Superfoods!

[javyn]

Can't comment on the magic bullet since I don't have one, but yeah you can put it in a blender. Here's the deal, if you drop it in the blender while its off, it will clump definitely. The trick is to blend whatever you want to blend, then adjust the blender to the low/stir setting. Drop the superfood in there while the blender is on low, and it won't clump. I've tried blending, I've tried stirring, I've those dinky battery operated smoothie stirrers from the drug store. Nothing comes close to making it easy to mix as the dollar fifty 8oz Vitamin Shoppe shaker bottle. All it takes is a few shakes, mixes perfectly, no clumps, and cleaning it is easy since there are no grooves or moving parts for the superfood to get stuck to. 6oz apple juice, a teaspoon spirulina/chlorella, and a few shakes. I have my green shake prepared, consumed, and the bottle cleaned in less than 1 minute.

 

[kaiimac]

On luckyvitamin.com, there are some chlorella 1000mg pills. Can you just take, say, 3 of these a day instead of the 3g of powder and still get the same nutritional punch? They are only about $11 for 120 of them, and it is worth the extra money to me not to taste them.

 

[javyn]

Sure you can, but it's costing much more. 11 bucks for 120 grams is about 9 cents a gram. I buy 4 lb tubs of spirulina from allstarhealth for 60 bucks....comes out to less than 3 cents a gram.

Swansonvitamins.com has good prices on spirulina and chlorella tabs too. I prefer drinking it rather than taking pills though. I really don't even taste it anymore.

 

[taktikz]

Will this help with fatigue throughout the day?

 

[javyn]

It certainly does with me, that's why I go so apeshit over them. I've never had such energy or felt so good taking these. Of course, YMMV, some people can't stand it.

 

[taktikz]

Have you tried the BioTest SuperFoods and compared it to the Spirulina/Chlorella? I'm considering trying them...

 

[javyn]

I can't really compare them not having tried Biotest, but I have tried other berry based superfoods and didn't care for them. I'd prefer just to eat berries, as I'm sure many would prefer to just eat a lot of vegetables instead of drinking the green sludge shakes that I love so much

 

[turbozed]

I'm a cheapass so I use Trader Joe's 'Very Green' powder. It's 9 bucks for a month's supply.

If I were rich, I'd probably go for Greens+ berry for 3x the price.

 

[javyn]

If ya buy enough Spirulina at once in bulk (4 lbs for 60 dollars), it will cost you $2.70 a month taking 3 grams a day.

Again, I think this warrants repeating, all those wonderful green mixes are really worthless IMO.

Wheatgrass, alfalfa, and barley grasses are all incredibly inferior to spirulina and chlorella algaes from both nutritional and detoxification standpoints. (chlorella has literally 10 times the amount of chlorophyll as wheatgrass, for instance)

So, as far as those greens+, etc mixes go, I consider the spirulina and chlorella in there (usually no more than 1 gram a serving) to be the good stuff, and the rest to be filler.

Completely pointless when you can eliminate the filler grasses and just buy bulk algaes for less the price. 3 grams of spirulina a day is going to do you much better than half a gram of spirulina plus 2.5 grams of alfalfa and barley grass, dig?

 

[robertorex]

I can say at this point that I definitely feel better now that I use biotest's superfood. On the whole, I feel more focused and less fatigued, definitely a much better feeling in my body. Despite the price, I'm probably going to make it a staple in my diet. I figure that even if it costs $70 for 56 servings, that's still less than what a cup of coffee a day costs, and I don't drink that.

 

[turbozed]

Originally Posted by javyn

If ya buy enough Spirulina at once in bulk (4 lbs for 60 dollars), it will cost you $2.70 a month taking 3 grams a day.

Again, I think this warrants repeating, all those wonderful green mixes are really worthless IMO.

Wheatgrass, alfalfa, and barley grasses are all incredibly inferior to spirulina and chlorella algaes from both nutritional and detoxification standpoints. (chlorella has literally 10 times the amount of chlorophyll as wheatgrass, for instance)

So, as far as those greens+, etc mixes go, I consider the spirulina and chlorella in there (usually no more than 1 gram a serving) to be the good stuff, and the rest to be filler.

