I've not had much success in lowering cholesterol, having tried many supplement interventions over the years. A recent article I read on spirulina prompted me to get some Now organic spirulina 1000mg tablets and try them for a month. I've just finished the first month and the results were very good.
At the start of the month I had my bloods taken by my doctor and just before I left home for the blood test, I used my own cholesterol testing unit, a CardioChek PA. When the cholesterol results returned from the doctor, they were identical to the results from the CardioChek PA. I used the CardioChek alone to measure my cholesterol at the end of the trial.
I started on 2 grams (2000mg) of spirulina per day for a week, then increased the dose to 4g (4000mg) per day for the rest of the trial.
At the start I had TC 6.3 (244), HDL 1.28 (49.5), LDL (Calculated) 4.51 (174), Trig 1.12 (99), Trig/HDL 0.87
At the end I had TC 4.6 (178), HDL 1.4 (54), LDL (Calculated) 2.87 (111), Trig 0.7 (62), Trig/HDL 0.5
This is a massive improvement for me, as I don't think that my cholesterol numbers were ever this good, especially the LDL reduction.
Does anyone know of any downsides to spirulina supplementation?
Unfortunately, despite some hopeful reports, this regime had no effect on blood pressure, it's still around 135/95. Possibly, I need to continue to supplement for a longer period (3 months was mentioned in one study).
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articl ... holesterol
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10 ... -spirulina
Hopefully this little self experiment will assist others in making choices.
Spirulina Experiment
Spirulina Experiment
Apo E4/E4, Male, Age 60
Re: Spirulina Experiment
Hi NewRon: I am trying your Spirulina experiment. My doctor wants me on Red Yeast Rice which I know works like lipitor sighhhh.....My ldl is 139, hdl 101 and trigs 75. I will post back the results in a month. I will start with 2000 mgs. I bought the Now Organic Powder. As far as the downsides to Spirulina I guess the only one is that what we are buying is really Spirulina and it's not contaminated. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will answer that question.
Thanks for posting.
Thanks for posting.
Re: Spirulina Experiment
Hi Roxanne,
Your cholesterol numbers don't look that bad at all to me, maybe others have an opinion? It will be interesting to see after a month, what your results are. I've increased my dose to 6,000mg, to see what happens.
I guessed there might be a higher quality standard applying to organic produce, which is why I chose this product in the first place. However, different countries have wildly different organic standards.
I gather that the powder can be hard to take, which is why I went with the tablets.
Do report back please!
Your cholesterol numbers don't look that bad at all to me, maybe others have an opinion? It will be interesting to see after a month, what your results are. I've increased my dose to 6,000mg, to see what happens.
I guessed there might be a higher quality standard applying to organic produce, which is why I chose this product in the first place. However, different countries have wildly different organic standards.
I gather that the powder can be hard to take, which is why I went with the tablets.
Do report back please!
Apo E4/E4, Male, Age 60
Re: Spirulina Experiment
NewRon wrote:Hi Roxanne,
Your cholesterol numbers don't look that bad at all to me, maybe others have an opinion? It will be interesting to see after a month, what your results are. I've increased my dose to 6,000mg, to see what happens.
I guessed there might be a higher quality standard applying to organic produce, which is why I chose this product in the first place. However, different countries have wildly different organic standards.
I gather that the powder can be hard to take, which is why I went with the tablets.
Do report back please!
Thanks NewRon: I agree with you, the numbers are not too bad. She wants the LDL lower though, but I'm not taking the RYR for sure, not as a 3/4.
I put the powder in my green juice and I didn't even taste it, so all good.
I will definitely report back in a month.
Re: Spirulina Experiment
"She wants the LDL lower though..."
Hmmmm....wonder what she'd have said about mine, before spirulina?
Looking forward to your results. If no change, don't be discouraged as a lot of studies seemed to suggest 4,500mg per day as a dose, so you'll have lots of room to increase.
Good luck!
Hmmmm....wonder what she'd have said about mine, before spirulina?
Looking forward to your results. If no change, don't be discouraged as a lot of studies seemed to suggest 4,500mg per day as a dose, so you'll have lots of room to increase.
Good luck!
Apo E4/E4, Male, Age 60
Re: Spirulina Experiment
NewRon: Haha, she would have given you Lipitor samples right then and there.....
Good that you told me about the dosage.. If this doesn't do the trick I can always increase the dosage.
Thanks again
Good that you told me about the dosage.. If this doesn't do the trick I can always increase the dosage.
Thanks again
Re: Spirulina Experiment
"...she would have given you Lipitor samples right then and there....."
At the very least!!!!
At the very least!!!!
Apo E4/E4, Male, Age 60
Re: Spirulina Experiment
Hi NewRon:NewRon wrote:Hi Roxanne,
Your cholesterol numbers don't look that bad at all to me, maybe others have an opinion? It will be interesting to see after a month, what your results are. I've increased my dose to 6,000mg, to see what happens.
I guessed there might be a higher quality standard applying to organic produce, which is why I chose this product in the first place. However, different countries have wildly different organic standards.
I gather that the powder can be hard to take, which is why I went with the tablets.
Do report back please!
As promised, after 3 months of Spirulina 2grams daily, my Cholesterol numbers are higher
LDL-P 1367
LDL-C 133
Hdl-C 111
Trigs 55
HDL-P 41.7
Small LDL-P <90
Size 21.2
LPIR <25
I was hoping my cholesterol would lower but it didn't. My provider recommended Bergamot. I am so confused. I will increase the dose to 4grams and see if it budges.
How are your lipids doing now with 6000mgs?
Any advise for me?
Roxanne
Re: Spirulina Experiment
Roxanne,
Those numbers seem to have improved, esp the HDL and the Triglycerides. Your Trig/HDL ratio (which is not by any means a reliable marker) is 0.49, which is excellent.
As I said, most of the studies that I looked at seemed to find effect with 4.5g of spirulina and I had used 4g/day.
My 6g/day experiment ended up being confounded by some other herbs I decided to take, so I abandoned it. I restarted on 4g/day this week, having been waiting on lipid test strips since before Christmas.
I tried Bergamot before and it didn't work for me but maybe I didn't give it enough time.
Obviously I'm not your doctor but if I were you, I'd try the 4g/day and see, maybe only wait a month before testing again.
Those numbers seem to have improved, esp the HDL and the Triglycerides. Your Trig/HDL ratio (which is not by any means a reliable marker) is 0.49, which is excellent.
As I said, most of the studies that I looked at seemed to find effect with 4.5g of spirulina and I had used 4g/day.
My 6g/day experiment ended up being confounded by some other herbs I decided to take, so I abandoned it. I restarted on 4g/day this week, having been waiting on lipid test strips since before Christmas.
I tried Bergamot before and it didn't work for me but maybe I didn't give it enough time.
Obviously I'm not your doctor but if I were you, I'd try the 4g/day and see, maybe only wait a month before testing again.
Apo E4/E4, Male, Age 60
Re: Spirulina Experiment
Interesting experiment, NewRon. I'm especially intrigued by the improvements in your ratios. Would you mind sharing the name of your spirulina supplement? I'm curious if it's mixed with chlorella, which is ndependently know to reduce cholesterol.