Is Spirulina The Best Natural Remedy For Asthma? Whilst Not Well-Known, Studies Suggest It May Help.
What Is Asthma
Asthma is a commonplace and typically long-term disease, that causes inflammation of the airways and lungs, estimated to affect some 20% of populations in industrialized countries (1).
It is not widely known, but research (below) has found that spirulina may be beneficial to help mitigate asthma symptoms in mild to moderate cases of asthma. However, it is important to be aware that this is not a quick fix during an asthma attack but may help in cases of those people with mild to moderate asthma who consistently take spirulina over a period of time. Spirulina is a super food and the benefits in relation to asthma, according to the studies we have found, seem to be linked to its antioxidant qualities.
Why Might It Help?
We have been trying to find out why spirulina may be helpful with asthma and we suspect it is related to how spirulina is an antioxidant. So, we initially looked to studies regarding vitamins and how they might help asthma.
Do Vitamins Help? The Evidence For And Against:
Selenium. Whilst you will find claims on the internet that selenium helps asthma, a 2007 study (3) makes it very clear that there was no effect of selenium supplements with symptoms of asthma
Web MD has a lengthy list of vitamins that may or may not be effective. Many are described as “insufficient evidence” or “possibly ineffective” but it does not mention spirulina in the context of asthma.
Antioxidants Appear To Help
Antioxidants – A 2013 study (2) found that antioxidants, including vitamins A & E could have a helpful impact on children with asthma. Spirulina has a large amount of vitamin A and also contains vitamin E. It is also known for its antioxidant qualities.
Spirulina is packed with vitamins and nutrients. It`s a great source of vitamin A which the 2013 (2) study highlighted as a vitamin, was beneficial for children with Asthma. Spirulina also has vitamin E.
Evidence Spirulina Might Help?
A study (1) of 39 children in the Philippines, aged 7 to 14 found that a daily supplement of spirulina, “significantly improved asthma control. 20 of the children received 1g to 2g of spirulina for a period of 3 months whilst another 19 received a placebo. Symptoms of the Spirulina group significantly improved by the end of the study, and continued to see benefit 3 months after they had stopped taking spirulina.
A study (3) involving 34 adults had similarly successful results. The study was only over a two-month period with only 1 g of spirulina a day being taken by those in the trial and they found that in cases of mild to moderate asthma, “it was equally beneficial as an asthma medication”. Interestingly the diet history of the people involved in this study revealed a poor intake of antioxidant vitamins. Something that Spirulina is packed with.
Full Of Nutrients
It may surprise you to learn but 1 gram of spirulina is the equivalent of 1kg of fruit and vegetables in terms of nutrients. Watch this video to learn more:
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Helps COPD Too
And a 2015 study (4) from Bangladesh of COPD (that like asthma causes breathing problems and poor airflow) also found that patients improved following the use of spirulina for 2 months with oxidative stress reduced.
Asthma Medication Is Big Business
What would of course be helpful is to see more studies on the use of spirulina to help mitigate asthma. Possibly the reason for this, is there may not be any incentive on the part of the pharmaceutical industry to do so.
What has been equally interesting in our research for this article is that asthma medication is big business. As far back as 2007, the value of the asthma industry in the US was $56 Billion. At these prices, it is not a wonder there is little incentive for further studies to explore the efficacy of spirulina to help mitigate or possibly prevent mild to moderate asthma attacks.
With the cost of an asthma inhaler in the US retailing for over $175. Even the cost of Albuterol, one of the more established asthma medicines in the US is between S$50 and $100.
So is spirulina the best natural remedy for asthma?
Whilst, spirulina is not a cure for asthma, the studies we have found, suggest it may help to mitigate mild to moderate asthma*. If you suffer from mild to moderate asthma attacks, why not check with your Doctor, to see if adding the spirulina super food to your diet might help you?*You might find it helps you and you may save a considerable amount on the quantity of prescription drugs that you need. It has certainly helped with my Hay Fever and other conditions. And you may experience other benefits as we describe in our FAQs.
If you would like to try some spirulina, you may find this link helpful.
Please let us know your experience.
