Originally published January 16 2014
Spirulina truly is an exceptional food in every imaginable way
by P. Simard
(NaturalNews) This is a one of a kind food that you should immediately start adding to your diet as often as possible. Spirulina is mainly found growing in the alkaline lakes of Central and South America. It's now recognized as one of the most nutritious foods in the world, as it contains all the essential amino acids so important to maintain and enhance health, including five of them that the human body cannot generate on its own, as per a study conducted at Kansas University back in 2005.
It's quite fascinating to note that spirulina's overall content actually consists of approximately 60% proteins by dry weight, therefore surpassing all other plant products and even red meat's average of 27%. These proteins are highly digestible; therefore, a high amount of them are absorbed and utilized by the body in the end.
Spirulina strongly promotes the body's natural cleansing and detoxification. It greatly helps strengthen the immune system by encouraging and facilitating the production of red and white blood cells or other cells in charge of killing unwanted germs and viruses. Its high antioxidant content also explains the praise that it gets for being such a formidable immune system booster.
The University of Florida demonstrated in separate studies with rats that spirulina has the ability to protect the brain. The researchers noted that aged rats maintained their neuron functions to a much higher level after being fed spirulina compared to those that weren't. They also noticed that brain lesions following induced strokes were up to 75% smaller in rats that had been given spirulina. In general, the spirulina-fed rats also seemed to have far less free-radical damage than the other ones.
Spirulina may counteract anemia and immunological dysfunction
The University of California came up with encouraging results after undertaking a study involving 40 volunteers above 50 years of age. The participants with no history of major chronic diseases were given spirulina supplements for a period of 12 weeks. The complete cell count was used as a determining factor to evaluate its efficiency on the immune function. Throughout the trial there was a regular increase of mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations as well an increased IDO activity. These positive results certainly pave the way for even more research to prove spirulina's possible efficiency in treating anemia or immunological dysfunction.
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School demonstrated spirulina's potential in fighting various viruses and possibly even HIV. The researchers were able to show that spirulina has the ability to somewhat prevent HIV replication. Although the results concerning HIV are extremely encouraging, they should definitely be followed by more substantial and serious research.
If you're interested in further investigating this truly phenomenal food, you'll easily find evidence supporting spirulina's potential in effectively treating other health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, liver disease, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, cancer, arthritis and many more.
Sources for this article include:
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://science.naturalnews.com
http://chealth.canoe.ca
About the author:
After spending several years working in property management, P. Simard is now focusing on being a naturopath in Quebec.
After spending several years working in property management, P. Simard is now focusing on being a naturopath in Quebec.
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