Composition and Properties

Spirulina contains the following nutrients and chemicals:

* High amount of proteins (between 55 and 77% by dry weight).
* Carbohydrates (among which rhamnose that helps the assimilation of glucose);  fiber.
* Vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, B12, biotin, pantothenic acid, inositol, A, D, alpha-tocopherol, K).
* Essential and non essential amino acids (among which methionine, cysteine and lysine).
* Essential fatty acids (such as gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid (LA), stearidonic acid (SDA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and arachidonic acid (AA)).
* Minerals (Ca, K, P, Na, Mg, S, Cl, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Co, Ni, Mo, Cr).
* Photosynthetic pigments, such as chlorophyll-a, xanthophyll, beta-carotene.

Spirulina health benefits

* Nutritional, antianemic, and tonic
* Detoxifying, antioxidant, antiradical. antiviral
* Immune system booster (read my immune system boosters post for additional info on more natural immune system boosters)
* Hypolipemic; hepatoprotective
* Anti-inflammatory
* Vasodilative;  anticoagulant

Nutritional, antianemic and general tonic properties

Spirulina has proven to be particularly useful in low calorie diets, because of its high nutritional values combined with its low calories (390 Cal for each 100 g of dry product). It helps therefore in contributing with important nutrients during weight loss diets. The essential amino acid phenylalanine (3%) is able to reduce hunger and helps people while following low calorie diets as it determines a feeling of satiety. In such cases it is recommended to take the spirulina supplements around 30 minutes before the main meals. The presence of vitamin B12 is precious especially for vegans. Spirulina is also particularly useful as a supplement for persons involved in sport activities, supplying a good amount of ergogenic vitamins and minerals that help the energetic metabolism, complex amino acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine), essential and non essential amino acids, proteins, antioxidants, carnitine and creatine. Furthermore, the presence of iron, in biochelated form, and of the essential amino acids help the synthesis of hemoglobin and of red blood cells, preventing or reducing some anemic forms. The dietary supplements of spirulina are particularly indicated for pregnant women and during convalescence.

Fighting mental and physical stress (antioxidant and antiradical activity)

In case of stress, the system needs to assimilate a high quantity of antioxidants, with radical scavenger properties. In spirulina it is particularly useful the presence of phycocyanin, for which there are studies that show an antioxidant activity against peroxyl radicals. The antioxidant properties of spirulina are also due to chlorophyllin, derived from chlorophyl, to carotenes, to xanthophylls, to cysteine, to methionine, and to vitamins A and E, to zinc and manganese.

Immune system boosting and antiviral activities

Spirulina strengthens the immune system and has antiviral effects. The gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), and linoleic acid (LA) activate the production of prostaglandins (PGE1) with immune system boosting, anti-inflammatory, and vasodilative properties. The presence of beta-glucans in spirulina might promote the stimulation of the immune system, thanks to an increase of lymphocytes and macrophages. Immune system boosting effects are also attributed to phycocyanins. Studies on animals have shown a relationship between the consumption of Spirulina platensis and the increase of the activity of macrophages and a higher production of nitric oxide (NO), with an hypothetical immunoprotective role. The nitric oxide (NO) acts as a physiological messenger between cells that helps stimulating the phagocytic activity of the cell. The consumption of aqueous extracts of Spirulina platensis in man activates the immune system in the 50% of the subjects, through an increase in the production of interferon-gamma and in the cytolytic activity of the natural killer cells (NK).

Indications

As we have seen, spirulina has many health benefits and, as a dietary supplement, is particularly indicated in the following cases:

* Sport activities (it integrates the nutritional values needed, preventing losses in the muscular mass).
* Psychic and physical stress, or highly stressful situations.
* Vegetarian and vegan diets.
* Low calorie diets and unbalanced diets.

Everyone is born with a set of skills, you might feel inclined to do certain things rather than others, since the early stages of your existence. If you’re able to identify such skills, try to use them, try to fulfill them by applying them in your daily endeavors. If you have doubts about which direction you should give to your life, my suggestion is to try to find some time to relax and focus inwardly, choosing a quiet location in which you’re not likely to be disturbed. Then focus on yourself, identify the things that you like to do, and the ones that you don’t like to do. If you feel drawn to any particular path, try to dig into the reasons behind that, and if you’ve not followed that path yet, start thinking about what has stopped you from doing that. It could be a person, a commitment, an emotion, anything. It could be a combination of those.

If any emotion comes up during this process, let it come to the surface, feel it without judging it, accept it, and then try to identify which of your beliefs has played a role into the birth and the evolution/growth of that emotion. If you’re unhappy with such emotion, try to ask yourself whether you’d like to stick to the belief that created it or if you wanna get rid of it or at least modify that belief. It is a process that takes quite some time and energy, and you will need a few of those sessions of inward focusing before you’ll start noticing some results.

Life is a journey, they say. Try to live it listening to your heart, try to connect to your essence within. It is the only real way to find purpose, your own purpose about what to do in life.

Here are some questions and answers about swine flu:

Are there drugs that can be used to treat people affected by swine flu?

Of four antiviral drugs that we have available, two are effective in treating swine flu.

People that have recently visited Mexico should take those drugs?

In case of symptoms that can be related to the virus, it is of crucial importance to see a physician as soon as possible, and follow his/her advice.

What are the symptoms of swine flu?

Symptoms of swine flu include fever, running nose, sore throat, diarrhea, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, nausea, vomiting.

People who are about to travel should take antiviral drugs as a preventive measure?

No, it is not a good idea. The virus is in fact capable of mutating quite rapidly and after some time it could develop a resistance towards those drugs. For this reason, it is important to use the drugs only when it is necessary and sticking to the correct and precise doses. Otherwise there’s a risk of decreasing the effectiveness of our weapons against this virus.

So it is not certain that these medicines will protect us from the pandemic?

Yes, yes, if the medicines are used correctly they are very effective. When thinking about those types of virus outbreaks we often tend to think about the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19. But then we didn’t even have the means to cure pneumonia, and in fact it was because of the complications of the flu, and not of the virus per se, that there were so many deaths. Today the risk that the pandemic transforms itself into a catastrophe is really remote.

But why there have been so many victims in Mexico then?

Every kind of flu, even the most common one that hits during the winter season, causes some victims. To be able to make a comparison between the mortality rate of normal flu and that of swine flu we would have to know the exact number of people that have been affected in Mexico, but so far we do not have that data at our disposal.

Besides the medicines that are effective after the contagion has already taken place, is there a preventive vaccine?

No, not yet, but the vaccination can be produced because the virus has already been isolated.

And what are we waiting for in order to produce it?

Producing a vaccine on a large scale takes quite some time and has high costs. We will start to produce it only if and when the swine flu will become really dangerous. At the moment we are not convinced that it is. In the US, in 1976, for only a few cases of swine flu there has been the immense endeavour of providing a vaccination to about 40 millions of persons, and with a vaccine that didn’t turn out to be really safe for the health.

Source: E. Giardi – Epidemiologist