BoKU is a Great Source of Natural Iodine

With all of the panic surrounding the current crises in Japan has triggered a lot of panic here in the U.S. Many people are clamoring for potassium iodide tablets and liquids to such an extent that many suppliers are actually running out. Is this a good thing? Probably not. While the body does need iodine to function and it can help to reduce the risk of thyroid cancer after radiation exposure. But getting iodine in supplement form may not be the best way to go.

What is Iodine and What Does it Do?

To put it simply, iodine is a chemical element that the body must have. The body cannot make it or store it; iodine must come from the diet. It is essential for the production of thyroid hormones that regulate growth and metabolism.  Iodine deficiency causes hypothyroidism, which causes symptoms like fatigue, high cholesterol, weight gain, lethargy, mental slowness and goiter. It also causes slowed brain development in children and unborn fetuses.

How does potassium iodide help protect from radiation exposure?

When radioactive iodine (iodine-131) is emitted into the air after some kind of nuclear event, it can be inhaled into the lungs. Once inside the body, the thyroid would absorb it very quickly which would be extremely damaging. Taking potassium iodide immediately before exposure causes the thyroid to absorb the stable iodine and thus have no room left for the radioactive iodine for 24 hours. Keeping the radioactive iodine from reaching the thyroid helps to prevent thyroid cancer and radiation sickness. A single dose is said to protect for 24 hours, higher doses do not offer greater protection. (Center for Disease Control - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/ki.asp)

Can you ingest too much iodine?

Absolutely!
Over consuming iodine is very possible and potentially dangerous. According to The National Institute of Health (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/35.html), “Large amounts or long-term use are POSSIBLY UNSAFE. Adults should avoid prolonged use of doses higher than 1100 mcg per day (the upper tolerable limit, UL) without proper medical supervision.” And consuming slightly lees than that (1000 mcg) can cause nausea, stomachache, vomiting, burning in the mouth and throat, and possible even coma. Overdoses can be fatal.
Certain people should NOT take potassium iodide at all, these include:

• Those allergic to iodine (of course), shellfish allergies may indicate this
• Those with skin disorders such as dermatitis herpetiformis or urticaria vasculitis
• Those with compromised thyroids

Is there a better way to keep iodine levels high while avoiding these risks?

Yes! You can consume iodine the way that you should consume all essential nutrients, from natural food. Foods rich in iodine include baked goods, eggs, dairy, and seafood, but especially sea vegetables like kelp. For those who are vegetarian or vegan, raw or just don’t like sushi you can get plenty of iodine from BoKU® Super Food and BoKU® Bars. One of our chocolaty bars contains 45% RDI of iodine. And one scoop of BoKU® Super Food contains 86 mcg of iodine (57% of the RDI) and two scoops have 171 mcg and 114% of the RDI! All from natural, organic kelp, chlorella and spirulina which are great for you anyway. Not only are these sea vegetables rich in iodine, they and the other greens in BoKU® Super Food are natural chelators. This means that they help detoxify the body by removing heavy metals from the system. The power to keep harmful agents from entering the body and to purge the body of harmful agents already inside is all part of what makes BoKU® Super Food so super.

How to Give Mom a Healthy Mother’s Day

Start by fixing mom a healthy brunch like a fresh, organic salad of dark leafy greens, nuts and berries with our own BōKU® balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Encourage mom to get some exercise by taking her on a hike outdoors, go for a walk, jog or bike ride together. You can even challenge mom to a game of tennis or swimming race. Not only will you be spending quality time together, but all of the movement will get your heart pumping and make you and mom feel fantastic!

Give mom a sustainable, eco-friendly gift. Organic flowers are a nice choice, all natural candles, soaps or skin care products are good as well – mariessoap.com has a great selection. Or you could go the homemade route and bake mom a batch of gluten free sugar cookies you can find recipes at: http://bit.ly/bmunKr. Or get creative with a recycled paper card, perfect for kids.

Or you can give mom something to help her be more eco-friendly again and again for free! For every new order using the discount code MOM2010 we will send you a free reusable BōKU® Chico sling! For auto-ship orders, just send an email to customerservice@bokusuperfood.com with the coupon code and we will add the free bag to your next shipment! Moms can get this for themselves too!

Top off a lovely Mother’s Day with a fabulous healthy dinner! Try a nice vegetarian spinach lasagna or mushroom stroganoff, you can find plenty of recipes at chooseveg.com/vegan-dinner-recipes.asp

Happy Mother’s Day to each and all!

