Everything You Need to Know About Spirulina

As you scroll through your social media feed, you may have noticed an increase in turquoise smooth bowls and ocean-green protein shakes. This unique, unusual hue is most likely from spirulina, blue-green algae that has been dried and ground into powder, says Harvard Health. So, what’s the big deal about spirulina and should you incorporate it into your healthy diet?

Spirulina is an up and coming superfood that has recently become popular. It has an impressive nutritional profile, starting with a potent punch of complete protein standing on a low-calorie foundation, says Harvard Health. It also contains a rich supply of vitamins and minerals, such as iron and omega-3 fatty acids. Sounds like a valuable ally in your daily drive to eat healthy and reach your weight loss goal, doesn’t it?

Pronounced spee·ruh·LEE·nuh, it has been used as a food source for centuries and has recently become a popular ingredient among healthy eaters. This may be due to its nutritional content and numerous studies claiming important benefits to our well-being. From packaged foods to supplements, find out why this healthy alga has made its way to your supermarket’s shelves.

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Keep reading for everything you need to know about spirulina:

Nutrition Highlights

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), one teaspoon of spirulina contains two grams of protein, one gram of carbohydrates and zero grams of fat for only 15 calories. Unlike most plant foods, spirulina comes with all the essential amino acids, making it a “complete” protein, says CookingLight.com. Spirulina is a good plant-based source of iron and is an appealing option for vegans and vegetarians.

Spirulina also contains essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, says Healthline. According to the American Heart Association, omega-3 fatty acids are healthy fats that are said to support Heart Health. Gamma linolenic acid (GLA), an omega-6 fatty acid, has been shown to reduce chronic inflammation, according to research published in Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology.

Health Powers

The anti-inflammatory properties of spirulina were evident in a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology. The subjects who consumed spirulina daily for three weeks were able to exercise longer with less soreness than the control group. This could be especially beneficial if you are new to working out. Better yet, in another study, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, participants who took spirulina burned fat while exercising at a higher rate than those who had a placebo.

Spirulina may also help your body manage sugar and cholesterol levels, according to a study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research. This study found that after 30 days of taking spirulina, lab animals had reduced levels of blood glucose and LDL cholesterol and increased levels of HDL cholesterol.

If you have a health condition, are taking an anti-coagulant drug or any other medication, check with your doctor and pharmacist before adding spirulina to your daily routine. You want to be sure it won’t interfere with your health or medication. Women who are pregnant or nursing should also consult with their health-care providers before taking spirulina.

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Buyer’s Guide

According to Harvard Health, you can find spirulina capsules, tablets and powder. They are typically found in the vitamin and supplement section of supermarkets, drug stores and health food stores. You can add it to recipes or just swallow it daily in supplement form. Energy bars, chocolate and drinks that include spirulina are available in many outlets, too.

Keep in mind that spirulina is like other dietary supplements and it is not subject to the same testing or regulations that the Food and Drug Administration requires of medicines, says Harvard Health. That means you need to read labels and do a little research on your own to be sure that spirulina is the only—or at least the primary—ingredient in any product you buy. It can also be pricey, so beware of products that are significantly cheaper than all of the competing brands.

Fresh Ideas

Spirulina by itself has the distinct flavor and aroma of algae with hint of fishiness. That’s why many people choose to take odorless and tasteless spirulina capsules or tablets. Some people mix the powder in water and drink it. However, many find it unpalatable that way. More popular is mixing a few spoonful’s into smoothies or bowls, in which the other flavors can bury spirulina’s taste. If you prefer savory tastes, try adding it to homemade pesto. You can also incorporate it into homemade energy balls.  Try throwing it one of these energy ball recipes >

On the Nutrisystem program, about two teaspoons of spirulina count as one Extra. Bon Appétit Magazine recommends keeping open containers of spirulina products in the refrigerator to help protect its nutrients from oxygen.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Spirulina appeared first on The Leaf.

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Friday, 10 January 2020? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

Welcome to r/Loseit!

So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

Why you’re overweight

Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

Before You Start

The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

Tracking

Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

Creating Your Deficit

How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

Exercise

Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel awesome and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

Crawl, Walk, Run

It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

Acceptance

You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

Additional resources

Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!
• Loseit Compendium - Frame it out!
• FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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Hello!

I didn't know this sub existed! I'd like to introduce myself and tell my story if that's cool.

