Key Takeaways
- Blue spirulina powder benefits come mainly from phycocyanin, the blue pigment protein in spirulina. It’s known for antioxidant support, a healthy inflammatory response, and immune function, and it has been studied for its ability to bind heavy metals.
- When choosing a spirulina powder, look for indoor cultivation, which avoids seawater contaminants like heavy metals and microplastics as well as the fishy taste, and freeze-drying, which protects heat-sensitive proteins better than tablets or heat-dried powders.
- YoungLong Snow Spirulina is 99% pure, indoor-cultured blue spirulina that’s freeze-dried to protect its protein and nutrients, rich in phycocyanin, and free of the fishy taste. It provides antioxidant support and supports skin wellness,* with vegan and Halal certification in an easy 1.5 g daily stick.
Have you ever noticed the green drink Iron Man drinks every day in the movie Iron Man?
In the movie, there’s a scene where Iron Man drinks a chlorophyll drink to counter the heavy metals in his blood caused by the metal fragments lodged in his chest.
In fact, chlorophyll has been studied for its potential to bind heavy metals and support the body’s natural elimination processes.
It’s not just a story from the movies.
Harmful substances like fine particulate matter, heavy metals, and free radicals build up in our bodies.
For those of us living in the modern world, it’s an environment that’s hard for anyone to avoid.
When this kind of waste builds up in the body, it can speed up aging, weaken your immune defenses, and take a toll on your overall health, so regular antioxidant care is important.
That’s how “spirulina” and “chlorella” naturally came into the spotlight, and why so many people today are curious about blue spirulina powder benefits.
Both are superfoods known for their powerful antioxidant properties and their potential to support the body’s natural elimination processes, and many people take them.
They may look similar, but once you know more, there are real differences.
From protein content, digestibility, and chlorophyll content to the way they work in the body.
There are reasons why spirulina comes out ahead.
Today, I’ll break down those reasons one by one.
1. What Is Spirulina?
Spirulina is a tiny blue-green alga, and it belongs to one of the oldest groups of living things on Earth that make energy from sunlight.
Spirulina, which beautiful flamingos mainly eat, is exceptionally nutritious, which is why the United Nations has called it a food for the future and NASA has studied it as food for astronauts.
It’s very high in protein, at 60–70%, and it’s among the richest natural foods in vitamins and minerals, packed with a wide range of nutrients. Over 95% of it can be digested and absorbed, so it’s an excellent source of nutrition for children and older adults.
2. Spirulina Powder Benefits
Spirulina is a dietary ingredient used in supplements, and it’s known for three main benefits:
- Supporting skin health
- Supporting antioxidant activity
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Supporting healthy cholesterol levels
These three benefits are associated with spirulina’s chlorophyll content.
Beyond these benefits, a review article published in the Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association describes spirulina as follows.
1) Antioxidant Support and a Healthy Inflammatory Response
Spirulina is rich in chlorophyll and phycocyanin, which give it stronger photosynthetic ability than almost any plant on Earth.
As these compounds boost photosynthetic efficiency, large amounts of free radicals are produced.
Free radicals are harmful substances that attack cells, damage enzymes and proteins, and are a major driver of aging.
To protect itself from free radicals, spirulina contains its own defenses, such as carotenoids, beta-carotene, and phycocyanin, which are known to have powerful antioxidant activity.
According to the study, spirulina extract showed stronger antioxidant activity (76%) than gallic acid (54%) and chlorogenic acid (56%).
According to a study on spirulina published in PubMed Central, spirulina is also getting attention for supporting a healthy inflammatory response.
One of the key substances that triggers inflammatory responses in the body is “NF-κB.”
The phycocyanin in spirulina is known to help curb NF-κB activation, reducing the excessive release of cytokines, the compounds that trigger inflammation.
Since ongoing inflammation is linked to aging, one of spirulina’s strengths is that it can support both antioxidant activity and a healthy inflammatory response at the same time.
2) Spirulina and Heavy Metals
Antioxidant compounds in spirulina, such as phycocyanin and chlorophyll, have been studied for their potential to bind heavy metals and toxins and support the body’s natural elimination processes.
In particular, phycocyanin has been studied for its ability to bind directly with heavy metals like cadmium, mercury, and lead, and to support the body’s natural defenses against compounds like pesticides and hydrocarbons.
In fact, in a review of 58 preclinical studies involving cadmium, mercury, lead, and arsenic, spirulina showed promising results in laboratory settings.
By helping reduce the burden of harmful substances, these properties are also thought to support overall immune health.
3) Supporting Immune Function
Spirulina supports the production of Th1 and Th2 cytokines, which help maintain immune balance.
