Is this caused by inferior spirulina?

[fett_arsch]

hello forum,

 

apologies if the question i'm about to ask grosses you out. but it is a serious question about something i am genuinely curious about.

 

i'm something of a "health nut". i stopped eating meat in 1989. i first had spirulina back around '90. i hadn't had any after that until a couple months ago, when all of a sudden i started craving the taste of spirulina. i bought a 1lb jar of now foods brand organic spirula powder. i add 7-10 grams into my twice-daily protein shakes (14-20g/day total).

 

i was not surprised when i noticed my bowels flushed a deep, dark green color. that is to be expected, of course, given spirulina's high chlorophyll content.

 

i eventually polished off that first jar after a month or so. and because it was so expensive, and took so long to ship to where i live, instead of restocking with that particular brand, i went with a cheaper no-named brand (also organic) from some guy on ebay. it was a lot, lot cheaper, and it was delivered a lot, lot faster.

 

for the last 2 weeks or so, i've been eating the exact same amount of this no-named brand as i ate of the expensive named brand. what i am surprised about now that i've switched brands though, is that my bowels are not flushing that deep, dark green color that i was expecting them to flush.

 

so that brings me to my question:

 

 

• why might one brand of spirulina color my bowel movements a deep, dark green color and another brand not add any trace whatsoever of anything near a green color?

 

my bowel flushes the color of the arizona mountains.

 

my first thought was it was because the cheaper no-named brand is of inferior quality. but on the other hand, i also have to consider that it might be because my body might be actually "using" all of whatever it is in the no-named brand that causes the greening (chlorophyll? betacarotene?); and since it's "using" it all, that might explain why it's not getting flushed out as waste???

 

somebody in another - less scientific - forum, suspected that it might be down to the spirulina cell walls being too hard to digest. but, that theory contradicts the sort of thing that i recall reading many times before about spirulina:

 

 

 

• "...Spirulina are Gram-negative, with soft cell walls that consist of complex sugars and protien..." [1]
• "...Spirulina has a soft cell wall made of complex sugars and protein, and is different from most other algae in that it is easily digested..." [2]
• "...Most microalgae taken directly from the ponds is almost useless to the human body because of the cell wall. This cell wall holds in all of the nutrients, and our bodies do not have the capabilities to digest this. Spirulina seems to be special in that it is relatively easily digestible in its fresh form (Richmond 97)..." [3]

 

...and so on, and so on, and shoobie-doobie-doobie

 

does anybody here have any thoughts on what might be happening? i would appreciate whatever expertise you have to share. thanks in advance for your time.

 

respectfully,

fett_arsch

 

 

[1] A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Spirulina

 

[2] The Study of Spirulina

 

[3] HUMAN UTILIZATION OF ALGAL BIOMASS FROM SPIRULINA

Edited February 16, 2011 by fett_arsch

[Moontanman]

My first thought (well actually my second) is that you might not have actually received Spirulina, Chlorella powder would be difficult to differentiate from spirulina by appearance but it is good for you as well, I would have to assume any powdered green algae would be difficult to identify by appearance. I use powdered algae in raising organisms from time to time, I like use a black powder that is a combo of several different algae and algae products, I don't have a can of it right now and I can't remember the exact name but it is not for human consumption... there are several different algae that are farmed for various reasons and people on ebay often repackage them and have no real idea what they are doing, it is also possible the algae was processed in some way that either interfered with it's absorption (maybe the first time) or processed in some way that allowed it to be digested better (the second time).

[Blahah]

Firstly, I would strongly caution you against buying food, especially unbranded microorganism-based food, on eBay. Ebay sellers can easily set up shop and make a quick buck selling sham products. That seller you linked to has only 110 feedback - you're taking a pretty big gamble buying from them.

 

Secondly, why would eating a chlorophyll-rich food give you green bowel movements? Chlorophyll is digestible. I'm vegetarian, I eat dark greens every day and have never seen this. I would suggest the first product you bought might have have an additive dye to exaggerate the green colour of the powder, and that it was this dye which coloured your stool.

 

If you want to eat spirulina, a good way to know you're getting the real stuff is to grow it yourself. If you want to buy it, buy it from a reputable shop which you know will be buying from large brands and conforming to food safety regulations. Holland & Barrett or Boots.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Blahah