I'm Annabelle (not my real name, but feel free to call me that on the net) I'm 23, the heaviest I've been is 249lbs. I was diagnosed with Scoliosis at 22 years old, PCOS this last year as well as GERD. I was in constant pain, my back, my legs. All of my health issues...a lot of them were contributed to by my weight. I went and saw an Endocrinologist about my PCOS and she did blood work/insulin work on me to check my insulin levels and I have high insulin levels *and* I am insulin resistant (a lot of it is due to my PCOS). I've tried to lose weight in the past and it never worked, but with my doctor telling me basically if I don't change my eating habits, and my exercise habits, I'll become diabetic....really woke me up. I was always worried about getting "too big" also. I mean I get winded just going up the stairs. I keep going up a dress size each year. My parents aren't happy with my weight, either, but honestly I'm doing this for me. I'm 23, and I need to undo this damage before it becomes too permanent....

I did some research and found the Slimfast Diabetic Weight Loss Plan, which is exactly what I needed. I can't do Keto because of my GERD since they emphasize high fat, that and cholestorol make me VERY ill. It would essentially kill me.

I asked my Endo about the Slimfast plan and she approved me for it. I've been starting slow so far. We have a lot of unhealthy food in the house we were gonna burn thru first, while slowly incorporating more healthy stuff. My fiance also ended up finding a puppy, and bringing her home and we've had her a little over a week - there's a point to this tidbit I'll get to soon.

With the Slimfast plan, you're suppose to do two of their things a day, but so far I've just done one (it's a shake or a meal bar then a meal <500 cal and like two snacks?) I've been doing two meals, trying to be <500cal, and was told I need to do snacks to increase my protein levels also after an ER trip last night due to not eating enough...oops? (I have a bad habit of eating when I'm bored and I really would like to lose this weight, so I was a bit worried. this is another reason I wanted a slow start).

I also got some low carb cookbooks cause that's mainly what I'm aiming for. Low carb, low cal, low-no sugar.

When I began increasing my water intake, I noticed my legs weren't hurting as much anymore. My back still does, and will because of my Scoliosis, just not as bad.

My new scale finally came in the mail, it's a nice one so I've finally been able to weigh myself.

Moving onto the puppy part - because my fiance works and I am a student and am home all day, I'm the one who mainly takes her out. We live in an apt so there's no doggy door and she's a puppy so she's a handful. Very active. VERY. I think she was put in my life to help me get up and move around more.

I started out my diet at 249lbs.

I'm currently, as of this morning, 1/9/20 237.1lbs. And I couldn't be more happy with my progress.

Edited to add: My current goal weight is 210/215. I wanted to be more realistic for **myself** with my goal. As I lose weight, my goal will continue to go down. (I am 5'4" and my BMI WAS 42.2 and is now 41 I believe).

I feel like I have so much more energy, I feel like actually going out, walking, exercising, taking the dog for walks, etc. It's also helping my mental health (I suffer from mental illness).

I'm glad I found this sub, Slimfast has FB groups also but I feel like the more encouragement I get the better!

ALSO, can anyone point me in the direction of healthier low carb muffin or bread mixes because I'm currently making my grocery list...? And is natural grocers a good place to shop if you're trying to lose weight? I need HELP. LOL

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Required annual physical examination at work last year told me I'm at 360lbs (my heaviest in 31 yrs of existence). Decided to do something about it..

Hi guys! I'm a long time lurker here, and have been sweeping my weight issues under the rug for almost 3yrs. I made a lot of excuses to justify that I was stressed enough that I can't handle the additional stress of losing weight. I was the lone breadwinner in our family, and my Mom has undergone a spinal column operation last yr, adding to the financial burdens. So I was thinking that this weight loss plan can wait..

..Until last October 2019 at our work-requured AP exam did I receive my biggest slap in the face. I WAS WAY ABOVE 300lbs. No wonder my feet always hurt during the night when I got home from work. No wonder my clothes and pants are almost bursting at the seams. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, I was diagnosed with diabetes 1 week after.

I was on the chubby side all my life, but my Mom and friends told me all the time that I "carried the weight very well" and I didn't have any of the typical "fat person illnesses". But after reading all the complications of diabetes, I was heavily mortified and decided to do something about it.

I started limiting my food on November 1st week, and slowly transitioned to removing all major carb sources on my diet. By the 2nd week of December, I'm not eating any bread, rice, pasta, and sweets. I was so happy because I never thought I could lose weight, and in this rate! Clothes started to fit much better, and my feet do not hurt now (small slice of heaven) and most importantly, I do not run out of breath after a couple of set of stairs.

