Visiting this web site requires a newer version of Netscape Communicator.
Visit Microsoft's Web site to obtain the newest version of Internet Explorer, or visit Netscape's Web site to obtain the newest version of Netscape Communicator.
Visiting this web site without first upgrading your browser may result in unreliable behavior.
"We may be different in gender, color of hair and skin, religion, and job. But we have a common bond — we are survivors. Our parents survived long enough to conceive us. Grandparents had the same claim for your parents. The thing that made this possible is that precious commodity—the immune system."
--Schmidt, Smith, and Sehnert Beyond Antibiotics, 1993
School records of children eating AFA blue-green algae showed a dramatic improvement in class attendance in two studies. Both research teams, along with school personnel reports, suggested that the increased attendance of students who ate blue-green algae was related to decreased sick days. 71,72
In a study of 100 children diagnosed with a zinc deficiency and given either zinc sulfate or blue-green algae tablets, those given blue-green algae demonstrated a superior immune response. The zinc found in blue-green algae may be about three times more effective than zinc from mineral sources. 73
Increased antibody production and enhanced immune function
Researchers have found increased antibody production and enhanced immune function in animals supplemented with blue-green algae. 78, 79
Several studies, animal and human, have demonstrated the ability of microalgae to increase macrophage movement. 80-82 The dietary use of blue-green algae is reported to enhance the immune response in laboratory mice, by stimulating macrophage functions, phagocytosis and enhanced interleukin-1 production. 83, 84
Gitte Jensen, Ph.D., an immunologist at McGill University, working with a team of researchers at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, demonstrated improved trafficking of immune cells to be among the effects of Aph. flos-aquae algae on the human immune system. Many immune cells (e.g., natural killer [NK] cells) do their primary work outside of the bloodstream in the tissues. Aph. flos-aquae algae increased the number of white blood cells that moved from the bloodstream into the tissues to do their search-and-destroy mission. 86
In a follow-up double-blind study, Jensen’s team replicated the initial results and also found that longer-term consumers of Aph. flos-aquae demonstrated greater benefits than those taking algae for the first time. Yet even short-term consumers showed some benefits. Dr. Jensen’s team found that within two hours of eating Aph. flos-aquae there was a significant migration of natural killer cells from the blood into the surrounding tissues. Natural killer cells play a key role in our defense system as they "patrol for invading microbes and infected or transformed precancerous cells." This gentle immune boost was rapid, short-term, and cell-type specific. 87
In a retrospective review of medical cases, researchers found positive evidence that Aph. flos-aquae blue-green algae might be useful in the treatment of chronic fatigue, Epstein Barr infection, fibromyalgia, and AIDS. These diseases all involve significant immune system, and sometimes viral, components. Such anecdotal evidence suggests that at least some autoimmune diseases may respond favorably to blue-green algae. 88
