The benefits of spirulina are numerous. It is known for its antioxidant and immune-boosting properties as well as its tonicity.

Spirulina supports the body's natural defenses and helps maintain vitality.

Spirulina supports the body's natural defenses and helps maintain vitality. It contains antioxidants that help protect cells from oxidative stress.

* AR: reference intake
** Vitamin A equivalent: 750 μg

Origin and "starification"

Spirulina (Spirulina Platensis) is a blue-green microalgae and filamentous cyanobacterium. Houlà right away the name that frightens! A cyanobacterium is a photosynthetic bacterium, i.e. one that uses light as its main source of energy. Known for centuries for its nutritional richness, spirulina has been the subject of many scientific studies around the world. Spirulina is sometimes presented as a promising protein source for the years to come [1].

In 1974, the United Nations named Spirulina as the food of the future. In the United States, NASA programs had also studied spirulina as a food with very high nutritional value and as a potential source for space travel [2].

There are a large number of species of spirulina that originally proliferated in different lakes around the world: in Chad, Mexico and Kenya. As a result, the consumption of spirulina is said to date back many centuries, especially in the populations close to these lakes (Aztecs and African tribes) [3].

Beyond its high nutritional quality, spirulina has a major advantage. Indeed, the production of spirulina does not require large resources, giving it aspects of sustainability [4] extremely interesting especially when compared to other types of protein sources and their water requirements (beef or soy for example). Due to these exceptional characteristics, spirulina has become very popular within the category of "super foods".

Spirulina, a nutraceutical asset

Spirulina derives its nutritional strength from its composition of protein (combining high protein content (about 60%) and concentration of essential amino acids), vitamins (beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, vitamin A, K, B12), and minerals (iron in particular) [5]. Another nutritional strength of spirulina is its concentration of phycocyanin (phycobiliproteins + water-soluble phycocyanobiline pigments) [6].

This blue-coloured soluble molecule, found only in spirulina and other species of blue-green algae, has a very powerful antioxidant power. This combination of bioactive and functional nutritional compounds gives spirulina numerous health benefits. These compounds are notably available to the body, due to the walls easily digested by digestive enzymes [7]. This incredible food has therefore naturally presented itself as a nutraceutical of choice.

Choosing your spirulina and what about spirulina Nutri&Co

For several decades spirulina has been widely produced in the world to meet a growing demand (nutraceuticals, cosmetics, food ...). On the market, spirulina is found in different forms: powders, capsules, tablets ... In addition to this, various characteristics: spirulina craft or not and from organic farming or not. Faced with this "democratization" of spirulina-based products, several criteria must be taken into account to choose it properly in order to avoid possible "dangers" related to its consumption. First of all, cleanliness. Indeed, spirulina has a capacity to bind to heavy metals and bacteria found in its medium of origin (culture medium). Its good production is therefore more than a criterion but should be a condition. That is why, as always, you should be able to access the certificates of analysis, especially monitor heavy metals.

Then you have to look at the drying process. The latter will guarantee or not the preservation and concentration of nutrients in spirulina. This is allowed by a drying at low temperature, that is to say, under the threshold of 50°C. Today, more than half of the spirulina on the market are dried at high temperature. It is these drying conditions which bring us to the following criterion. Nutrients and in particular the valuable phycocyanin will be preserved at the appropriate drying temperatures. A concentration (rate) of at least 15% guarantees the quality of the spirulina, a criterion that is just as important.

A last criterion can intervene in the choice of its spirulina, that of organic. Since May 2017, Spirulina can be certified organic, which ensures an ecological culture, without pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or animal substitutes. The first farm to have obtained this certification is that of PARRY NUTRACEUTICALS following the filing of a specific patent guaranteeing an organic "food" with seaweed, without losing the richness in micronutrients.

At Nutri&Co, all these criteria are guaranteed in our spirulina tablets:

1. impeccable cleanliness, as proven by the bacteriological and heavy metal analyses available on our site,
2. cold treatment, our spirulina is dried and compressed at less than 50 degrees,
3. high phycocyanin content, from 15 to 19%,
4. exceptional production conditions, in the heart of the natural site of Oonaiyur, in South India, in the first certified organic farm in the world, with 35 years of experience.

In addition to these different points, the choice of a 100% pure spirulina, without colorants, flavorings or fillers for compression.

