Is Spirulina Really Toxic to the Liver?

In this video I talk about Spirulina and the debate about whether it is “toxic” or not.

The brand I use is Spirulina Pacifica and the Latin name is Arthrospira platensis. It is Hawaiian and Organic.

The woman who commented about Spirulina being toxic posted her comment here: http://sistahvegan.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/spirulina-super-baby-food-recipe/  under the name Angela. She provides links about Spirulina being toxic that you can view for yourself.

**Update:

I just read this journal article below and the conclusion states:

“Our results indicate that cultivated NO and SP do not contain MC and have minimal cytotoxicity. Furthermore, long-term BGA supplementation in mice did not induce any evident adverse side-effects. Therefore, NO and SP may be developed as a safe natural food for health benefits. Clinical trials are warranted to assess the safety of the BGA supplements in humans.”

NO and SP were the two different types of Spirulina they tested (“This study was undertaken to evaluate in vitro and in vivo toxicity of cultivated Nostoc commune var. sphaeroides Kützing (NO) and Spirulina platensis (SP). Neither NO nor SP contained detectable levels of microcystin (MC)-LA, MC-RR, MC-LW and MC-LR by LC/MS/MS”).

However, I eat The species “Arthrospira platensis” and that seems to be the “same” as Spirulina platensis  but I need to verify that.

Citation:

Food and Chemical Toxicology

Volume 49, Issue 7, July 2011, Pages 1560–1564

In vitro and in vivo safety assessment of edible blue-green algae, Nostoc commune var. sphaeroides Kützing and Spirulina plantensis

• Yue Yang^a,
• Youngki Park^a,
• David A. Cassada^b,
• Daniel D. Snow^b,
• Douglas G. Rogers^c,
• Jiyoung Lee^a, ,

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