty IMO but mixed in a smoothie is best. I get used to the flavor after a bit and I’ll admit I always feel so great after having it but sometimes I have to mentally prepare for it because it’s just kinda weird eating powdered blue-green algae. I mean really.

We’d been using the Healthforce spirulina since the beginning of our journey. Just plain ol’, good ol’ spirulina. Per their webpage I don’t see it listed so I’m guessing it’s way old. Doesn’t matter though as we recently switched to Healthforce Spirulina Manna and let me tell you, this stuff is awesome! Yes, you read that right, I said awesome. We did a finger taste test between old and new and the old stuff made me make ugly faces but the manna, nope. It was fresh and tasty. Made me feel bad that YS2 has been eating icky tasting spirulina when all this time he could’ve had something much more tasty (although, he never seemed to notice). So forget all the stuff I wrote before about it being kinda nasty.

No, I’m not being asked or paid to write this review. In fact, Healthforce doesn’t know me from Adam and has no idea that I’m writing this at all. I’m just letting the world know what we use. You might use something different that you love even more and that’s cool.

I think the switch to the new spirulina is a hit with lil YS2, still sportin' the beard! Even I have been known to snack on Caleb’s food because the spirulina is good stuff! We still don’t go overboard with it but I can comfortably add it to things or add a tad bit more without the fear of hurling. Okay, that’s going too far but no more ugly faces for sure.

Do you like spirulina? If so, how do you use it?

Disclaimer: I've said this before but this is a blog. My blog, which consists of my experiences and my opinions. A doctor I am not. What might be good for me may not be good for you or vice versa. Use your judgment or consult your doctor or naturopath if necessary.