Our modern diet is filled with depleted, over-processed convenience foods. Many people supplement with extra vitamins and minerals. Now science is looking beyond vitamins to "Phytonutrients."

"It is whole foods that pack the disease preventing wallop. That's because they harbor a whole ratatouille of compounds that have never seen the inside of a vitamin bottle." (Newsweek, April 25, 1994).

Spirulina called a superfood because its nutrient profile is more potent than any other food, plant, grain or herb. These nutrients and phytonutrients make spirulina a whole food alternative to isolated vitamin supplements.

• Concentrated Green Superfood.
• Protein and Amino Acids.
• Vitamins - Protectors of Health.
• Naturally Colloidal Minerals.
• Essential Fatty Acids.
• Phytonutrients.
• Comparing Green Superfoods.
  

Early research documented spirulina's safe consumption by traditional peoples. When scientists discovered that spirulina grew so fast, yielding 20 times more protein per acre than soybeans, they named it a food of the future. Spirulina is the best vegetable protein source, with a protein content of 65%, higher than any other natural food. Yet, an even greater value is found in its concentration of vitamins, minerals and other unusual nutrients.

Three to ten grams a day delivers impressive amounts of beta carotene, vitamin B-12 and B complex, iron, essential trace minerals, and gamma-linolenic acid. Beyond vitamins and minerals, spirulina is rich in phytonutrients and functional nutrients that demonstrate a positive effect on health. For undernourished people in the developing world, spirulina brings quick recovery from malnutrition. In Western overfed food culture loaded with unhealthy and depleted foods, spirulina can renourish our bodies and renew our health.

It is legally approved as a food or food supplement in Europe, Japan and many other countries around the globe. The United States Food and Drug Administration confirmed in 1981 that spirulina is a source of protein and contains various vitamins and minerals and may be legally marketed as a food supplement.1 Many countries have set up food quality and safety standards for spirulina.

Nutritional depletion of modern foods
Today's food is lower in essential nutrients than foods produced only 50 years ago. Farming practices have depleted our soils of minerals. Microorganisms in the soil contributing the valuable mineral content are declining because the overuse of chemical fertilizers destroys these microorganisms. Agribusiness chooses hybrid strains based on harvestability, appearance, and storageability, rather than nutrient content. Furthermore, the long shipping and storage time between harvest and selling reduces nutrient content.

At the same time, researchers say increased stress from environmental pollutants and lifestyle demands have increased our dietary requirements for certain essential nutrients.2 As a result, many of us do not trust the quality of our foods. Twenty years ago only health food consumers used nutritional supplements. Today, at least some supplements are used by almost everyone.

Beyond isolated vitamins and minerals
Vitamins and minerals in foods are bound to natural food complexes with proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. The human body recognizes this entire food complex as food. Most supplements, however, are synthetic combinations of isolated USP vitamins and minerals. These are often formulated to claim 100% of the Daily Value (DV) on labels. But these vitamins and minerals are not bound to anything, and may have an entirely different chemical structure than those found in foods.

Formulas may ignore antagonistic and synergistic effects of vitamins and minerals both in regard to absorption and metabolic reactions once absorbed. Complex factors in whole foods that aid absorption, such as chelating agents, may be missing in laboratory formulated vitamins and minerals. It is well known that many supplements, especially calcium and iron, are not well absorbed.

Supplement megadoses were attempts to overcome absorption problems with an approach that more is better. Unfortunately, this may not be true. Absorption of vitamins and minerals is limited by uptake mechanisms in the intestines, and megadoses are largely excreted. Some say megadosing is more than a waste of money, it is unwise. If the body relies on formulated supplements, it might get lazy or 'forget' to extract nutrients from foods efficiently.

Next, clever technicians invented chemical chelators, transporters and time release agents to make mineral supplements better absorbed. In other attempts, vitamins and minerals have been extracted from some food sources. These concentrates may have toxic residues if chemical solvents are used to remove them. Recently touted are 'food-form' type supplements. In this case, USP vitamins and minerals are recombined in a vat with yeast bacteria. It is claimed these products are 'just like food'.

