27 Benefits Of Spirulina For Skin, Hair, And Health

Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) is a blue-green alga that belongs to a cyanobacteria species. It is a photosynthetic species that is believed to be about 3.5 billion years old. Spirulina maxima and Spirulina geitleri are subspecies.

Spirulina is readily found in alkaline lakes in places such as Africa and South-America.

Spirulina Nutritional Facts

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving
Calories 290
% Daily Value
Total Fat 8g
Saturated Fat 2.7g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 1048mg
Total Carbohydrates 24g
Dietary Fiber 3.6g
Sugars 3.1g
Protein 57g
Vitamin A 11%
Vitamin C 16%
Calcium 12%
Iron 158%

Below are various health benefits of spirulina;

1. Anti-Aging

Most people want to inhibit age symptoms, like wrinkles, from appearing on their face. Spirulina contains selenium, tyrosine, and vitamin E. All the nutrients aforementioned are widely recognized for their anti-aging effects. What you do is just by simply preparing a facemask by combining water with spirulina. You should then keep the mixture for a period of around 20 minutes, and then you finally rinse off.

2. Tones The Skin

Who does not like a glowing, radiant skin? Do you know that taking spirulina supplements, on a regular basis, may do amazing wonders for your skin? Spirulina contains high levels of nutrients which are essential for a clear and glowing skin. These include vitamin K, E, C, A together with vitamins B5, B3, B3, B1, calcium, selenium, manganese, copper, zinc, potassium, iron, and phosphorus. Also, spirulina may help in fighting harmful free radicals that could cause dull looking skin.

3. Purifies The Blood

It is quite vital to purify your blood. The blood helps supply oxygen and nutrients to various organs of the body. Blood also transports impurities to their respective filtering organs like kidneys and liver. This helps make the body free from toxins. Blood has self-healing properties. However, the blood could be overwhelmed with toxins and may require cleansing. This is another significant health advantage of spirulina. Yes, it helps to purify your blood. It contains both chlorophyll and phycocyanin, which are responsible for promoting new cell production and rejuvenating your supply of blood. Chlorophyll is almost similar in its makeup to hemoglobin; hemoglobin is responsible for transportation of oxygen throughout your body, together with the cleansing of the blood.

4. Reduces Dark Circles Around The Eyes

Spirulina is not only for your health but also it effectively takes care of your skin. There are many people out there who have dark circles condition. Reducing this condition is among the best advantages of this natural remedy for your skin. Spirulina’s detoxifying nature helps in decreasing dark circles through eliminating darkness around your eyes. Additionally, it brightens your eyes as well as provides them with an energetic appearance or look because it has the compound iron.

5. Keeps Your Nails Healthy

This is another top advantage of taking spirulina for your skin. Because spirulina is rich in both vitamins A and B12, chlorophyll and iron, spirulina makes some great food for healthy nails. Furthermore, it also encourages the growth of nails. Your fingernail ridges may be effectively treated by using spirulina.

6. Prevents Loss Of Hair

Loss of hair is a general problem many people have to face. However, when you want a remedy for this condition, do not hesitate to take spirulina. It’s rich in both copper and iron and because of this, it inhibits loss of excessive hair. Therefore, taking spirulina as a powder, juice, or tablet would increase nutrition intake and ultimately prevent extra loss of your hair.

7. Anti-Dandruff

Consumption of spirulina generally is going to lead to increased metabolism. This, in turn, eliminates flaky skin. Furthermore, Spirulina is rich in antioxidants that are responsible for effectively dealing with dandruff. Consuming it for four weeks is going to help you reduce that unsightly dandruff.

8. Anti-Acne Properties

Spirulina is also anti-bacterial in nature and this quality helps it to inhibit microbes as well as remove dead cells. Consequently, it is able to protect skin from acne breakouts through inhibiting the overgrowth of the acne-causing bacteria.

9. Promotes Hair Growth

This also ranks as among the greatest benefits of spirulina for the health of your hair. The fatty acids together with beta-carotene found in it promote the growth of hair. These nutrients may be provided to your hair either by consuming spirulina or applying it externally as a mask.

10. Protects You From Cancer

Spirulina contains phytonutrients that are responsible for safeguarding the body against cancer. Spirulina blue-green alga helps in inhibiting cancer cells. Note that the alga receives its color from the chlorophyll, and this prevents buildup of cancer cells. Furthermore, spirulina is rich in selenium and this also is able to help combat cancer. Research has shown the anti-cancer effects of blue-green alga Spirulina platensis.

11. Protects The Liver

The liver is an important organ in our body and its failure can lead to debilitating consequences. Therefore, it must be protected at all costs. Spirulina is able to protect your liver from damage, cirrhosis and liver failure. This is because spirulina is rich in vitamins and minerals such as vitamin E, selenium, zinc, copper, manganese, as well as proteins. Additionally, spirulina is able to decrease inflammation and prevents a buildup of the triglycerides in the liver.

12. Prevents Arthritis

Spirulina is able to prevent arthritis. Spirulina ranks as one of the few green superfoods that have a pigment known as phycocyanin. Phycocyanin is a natural anti-inflammatory and also is quite beneficial for arthritis patients. It is recommended that you include spirulina in your diet so that you can be able to receive its additional phycocyanin nutrients.

13. For Healthy Eyes

We all want to protect our eyes from any disorder that may interfere with it. Our eyes are among the most important organs in our bodies. Spirulina has ten times more vitamin A compared to carrots. It also has high amounts of zeaxanthin. This secures your eyes from any type of damage. Vitamin A and zeaxanthin make spirulina a powerful nutrient when you want to fight various eye disorders like macular degeneration and cataracts.