Completely pointless when you can eliminate the filler grasses and just buy bulk algaes for less the price. 3 grams of spirulina a day is going to do you much better than half a gram of spirulina plus 2.5 grams of alfalfa and barley grass, dig?


I know nothing about the relative potencies or health benefits of the various greens sources in the greens mixtures. Can you briefly explain what is used to measure the 'nutritional and detoxification' profiles of these sources? Is it just the chlorophyll?

I read up on the various greens powders a while back for a couple of days and decided to go for the cheapest of the pre-mixed. If I could save even more money and get similar (or even better) nutritional value, then I'm all for it. Got a good source of spirulina/chlorella? Thanks in advance.

 

[javyn]

Good call. If it's worth it to you, then it's worth it.

People tell me that spirulina/chlorella are too expensive to take regularly, but as you can see, after breaking it down by cost per gram, I'm only spending 33 cents a day and I triple the recommended dose.

A year's supply of spirulina and chlorella costs me about 120 bucks. The pack a day smoking habit I gave up in order to get healthy cost me over $1800 a year. Pretty good tradeoff I'd say.

 

[javyn]

Yeah but give me a while to re-gather all my sources regarding nutrition. I've been on a massive algae kick lately. Not just from a food standpoint, but these algaes make perfect biofuel. Far more efficient than corn, and it costs next to nothing to grow. A power plant in AZ has currently hooked its CO2 exhaust into a massive algae farm. So the algae cleans up the emissions, releases oxygen, then the power plant turns around and sells the algae which gets put into a giant centerfuge and turned into crude oil. Fascinating. Turning waste into profitability, capitalism and enviromentalism working hand in hand for a change. It's beautiful. edit: Oh yes, I just purchased 4 lbs of spirulina for 60 bucks and 2.2 lbs of chlorella for 47 from allstarhealth.com. Best prices I have found. MSRP for 4 lbs of spirulina is over 100 dollars. edit 2: there is tons of good information on spirulina and chlorella on youtube. One video in particular comes to mind that I found very touching. They've instituted a program in the poorest parts of India, giving children a mere 1 gram a day of spirulina to stave off malnutrition, and it's working wonders for them.

Originally Posted by turbozed

I know nothing about the relative potencies or health benefits of the various greens sources in the greens mixtures. Can you briefly explain what is used to measure the 'nutritional and detoxification' profiles of these sources? Is it just the chlorophyll? I read up on the various greens powders a while back for a couple of days and decided to go for the cheapest of the pre-mixed. If I could save even more money and get similar (or even better) nutritional value, then I'm all for it. Got a good source of spirulina/chlorella? Thanks in advance.

 

[turbozed]

Originally Posted by javyn

Yeah but give me a while to re-gather all my sources regarding nutrition. I've been on a massive algae kick lately. Not just from a food standpoint, but these algaes make perfect biofuel. Far more efficient than corn, and it costs next to nothing to grow.

Yeah, I've watched a few shows about this on the Science channel. Looks pretty promising. Corn as a biofuel produces just as much CO2 in production as burning fossil fuels and has the unwanted side-effect of taking away a valuable food source during a global food shortage.

edit: Oh yes, I just purchased 4 lbs of spirulina for 60 bucks and 2.2 lbs of chlorella for 47 from allstarhealth.com. Best prices I have found. MSRP for 4 lbs of spirulina is over 100 dollars.

edit 2: there is tons of good information on spirulina and chlorella on youtube. One video in particular comes to mind that I found very touching. They've instituted a program in the poorest parts of India, giving children a mere 1 gram a day of spirulina to stave off malnutrition, and it's working wonders for them.

Sounds good. I'll try to find some small samples before I commit to buying $100 worth of bulk algae powders though. Do you just mix the two together 4:2.2? Is there any difference between the two from a nutritional standpoint? I've always made it a point to get as much variety as possible, but if there's no real varietal benefit to taking alfalfa and wheatgrass along with chlorella and spirulina then I have no problem. I guess I'll spend some time on youtube.

 

[turbozed]

Okay so I just bought a pound each of cholorella and spirulina (both from NOW Foods). Any suggestions on the ratio of each I should be taking?

Seems like spirulina has a bit more scientific backing to it and chlorella has some issues with bioavailability of its nutrients. Does 2:1 spirulina to chlorella sound about right?