Spirulina is a blue-green microalgae known as one of the world’s most power-packed superfoods. With loads of protein per gram, antioxidants through the roof, and other health-boosting effects, it is no wonder.
But could it offer any natural relief to those suffering from high blood pressure?
The answer could be yes.
Researchers from the University of Nagasaki tested phycocyanin, a pigment found in spirulina, for its antihypertensive effects and published their results in the May 2013 edition of the journal Nutrition Research.
(Note: this study was conducted on animals, which I do not support. This information is presented for informational purposes only. These studies can be done without harming animals. Hopefully one day they all will.)
To test their hypothesis, they divided hypertensive rats into four groups and fed them a diet with or without phycocyanin for 25 weeks. When measured after 34 weeks, they found the rats fed phycocyanin had a decrease in blood pressure in a dose-dependent manner.
To that end, they concluded that phycocyanin may be able to help prevent endothelial dysfunction-related diseases in metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors that raises the risk for heart disease and a number of other diseases, such as diabetes and strokes.
This is a great result, which frankly, should easily be able to be applied to humans in a real-life study. Surely there are enough sufferers of high blood pressure or metabolic syndrome in the United States alone who would be happy to participate in such a non-invasive study.
Hopefully one day we will get there. But, in the meantime, we do have this promising information at our fingertips.
Of course, never make any changes to your diet or treatment plans without the consultation of your licensed healthcare professional. This article is for informational purposes only.
I hope you found this information helpful today. Here’s to your health and your pursuit of great!
Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23684441
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