14. Improves Digestion

There are many problems we face when we cannot properly digest food. However, indigestion can effectively be rectified when we take spirulina. Spirulina enhances good bacteria, such as lactobacillus together with bifidobacteria in the digestive system while at the same time it also restrains the growth and development of harmful microbes such as E.coli and Candida yeast. Therefore, it is able to improve digestion by encouraging the capacity of the body to absorb nutrients.

15. Treats Allergies

There are many kinds of allergic reactions. They range from mild skin itching, gastrointestinal symptoms to anaphylactic reaction which is life-threatening. Early intervention is quite important for treating allergies. However, consuming spirulina for six months on a regular basis is going to decrease symptoms of allergy. Seasonal allergic rhinitis, from pollen allergens such as pet dander, mites, dust mold, may be naturally treated by taking spirulina.

16. Prevents Diabetes

Causes of diabetes vary considerably, depending on your health, ethnicity, family history, genetic makeup, and environmental factors. There’s no general cause of diabetes which fits every kind of diabetes. But among the most amazing advantage of taking spirulina is that it prevents diabetes. This is because of the presence of amino acids plus vitamins, minerals, and phycocyanins in spirulina which helps in dealing with this condition. Spirulina also contains gamma-linolenic acid that helps in boosting the levels of lipids in diabetics. Therefore, consuming spirulina two times a day, for two months, is going to keep your blood sugar balanced.

17. Body Detoxifier

There are several health benefits we can derive by detoxifying our bodies. They include having increased energy the whole day, curbing food addictions, providing the body the micronutrients it requires, resetting food choices and managing stress. When you fail to detox, then you could be afflicted with several conditions. But spirulina contains a large concentration of chlorophyll and this is among the greatest natural detoxifiers. Chlorophyll is able to reduce kidneys toxicity by eliminating heavy metals, plus harmful radiations and pollutants.

18. Immunity Booster

How often have you heard about the significance of boosting your immune system? Many times I guess. The main reason for this is that the immune system, made up of various cells (particular to immune functions), assist the body in fighting nasty bugs. But the good news is that nature has provided us with fantastic natural ingredients like spirulina to help in giving our bodies a boost. Basically, spirulina is a good immunity booster. It contains polysaccharides that help in improving your immune system. This consequently helps in preventing a host of various diseases.

19. Helps In Weight Loss

Losing weight is important since weighing too much, or obesity, is not ideal for your health. Obesity increases the risk of serious health conditions like certain kinds of cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems. Obesity may also increase the risk of osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and breathing problems among other conditions. Spirulina is quite helpful when you want to lose weight. It’s rich in protein, which helps improve satiety, and would not leave fat to accumulate in your body. Therefore, it is important that you ought to add it in your diet.

20. Reduces Menopausal Symptoms

The use of some quantity, every day, of spirulina for some few months is going to decrease menopausal symptoms like depression, anxiety, and hot flashes. Furthermore, women who suffer from menopause are going to experience mental balance and calmness after consuming spirulina.

21. Instant Energy Booster

Perhaps you suffer from difficulty relaxing, chronic fatigue, difficulty sleeping, low libido and low willpower. These are all signs of adrenal fatigue, and they appear to be affecting many individuals in epidemic proportions. You could need an energy booster. Spirulina is able to raise your metabolism and provides you with instant energy. Specifically, spirulina is rich in both chlorophyll and phycocyanin. It’s able to absorb energy from sunlight so as to manufacture carbohydrates to boost your levels of energy. Because it’s able to also build stamina, it should be taken before high-intensity workouts for optimal benefits.

22. Heal Wounds

Spirulina also contains antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties. This makes it an ideal natural remedy to help healing of wounds through inhibiting the growth of fungus, bacteria, and yeast.

23. Prevents Alzheimer’s

Several people think Alzheimer’s disease is a condition that is only associated with loss of memory and other cognitive declines. But it is considerably more complicated than that. Alzheimer’s, in fact, is the 6th leading killer in the US. Despite serious study efforts, this is also among the top 10 diseases which can’t be reversed or cured. Preventing Alzheimer’s disease is among the best spirulina health benefits. The condition occurs because of high focusing of the amyloid-beta proteins that make plaque between nerve cells (neurons) which causes memory loss. Spirulina is able to decrease levels of this protein, thus, helping to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Also, spirulina protects the brain from harmful free radicals, therefore helping to inhibit aging symptoms.

24. Mood Enhancer

Spirulina has sufficient levels of amino-acid L-tryptophan. This is a component that’s responsible for creating melatonin and serotonin that improves mood plus help in keeping you in exuberant spirits throughout the day.

25. Healthy Baby Development

Breastfeeding is beneficial for both babies and mothers. Experts recommend there should be exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months of the baby’s life. However, while nearly all women are able to breastfeed, still there’s a small number of mothers who just can’t and shouldn’t nurse their babies. The reason can be that the mother is unable to produce a healthy supply of breast milk, or maybe she must take a medication among other factors. Spirulina can be an ideal alternative. It is quite beneficial for those mothers who are unable to breastfeed since it contains various nutrients. It contains gamma-linolenic acid, which is a compound that is found in human breast milk. This compound is quite essential for the healthy development of the child.

26. For Hangover

Taking spirulina before you drink is going to reduce hangover effect since it is able to boost metabolism and eliminate toxins from the body, thus this helps inhibit your hangover.

27. For Anemia

Lack of iron is quite a common problem, particularly in women and children. However, spirulina is a good natural source of iron. Additionally, it contains vitamin B which helps in successfully treating anemia by raising hemoglobin levels.


Word Of Caution

  • Consult a doctor before giving spirulina to children.
  • Spirulina could interact with other medications. As such, consult a doctor before taking them.