Spirulina turns me into Superman. Need som...
Eruditus 13 Oct 2013
I have been combining noopept with the uridine stack lately. Seeing as I don't have any pure uridine available to me at the moment I had to improvise and purchase some spirulina from the health-shop; the stuff contains about 5% uridine and is chock-full of other essential phytonutrients not to mention one of the most bio-available sources of protein known to man. I combine this with krill omega 3 and some pretty potent vitamin e.
Now I have been having the most absurd interaction and for the life of me I cannot figure out what is going on but it's pretty damn awesome. First of all let me tell you my thirst and hunger have grown to legendary viking proportions, eating healthy meals twice the size I would normally eat and drinking between 4-6 liters water in a day. All the water just flushes right though me and if I don't get the water or the food I need I can feel the nootropic effects of both fading until I either get a numb head ache or feel like I would usually do without taking anything. The thirst can be a slight bother however because it has gotten to the point where I need to have at least two glasses every hour or risk getting dried out lips and feeling an uncomfortable sensation somewhere around the left of my diaphragm.
Now for the positives of this combo. My skin has gone so healthy smooth like a babies skin; reaaally amazed me how unblemished it was and this happened very rapidly within just 3 days of starting on this combination. My Keratosis Pilaris seems to be clearing up too, but it's going to take at least another week to tell if it's going to go into some form of full remission (I did not even know this was possible??). Whereas before I was dosing 10mg twice a day on the noopept, this has now become overkill and I find that if I take 6 grams of spirulina throughout the day, then I will only need 10mg in the morning around 8 or 9 am whith effects lasting me well into the night. The fat distribution on my body has changed dramatically. I have always been a skinny guy with quite a bit of fat on my thighs this is not the case anymore; the layer of fat on my thighs can't be thicker then a centimeter or two anymore. And I'm also losing weight (about 2kgs in the past week), but I'm guessing it's just fat cause I'm not getting any weaker at all, in fact my endurance and strength have been radically increasing. Also Strangely enough my resistance to extreme heat is getting epic, I can literally toss meat and potatoes around in the pan with my bare hands without getting burned (WTF?). My eye bags have completely dissipated. And I'm sure there's a few others I just can't think of listing right now.
I think it might be smart to reduce the total daily spirulina dose from 6g to 3g. I base this on the fact that the stimulant effects seem to be growing stronger and stronger every day, today I almost felt like I was on a perpetual amphetamine high that just did not have a crash or comedown besides it subsiding without the necessary caloric intake and hydration.
Anybody have a clue dafuq is going on in my body; whether it's actually healthy or if I'm going to be cutting my life-time in half by sending my body into this sort of super-drive? Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and trying to understand this peculiar case, I know I can't make heads or tails of it
theconomist 13 Oct 2013
Also are you taking nothing BUT noopept and spirulina?
Eruditus 13 Oct 2013
Absent 13 Oct 2013
Eruditus 14 Oct 2013
Dropping noopept, to investigate the sole benefits of spirulina is not of particular interest to me at this point as I am working on enhancing my personal awareness and learning as much as possible during the time period I am going to be using this wonder drug, which will be at least a good two months straight if I keep getting the benefits that long.
The cognitive effects were quite exhilarating and simultaneously hard to put into practical applications. Like I said I still felt the cognitive clairvoyance and memory boost the noopept gave, yet the energy boost of both substances synergised and was at least double that of only of noopept. There were times specifically 2 to 3 hours after taking a spirulina dose I would have so much wild near uncontrollable appetite to do things that were more stimulating than your standard sedentiary-lifestyle-activities; I would either have to go for walks, talk to my parents non-stop about everything or participate in some intellectual challenge like chess, checkers, you name it and I was becoming a wizard in it. The sole issue here was that normal activities like watching some tv programs with the family was no longer viable entertainment for me. The sheer idiocy and terrible quality of most contemporary tv programs and movies did nothing but bore me and disgust me in their' perverse distortion of reality.
Hope this answers your question a bit.
8bitmore 14 Oct 2013
Also: "The sole issue here was that normal activities like watching some tv programs with the family was no longer viable entertainment for me. The sheer idiocy and terrible quality of most contemporary tv programs and movies did nothing but bore me and disgust me in their' perverse distortion of reality." - this is absolutely normal reaction when one is well/"in-balance" in oneself, its been years since I owned a TV, I relax (and entertain myself) far better with a book these days..
