The Lowdown on Eating Algae

While traveling to Amsterdam last month (I talked about my trip here), I watched an interesting documentary about microalgae and its health benefits. Algae is an extremely popular food in Asia, and the TV show centered around doctors toting its benefits and people talking about how eating the superfood has had a positive impact on their bodies and lives. Two types of algae that people eat are chlorella (green algae) and spirulina (blue-green algae), which are similar but have different nutritional profiles to tailor to different needs. Chlorella, for instance, is supposedly more detoxifying for the body.

After watching this documentary, I decided that I wanted to try taking algae pills – mostly for its antioxidant boost and to see if I felt any increases in my energy levels. A few years back, I bought a bottle of spirulina pills and took them for awhile when I first heard about it, which I found in the back of my vitamin drawer when I got back to San Diego. I began taking the recommended dosage. I only had a few weeks worth of algae supply left, and when I ran out, I stopped at GNC to pick up more. I read the label at the store, but when I later had more time to look at the bottle, read in tiny print that the tabs contain gelatin. Ick, gelatin is a substance used as a sneaky gelling agent in a lot of things you wouldn’t necessarily think of (for example, in some gummy candies, marshmallows and even Altoid mints!). Gelatin is a mixture of nastiness, including crushed animal bones, tissues, organs and intestines. Does this sound like something a vegetarian like myself wants to be hiding in her foods and supplements? Negative. Needless to say, I immediately stopped taking those spirulina pills.

Spirulina pills containing gelatin

Coincidentally, a few days later, I connected with a company called ENERGYbits on Twitter. ENERGYbits makes algae snack products, and offered to send me some samples to try.

The bits came in a tin and were tiny green tabs that look like an algae supplement. However, they also sent a bunch of info with my samples, and I learned that algae is really considered a food, not a supplement. The company notes their algae products to be 100% pure, organically grown, certified NON GMO algae that contains no sugar, caffeine, gluten, additives, animal products, chemicals or fillers of any kind, with 64% protein, 40 nutrients, and an Omega 3 called GLA. Considering that I just mistakenly ingested gelatin for a few days, these words were wonderful to hear!

The type of tabs I received was their signature ENERGYbits, which are supposed to help increase energy and endurance. Each bit of green food has 1 calorie, and they recommend taking 30 tabs a day for adults, and suggest that athletes eat 60-90 daily.

I ate the tabs like a pill, just swallowing with water while eating meals. Apparently you can just chew the algae like food, but I have a feeling I wouldn’t enjoy the greeny taste. Maybe it’s just because I’m not all that familiar with algae yet, but one thing I’m not so sure about is the amount they recommend taking. Granted they are baby sized, but 90, 60, or even 30 tabs a day seems like a lot to me. I ate 10 a day just to get a feel for them.

The recommended amount of 30 bits

A few facts to know about microalgae via ENERGYbits:

• Algae is highly regarded as the most nutritionally dense food
• According to NASA, one gram of algae has the nutritional equivalent of 1,000 grams of fruits and veggies
• Algae is a food crop that is grown and harvested like any other food crop, and is sold as a dried food
• The food has the highest concentration of protein in the world – 64% protein compared to around 22% protein found in animal proteins
• Algae tabs are believed to provide energy, reduce hunger, kill bacteria, help prevent colds, and require no digestion

While my samples are now finished, I definitely am thinking about continuing eating algae. I mean who wouldn’t mind having more energy and increased immunity to dodge nagging colds that almost everyone seems to catch? I think it’s worth a shot to see if Asia is really onto something.

ENERGYbits offers a couple of different algae products geared specifically towards 1.) building your immune system, 2.) boosting energy and endurance, 3.) eliminating hunger and fatigue, and 4.) tabs that are a mix of all of those things. If you’re interested in trying out ENERGYbits, go to their website and enter the word ”BLOG”  into the coupon box to receive a 10% discount.