Spirulina is one of those superfoods that hasn’t really become super trendy. While matcha’s become like the Taylor Swift of superfoods (and for good reason! read more about matcha here), activated charcoal’s up and coming, and chia seeds are steadily holding down the #1 spot, Spirulina has stayed a humble little guy – watching his buddies get all the glamour and fame but knowing that his benefits are deeper than just “cool.” Or maybe spirulina’s just embarrassed that he kind falls under a group of grub people aren’t terrifically inclined to crave: he’s an algae. A blue-green algae to be exact. (Whatever the heck that means.)
But spirulina really should have nothing to be embarrassed about because his nutritional benefits are astonishing. (He’s also like, the grandfather of plants – algae was the first type of plant to appear on earth!)
What Makes Spirulina so Healthy:
– for one, spirulina is PACKED with antioxidants. Like SO PACKED that just 3 grams of it (roughly 1 tsp) has more antioxidants than five FULL SERVINGS of ANY other veggie grown on the planet.
– for two (is that a thing?) spirulina is a DENSE-AS-EFF PROTEIN source. Listen to this: spirulina is made up of 60% PROTEIN. 60% of itself is protein!! (Versus chicken which is about 25% protein or beef which is 22% protein …just saying.)
– and with a great amount of protein comes great responsibility, I mean – a great amount of amino acids. It’s actually a “complete protein” meaning it has ALL of the amino acids including all of the essential ones. It’s particularly high in Omega 3, 6 and 9. (I guess it can only contain big doses of multiples of 3’s…)
– spirulina is also a B vitamin blessing in blue-green disguise. It’s got the whole collection of B vitamins including the elusive vitamin b12 which is extremely scarce in ANY plant foods. (And is extremely important for, umm, your brain functioning at its best and stuff like that…)
– potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc and phosphorus are also part of spirulina’s street cred: all super important minerals that help your body do all the things it needs to do the way it needs to best do it.
– speaking of iron, you could really call spirulina “a less hunky than Robert Downy Jr. version of iron man,” as the iron it contains is actually a REALLY bio-available (meaning: easy for our bods to digest and absorb) form. Meaning, again: that spirulina can be highly beneficial for anemics or pregnant women who need extra iron (and! booya! it won’t constipate you like other iron source might!).
– on the topic of calcium (two points up), it’s super high in that stuff, too!! It actually has 26 times the amount of calcium in milk! (And it won’t give you a mustache.) (ha ha ha…)
– because it’s soooo deeply green in color, it’s fairly obviously that spirulina is a chlorophyll guru (considering by definition chlorophyll = the green pigments in a plant or algae). What’s chlorophyll good for other than being a topic of discussion in high school biology? It’s fab at removing toxins from your bod AND boosting your immunity. NBD, right?
– * keep in mind that because spirulina packs SO MUCH in a tiny punch (again: when consuming it, peeps usually only work in doses of 1/2 A TEASPOON to 1 or 2 FULL TEASPOONS per day), it is HIGHLY DETOXIFYING. I’ve had a little too much in one sitting before and I did not. feel. good. (headache, belly kinda weird, kinda lethargic and just bleh). Keep that in mind. (Is it in mind? Good.)
What the heck does one do with it?!
Well, first, it’s important to acknowledge that spirulina comes in a few different forms: chewable tablets, fine powder, flakes and capsules. It’s also semi-important to acknowledge that I’ve never consumed any forms other than capsules and fine powder, in case you care.
I would recommend mixing some spirulina powder into snack balls you’re making (like these coconut SPIRULINA snack balls!) AND trying blending some spirulina into your smoothies. (Again, staying in the 1/2 tsp range for beginners and maybe “graduating” to 1 full tsp.)
It DOES taste kind of…ocean-y. No shocker there. BUT DON’T WORRY, because since you’re using so little of it, drinking a smoothie with some spirulina is not going to taste like you just swallowed the sea!!
Spirulina is a superfood that is pretty sensitive – not to light or noise or mean tweets about his appearance – but to HEAT. So always keep him chillin’ in the fridge, ok? And always use him in RAW, unheated recipes like these spirulina snowball snacks or any smoothie.
Which one should one buy??
In all my 6+ years including spirulina in my diet, I have never consumed a brand other than this one:
AND, in all my 6+ years including spirulina in my diet, I’m probably only on my, what, 3rd bottle? It lasts FOREVER! Since you use so little of it!
Ok, so any burning spirulina questions?!?! Leave ’em below!
And don’t forget to try out these coconut spirulina snowball snacks to deliciously get your foot in the spirulina game!
