Blue Green Algae as Food, you can take it to heart.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

It is a beneficial substance for a number of conditions, however it doesn't diagnose, cure, treat, mitigate, fix, reregulate, repair, support, alter or generally enhance any medical condition. "They say it is good for you though".

You can read about how it is produced at W W W DOT Cyanotech DOT COM "Huge warning, commercial site". Send the kids into the other room.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21793723


Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2011 Aug;51(7):593-604.
United States pharmacopeia safety evaluation of spirulina.
Marles RJ, Barrett ML, Barnes J, Chavez ML, Gardiner P, Ko R, Mahady GB, Low Dog T, Sarma ND, Giancaspro GI, Sharaf M, Griffiths J.
Source

a United States Pharmacopeia Dietary Supplements Information Expert Committee Members , Rockville , MD , USA.
Abstract

The Dietary Supplements Information Expert Committee (DSI-EC) of the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) reviews the safety of dietary supplements and dietary supplement ingredients for the purpose of determining whether they should be admitted as quality monographs into the United States Pharmacopeia and National Formulary (USP-NF).

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has enforcement authority to pursue a misbranding action in those instances where a dietary supplement product indicates that it conforms to USP standards but fails to so conform. Recently DSI-EC undertook a safety evaluation of spirulina, a widely used dietary ingredient. DSI-EC reviewed information from human clinical trials, animal studies, and regulatory and pharmacopeial sources and analyzed 31 adverse event reports regarding spirulina to assess potential health concerns.

At the conclusion of this review, DSI-EC assigned a Class A safety rating for Spirulina maxima and S. platensis, thereby permitting the admission of quality monographs for these dietary supplement ingredients in USP-NF. DSI-EC continually monitors reports concerning the safety of dietary supplements and dietary supplement ingredients for which USP dietary supplement monographs are developed. The DSI-EC may revisit the safety classification of spirulina as new information on this dietary ingredient becomes available.

PMID:
21793723

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Grown in Africa, one tablespoon a day wards off malnutrition, it is a sustainable food

source. Environmentally sound and good for the earth and its inhabitants.

Growing Spirulina Algae in a Village in West Africa, sponsored by U.N.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxSA5iiGgiY

[LongTomH]

4. Years ago, when population began to be discussed as a problem,

single-cell proteins like algae and yeasts were discussed a possible answer to feeding a growing population. The consensus since then has usually been that the Earth's population could still feed itself with open-field agriculture, if new farming practices and land reforms were adopted.

Now that we're facing not only a growing population in the developing world, but a (usable) water crisis, maybe it's time to once again consider single cell proteins along with various forms of greenhouse agriculture.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Grown in California by Earthrise Farms by the many hundreds of tons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezNaZnCuPdA&feature=related

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. Potential Therapeutic Benefits are thought to be

Cardiovasc Ther. 2010 Aug;28(4):e33-45.
Hypolipidemic, antioxidant, and antiinflammatory activities of microalgae Spirulina.
Deng R, Chow TJ.
Source

Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA. [e-mail]
Abstract

Spirulina is free-floating filamentous microalgae growing in alkaline water bodies. With its high nutritional value, Spirulina has been consumed as food for centuries in Central Africa. It is now widely used as nutraceutical food supplement worldwide.

Recently, great attention and extensive studies have been devoted to evaluate its therapeutic benefits on an array of diseased conditions including hypercholesterolemia, hyperglycerolemia, cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory diseases, cancer, and viral infections.

The cardiovascular benefits of Spirulina are primarily resulted from its hypolipidemic, antioxidant, and antiinflammatory activities. Data from preclinical studies with various animal models consistently demonstrate the hypolipidemic activity of Spirulina.

Although differences in study design, sample size, and patient conditions resulting in minor inconsistency in response to Spirulina supplementation, the findings from human clinical trials are largely consistent with the hypolipidemic effects of Spirulina observed in the preclinical studies. However, most of the human clinical trials are suffered with limited sample size and some with poor experimental design.

The antioxidant and/or antiinflammatory activities of Spirulina were demonstrated in a large number of preclinical studies. However, a limited number of clinical trials have been carried out so far to confirm such activities in human. Currently, our understanding on the underlying mechanisms for Spirulina's activities, especially the hypolipidemic effect, is limited.

Spirulina is generally considered safe for human consumption supported by its long history of use as food source and its favorable safety profile in animal studies. However, rare cases of side-effects in human have been reported. Quality control in the growth and process of Spirulina to avoid contamination is mandatory to guarantee the safety of Spirulina products.

PMID:
20633020

PMCID: PMC2907180

Free PMC Article