Botanical atlas

Spirulina

Arthrospira platensis

For centuries, communities living beside alkaline lakes have harvested this blue-green bloom as a genuine food source rather than a mere curiosity. The Aztecs gathered it from Lake Texcoco and pressed it into cakes, and around Lake Chad in Africa, the Kanembu people have long dried it into dihé cakes eaten daily or traded at market. In more recent traditional and folk use, it has been valued as a concentrated, nourishing tonic during times of low appetite or depleted energy, prized for its deep color and density long before modern science took an interest in it.

Safety.

Only buy spirulina from a reputable source, since poorly controlled growing conditions can allow contamination with liver- and nerve-toxic microcystins. It may overstimulate the immune system in autoimmune conditions, and those with phenylketonuria (PKU) should avoid it due to its phenylalanine content.