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution – Rave!

Jamie Oliver, world renown chef who has written many food-based books http://bit.ly/aSZqO0 and hosted several cooking shows has now taken America by storm with his new television show “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.”

He wants to challenge most Americans’ perception of food, and demonstrate how eating real food can diminish our country’s problems of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. He believes that this is especially true for children, so their lives are not shortened by the bad habits of their families, schools and society.

In the six-part series, Jamie heads to Huntington, West Virginia because it has been called the unhealthiest city in America. Jamie wants to do something about that. The 3 main challenges that Jaime wants to take on in Huntington in hopes of inspiring the rest of the nation are:

School Meals: To replace the processed school food with meals that were cooked from fresh ingredients, met the nutrition standards, and appealed to the kids. The school meals I trialled are now being rolled out to the rest of the school district.

Home: To show families that cooking at home from scratch is better for them, not to mention cheaper. We set up a community kitchen in Huntington that holds two cooking classes a day for local families. It is now being run by a local healthcare charity.

Main Street: To get the whole town cooking again and show people that they do have an alternative to the processed and fast food that’s invaded the American main street. We went into churches, colleges, workplaces, the local fire station, and as many places as we could think of, to teach as many people as possible a few quick and simple meals. That has changed people’s lives.

Kudos to Jamie Oliver for taking such an interest in teaching children about nutrition, food and cooking so that they will be able to reverse the foods trends taking over the country and the world. Through this television show he is opening people’s eyes to the dangers of unhealthy eating and the nutritional superiority of real food.

To learn more about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution visit:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

And don’t forget to watch the show on Fridays at 9:00 PM on ABC!

You can get a glimpse of it here:

Do TV Ads Affect Children's Diets or Cause Obesity?

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago Institute for Health Research and Policy have received a $2.2 million federal grant to determine whether or not TV food advertising affects children's diet, physical activity and weight.

The four-year project, funded by the National Cancer Institute, is unique because it will separate out the effect of food advertising from the amount of time that children watch TV.

"A number of studies have shown that increased TV watching is associated with higher weight outcomes among kids, but they haven't been able to determine whether or not this is directly due to the type of ads children see," said Lisa Powell, research professor of economics at UIC and lead scientist on the study.

Watching television may also contribute to obesity because children are sedentary and likely to snack while they watch TV.

The research, Powell said, can provide important information for policymakers and public health advocates about the potential effectiveness of regulating television food advertising to children and using TV media campaigns as policy tools for improving these health outcomes.
Previous research conducted by Powell and her colleagues showed that 98 percent of food-product ads viewed by children ages 2 to 11, and 89 percent of those viewed by adolescents ages 12 to 17, were for foods high in fat, sugar or sodium.

The current study is the first to combine food, beverage and restaurant ad ratings and nutritional data with individual data on obesity to analyze the relationship between product exposure, nutritional content of ad exposure, and food consumption, diet quality and obesity, according to the researchers.
The study will also examine the relationship between exposure to health promotion ads -- those that encourage eating fruits and vegetables or getting regular physical activity -- and individual behaviors related to diet, activity and weight outcomes.

By measuring the types of ads that children of different ages and races are exposed to, the researchers hope to be able to determine if advertising practices and television viewing patterns contribute to differences in diet and obesity among white and black children.

This work builds on previous studies Powell and her colleagues have conducted examining the effects of environmental factors on children's obesity.

Powell hopes this study will play a crucial role in determining whether or not stronger regulation may be needed for food advertising on children's programming.

Source: http://www.physorg.com/news186083052.html

Treatment Tuesdays - Prostate Health

The size of a mere walnut, the prostate gland is small but critically important to men’s health. It produces semen, the fluid that carries sperm from the testicles, and it regulates the flow of urine from the urinary tract, or urethra. It also comes into contact with the rectal cavity and the bladder.
According to Dr. Earl Mindell, almost every man experiences prostate trouble at least once in his life. In fact, a studies show that 1 out of 6 males will develop prostate cancer. That will result in almost 170,000 prostate removals and nearly 31,000 deaths from prostate cancer.

Fortunately, you can, for the most part, prevent prostate disorders if you start a program of good nutrition early. Prostate disorders range from prostate infection to enlargement to prostate cancer.