It’s known to activate the body’s immune cells, including B cells, T cells, and NK cells, and to raise levels of interferon (IFN-γ), a key immune messenger.
In fact, a human study reported that in more than 50% of participants who took spirulina extract by mouth, NK cell function improved and interferon production increased.
So what’s the key compound behind spirulina’s role in “binding heavy metals” and “supporting immune function”?
It’s a special compound found in spirulina, “phycocyanin,” the blue pigment that gives blue spirulina its color.
3. What Is Phycocyanin? The Key to Blue Spirulina Powder Benefits
Spirulina is rich in a blue pigment protein called “phycocyanin,” a color that’s rarely seen in nature.
Many of the standout benefits you’ll find when you search for spirulina can be credited to phycocyanin. (It’s also known as blue spirulina.)
Phycocyanin acts as a powerful antioxidant, helping protect your cells from oxidative stress.
It has also been studied for its ability to bind with heavy metals like cadmium, mercury, lead, and aluminum, which may help the body clear heavy metals, and to support the body’s natural defenses as it deals with toxins such as pesticides and hydrocarbons.
Phycocyanin is a large protein, but it has sites that can bind with large positive ions such as heavy metals.
In lab studies, phycocyanin has been shown to wrap around heavy metals like silver (Ag+), and it has been studied for its potential to limit their absorption and support their elimination from the body.
In countries like France and Japan, phycocyanin is regarded as a precious, high-value ingredient, valued for this ability to bind heavy metals.
In fact, phycocyanin binds heavy metals so effectively that it’s even used in laboratories as a reagent for detecting heavy metals.
The chart above shows experimental data comparing how strongly heavy metals bind to phycocyanin.
According to these results, the heavy metals that bind most readily to phycocyanin were, in order, mercury (Hg) > silver (Ag) > lead (Pb) > chromium (Cr) > copper (Cu).
Based on this data, it takes about 18 μg of phycocyanin to bind 0.5 μg of mercury.
For people who eat a lot of seafood in particular, intake of heavy metals like mercury and lead from ocean pollution can be higher than average.
Heavy metal exposure can also add up from everyday sources such as smoking, air pollution, and certain foods.
So how much mercury do Americans actually take in from food?
NHANES data puts mercury intake from food at roughly 4 to 6 μg a day for US adults, depending on race and ethnicity, and it reaches about 17 μg among those with the highest intake. Based on the lab data above, binding that amount of mercury in a test tube would take about 0.6 mg of phycocyanin.
4. How to Choose Spirulina
If you’ve decided to take spirulina for heavy metal concerns or general wellness, you’ll want to be a little careful when choosing a product.
Spirulina naturally grows in high-salinity water such as seawater. In recent years, technology for growing spirulina in large quantities has also advanced.
But lately, due to ocean pollution, the levels of heavy metals and microplastics in seawater have been rising. That’s why managing contamination is so important.
Before you choose a spirulina, here are the points you should check.
Point 1) Outdoor Cultivation vs. Indoor Cultivation
Spirulina cultivation methods fall into two main types: outdoor cultivation (grown outside) and indoor cultivation (grown indoors).
To get straight to the point, when it comes to managing contamination, indoor cultivation is the better choice.
Outdoor Cultivation
Outdoor cultivation grows spirulina in an outdoor setting, much like coastal fish farms, using seawater and natural sunlight to keep conditions close to nature.
Because it uses natural sunlight, it has the advantage of being rich in chlorophyll, but contamination in seawater can raise concerns about high levels of heavy metals and microplastics.
If you’re taking spirulina because you’re concerned about heavy metals from air pollution, it makes no sense to choose a spirulina that’s high in heavy metals.
Once heavy metals enter the body, they don’t leave easily.
As far as I know, many spirulina powders on the market are produced through outdoor cultivation, since it’s easier to grow spirulina that way.
As a pharmacist, I can tell you that one of the biggest reasons spirulina isn’t more popular is its very fishy taste.
Take a look at the label above from one spirulina product. Even though it comes in tablet form, the directions say to “chew before swallowing.” If you’ve ever tried it, you know that the moment you chew spirulina, it’s a nightmare.
It has a very fishy taste along with a slimy texture, a lot like the slippery film on kelp, and green bits of spirulina even get stuck between your teeth and are hard to get out. That’s why many people stop reaching for it and end up throwing it out.
But originally, spirulina itself has almost no taste.
The fishy taste you notice in spirulina isn’t the taste of spirulina itself; it’s the fishy taste of various impurities from the sea that get mixed in during cultivation.
