I just found out that Spirulina is a bacteria rather than a plant. I think that this would make it non-vegan.

When I was SAD, I tried Spirulina and had a severe nervous reaction to it. I just couldn't calm down and it made my heart race. As a modified raw vegan, I didn't take anything with Spirulina in it although many of the Superfood supplements have it in it.

What do you guys think? Will you still continue to take it knowing that it isn't vegan per se?

I do not take it

Isn't is a plant, a blue-green algae?

[www.naturalways.com]

flipper, I don't use it either.

cy, According to wikipedia, it is a bacteria
[en.wikipedia.org])
Scientific classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Cyanobacteriaassis = Chroobacteria
Order: Oscillatoriales
Family: Phormidiaceae
Genus: Arthrospira

According to a dictionary, a bacterium.
spi·ru·li·na audio (spr-ln, spîr-) KEY

NOUN:

A cyanobacterium of the genus Spirulina, valued as a food or nutritional supplement for its high protein content.

I did find that some websites refer to it as a plant but the dictionary def is a bacterium.

For more information on spirulina check out: [www.spiralyne.co.uk]
It seems to be a really good source on spirulina.

Thank you, cy, for the article on Spirulina. It sounds so good I'm going to give it another try - tomorrow. Every time I've used it in the past, I seem to get weird dreams or have trouble falling asleep, so I thought it may have to do with the water it's grown in - if the water had chemicals in it or was polluted - like from Japan or someplace. This time I'll have it around noon so by bedtime maybe it won't affect me.

[pureplanet.com]

(A medical intuitive -long-time raw vegan - told me that the Pure Planet Hawaiian Spirulina is the best brand.)

b12 is ALL bacteria that is why it gives you b12 silly and bacterial is not non vegan

life vs lifelessness

If the tiny life in Spirulina is a problem for vegan then they should not walk or open their mouth because that kill millions of micro organisms



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2011 01:42AM by madinah.

There is a difference between the inadvertent death of organisms we have no control over and the willful ending of a life regardless of how small that life form may be. There are many other options, I can choose not to have spirulina. If another chooses to consume it I don't judge them but I also don't expect to be judged or ridiculed for not wanting to have it for myself or for my reasons for that.

But you can choose not to walk to avoid killing micro organisms you can choose not to open your mouth to avoid swallowing micro organisms. But you are doing it on purpose. Life needs Life you cannot avoid it. It is impossible to be vegan



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2011 01:53AM by madinah.

It's not impossible to be conscientious. It's not impossible to not excuse certain behaviours based on similar but different behaviours. I cannot choose to refrain from breathing, walking, living. I Can certainly avoid taking life On Purpose or if I do, to acknowledge it and not try to sweep it away as though it's meaningless nothing.
I am not a Jainist but I do see their point.

I actually love spirulina, and I digest it really easily. It is a staple in my diet because of its enormous health benefits. I appreciated the links here, and feel that it does in fact utilize photosynthesis, and is plant enough for me.

We all have our opinions, and not being so attached to the way others are choosing is another staple for me.

Have taken it in the past under a chiro's advisement, but didn't feel obviously better as a result. Let's say, the reaction was nothing like my reaction to lots of fresh fruit and veggies

I don't think that cyanobacteria classify as non-consumable organisms as non-Jain would define them, but veganism is a matter of degree beyond a specific point, so far as the morals of consuming it go, that's up to the individual. If you classify a spiral bacterium as an animal you don't want to eat, then probiotic biota are off your menu, too, I guess.

I agree with KidRaw that if one chooses to consume it, one should get it from the purest source possible, as it can become contaminated by other micro-organisms in its growing medium.

LOL Tam, does this take my home fermented veggies off the list then? Gives a whole new meaning to "living foods" .

the more living enzymes you eat the more you offset (you only have so much and with none you are dead)

life vs lifelessness

Being vegan only makes sense if it is natural. Forcing some 'pure' habits and putting them above health, above life itself - makes no sense and is not spiritual but on the contrary - it is nothing but a prejudice and self adoration.

No animal or plant in the nature is 'pure' that way. We need many kinds of bacteria, they live in us, we are made of them.

How many thousands of bacteria are exchanged in a kiss?

Animals which eat animals are not worse than us. That is their role in nature. Eating animals, insects and bacteria is not bad per se, we just have to be sure what our role in the nature is.