If you decide to try spirulina after you have checked with your doctor, of course, we would be very interested to learn of your experience. Or if you have any questions. Please drop us a line in the comments below.
Spirulina History of Use
If you would like to learn more about the interesting history of spirulina you can learn more on our page, “What is spirulina about?”.
Our FAQ page covers many other topics and you can find advice on how much to take on our page how much spirulina to take. Its important to start with small quantities and slowly build up.
Thank you, For Visiting
Thank you for visiting whyspirulina. We hope you found this information helpful. If you have any comments or questions, kindly leave them below and we will get back to you.
Affiliate links
You might have seen the “affiliate link” button at the top, that links to a page. This basically means we could make a tiny commission, if you purchase anything using one of our affiliate links on this page. It helps to keep us in coffee, making a small contribution, allowing us to research and write articles on the benefits of superfoods. You will not pay more by making a purchase via one of our links.
Sources
- (1) The Effects of Spirulina with children aged 7-14 as a Dietary Supplement. Drs Manzon-Reyes, Lou Ver Leigh A., Gonzalez-Andaya, Agnes M.
- (2)Nutritional supplements (& plasma antioxidants) in childhood asthma, Wiener klinische Wochenschrift – The Central European Journal of Medicine
- (3) “Dietary supplements and asthma: another one “bites” the dust”, Prof J Britton, Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK
- (4) Effect of Spirulina Intervention on “Oxidative Stress, Antioxidant Status, and Lipid Profile in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients” Md. Ismail, Md. Faruk Hossain, Arifur Rahman Tanu, and Hossain Uddin Shekhar
*Nothing on this website should be interpreted as personal medical advice. Always consult a qualified Doctor or health care professional before changing anything related to your healthcare. *Please see the About page for the references.
It is good to know that spirulina natural remedies can help for Asthma, I’m gonna try it out, since I have family members who is suffering from asthma. Thanks
Thank you for visiting us Eunice. Let me know how you get on with it. Make sure you keep traditional asthma medication available too, indeed in one of the trials, some of the patients were using both but then stopped needing the traditional mainstream medication. Please check out our FAQs for all of the other benefits that spirulina offers.
Thanks for all the great information you have supplied on a natural product like spirulina. There are in fact many people I know personally and in my family that have asthma, fortunately I don’t have asthma, but I do have sleep apnea.
Being that asthma and sleep apnea are both related to breathing conditions, would spirulina help with sleep apnea? From your article it sounds like spirulina can help with hay fever as well, that is great news. With the price of asthma medication being so high, it’s good to know that there are natural remedies that can help to decrease the severity of asthma.
Thank you for stopping by Neil. You pose an excellent question regarding sleep apnea. Thank you. I do not know if Spirulina will help with sleep apnea but I suspect it might as it has improved my health so much and yes, it does help with Hay fever (allergic rhinitis), allergies and it has many other benefits as described in our FAQs. We will add sleep apnea to the list of conditions for us to research. One thing I can say is that I have not had a blocked nose in 3-4 years since being a regular user of spirulina. And I used to get really bad sinusitis. I haven`t had it since taking spirulina regularly. Just be aware, when I initially detoxed, it was quite difficult for me. That experience is described on our page, “how much to take“. But over time, I felt rejuvenated and I have so much energy now its amazing. I`m 60 this year but feel much fitter than when I was in my 40`s! (I was obese and overweight) – spirulina played a big part in helping me to reduce weight too.
The History of Spirulina is also worth checking too. It really is fascinating as goes back to the very start of our planet. Have a great day. Best Regards, Trevor
An update with regards to Sleep Apnea that we have now researched with regards to spirulina Please see our FAQs. Spirulina may help indirectly by supporting weight loss. But you should, of course, consult a Dr to see if it is right for you.
While reading your article about Spirulina and asthma, I remembered that I have heard about this product in the past. I think I even took it for a while, but as there was no solid guide, like yours from personal experience, I probably didn’t take enough or long enough to see results. I was unaware of the detoxing benefit as well. So having a good description of what to expect and how to take the product would clearly be a better way.
