COVID has been a huge problem. A remarkable new study shows that the tiniest supplement may offer a huge solution.
Spirulina is a blue-green microalgae that is loaded in nutrients, including balanced amino acids and protein, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and essential fatty acids. It is loaded in B vitamins (including B12), vitamins C, D, E and K, beta-carotene, calcium, zinc, selenium, iron, magnesium, potassium and manganese. The nutrients in spirulina are easily digested and highly absorbable. It has antioxidant, antiviral and antiinflammatory properties.
A just published study put this tiny, powerful supplement to the test against COVID. The controlled, but nonblinded, study included 189 people who were hospitalized with COVID. Half received standard treatment; half received standard treatment plus 15.2g of spirulina for 6 days.
The group who added spirulina had significantly greater reductions in inflammatory markers and significantly greater increases in immune markers. They also had significantly better improvement in oxygen saturation.
But here’s the really impressive part. By day seven, 4 of 46 people who were receiving conventional treatment (8.7%) and were not in intensive care (ICU) had died, and 11 of 52 (21.2%) in ICU had died for a total of 15 deaths. Not one person who was taking spirulina–ICU or non-ICU– died.
By the seventh day in non-ICU, 18 out of 46 (39.1%) of the conventional treatment group had been discharged versus 43 out of 44 (97.7%) in the spirulina group.
While 9 patients on conventional treatment had to be transferred from non-ICU to ICU, none in the spirulina group had to be. Twenty people on spirulina were transferred out of ICU versus 8 on conventional treatment. And while people on conventional treatment averaged 8 days in hospital, people who added spirulina averaged just 6.
This study introduces spirulina as a promising supplement for treating COVID.
Front Immunol. Apr 7 2024;15:doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1332425.