Spirulina - A super food

Spirulina a healthy super food learn how to grow your own!

spirulina in waterSpirulina is a form of algae that is considered a complete food  But expensive!  Now you can grow your own spirulina!

I became interested in spirulina when I was searching for vegetarian sources of protein. I had never heard of it.  Spirulina is considered a complete food. What did that mean?


Spirulina is super good for you and is a practical garden plant


  •  Spirulina is a simple, one-celled organism that got its name from the Latin word for ‘helix’ or ‘spiral’ because of its spring-like physical characteristic. Its scientific name isArthrospira platensis, and it belongs to the cyanobacteria family.


Spirulina nutritional value

Spirulina contains 60 percent protein by weight and all the essential amino acids. It’s not as good a source as eggs or milk but it is better than beans.

Spirulina  algae are rich in vitamins,  they are in a highly usable state. Also Spirulina is rich in natural minerals. very rich in the complete protein including essential amino acids. Many of these vitamins and minerals exhibit antioxidant properties which aid in the elimination of toxins and free-radicas.

Spirulina algae are  effective for metal detox

Spirulina algae have an essential fatty acid that aids in the health of your joints and heart.

Spirulina algae have trace minerals which may be lacking in your diet.

Spirulina helps to keep a healthy gut flora which aids in digestion and helps keep candida under control

Spirulina helps reduce inflammation

Spirulina may help with food cravings, and it helps to stabilize blood sugar.

Spirulina health benefits

Spirulina helps with allergies and hay fever because of it’s natural anti-inflammatory properties

In some countries like Bangladesh clean water is a luxury. Much of the water in Bangladesh is loaded with arsenic  Researchers gave spirulina to people and they showed tremendous improvement from the effects of arsenic.

A study done in Taiwan showed spirulina shows significant immune boosting properties. Researchers exposed white shrimp to  seawater containing spirulina before being transferred to seawater with a pH level of 6.8  showed faster recovery than the control group that was not exposed to spirulina.

If you have an autoimmune disease such as Crohn’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, Lupus or fibromyalgia,  chronic candida yeast can both cause and worsen your symptoms. Spirulina has been shown to encourage and support the growth of healthy bacteria flora in your gut, which can help to keep candidi overgrowth under control.

Spirulina has been shown to help inactivate the human immunodeficiency virus associated with HIV and AIDS

Balances blood pressure

Helps keep cholesterol under control


How you can grow your own spirulina in your own home or garden.


You can grow spirulina in an aquarium set  in the window.

Start out with distilled water.

Spirulina has a wide range of PH’s in which it can grow. In ranges of 3.5 and above a PH of 10. It seems no other algae will grow in PH above 8.5 . A product called PH up can be used to raise the PH

It grows best at 86 degrees.

The algae needs to be exposed to sunlight It needs to be stirred to expose each fine little weave of the algae to as much light as you can. There are various methods to achieve this One method I found to be pretty easy is the use of Growing tubes. They are both in-expensive and easy to build. From Home Depot a 1 inch  wide 8 foot long clear tube used for protecting fluorescent lights in case of breaking. Also 90 degree angle 1 inch to 1/2 inch pvc pipe elbows 1/2  10 of each female and male plugs. Cut the clear plastic into 5 separate pieces 18 inches each. Drill a hole small enough for air line tubing to be pushed through into the male plugs.


So when assembled end to end, a “Growing tube” would look like this: 1 Male plug screwed into one 1/2″inch elbow.  The other end of the 1/2″inch elbow is 1″ wide and fits into the 1″inch wide plastic tube.  The other end of the plastic tube looks the same way.  Now all that is needed is to use non-toxic silicon to make the air line feeding in both ends air tight.  Oh, and one side of the air line inside the elbow will need an air stone attached to produce small bubbles.  That’s it!  For about $18 you can build five “Growing Tubes”.  The growing tubes will be housed in your aquarium, and will maintain a steady temperature without receiving or giving containmination to it’s environment.

To allow the spirulina algae to grow under the best conditions, and satisfy the need for “Stirring”, CO2 will be pumped into the “Growing Tubes”. Last, the algae needs nutritional a suppliment to grow. I found 2 solutions used in labratories for growing spirulina. Solution A & Solution B.  They need to be kept seperate for storage purposes, and should only be combined when mixing your solution in the growing tubes.  A cap full from each container is enough per 1 gallon of distilled water.

Spirulina is safe and easy to grow!

It it capable of growing in extremely alkaline water which is inhospitable to almost every other organism.  The toxic algae grow in pH-neutral.

How to put Spirulina to use:

  • There are many recipes for using spirulina on Pintrest at Spirulina recipes we love.
  • Sleep Like a Baby Elixir Smoothie Recipe

    Serves: 1-2

    Prep Time: 4 minutes


    • 1 cup lemon balm or chamomile tea or a combination of both (sometimes I’ll use Montmorency cherry juice or concentrate)

    • 1/2 ripe large banana, or if it’s a small one – use an entire banana

    • 8 – 12 fresh or frozen, pitted, cherries

    • 1 teaspoon Hawaiian Spirulina Pacifica powder

    • 1 – 2 teaspoons of chia seeds (sometimes I substitute flaxseeds)

    • 1/2 stalk celery



  • Historical records show  the harvesting and selling of cakes made from spirulina harvested from Lake Texcoco. It was rediscovered in the 1950’s in the same place where it has said to have its origins by a European scientific mission. The spirulina was being harvested and sold in dried flat cakes called “dihé” at the local markets, where natives would use it as a staple for many of their meals.Spirulina didn’t come into commercial production until the 1970s when a French company began the first large-scale spirulina production plant. Within a few years, America and Japan began producing their own spirulina.Today, these nutrient-rich algae are being used around the world to help treat illness and are being seriously discussed as a sustainable source of food with the potential to end world hunger. Unlike most plants, which need to be cultivated and nurtured, spirulina is a survivor, able to withstand extreme temperature variations and neglect and still thrive. According to studies, spirulina is being successfully used to treat a wide variety of ailments, including those who’ve been poisoned by arsenic-contaminated water.

 Because of all the health benefits related to spirulina I would include it on my list of practical garden plants.

Spirulina Powder