Principal symptoms of prostate disorder include:

• Difficulty urinating
• Dribbling and urgency to urinate
• Increased nighttime urination
• Dramatic reduction of ejaculate
• Weak ejaculation
• Lack of sexual desire
• Difficulty achieving full erection
• Terminal blood in urine

What Causes Prostate Disorders?

The most benign prostate disorder is infection. The prostate can become infected by viruses and bacteria from the rectal cavity (constipation and poor colon health may be a factor), or the urethra (sexually transmitted). Infection could result in painful urination or difficulty urinating (swelling of the prostate). This can be treated with a prostate cleanse and anti-inflammatory herbs.

It’s important to note that oral sex exposes the prostate to more bacteria than vaginal or even anal sex. Also, environmental toxins have been observed in patients with prostate cancer.

The most common prostate disorder is prostate enlargement, known as prostatitis. When the prostate swells, it blocks the flow of urine, making it difficult or even impossible to urinate. This normally is treated with antibiotics or surgery, but natural cures include the use of anti-inflammatories, prostate massage, and dietary changes.

Finally, there is prostate cancer, the most severe of the prostate conditions. Incidence of prostate cancer in America is on a sharp rise. Experts are still unsure as to the exact cause of prostate cancer, but suspect that genetics, nutrition, hormones, and environmental toxins all play a role. Studies suggest that diets high in saturated fat and sodium nitrate increase risk for prostate cancer, as does a sedentary lifestyle. No wonder prostate cancer is so common in the United States!

Treatments for Prostate Health

The best treatments for prostate health are preventative ones. Concerning the prostate, it’s much better to eliminate the risk of disease than to treat it after the fact. Here are some key points:

• Eliminate saturated fats and excess sugars and starches from your diet. Reduce the amount of meats and processed foods you eat—especially partially hydrogenated oils. Increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables (lightly cooked or even raw)
• Drink green tea at least once a day. Better yet, trade coffee for green tea
• Make sure to get an adequate amount of Vitamins B, C, and E and omega fatty acids in your diet. Flax and hemp seeds and oils are good sources of fatty acids, nuts and lentils are good for vitamin E, and many different fruits contain vitamin C
• Exercise frequently and engage in sexual activity (including masturbation) regularly
• Get plenty of movement. A sedentary lifestyle is the enemy of the prostate
• If your diet has been poor for a long time, consider a colon cleansing
• Combinations of phyto- (plant-based) estrogens are useful in treating prostate disorders.  
• If you suffer from prostate infection or enlargement, then in addition to the practices listed here, take saw palmetto along with anti-inflammatory and circulation-stimulating herbs (lemongrass, cumin, tumeric, mistletoe extract, sage, pygeum, pumpkin seed extract and sterolins) also get plenty of zinc in your diet - beans, nuts, almonds, whole grains, pumpkin and sunflower seeds are good sources

Other Considerations

Excess alcohol and caffeine play havoc on the prostate, as do coagulated dairy products (hard cheeses, for example). Excess meat consumption is also a prostate irritation, as meat generally is not completely eliminated and remains in the bowels, infecting the prostate. For this reason, it’s a good idea to include plenty of dietary fiber from raw fruits and vegetables, salads, and nuts. Soy products are also helpful.

Avoid excess alcohol and cigarette smoke, including secondhand smoke. Avoid excess caffeine and stress, as they promote hormone imbalances that can affect the prostate.

High levels of vitamin D in older people can reduce heart disease and diabetes

Middle aged and elderly people with high levels of vitamin D could reduce their chances of developing heart disease or diabetes by 43%, according to researchers at the University of Warwick.

A team of researchers at Warwick Medical School carried out a systematic literature review of studies examining vitamin D and cardiometabolic disorders. Cardiometabolic disorders include cardiovascular disease,type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome.


Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in some foods and is also produced when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin D synthesis. Fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel are good sources of vitamin D, and it is also available as a dietary supplement.

Researchers looked at 28 studies including 99,745 participants across a variety of ethnic groups including men and women. The studies revealed a significant association between high levels of vitamin D and a decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (33% compared to low levels of vitamin D), type 2 diabetes (55% reduction) and metabolic syndrome (51% reduction).

The literature review, published in the journal Maturitas, was led by Johanna Parker and Dr Oscar Franco, Assistant Professor in Public Health at Warwick Medical School.