Finally, our spirulina is controlled on 3 levels:

• Crop inputs are analyzed,
• Spirulina is analyzed when leaving production,
• Finally, it is analyzed again in France when it is received at our partner who carries out its packaging.

Spirulina and benefits

From the years 85-90, scientific work began to develop on the health effects of spirulina which allowed to identify its biological properties [5].

In general and based on the nutritional data of spirulina, three major lines of research characterize its beneficial potential on health: antioxidant power, vitality and immune system.

In general, antioxidant molecules have the ability to act at very low concentrations, particularly against oxidative stress (accumulation of reactive oxygen species causing deleterious phenomena of cellular oxidation in the body).

Phycocyanin would have the ability to decrease reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation (oxidation of essential fatty acids), and proinflammatory cytokines (inflammation mediators).

Beta-carotene, also present in spirulina, is believed to be able to effectively combat intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation and decrease the expression of genes related to inflammation [8].

There are still few human studies on the effects on immunity and the experimental conditions under which they have been conducted diverge. Nevertheless, starting from 2g per day over several weeks, it has been reported that spirulina allows to modulate innate immunity (first line of defense of our organism against foreign bodies) as well as adaptive immunity (specific defense of the organism) [9,10].

Indeed, spirulina would have an antimicrobial activity limiting the proliferation of specific bacterial species with pathogenic potential and an antiviral activity inhibiting the replication of certain viruses (and thus their activity). All these biological effects demonstrate that spirulina is an excellent ally of defense against potential environmental "aggressions" that we are facing: pollution, periods of exposure to allergens, winter epidemic periods...

Moreover, its protein and iron intakes (even in limited quantities) present themselves as real nutritional assets in the context of particular physiological situations: athletes, the elderly, women of childbearing age, non-menopausal women...

Finally, in the context of vegan diets or in the elderly, a deficiency in vitamin B12 can be observed leading to a risk of anaemia. Spirulina can help to cover vitamin B12 needs in an optimal way. In conclusion, if you have the guarantee of a quality spirulina, it is an ally of choice in short and long term cures depending on the physiological situation you are in.

Publications

1. Caporgno, M.P.; Mathys, A. Trends in Microalgae Incorporation Into Innovative Food Products With Potential Health Benefits. Front. Nutr. 2018, 5, 58.
2. Capelli, B.; Cysewski, G.R. Potential health benefits of spirulina microalgae*: A review of the existing literature. Nutrafoods 2010, 9, 19–26.
3. Dillon, J.C.; Phan Phuc, A.; Dubacq, J.P. Nutritional Value of the Alga Spiruline. World Rev Nutr Diet 1995, 77, 32–46.
4. García, J.L.; de Vicente, M.; Galán, B. Microalgae, old sustainable food and fashion nutraceuticals. Microb. Biotechnol. 2017, 10, 1017–1024.
5. Belay, A.; Ota, Y.; Miyakawa, K.; Shimamatsu, H. Current knowledge on potential health benefits of Spirulina. J. Appl. Phycol. 1993, 5, 235–241.
6. Piñero Estrada, J. Antioxidant activity of different fractions of Spirulina platensis protean extract. Il Farm. 2001, 56, 497–500.
7. Falquet, J. THE NUTRITIONAL ASPECTS OF SPIRULINA. 2017, 25.
8. Wu, Q.; Liu, L.; Miron, A.; Klímová, B.; Wan, D.; Kuča, K. The antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory activities of Spirulina: an overview. Arch. Toxicol. 2016, 90, 1817–1840.
9. Maddaly, R.; Sai Lata, D.; Syed, A.; Solomon, F.D.P. The beneficial effects of spirulina focusing on its immunomodulatory and antioxidant properties. Nutr. Diet. Suppl. 2010, 73.
10. Finamore, A.; Palmery, M.; Bensehaila, S.; Peluso, I. Antioxidant, Immunomodulating, and Microbial-Modulating Activities of the Sustainable and Ecofriendly Spirulina. Oxid. Med. Cell. Longev. 2017, 2017, 1–14.

Spirulina tends to bind to heavy metals and bacteria. Cleanliness of the crop is therefore the first condition for a good product.

Our analyses show an exemplary level of cleanliness:

Bacteriological analysis
Certificates of analysis
Pesticide, heavy metal and PAH analysis
Mycrocystin analysis

We are Ecocert certified and have declared our activity to the Organic Agency:

Ecocert Certificate
Certificate of notification to the organic agency allowing the use of the AB label