Rohini Bajekal Nutrition
  • < Pre-order book
  • Home
  • Work with me
    • How I can help
    • Voluntary Roles
  • Why Plant-based?
  • Blog
    • Complete Library
    • Plant-based Lifestyle
    • Recipes
    • Women’s Health
    • Rohini’s Recommendations
  • Media Appearances
  • Events
  • Contact
Girl enjoying smoothie bowl
October 24, 2019 by Rohini Bajekal
Plant-based Lifestyle

What’s The Deal With Spirulina?

When I first saw this smoothie bowl, I was a bit alarmed by the colour, despite knowing that spirulina (a blue-green algae) was in the list of ingredients. This leant a beautiful blue hue to the smoothie. This is a fantastic way to get children who are reluctant to try new things to dig into a smoothie bowl packed full of goodness with fruit, plant milk and nuts and seeds. Children often like foods that look fun and playful.

Why isn’t there more blue food?

However, the reason we hardly see blue food around is because it’s generally considered to be unappealing to both humans and animals. Studies have shown that blue actively suppresses appetite. I personally associate the colour with weird, artificially coloured slushies in bowling alleys. Even blueberries, despite the name, are actually more purplish than blue. Their hue comes from the anthocyanins – flavonoids with antioxidant effects. These are present in aubergine, blueberries, purple grapes and blackcurrants 💙

So what’s the hype?

Spirulina was part of the daily diet of the Aztecs and is now a popular dietary supplement due to it’s nutritional benefits. Spirulina has a 60-70% protein content. It’s a super nutrient-dense food with vitamins A, C, E and B vitamins and a rich mineral content including selenium. It’s also a great vegan source of iron, providing 1.4mg per 5g teaspoon (10% of the RDA for women).

What does it taste like?

While the taste on its own can be a bit strong and earthy (too much and it tastes like pondwater 💦) you can add a little to a green smoothie and build up the amount slowly. As with any supplements, we can never be 100% certain of quality. I recommend only trying it if you’re interested and adding it slowly to your diet.

Previous article10 Tips For Plant-Based Cookingveggies on chopping boardNext article My 10 Favourite Plant-Based Snacksroasted chickpeas

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Meet Rohini

Hey there! I’m Rohini, a nutritionist (MA Oxon, MSc) providing evidence-based advice to my clients around plant-based eating. While working in branding and marketing for food startups over the years, I discovered my passion for making plant-based foods more accessible to people.

Wanna be social?

Looking for something?

Categories

  • Articles
  • Breakfast
  • Desserts
  • Main meals
  • Plant-based Lifestyle
  • Podcasts
  • Recipes
  • Snacks
  • Soups
  • Videos

Tag Cloud

apple breakfast calcium cauliflower dog treats healthy living hydration legumes oil free pasta peas plant-based plant-based protein plantbased porridge pregnancy protein rice snacks water wfpb wholegrain

Follow me on instagram

…
© 2020 Rohini Bajekal Nutrition ♥ Proudly built by ninagrey.org
Privacy Policy

About This Sidebar

You can quickly hide this sidebar by removing widgets from the Hidden Sidebar Settings.