Dr Franco said: “We found that high levels of vitamin D among middle age and elderly populations are associated with a substantial decrease incardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

“Targeting vitamin D deficiency in adult populations could potentially slow the current epidemics of cardiometabolic disorders.”
All studies included were published between 1990 and 2009 with the majority published between 2004 and 2009. Half of the studies were conducted in the United States, eight were European, two studies were from Iran, three from Australasia and one from India.

Source: http://www.physorg.com/news185446287.html

The need for vitamin can clash with the need to protect your skin from sun damage. That is why Boku Super Food contains one of the few vegan diet sources of vitamin D. Boku's Super Tàke Mushroom blend contains 14 kinds of medicinal mushrooms that have already absorbed plenty of vitamin D2 so your skin doesn't have to! Each scoop of Boku contains 20% of the recommended daily allowance. Your body digests and internalizes the vitamin D from ingesting the powdered mushrooms in your Boku drink!

Here's to your health!

Is Obesity in the Eye of the Beholder?

This is what Sherry Rauh believes may be the case in her WebMD feature "Is Fat the New Normal?"
She notes that 2/3 of Americans are overweight or obese which makes being seem like heavy the "average" body type. This is becoming more true as "the average American is 23 pounds heavier than his or her ideal body weight."  The problem with this is that people tend to "equate 'normal' with average" and we are left with the idea that it is normal to be overweight, which may be detrimental to the health of many people.
Another interesting point that Rauh makes is that being overweight has a lot to do with where you live and who you associate with as people ten to emulate what they are used to. This means that they best thing that you can do for those around you is to be a healthy role model. If you tend to eat well and get regular exercise your positive actions have a good chance of rubbing off on thse closest to you!
Read all of Rauh's article here: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/is-fat-the-new-normal

How to keep Your 2010 New Year’s Resolution!

The top New Year’s resolutions are the same every year, most likely because people find them to just difficult to keep. Statistically, less than half of those who make a resolution will stick to it for six months or more. This is really a shame because many of the most common resolution have to do with getting healthier – lose weight, quit smoking/drinking, exercise more, eat healthier.

Here are some tips to help you go further:

• Focus on only one resolution
• Set specific goals
• Break down into smaller steps with smaller, but measurable goals
• Chart your progress with a journal, spreadsheet or goal bulletin board
• Reward yourself for completing each step
• Always think positively, don’t dwell on failures or negative consequences
• Share goals with others to remind and support you
• Take an occasional failure as a minor setback, not a reason to give up

Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day and  don't beat yourself up over minor slip-ups. Believe in yourself and think positively and you will be more likely to make your resolution a reality!

Tips to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

The average American tends to gain 1-2 pounds over the holiday season.  This may not sound like much but most people don’t lose that weight after the season ends, and it just accumulates year after year. Here are a few steps you can take to avoid the extra weight that creeps up on us in between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. 

Most importantly, be aware of what you eat and how much. Allow yourself to indulge in holiday foods and treats a little, but always in moderation. Eat slowly and savor your food, this aids digestion and makes it less likely that you will overeat.

Make gatherings about socializing and not about food. Have something healthy before a party, like a BōKU® smoothie. Flooding blood with nutrition just before diving in will go a long way toward avoiding over indulgence and give you more energy for having fun! Also, don’t stand around the food or snack while making small talk; get more involved in your conversations and you won’t want to eat to fill silences. You’ll have a much better time and maybe even make a friend or two.

Try to find opportunities for exercise (go for a walk after dinner, take an extra lap around the store while holiday shopping) even 5-15 minutes a day is better than nothing. Try to manage stress by having a buffet style or potluck dinner so you don’t feel overwhelmed, and make sure to take some time for yourself when you need it. Regular exercise will help with this too.

Also limit your intake of alcohol as well as food, and drink plenty of water. Drinks are full of empty calories and may lessen your willpower causing you to eat more than you should. One can also come up with their own creative ways to remind themselves to exercise and eat in moderation. For instance you can wear snug fitting clothes so you can feel them tighten when you’ve had enough to eat, brush your teeth to keep from going back for more food, or leave little notes around the house reminding you to go for that jog.

Breast Cancer Diet Connection

In honor of the 25th National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this article will discuss the likely relationship between breast cancer and diet. While there may be nothing that we can do guarantee that we will not get breast cancer in the future, there is a host of studies that report that there are several lifestyle changes that we can make to reduce risk.

