By Pauline Lloyd
I am not sure if there is such a thing as a vegetarian who doesn't like vegetables! I've certainly never met one, but maybe such people do exist out there? Anyway, if that describes you and you're concerned about the lack of vegetables in your diet, but simply can't face eating a large helping of broccoli, spinach, carrots or kale daily, then you might like to consider consuming some form of edible algae instead. Of course anyone can benefit by adding nutrient-packed algae to their diet, not just vegetable haters! So even if your diet is already marvellous, read on.
There are over 70,000 species of algae, many of which can be eaten and are highly nutritious, but there are also a small number of algae which are highly toxic when consumed. These toxic algae produce potent neurotoxins which, when transferred up the food web, can affect zooplankton, shellfish, fish, birds, marine mammals and humans. Humans are usually affected when they eat infected fish or shellfish and Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning(ASP), Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP), Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP), Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning (NSP) and Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) are some of the public health problems which can result. The planktonic dinoflagellate Gonyaulax tamarensis is one example of a toxic algae. It produces saxitoxin, a toxin which is ingested by bivalves such as mussels. This toxin is not destroyed by cooking and is responsible for causing outbreaks of PSP. Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) is caused by the toxin okadaic acid which is produced by the phytoplankton species Procentrum and Dinophysis. Further information on toxic algae can be obtained from the Harmful Algae Page. However, these toxic marine algae are unlikely to pose much of a problem to vegans and other non-shellfish eaters!
Non-harmful edible algae of particular nutritional importance to vegans/vegetarians include the sea vegetables: wakame, arame, dulse, hijiki, nori and kombu. Sea vegetables contain an abundance of vitamins and minerals and can be a valuable source of iron, iodine and calcium in the vegan diet. However, as I have already covered sea vegetables in a fair amount of detail in earlier issues, I don't intend to say much more about them here, apart from briefly mentioning Seagreens. The Seagreens range of products includes: Seagreens Wild Seaweed Food Capsules (£9.99), Seagreens Culinary Ingredient (£3.39) and Seagreens Table Condiment (£4.99). All three Seagreens products are made from organic wild wrack seaweed and are a very good source of vital nutrients. They are suitable for vegans/vegetarians and are a very easy way of including sea vegetables in your diet. Seagreens are available from Clearspring. E-mail: mailorder@clearspring.co.uk if you would like a catalogue.
In this article I am going to focus mainly on two nutritionally important, but perhaps not quite so well known freshwater algae called Spirulina and Chlorella. Both of these algae have been used as a source of food for centuries in some cultures, but it is only really in the last fifteen years, or so, that they have started to become increasingly popular in countries like the UK and the USA.
Spirulina and Chlorella are very easily digested, extremely high in nutrients and offer many important health benefits. When used as a nutritional supplement, either individually or together, they could be of great benefit to vegans, people who have reduced appetites (e.g. older people or convalescents), people on restricted diets (such as children who won't eat their vegetables!) and to people suffering from malnutrition, especially malnourished children. And because they are an excellent source of protein (Spirulina is 60-72% protein - higher than any other food - and Chlorella is 60%) it has even been suggested that they could be the answer to global protein shortages!
Another advantage of these algae is that growing them is very good for the environment. They replenish the oxygen supply, help to reverse global warming by removing harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and of course growing them doesn't deplete the soil. Spirulina is grown in special space-age solar bioreactor ponds all over the world. The world's largest Spirulina farm, Earthrise Farm, is located in the Californian desert and produces over 300 tons of Spirulina each year. Here the Spirulina is produced under ideal growing conditions, without any need for artificial fertilisers and pesticides and using very little water. And the culture process is carefully controlled to keep out contaminant algae, something which is very important as algae are the fastest mutating organisms on the planet and can change from harmless to toxic very rapidly. You can find out more about how Spirulina is grown by visiting the Earthwise website, listed in the website section below.
The following short article was sent in to Vegan News by Planet Research. It shows some of the research which is being carried out into the health benefits of algae and also includes information on Spirulina.
In this 'modern' age where most medicines and drugs are synthetically manufactured, crops are being genetically modified and basic foods are being changed in some way, alternative sources of pharmaceuticals and food are being researched and found. These sources range across plants, roots, trees and algae.
