Who loves Spirulina? Well I do, and I could not wait to visit the Bali Spirulina Farm when I was in Bali last month.  I first found out about the Bali Spirulina Farm from Ben Richards whom owns and operates The Seeds of Life (one of the best raw vegan restaurants in Ubud).  He also runs an amazing 2 week Raw Chef Certification Course and takes all his students on a tour of the Farm during the course. What a great idea!

Loik, the owner and operator of the Bali Spirulina Farm was kind enough to allow myself and a few friends tour the farm.  Loik was such a wealth of knowledge and so passionate about his business.  Worried about the quality of spirulina available in Bali, Loik and Jordan Fulcrand decided to open a Spirulina pond in Bali. Since Spirulina requires very little water to produce, and can replace nutritional components of animal products, they knew their business would be good for the environment.

I thought I knew so much about Spirulina but wow, was I wrong!  Did you know that Spirulina is actually a fresh water algae and one of the most potent superfoods on earth?

With over 100 nutrients, Spirulina is often described as the most complete food source in the world. The American National Aeronautical and Space Agency includes it in their astronauts diet and plans to grow Spirulina in it’s space station. It’s easy to see why.

Japan has some good examples of some Japanese seniors who have only relied on Spirulina and water for more than 20 years showing how good is Spirulina for the human body.

Spirulina is often deemed the most nutritionally complete of all food supplements, containing a rich supply of many important nutrients, including protein, complex carbohydrates, iron, and vitamins A, K, and B complex. It also has a high supply of carotenoids such as beta carotene and yellow xanthophylls which have antioxidant properties. It is also rich in chlorophyll, fatty and nucleic acids, and lipids. Thus, spirulina has countless uses as a supplement for maintaining good health and for preventing diseases.

Spirulina is the richest beta carotene food, with a full spectrum of ten mixed carotenoids. About half are orange carotenes: alpha, beta and gamma and half are yellow xanthophylls. Synthetic beta carotene has not always shown these benefits. Research in Israel showed natural beta carotene from algae was far more effective. Natural is better assimilated and contains the key 9-cis isomer, lacking in synthetic. As suspected, natural carotenoids in algae and vegetables have the most antioxidant and anti-cancer power.

You can read more about the benefits on their website here: http://balispirulina.com/products/spirulina/Benefits

They also were creative in producing a variety of flavors and textures: you can purchase Powder, Crunchies (Before it is ground into a powder, so good!) or Spicy Crunchies.  They provide their product to the local Bali market and it was so nice to see it everywhere in Ubud!

 

 

It was such a treat to see the whole production process of Spirulina.  Once experiencing spirulina this good quality and so fresh I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to purchase and consume the stuff sold here in Canada. It does not even compare!

High fives to the Bali Spirulina Team! 🙂