The Asthma part was the initial interest here as my daughter has developed this condition. Seems worse during allergy seasons of course. I was curious if this was something she needed to add to her wellness routine. As we are becoming more aware of how to help ourselves with our diet changes, and what we can do, I appreciate the help given by articles like this one. They are easy to check out and offer suggestions that I feel more comfortable using as they are from someone who has used the product and you have described your results well also. Thank you for sharing information.
Thank you Sami for your well thought out comment. We appreciate the trouble you have gone to. Detoxing is arguably the first thing that will happen to you. And for those starting to use it quite late in life as in my case, it can at first be quite an experience, as I have explained on the page how much spirulina to use. Its important to start slowly and build up as it “detoxes” your body. It really is an amazing superfood with so many potential benefits. The many conditions we have investigated are described on our FAQ page.
Spirulina has really helped me to overcome the mild hay fever I used to suffer from during allergy season. If your daughter suffers from allergies, this could well help her. If she doesn´t like the taste (most people don´t) try and get her to swallow the tablets (that is what I do), or mix powder into a soup (when it has finished cooking, add it as an extra ingredient but do NOT boil) or perhaps add it to to smoothies. we plan to add some recipes soon, so book mark us for follow up. For the allergies its important to be consistent, to take it daily. I have controlled my blood sugar using spirulina daily. I currently take 2.5 g a day. And be very careful with the supplier. We are cautious about whom we recommend. Please let me know how your daughter gets on. Have a great day.
This is very useful information – I have family members who suffer from asthma and sinusitis so I am definitely going to share this with them. An asthma attack is a terrifying and life threatening experience so if the spirulina could help, it is definitely worth trying. The research studies you referred to are fairly small groups though, so probably more studies should be undertaken to convince the masses. As an antioxidant, I think spirulina would be of general health benefits, not only to help with the asthma so it couldn’t hurt.
Exactly right Jenny. And you hit on a point about the number of studies (none of them in Western Countries) that I think points to the pharmaceutical companies not wanting competition from a superfood! But imagine if more people used spirulina, not only might it help prevent asthma attacks for some, but it would save them money in prescriptions and might help or help mitigate other health issues so further saving them money and the health systems that are under so much pressure. There is no incentive for extensive studies because it is just a food! My vision is that everybody will eventually grow their own at home. After all, it helped in the very development of our planet in the first place (the DNA of plants and vegetables!) and it might just contribute to saving us now. Check out the many benefits on our FAQ page. Thanks for stopping by.
Hello there, thanks for this very detailed and informative post on spirulina and it’s many advantages, I got to know about spirulina from a friend when I told him about how my colleque at work is trying so hard to deal with asthma. He recommended I ask I suggest to him to try spirulina. I decided to conduct some research on it to know how effective it is, and from this post I have all the questions I have had in mind regarding it answered. However I will still ask him to consult his doctor before he goes ahead with it.
Thank you for your comment Jomata. If your colleague tries spirulina under the guidance of his doctor that is indeed the best approach. One of the trials that is quoted in the article, used an asthma medication and spirulina at the same time, but it will of course depend on the specific medication, so yes, he should check with his doctor first. But remember spirulina is a superfood. The many benefits are covered in our FAQ page.
We have a daughter who suffers from Asthma.
Years ago a friend who right into natural remedies suggested Spirulina. The trouble was getting our daughter to take it.
She never got used to the seaweed taste and smell of Spirulina.
Thank you for a good article I am sure it will be very useful to many people.
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your experience. You are absolutely the right. The taste can put many people off. There is a simple solution to that. If she can`t swallow the tablets, try adding a spoonful of spirulina to a smoothie or you can also add it at the very end as an ingredient to a soup or a stew but don`t heat it up or boil it. But it needs to be done on a regular basis, daily really. But in a warm mixture that is fine.
Or alternatively, if you motivate her to take these tablets, surely that is better than having an asthma attack? Depending of course on the severity of her case. There is no guarrantee it will work, but might be worth a try?
I don`t know how old your daughter is now, but it also helps with PMS. We are researching an article for the site but you may want to bookmark us for a return visit. We will place a summary and link on our FAQ page.