As far as diet is concerned, research seems to confirm common sense. According to a September 2009 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, (Meat, dairy, and breast cancer: do we have an answer?) that women who stuck to what they called a “prudent” diet tend to have a lower risk for breast cancer. Researchers Eleni Linos and Walter Willet define this “prudent” diet as one that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish and low in red and processed meats, starchy carbohydrates and sweets.  During their study they found that with pre-menopausal, normal-weight women the risk for cancer declined as their scores on the “prudent” diet scale rose. In fact, those with the most prudent diets lessened their risk by a third!

There was little evidence that the more “prudent” diet lowered risk among postmenopausal or overweight women, although it was liked to a generally lower risk of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer — an aggressive type of tumor that accounts for about one-third of breast cancers.

Some common healthy foods that are believed to help prevent cancer are whole grains, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower), spinach, berries, tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms, ginger, green and black teas. Some foods to avoid or cut down on would be red meat, sugar, anything fried, foods that contain hydrogenated oils, such as stick margarine.

However, eating healthy food is not the only lifestyle choice that one can make that may reduce their risk of developing cancer. Another is exercising regularly, the American Cancer Society suggests 45-60 minutes of exercise 5 or more days a week. Losing weight if you are overweight is also beneficial, as is maintaining a healthy weight after menopause. Limit your intake of alcohol. Studies have found that having one or more drinks a day will increase a woman’s risk of developing hormone-sensitive (ER+/PR+) tumor, this type accounts for roughly 70% of women diagnosed with breast cancer.

It is also very important to obtain a breast cancer risk assessment from a physician as well as an annual clinical breast exam. One should also remember to perform monthly breast self exams and make sure to get regular mammography screening once turning 40 years old.
Also, try to find a healthy way to manage the stress in your life and try to keep a positive mind set as often as possible. There isn’t a lot of evidence that this keeps the cancer away, but it certainly couldn’t hurt!

The Sun and Skin Damage

A sun-kissed complexion used to be considered a sign of health, but now we know that that golden tan is just a sign of sun damage to the skin. It may look great now but the damage that basking in the ultraviolet light has done to your skin will show later in life. While some effects of sun exposure, like freckles and wrinkles, might be harmless the various forms of skin cancer are definitely not. Not that the sun is completely to blame, the UV light from tanning beds is just as harmful.

Sun exposure causes:

• Freckles
• Benign tumors
• Elastosis - the destruction of the elastic tissue causing lines and wrinkles.
• General skin discoloration
• Telangiectasias - the dilation of small blood vessels under the skin
• Pre-cancerous (actinic keratosis) and cancerous skin lesions, which are caused by loss of the skin's immune function

There are three main types of skin cancer:

• Basal Cell Carcinoma: The most common type of skin cancer and is rarely fatal and easily treated if caught early. It usually appears as a flat pink, red or brown lesion on the torso or limbs, or as a small, smooth pearl-like bump on the neck, ears or face.
• Squamous Cell Carcinoma: This type is also highly treatable if caught early on. It can appear as a scaly flat lesion that my bleed, crust over or itch, or it may be a firm reddish nodule on the skin.
• Melanoma – The most serious type of skin cancer. Although it only makes up about 5% of all skin cancers, it does cause roughly 75% of all skin cancer deaths. This type usually appears as pigmented bump that may resemble a normal mole or as an irregularly shaped patch. The signs to watch for when looking for a melanoma lesion are: asymmetry, blurred edges, uneven color (usually shades of black, brown, red, white or blue), and a significant change in size or diameter.

Prevention

As they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and this is very true when it comes to protecting yourself from the sun’s ultraviolet light. There are several ways to protect one's self:

• Apply sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of ant least 15 a half hour before sun exposure and every 2 hours thereafter
• Avoid direct sun exposure as much as you can during peak UV radiation hours between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p. m. Use lotions and make up with UV protection
• Remember UV radiation is just as harmful during overcast days and in the winter as it is when it’s sunny in the summer
• Wear sunglasses with 100% UV protection to avoid possible cataracts later in life
• Wear wide brimmed hats to protect neck, ears and face (as funny as they may look)
• Consistently check your skin for irregularities or growths

A note about sunscreen

While sunscreens are improving many don’t protect skin from sun damage sufficiently. The FDA has set guidelines for UVB protection but not for UVA. The difference between the two is that UVB rays are associated with sunburn and skin cancer, while UVA rays are associated the deterioration of elastin and collagen that causes wrinkling and sagging of the skin. However, we now know that both UVA and UVB cause premature aging and cancer of the skin, so when looking for sunscreens, be sure to get one that has both UVA and UVB protection.

