Information obtained from:
"Karl J. Abrams; Algae To The Rescue"
Book second edition
Reprinted with permission.
I would like to share with you some information that I have recently researched on algae and different types. Numerous people are confused or simply do not know "what algae is or it's content". I have prepared this information to educate and share the knowledge about the best "100 % natural whole-food" on earth! Enjoy the reading, I hope to have inspired & interested you in consuming the best "superfood" for obtaining optimum nutrition, health, and energy! Types of algae Brown Algae: the largest of the algae. Seaweed or Kelp Red Algae: is coastal seaweed types. Tropical waters. Harvested in Asia as a food source. Green Algae: 7000 different species of green algae. Chlorella; used as food and antibiotics in many parts of the world.
Digestive problems with Chlorella is often reported because of its outer cell wall is made of non-digestible cellulose. All Chlorella growing companies today process their algae so that the cell wall is disrupted. Proto coccus; inedible uni-cellar green algae found on slippery rocks and damp tree trunks. Filamentous colonies of "pond scum" found in stagnant fresh-water ponds and lakes. Plankton; are made of green algae (desmids) and drift in vast colonies near surface of ocean water. Those that photosynthesize are called phytoplankton; those that do not are called zooplankton. Blue-Green Algae: simplest of the algae. "Primitive - ancient bacteria with a characteristic green pigment (chlorophyll) that enable them to carry Photosynthesis."One particular species of blue-green algae, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae or AFA. Blooming for the past 7,000 years in Upper Klamath Lake in southern Oregon. Just after the time when retreating glaciers carved out a shallow lake fed by seventeen pure and pristine rivers and streams as well as an underground water system fed by Crater Lake. The pure water availability of Crater Lake - the deepest (3,000 feet!) Yet clearest lake in North America- and the vast mineral contents of Upper Klamath Lake were brought together and made AFA algae through a cataclysmic volcanic eruption at about the same time as the lakes formation. Nearby Mount Mazama erupted with a force estimated by geologist to be hundreds of times greater than any eruption of the twentieth century.
The mineral content deep with in the earth surfaced explosively through the air for hundreds of miles, providing topsoil of the Cascade Mountains with incredibly rich and diverse minerals. Yearly since then the rains have washed the minerals directly into the wide area of Upper Klamath Lake, building a nutrient dense and muddy lake bed sediment ranging between 30-40 feet deep. In this lake we have what is probably the last of earth's pure and wild superfood, and enough of it to substantially help nourish the inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere. The high alkalinity of Upper Klamath lake (pH = 9 to 11) insures the health of our AFA. AFA is a living periodic chart of synergistic bioelements that no human chemical laboratory could ever synthetically duplicate. AFA has over 64 micronutrients, two amino acids; aspartic and arginine work together to biostimulate the thymus gland and enhance our ability to resist infection. Biostimulation may even cause this gland to shrink as we grow older as a result there is an increased production of healthy white blood cells. Greatly boosting the immune system and can be helpful in chronic fatigue syndrome or the prevention of cancer. The arginine amino acid also biostimulates the pituitary gland to produce hormones that signal the liver to synthesize detoxifying and liver protecting proteins. AFA is 25% carbohydrate; found mostly in the covering called the cell wall. AFA small size, low molecular weight and non association with cellulose makes AFA's amino acids idea for digestion and assimilation. Amino Acid content found in 2 grams of AFA: in mg; Essential: Arginine 76, Histidine 19, Isoleucine 59,(help s muscle production and liver damage)) Lysine 69, Methionine 15, Phenylalanine 51(elevates mood suppresses appetite), Thronine 65, Tryptophan 15(natures's tranquilizer), Valine 64. Non essential: Asparagine 95, Alanine 93 lowers cholesterol and curbs appetite., Glutamine 152(detoxifies), Cystine 4, Glycine 59, Proline 57, Serine 59, Tyrosine 35(reduces food cravings, depression and drug withdrawal), Aspartic Acid 15, Glutamic Acid 8. Without natural organic vitamins we would find ourselves physically and emotionally drained of energy. Vitamin content: B1, B2 B6, B3, B5, Folic Acid, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)-5 times more than Spirulina, B12 ("energy") Vitamin E, Betacarotene, Biotin, Choline.
Today in this modern world of chemically fertilized and over worked topsoil, mineral deficiency is even more likely to occur than vitamin deficiency: Natural minerals do not have to be highly concentrated to contribute to good health - they need only to be absorbed and naturally chelated.
Mineral Content:
Green Foods such as barley grass, Chlorella, wheat grass juice, and sprouts lag far behind two most popular blue-green algae, AFA and Spirulina. Both are considered green superfood; One of the major differences is simply that AFA is the greenest superfood known, because it has the most chlorophyll. A ten gram portion of AFA contains 300 mg of chlorophyll, whereas a ten gram portion of Spirulina has only 115 mg. Spirulina is grown in concrete or plastic ponds with a "salinity factor" (sodium chloride salt content) often greater than 100 times that of AFA algae. Spirulina's nutrient content is a direct reflection of the substances that have been artificially added to it in the form of mineral (and other) supplements. AFA algae is harvested from it's own mineral rich and natural Upper Klamath Lake habitat. Giving AFA a 40% more calcium and 100% more chromium than does Spirulina. Spirulina is a tropical algae and AFA is a heartier cold climate species. When Spirulina is sun-dried or spray dried its "net protein utilization" (expressed as percent assimilation) is typically half that of AFA algae which has been freeze dried and flash frozen.