With all the research into cancer, aids, heart disease and all other debilitating diseases having to be underwritten by grants and charities, one area of research being carried out by dedicated microbiologists and scientists is largely unsung and is progressing without high profile support. This is the research into the literally 1,000's of marine algae available in the world's seas. These algae, most highly nutritional, are increasingly being found to have greater medicinal properties and food benefits, than any of the synthetic medicines and the manufactured foods available today. With synthetic drug advances needing to keep pace with the modern health requirements, we need to look to this 'soup' of the sea for our future medicinal and nutritional requirements. To date some 26,000 species of algae have been identified and are being researched.
Of the different species of algae, there are discoveries occurring every day, anti-viral for the treatment of Herpes simplex, aids, cancer, anti-cholesterol, a basic subsistence food, immune system enhancement to fight flu and colds naturally, etc., etc. Not only do the algae available to this world provide the basis of a healthy diet, but they are also a rich source of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals, replacing all of the synthetics that are so difficult to digest.
In this age of nutritional awareness and health consciousness, the search for the perfect food has led to one of these algae, an amazing vegetable micro-organism called Spirulina. Spirulina is Nature's most nutritious whole food. Containing hundreds of nutrients, all working synergistically to maximise potency and effectiveness, Spirulina is the most complete source of total nutrition on Earth. A natural source of beta-carotene, non-toxic iron, vitamin B12, vitamin E, chlorophyll, calcium, amino acids, protein, gamma linolenic acid (GLA), antioxidants and immune system enhancement. In fact a complete source of all the natural vitamins and minerals a body needs on a daily basis. The natural content of *vitamin B12 (four times more than beef liver) being particularly useful to the vegetarian diet, not being normally present.
This modern miracle plant is actually as old as the Earth itself. It occupies a unique biological niche in the plant kingdom. Spirulina is a freshwater blue-green algae, a microscopic plant descended from the world's first photosynthetic life form. It is composed of transparent, bubble-thin cells stacked end-to-end, forming a spiral filament. What makes Spirulina truly unique is that all the nutrition contained in this miracle plant is easily and totally digestible.
Ancient cultures were aware of Spirulina as an exceptional, life-generating food source and held its remarkable energising and rejuvenating properties in high esteem. The Aztecs considered it a Sacred Power Plant. Priests and warriors sustained themselves (at times, solely) on dried Spirulina wafers. In 1980, when Spirulina was first made commercially available, it was called 'the food of the future'. NASA has chosen Spirulina as an ideal food to grow on space stations. It is the most efficient, oxygen-generating, high-potency food known.
Today, Spirulina has become an essential part of the diet of millions of people around the world. The annual human consumption of cultivated Spirulina currently exceeds 2,000 metric tons. Such a rapid acceptance of a new food is without precedence and is mainly due to the wondrous properties of this particular algal superfood.
Spirulina is so easily digestible that no laboratory synthesising is required to extract its nutrients. Spirulina's cell walls are bubble-thin mucopolysaccharides (complex natural sugars) which dissolve upon contact with moisture and digestive enzymes. Other plant foods have nutrients which are largely unavailable (unless cooked or sprouted) because they are encased, like microscopic nuts, within walls of tough indigestible cellulose. Spirulina, on the other hand, has unmatched digestibility. Its amino acids are delivered in an essentially free-form state for instantaneous assimilation. Within moments, its concentrated nutrients, enzymes and living essences are absorbed into the bloodstream without the momentous loss of energy incurred in the digestion of ordinary foods. Other high protein foods are characteristically difficult to digest (e.g. beef, chicken, fish and milk).
Spirulina, along with all the other algae, can be one of the resources that helps to rejuvenate the planet. Spirulina cultivation is economically sound and environmentally safe. It grows so prolifically that a cultivated area one half the size of Indiana, USA could feed 6 1/4 billion people, which is the estimated population for the entire world in another decade. Spirulina can be cultivated on what is now considered worthless wasteland.
It challenges the mind that a tiny, blue-green water plant could do so much on such a vast scale. However, Spirulina is only one among the 26,000 species of algae which are being researched, and which together make up two-thirds of the total plant biomass on Earth today.
One company, Pure Planet Product Inc. has been able to harness the benefits of Spirulina, producing it in tablet form as a 100% pure tablet, 100% natural, 100% Vegan and now 100% organic. Without the binders, fillers and tableting aids normally present in most health food products, creating a product 95%+ digestible. Premium Organic Spirulina is Nature's most complete and assimilable whole food. The company's unique tableting process uses a superior USA grown organic Spirulina and creates the world's only 100% pure Spirulina tablets, guaranteeing excellent taste, purity, nutritional potency and freshness.