I am thinking of adding exercise now to my regimen, but I'm afraid of messing up my knees. On what weight should I start exercising? And can exercise also help prevent loose skin?

Huge shoutout to those who share they own journeys, they served as my motivation pills during this run. Everytime I feel that I was on the verge of binge eating, I just fire up reddit and head to this sub to remind myself why I started this journey.

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HAES is just as much of a science denying load of crock as the anti-vax movement is and I'm sick of it.

I've got a couple of friends who have fallen hard for the HAES movement, they use it to validate their choices and it does upset me but you can't make people change so I generally leave it alone.

Now I'll get behind body positivity and body acceptance in a heartbeat, nobody should be shamed for what they look like and everyone should love their bodies even if those bodies aren't 'perfect'. But you can do that while accepting that being overweight is not the healthiest state to live in, they are not mutually exclusive ideas.

Too much or too little body fat is just not healthy and to deny that is to deny science.

I'm also sick of my weight-loss being put down to luck by these same people who preach HAES. To them, I lost weight because I was lucky. Because I wasn't meant to be fat and was just returning to my bodies natural size. Because I don't have any medical conditions that make it hard to lose weight.

Firstly I lost weight because I decided enough was enough and I worked hard at it, you don't lose 75kg by fucking happenstance and luck. Secondly, I fucking have PCOS and hypothyroidism, the two most common conditions people say they have which makes it impossible for them to lose weight! I am sick of my weightloss being invalidated, I don't want fanfare I just want certain people to stop pretending like I had it easy and didn't work my arse off...literally.

The really sad part is I am so close to ending a friendship over this nonsense. This person keeps sending me HAES articles even though I've told them I'm not interested, even though I've stopped talking about weight at all with them ages ago, hell I've stopped talking about most anything with them. The final straw was when I posted a '10 years and a lot of hard work' before and after picture and they sent me a message saying that that was insensitive to post because my post implies that anyone can lose weight when that's not true and that it gives people false hope.

I just needed to rant I guess, back in the beginning I tried to explain this calmly but it fell on deaf ears and I just can't be fucked anymore. Especially since I never once actually broached the subjects of weight loss and fitness directly with her, she'd always accost me via messenger after I'd post something on Facebook.

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after a whole month of bingeing, I am committing to making a change!

I binge eat and my weight yoyos as I gain (and lose, until a point) weight quickly, It used to be I'd barely eat for a week and then binge but now even when I am eating normally and healthily, I still binge. And it makes me feel like shit.

Weight loss is such a struggle and I only have like 10kg left before I'm at my healthy goal weight but I've been trying to lose that 10kg for like 4 years now lol

I think an issue of mine is that when I'm at home with my parents or visiting family , I can't refuse food, especially homemade food , it SLAPS. But I'm moving out next week for Uni, signed up for a 10k and re-registered at my Kickboxing Club so here's hoping I can overcome this month-long binge I just had.

What helps people get over binge eating or at least binge less? I always do when I'm stressed, or when I'm at home ( wayyy more sweet stuff available at home since I don't buy any at Uni). It's like I blackout and then wake up with sweet wrappers everywhere. Even times when I don't have anything at my dorm, sometimes the urge is strong and I'll go to the supermarket ( literally nextdoor) and buy whatever I crave ( usually candy and biscuits).

Sorry this is a weird post, I just need somewhere to express to myself, that it stops here and I'm going to lose this 10kg! And not binge eat!

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Weight loss advice

I’m at a place where I need advice on dieting/ workout plan. For the last 3 1/2 months I’ve been being dedicated to loosing weight and leaning out my body. I have seen small progress but nothing intense. For the first two months I worked with trainers but didn’t feel like there nutrition plans aligned with my eating habits and preferences so it was hard to stick to and in return I didn’t really loose weight. In this last month and a half I have tailored a meal plan that I can follow and I enjoy (clean eating) I incorporated HITT 4 days a week and just recently incorporated strength training. So far I have lost 9 pounds. My problem is I haven’t gotten any lower than 9 pounds of weight loss and would like assistance with how to drop more weight. My goal is to loose 45 lbs in this year. My macros are 1300-1400 calories , 131g carbs, 188g protein and 25g fat. Please help me!

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