Raw Multivitamin

I was in Whole Check Foods on Sunday, buying the normal assortment of herbal coffees, organic fruits and veggies, and nuts and seeds. I thought I was just about done shopping, or hoping anyway, when I had to walk by the supplement section to check out. Right in the front of the aisle was a new display. Upon closer inspection, I soon discovered I had found what I had been looking for: A Raw Multivitamin

Yes, you read that correctly. This multivitamin has be minimally processes, and all of the raw components have been left intact. This is awesome. You may have read one of my other posts that we were using the whole foods vitamin, which is also a very good vitamin. But as always, you progress and advance is what ever you are doing. In this case, taking multivitamins, we have gone from the GNC multivitamins, to the whole food multivitamins, now to the raw multivitamins.

As it has only been 3 days, and if you are fairly healthy in the first place, taking a multivitamin should not have some immediate impact, like say, a jolt of caffeine. It is a gradual process, and just helps the underlying systems in the body. So, while I wish I could tell you I have so much energy, I can’t. But, this is because I already have energy, each and every day, based on my choices.

But I would recommend if you are going to be on a raw diet, or at least make your diet as raw as you can, to take a look at this raw multivitamin and see of it is something you are going to want to take.

Spirulina Powder

Spirulina is a blue-green algae. It is a one celled micro organism that thrives in the heat and in alkaline water, or ponds. Most people would associate something like this with diseases, or germs, or just plain old not good for you. But in fact, spirulina is one of the most sterile foods found in nature.

People are now beginning to call spirulina one of the superfoods. It is the only plant source loaded with vitamin B12. Normally, you can only get this vitamin from animal sources. But spirulina has 2.5 times the RDA in 1 teaspoon. It also has a complete protein structure, meaning it has all of the amino acids required to make a protein.

The fact this superfood can survive in the warm environments is the reason it is very sterile. At these sorts of temperatures, there is no way for other things to live in the ponds that can infect this algae. Also, the fact it can survive in temperatures up to 160F makes it exceptional in terms of producing. It can with stand most of the high heats needed to process this supplement. As we now from a raw food diet, temperature can begin to destroy some of the vital elements of foods. But, this is not the case with spirulina.

The following is the long list of everything spirulina has in it:

8 Essential Amino Acids:

1. Isoleucine
2. Leucine
3. Lysine
4. Methionine
5. Phenylalanine
6. Threonine
7. Tryptophane
8. Valine

Non-Essential Amino Acids:

1. Alanine
2. Arginine
3. Aspartic Acid
4. Cystine
5. Glutamic Acid
6. Glycine
7. Histidine
8. Proline
9. Serine
10. Tyrosine

Minerals:

1. Potassium
2. Calcium
3. Zinc
4. Magnesium
5. Manganese
6. Selenium
7. Iron
8. Phosphorous

Vitamins:

1. B6
2. Biotin
3. B12
4. Pantothenic Acid
5. Folic Acid
6. Inositol
7. Niacin
8. B2
9. B 1
10. Vitamin E

So, as you can see, spirulina has all sorts of good stuff in it. There are even more items I did not list, but with a little more research on it, you will find it.

How do you take it?

This can be done a couple of ways. You can buy a good whole food vitamin that has spirulina in it. This is a good start. It will not give you a very large amount, but a smaller amount is definitely better than no amount.

Another way is to buy it in capsule form. This is a very easy way to take this. Many people not familiar with the taste of spirulina will find taking the supplements by capsule or pill form to be much easier. Just ensure there are no other additives in the spirulina tablets.

The last way is in powder form. This, I believe, is for the more hard core smoothie and health nuts out there (like me). We add a teaspoon or more to each of the smoothies we make. But, here is the thing. The more bland your smoothie ingredients are, the stronger the spirulina will be. Plus, the spirulina turns the entire drink green.

The last way I have found, which makes it very easy for the kids, is to add it to a smoothie. You will need to buy the spirulina powder in order to do it this way. I posted a good recipe for a pineapple hemp seed smoothie which is a good way to get some spirulina into the diet.

Hopefully that give you a pretty good idea about how important spirulina is in a diet, especially a raw food diet.