Treatment Tuesday - Allergies

If you're like most people, you're probably allergic to something. It could be anything from a life-threatening allergy to peanuts or shellfish or just seasonal hay fever, or you may not have any clue what you are allergic to. In any case allergy symptoms can be at the very least annoying. Of course the best thing to do is to avoid your specific allergens, but that isn't always possible.

What Causes Allergies?

Allergies are caused by imbalances or deficiencies in the immune system. These deficiencies can be caused by dietary or nutritional imbalances, or a buildup of toxins in the body.

Treatments

Here are the first steps to controlling allergies:

• Build you immune system with high­ potency foods, such as bee pollen, Spirulina, and alfalfa. Drink plenty of water to hydrate your cells.
• Cleanse your colon and liver and use liver­-supporting foods and herbs.
• Avoid common food allergens, such as dairy and wheat products.
• Avoid toxic chemicals and get off long­ term prescriptions medications, including birth control pills.
  

For airborne allergies, local, raw bee pollen (which must be kept frozen) has been miraculous for many people. Start with a tablespoon, then increase the dose as it feels right. To avoid making matters worse, you should also refrain from smoking (including being exposed to secondhand smoke) and reduce your exposure to other forms of air pollution where possible.

Adrenal cortex extract (150 mg twice daily with food) with 1 gram of pantothenic acid and 2 grams of vitamin C in the morning and before bed may help rebuild the adrenal glands, which will help to ameliorate allergies. Skullcap herb also can help ease allergies.

Your liver plays a large role in allergies as well. An unhealthy liver means that blood is not being processed and cleaned well, which leads to allergies. Use milk thistle and apple juice to support your liver, and consider a liver cleanse.

Additionally, some health experts believe that an undiagnosed, underlying allergy to dairy products is the root of upper respiratory allergies such as hay fever and asthma. You may want to try eliminating dairy products such as milk and cheese from your diet for a while to see if it helps.

The Many Health Benefits of Spirulina

Some people may hear the word spirulina and think that it is some kind of Italian food, but what it really is an ultra-nutritious super food! This statement begs the question “Well, what exactly is spirulina?” It is a type of blue-green algae that grows in warm climates. While some may not think of algae as something to eat, the following facts may change a lot of minds.

Spirulina’s odd sounding name comes from its helix of spiral-like shape. Its distinct coloring comes from its natural plant pigments that can provide numerous health benefits. Among these pigments are the green chlorophyll which aids in ridding the body of various toxins, the blue phycocyanin which promotes healthy immune function and protein absorption. Spirulina also contains a heavy amount of beta carotene which is a potent antioxidant that is converted to retinol (vitamin A), which is essential for healthy vision, and eventually converted into retinoic acid, which aids in processes related to growth and cell differentiation.

Another incredible fact about spirulina is that it is known to accelerate the body’s elimination of dioxins more effectively than any other food. Dioxins are toxic chemical contaminants formed through the combustion of organic material. People come into most contact with them via contaminated food, the dioxins are stored if fat tissue and the compounds can take years to break down in the body on their own.

Spirulina is one of the few food sources of GLA (Gamma Linolenic Acid), an essential Omega-6 fatty acid which is essential to human health yet is not made in the body and must be obtained from food. GLA is necessary for proper brain function, bone health, growth and development and metabolism regulation. Ingestion of this fatty acid may also help with various disorders such as dry eye conditions, bone loss and osteoporosis and prevention of nerve disease, especially in those with diabetes. In some studies, spirulina seemed to increase production of the anti-inflammatory chemicals called interferons and interleukins. Some researchers also believe that the algae may help block the release of histamine from mast cells during an allergic reaction and therefore prevent some responses in allergic individuals. Its antioxidant and immune-enhancing properties may also produce anti cancer effects. One such effect is that spirulina promotes the release of tumor necrosis factor alpha, which is a chemical in the body that attacks tumor cells.

Apart from all of these wonderful health benefits of spirulina it is also high in vitamin B-12 as well as easy-to absorb iron, it boosts energy and encourages weight loss, helps to purify the liver, helps fight viral infections, increases mental alertness and lowers blood cholesterol and excess triglycerides. With all of these benefits how could one not want to incorporate spirulina into their diet? The only question left is how. While processed spirulina tablets are available, the body can absorb all of the super nutrients much more efficiently in the form of a natural and organic super food.