Most people believe it is better to get nutrients from natural foods. Since many conventional foods are nutrient depleted, more people are taking spirulina and other green superfoods. These whole foods offer functional nutrients and phytochemicals, new frontiers for disease prevention research, way beyond isolated vitamin and mineral supplements.

The building blocks of life are protein and amino acids. When comparing protein sources, several criteria should be considered:protein quantity, amino acid quality, usable protein, digestibility, and the negative 'side effects' from fat, calorie and cholesterol content.

Protein

Spirulina has the highest protein of any natural food (65%); far more than animal and fish flesh (15-25%), soybeans (35%), dried milk (35%), peanuts (25%), eggs (12%), grains (8-14%) or whole milk (3%). Larger algae, like seaweeds, are macroalgae. They already have an important economic role. About 70 species are used for food, food additives, animal feed, fertilizers and biochemicals.

2.2. Composition of spirulina.

Amino Acid Quality

Protein is composed of amino acids. Essential amino acids cannot be manufactured in the body and must be supplied in the diet. Non-essential amino acids are needed too, but the body can synthesize them. Essential amino acids, plus sufficient nitrogen in foods, are needed to synthesize the non-essential amino acids. A protein is considered complete if it has all the essential amino acids. Spirulina is just that, a complete protein.

The body requires amino acids in specific proportions. If a food is low in one or more amino acids, those amino acids are called limiting amino acids, and the body cannot use all the amino acids completely. The most ideal proportion of amino acids is found in eggs. All other foods have some limiting amino acids.

Limiting amino acids in spirulina are methionine and cystine, but it is still higher in these amino acids than grains, seeds, vegetables and legumes, and higher in lysine than all vegetables except legumes. Spirulina complements vegetable protein and increases the amino acid quality if eaten within several hours of other foods. Over 100% of the daily essential amino acid requirements for a typical adult male are supplied by using only 36 grams of spirulina, about 4 heaping tablespoons.

Net protein utilization and usable protein

Feeding tests rank proteins by Net Protein Utilization (NPU) value, determined by amino acid quality, digestibility (proportion absorbed by the intestines) and biological value (proportion retained by the body). Dried eggs (94) have the highest value, followed by milk (70-82), fish (80) and meat (67). Spirulina (62) is similar to grains and has a higher NPU than nuts.

By multiplying protein quantity by the NPU, we determine the usable protein as a percentage of the food's composition. Spirulina is second only to dried eggs, and higher than any of the common foods in the form in which they are usually purchased.

Protein digestibility is important for many people
Spirulina has no cellulose in its cell walls, being composed of soft mucopolysaccharides. This makes it easily digested and assimilated. It is 85 to 95% digestible. This easy digestibility is especially important for people suffering from intestinal malabsorption. Typically, many older people have difficulty digesting complex proteins, and are on restricted diets. They find spirulina's protein very easy to digest.

Spirulina is effective for victims of malnutrition diseases like kwashiorkor, where the ability of intestinal absorption has been damaged. Given to malnourished children, it is more effective than milk powders because milk's lactic acid can be difficult to absorb.

'Side effects' - fat, calories and cholesterol
Spirulina's fat content is only 5%, far lower than almost all other protein sources. Ten grams has only 36 calories and virtually no cholesterol. This means spirulina is a low-fat, low-calorie, cholesterol-free source of protein, and is not loaded with the fat, grease, calories and cholesterol of meat and dairy protein.

"One tablespoon (10 grams) of spirulina contains only 1.3 mg of cholesterol and 36 calories. In contrast, a large egg yields about 300 mg of cholesterol and 80 calories, while providing only the same amount of protein as the tablespoon of spirulina."3

People in the developed countries usually consume more than enough protein along with excessive fat, calories and cholesterol. Therefore, less dairy and meat protein sources are recommended.

Certain people need a higher protein intake, but not a corresponding increase in calories. For example, a typical pregnant woman is advised to increase her protein intake from 44 to 74 grams (68% increase) while increasing calories from 2000 to 2300 (15% increase). So additional protein must be low in calories to avoid an unnecessary weight increase. Spirulina is suitable in these cases where the 'calorie cost' is far lower than from dairy, meat and fish.4