Premium Organic Spirulina is now being introduced into the UK and is only available in the UK through Pure Planet (Direct). As a special offer to Vegan News readers Pure Planet are offering their Premium Organic Spirulina at the special price of £12.89 for 180 x 300gm tablets, plus 80p p+p. (Normal Retail Price: £15.00 - £18.00.) If you would like to take advantage of this special offer, then you can obtain a mail order form either by e-mailing: planetdirect@cwcom.net or by writing to: Pure Planet (Direct), P.O Box 332, Rotherham, S61 3YR. United Kingdom. Don't forget to mention The Vegan News when requesting your order form!
*Editor's Note: According to Dr Gill Langley in her book Vegan Nutrition (Vegan Society 1995) a lot of the B12 present in Spirulina is in the form of analogues (chemical look-alikes) not as genuinely active B12. It is also thought that the presence of some of these analogues could possibly block the body's ability to use any genuine B12 that is present. Studies, mentioned in this book, have revealed that active vitamin B12 in some Spirulina tablets is as low as 0-2%, the rest being present as vitamin analogues. However, other assays of vitamin B-12 carried out on Spirulina pacifica (using the standard US Pharmacopeia (USP) method to measure total corrinoids) have shown that about 21% of the total corrinoid vitamin B-12 activity in Spirulina is human active.
However, if you prefer not to rely on Spirulina as the sole source of your vitamin B12 intake, then you can find out more about alternative vegan sources of vitamin B12 in the November 1998 issue.
Chlorella is a green single-celled algae which is cultivated in large man-made freshwater ponds under artificially controlled conditions. It has the highest concentration of chlorophyll found in any edible plant (2-3%) and has been grown in the Pacific Rim for over 25 years. It is particularly popular as a health supplement in Japan and throughout the Orient.
Like Spirulina it is highly nutritious and has many health benefits. Studies have shown it to be especially good for the digestive system, where it causes the friendly gut bacteria, the Lactobacilli, to multiply at four times their usual rate. It is also beneficial for bad breath and constipation and has been show to play an important role in detoxification of the body, by binding with and removing heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and lead and by aiding the breakdown of other toxins such as PCB's and DDT. Studies have also shown that it can lower serum cholesterol levels, boost the immune system and stimulate the production of interferon, therefore possibly offering some protection against cancer. Powdered Chlorella has been used to heal wounds. It contains Chlorella Growth Factor (CGF) which as well as encouraging wound healing also promotes growth in children.
Chlorella can meet most of the body's nutritional needs, supplying protein, vitamins, minerals, fibre, carbohydrates, enzymes and antioxidants. It's a particularly good source of iron, zinc, vitamins B1, B2, C, E, K and beta-carotene and is high in RNA/DNA and in Omega-3, an essential fatty acid.
Chlorella is surrounded by an outer shell. This needs to be broken open in order to access the nutrients inside. And so during manufacturing the shells are either crushed, or are ruptured by a pressure differential method, in order to make the nutrients fully accessible.
Chlorella is best taken 20-30 minutes before a meal. The usual dosage is between 3-12g/day.
Another important edible, blue-green algae is the species Aphanizonmenon flos-aquae, otherwise known as Super Blue Green Algae (SBGA). It is grown in Upper Klamath Lake in Oregan. Here it grows naturally in nutrient-rich waters which contain an abundance of minerals and volcanic silt. Two hundred million tons of SBGA are produced here annually! Unfortunately so far, I have only seen this product sold in non-vegan, gelatine capsules in Holland and Barretts. However, Nature's Gold produce a vegan version, sold in liquid, powder or tablet form. So look out for this range in your health shop or Suma stockist.
Powdered forms of Spirulina and Chlorella can be sprinkled on food, used in recipes, or added to smoothies and juices in order to boost their nutritional value. Chlorella and Spirulina make a nutritious supplement for vegans and vegetarians and are frequently used in the Vegan Raw Food Diet and in The Sunfood Diet. Capsules, tablets and the powder can be purchased off the Internet, by mail order, or from your local health food store. The following kinds of Spirulina and Chlorella are suitable for vegetarians and vegans and can be purchased from branches of Holland and Barretts:
Also in Holland & Barretts look out for:
All of these books can be purchased from Amazon Books (USA) and those marked with a * can be obtained from Amazon Books (UK).
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Copyright © Pauline Lloyd 1999