Living according to this artificial vegan moral codex is more like a cult, less like true freedom.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2011 06:37PM by rab.

coco,

This is my point; everything has critters on it and if you take the non eating of all critters to extremes, you will not only starve, but will fail at not consuming any critters, unbeknownst to you!

I don't disagree with that, I flatten mosquitoes that are biting the kids, if they get lice it must be dealt with, fleas etc in the house will never be allowed to stay. My point is that these things may certainly be a part of life but they are not so inconsequential that they can be brushed off as being "nothing" in the context of living a vegan ideal. As necessary as it may be to take conscious or unconscious action that ends life, it's as deserving of acknowledgment as anything else. Brushing it off as though it's inconsequential is denial IMO. It happens, accept that it does, make your peace with it, go on.
It's the same rationale, that it's unavoidable, that it happens on a smaller scale so a larger scale naturally follows, that leads to thinking things like "Oh well, I kill organisms every time I walk or talk so setting this mouse trap is no worse." I'm not saying don't set the mouse trap, I'm saying set it and acknowledge what it is that you're doing, that it's not nothing, that it IS in fact the taking of a life. It's the attitude that makes a difference IMO. Being at peace with what I do means accepting it for what it is, not telling myself that it's something else. To say that I'm going to eat this or that thing that I suspect to be a little living creature because I kill little living creatures every time I inhale is strange logic to me. One is purposeful and avoidable, one is not. If I'm going to eat said substance I can just call it what it is, no round about mind screw justification required.

Very good point rab. Common sense pravails

"Bacteria" is neither plant nor animal. It is its own domain (Domain Bacteria), and there are many different types. Spirulina is called "cyanobacteria", meaning that it's a bacteria that performs photosynthesis.

Chloroplasts - the sites for photosynthesis in plants and algae - are so similar to cyanobacteria, that many biologists believe choroplasts originated as separate cyanobacteria that merged into plants during evolution, due to a symbiotic relationship essential for plant survival.

("Symbiotic" refers to a relationship between two organisms in which at least one organism is dependent on the other. Cyanobacteria in the soil today fix atmospheric nitrogen into organic nitrogen for plant fuel.)

A similar relationship is believed to have developed between animals and their mitochondria - the powerhouse within animals that converts fuels into energy.

Spirulina is not an animal product; it performs photosynthesis. It's vegan, in my view. If I could obtain it fresh (from a reliable source), I would eat more of it.

[www.ucmp.berkeley.edu]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2011 09:59PM by suncloud.

There is one mistery about algae for me: You can find some good prices on sea food in the stores, but you cannot find any algae? Is that another conspiracy?

rab,

Algae for human consumption is generally manufactured, and has been for hundreds of years; much harder and more expensive a process than catching fish, or what have you. Also, the rule of supply and demand: How many people at the Safeway even know that algae is food?

'Also, the rule of supply and demand: How many people at the Safeway even know that algae is food?'

Exactly. Algea are the most common source of food in the world. Isn't it strange that nobody ever considered algeae as a food solution?

Spirulina.... don't do it

[nutritionfacts.org]
[nutritionfacts.org]
[nutritionfacts.org]

Chlorella got a clean bill of health though. [nutritionfacts.org]

I'm glad chlorella got a thumbs up from Greger. That said, I think he's right .. kale is cheaper. Chlorella never did anything for me.

Paul

Thanks for posting, Paul. I do believe it's best to just get nutrients from everday plant foods

agree Tam, as usual. Over the last year, I've given up maca root, chlorella, goji berries and a few other "superfoods". Am freezing pomegranate seeds for this winter and spring. Lots of good stuff that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Paul

Thank you Paul for all that good info! I guess just being green isn't always enough!

I'll be throwing out that spirulina jar in the back of my fridge. What a waste.

Nature in its infinite wisdom made local food the best superfood.

You maybe eating cyanobacteria every time you eat anything of plant origin, but especially in the leaves.

"The other great contribution of the cyanobacteria is the origin of plants. The chloroplast with which plants make food for themselves is actually a cyanobacterium living within the plant's cells. Sometime in the late Proterozoic, or in the early Cambrian, cyanobacteria began to take up residence within certain eukaryote cells, making food for the eukaryote host in return for a home. This event is known as endosymbiosis, and is also the origin of the eukaryotic mitochondrion. "

[www.ucmp.berkeley.edu]