It’s said that 100% pure spirulina doesn’t have much of a taste at all. The fishy taste comes from other marine substances that get mixed in during cultivation.
If the spirulina you’re taking right now tastes fishy, it’s worth taking a closer look.
Indoor Cultivation
Unlike outdoor cultivation, indoor cultivation grows spirulina in a controlled indoor environment, adjusting the temperature and water concentration to conditions where spirulina thrives.
Because the facility costs are high, it’s said to be harder to mass-produce than outdoor cultivation. As a result, it has the downside of a higher price compared with outdoor-cultivated spirulina.
Indoor cultivation doesn’t use seawater; instead, spirulina is grown in purified water with salt and glucose added to adjust the concentration. Thanks to this, there’s less worry about heavy metals and microplastics from ocean pollution.
In addition, indoor cultivation grows only carefully selected spirulina, so other marine impurities don’t get mixed in. Properly selected and cultivated 100% spirulina has almost no taste, let alone a fishy one.
Personally, I’d recommend spirulina grown through indoor cultivation, which contains nothing but pure spirulina.
Point 2) Freeze-Drying
Phycocyanin, one of the most important compounds in spirulina, is a type of protein.
Proteins change their structure when heated. Raw egg whites are clear and runny, but once you cook them with heat, they turn into a white solid.
In the same way, when heat is applied to proteins like phycocyanin, the key compounds in spirulina, their structure changes and they lose their function.
This means they can no longer provide the immune and antioxidant support mentioned as spirulina’s benefits, and they also lose their ability to bind heavy metals.
So when choosing a spirulina powder, it’s best to choose a product that’s been exposed to as little heat as possible.
Most spirulina products on the market come in tablet form, but I don’t recommend spirulina tablets.
That’s because making tablets involves very high pressure and heat.
When making the tablets and pills we commonly take, the ingredients are placed in a mold and pressed hard from above and below so the particles stick together.
Tablet presses usually apply anywhere from 1,300 kg (about 2,900 lb) to as much as 18,000 kg (about 39,700 lb) of pressure. Proteins can’t withstand this kind of pressure, so their structure breaks down.
As the pressure builds, heat is also generated, reaching temperatures at which proteins change their structure.
If you’ve decided to take spirulina, I don’t recommend tablets.
The form I recommend is “powder,” and in particular, “freeze-dried spirulina powder.”
What Is Freeze-Drying?
Freeze-drying is a method of drying in which the ingredient is frozen quickly, the pressure inside the container is lowered to near vacuum, and the frozen water turns directly into vapor without melting first.
Since only the water is quickly removed, the structure of the ingredient isn’t damaged, and because no heat is applied, its nutrients and protein structure are preserved.
When water is added back into the spaces left behind by the ice crystals, the ingredient returns to its original form.
Unlike freeze-drying, the process of making regular powders dries the ingredient with heat, much like a hair dryer.
During this drying process, nutrients inevitably break down. Freeze-drying, on the other hand, removes water efficiently without heat, so it has the advantage of preserving nutrients.
In the past, freeze-drying was mainly used to commercialize protein-based medicines, but today it’s also used to preserve food. Its downside is that it involves a complex process, so processing costs are high.
However, spirulina powder benefits come from compounds like phycocyanin and chlorophyll, and these compounds are very sensitive to heat.
If you’ve decided to take spirulina, I recommend choosing a “freeze-dried spirulina” product made through indoor cultivation, even if it costs more than regular tablets or powders.
What Makes YoungLong Snow Spirulina Different?
If you’re looking for an easy way to get the blue spirulina powder benefits we’ve covered, YoungLong Snow Spirulina brings together everything we’ve discussed so far, designed so you can take it consistently and comfortably.
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Easy Blue Spirulina Powder
It’s a powder, not a pill or chewable tablet, so you can simply mix it into water or your favorite drink.
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A Nearly Neutral Taste, Without the Fishy Flavor
The spirulina is grown indoors, protected from outside environmental factors, which takes away the fishy taste spirulina is known for.
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Protein Protected by Freeze-Drying
Freeze-drying, which uses no heat or pressure, helps preserve as much of spirulina’s natural protein as possible.
Why not make freeze-dried spirulina powder an easy part of your routine and take care of yourself from the inside out? YoungLong is here for every healthy day ahead.
Reference
[3] The Bioactivities of Phycocyanobilin from Spirulina
[4] The Role of Spirulina (Arthrospira) in the Mitigation of Heavy-Metal Toxicity: An Appraisal
[6] Awata H, Linder S, Mitchell LE, Delclos GL (2017)
*This content has not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
