Charlie at Your Water Company swears by the blue green algae made by Simplexity Health. I didn’t want to try it for a long time for a couple of reasons. First, I believe that the homeopathic approach may yield better long-term health for much less cost, and second, I have a history of autoimmune disease, so I doubted the wisdom of trying a substance which is reported to hype the immune system. Over time, however, I came to believe that the problems in my health history were caused by underlying low-grade infections, and that my immune system for whatever reason wasn’t knocking them out. So I decided trying out blue green algae wasn’t a bad idea.
I started about four weeks ago, one tablet a day for a week, then increasing one tablet a week until I had tried four a week. I didn’t notice anything the first three weeks. But as soon as my second course of four tablets (of both Alpha Sun and Omega Sun), I was really impressed. My sinus allergies were completely gone. I had a healing experience overnight one night–my lower spine was “glowing”–obviously there was a lot of healing going on. I began to get–let’s just say my female parts were doing better.
So I was really impressed with blue green algae, at least with Simplexity’s product. But I have to say I also have my doubts. I am more of a conservative person than people think. –Is that you laughing? No, really. Someone tells me it’s good to take any kind of pill, it’s really hard for me to do it, even if it’s vitamins. It just doesn’t seem natural. I’d much rather get that value from food. And with the blue green algae I have more issues. It can be contaminated. Simplexity’s products don’t say they’ve been tested. And now that I’ve tried it, it’s obvious you have to be careful about dosing. Too much is not a good thing. I took four pills this morning–did my heart just skip a beat? I’m to do more research on this before I continue.
If you want to read up a little on blue green algae’s benefits and cautions regarding taking it, here are some links of interest:
http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=96887&page=2#HowDoesItWork
http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/663/main.html
http://www.wellnessletter.com/html/ds/dsBlueGreenAlgae.php
OK this last one got my attention:
In May 2000, the Oregon Department of Health released data from a survey which found that 63 out of 87 samples contained microcystin levels above its regulatory limit of 1 microgram/gram. The published abstract states:
The presence of blue-green algae (BGA) toxins in surface waters used for drinking water sources and recreation is receiving increasing attention around the world as a public health concern. . . . BGA products are commonly consumed in the United States, Canada, and Europe for their putative beneficial effects, including increased energy and elevated mood. Many of these products contain Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, a BGA that is harvested from Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) in southern Oregon, where the growth of a toxic BGA, Microcystis aeruginosa, is a regular occurrence. M. aeruginosa produces compounds called microcystins, which are potent hepatotoxins and probable tumor promoters. Because M. aeruginosa coexists with A. flos-aquae, it can be collected inadvertently during the harvesting process, resulting in microcystin contamination of BGA products. In fall 1996, the Oregon Health Division learned that UKL was experiencing an extensive M. aeruginosa bloom, and an advisory was issued recommending against water contact. The advisory prompted calls from consumers of BGA products, who expressed concern about possible contamination of these products with microcystins. In response, the Oregon Health Division and the Oregon Department of Agriculture established a regulatory limit of 1 µg/g for microcystins in BGA-containing products and tested BGA products for the presence of microcystins. Microcystins were detected in 85 of 87 samples tested, with 63 samples (72%) containing concentrations > 1 µg/g. HPLC and ELISA tentatively identified microcystin-LR, the most toxic microcystin variant, as the predominant congener [5].
http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/algae.html
Ok this is interesting too:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2009/3111/
I gave up on the Klamath Lake Blue Green Algae because it seemed to be too contaminated for me. But I may have found something even better–something I never suspected would be so powerful. It’s simply to eat raw green food. A kale/banana/egg/quinoa smoothie in the morning gives me the same great healthful feeling as the BG Algae–but without eating lake slime! Tonight I made a spinach soup with basil, lemon, red bell pepper and tomato. It was great and I feel great! I’m a total convert.