Boston company ENERGYbits is selling algae strains spirulina and chlorella as the next chia seeds: power supplements that improve stamina and reduce inflammation. The algae is sold in one-calorie tablets about the size of an Advil, and the company recommends taking 30 spirulina tabs 15 to 20 minutes before exercise, then another 30 chlorella tabs immediately following in order to get algae’s full endurance and recovery benefits. Promised superhuman power as motivation, I recently found myself standing in my kitchen with a palmful of green pills, wondering if I could down them all in one gulp. (It took two.)
ENERGYbits isn’t the first organization to market algae as a superfood. After World War II, several U.S. institutions looked into growing algae to feed a booming population because they thought it’d be relatively easy and cost-efficient to grow, and researchers liked chlorella’s high vitamin, mineral, and protein content.
The former turned out to be false. Cultivating algae was difficult and expensive, so it never really took off as a mass-market food that could solve world hunger. But the second part is actually true. At about 60 percent protein, and stuffed with Vitamin A, B vitamins, zinc, iron, and magnesium, among other vitamins and minerals, algae certainly counts as nutritious. For that reason, back in the ‘50s, NASA explored using it as astronaut food, but abandoned the idea when it became apparent that growing it in space would be unwieldy.
So while algae has shown great potential as human fuel, it’s never become the miracle crop it promised to be. That’s about where algae is now as an athletic supplement: full of promise, but low on delivery.
http://www.outsideonline.com/2020676/next-big-sports-food-algae
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