Eruditus 14 Oct 2013
Eruditus 14 Oct 2013
Perhaps it's the high amount of iodine stimulating your thyroid
Doubt it could be hyperthyroidism. No trembling, sweating or anxiety. Resting heartrate remains a steady 70-80 in the morning dropping to 60-70 by nightfall. Also I'm experiencing the exact opposite of increased sensitivity to heat. So maybe my thyroid has become less active instead, yet this would still not explain how I'm losing weight then.
NFP 19 Oct 2013
Updates on this? I'm very intrigued!
same here. my dad would force me to drink this as a little kid, i was too young to remember any benefits though.
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Eruditus 20 Oct 2013
Also I'm cycling off of noopept for now, I am 100% certain the effects are diminishing and I would rather cycle onto some herbals like ashwaganda, bacopa monnieri and ginkgo biloba with maybe some ALCAR for a month before continuing consuming anymore noopept. If anyone knows anymore advisable additions to this stack to minimize the reduced intellect from noopept cessation these suggestions would be welcome.
Edited by Eruditus, 20 October 2013 - 03:40 PM.
jadamgo 22 Oct 2013
It seems to me the moment you point out that someone else's habits are no longer good enough for yourself you are insulting them
Yes, that can be a problem with insecure people, they're usually hypersensitive to perceived or imagined condescension.
The combination of stimulation, laserlike focus, increased urination and thirst, and tolerance to all these effects that develops over a few days to weeks makes me wonder if spirulina contains a dopaminergic agent. Dopamine would cause all these things.
Eruditus 22 Oct 2013
8bitmore 22 Oct 2013
Well according to the wiki page on spirulina, it contains both phenylalanine at 81mg per 6g and tyrosine at 75mg per 6g. These still seem like they would be too minuscule quantities to amount to such a strong reaction.
What you experienced first on was likely a particular type of synergy between many different compounds within the spirulina complex that interacted with a particular state in your body (possibly correcting a deficiency in the process). Since the effect has trailed off for you this is the most likely explanation as far as I can see. Also, as to the thirst I see that Spirulina itself contains almost 10% salt so.. that's 600mg a day with your 6 gram dose!
BlueCloud 03 Dec 2013
I don't think this is due to the phenylalanine/tyrosine content, it's too small as Eruditus said, and I usually need to take at least 2 Grams of Tyrosine to feel anything from it
If this is sustainable and not just a fluke, I could see myself taking it on a regular basis/long-term.
Eruditus 05 Dec 2013
Absent 05 Dec 2013
I am 99% sure that it's iodine pushing thyroid activity, thus leading to a more dramatic increase in energy the greater a dietary deficiency in iodine if present + the weight loss I experienced I can only attribute to somehow entering a facilitated at least partially ketogenic state; which to me seeing as how spirulina is a detoxifier and can also purportedly causes weight loss has its effects. Ketosis would also explain my extreme thirst due to electrolyte imbalances.
Interesting. For like a few weeks I had forgotten what this stuff(Spirulina) was called and searching for the thread, and luckily you posted about it. Then you also happen to mention the Iodine energy boost.
Would you mind contributing over at my Iodine thread? http://www.longecity..._90#entry627799
A lot of people are insisting that Iodine energy related boosts and all associated physical phenomena of elevated thyroid hormone are nothing more than a placebo effect.
Sorry if this seems offtopic!
niner 05 Dec 2013
I am 99% sure that it's iodine pushing thyroid activity, thus leading to a more dramatic increase in energy the greater a dietary deficiency in iodine if present + the weight loss I experienced I can only attribute to somehow entering a facilitated at least partially ketogenic state; which to me seeing as how spirulina is a detoxifier and can also purportedly causes weight loss has its effects. Ketosis would also explain my extreme thirst due to electrolyte imbalances.
Iodine might be what's doing it. This (not particularly authoritative) site says a serving of spirulina can range from 16 mcg to 15 mg Iodine. That's a pretty wide range, but at the high end is enough to elicit at least some of your symptoms.
I doubt that you're in ketosis, however, unless you are super low carb.
Eruditus 05 Dec 2013
I've actually started up on a ketogenic diet these past two weeks and strangely enough it gave the last push for my keratosis pilaris to start clearing up again much more so then just taking the spirulina. No more weight loss this time though, storing up at least 300g of fats a day and I have to say this feels great and a much like my initial reaction to spirulina was. Also there is a link between iodine deficiency and increased insulin resistance which doesn't necessarily revers means it can induce ketosis, but it is as the other end of the metabolic scale if insulin production could be lowered dramatically enough.
LexLux 21 Feb 2014
Food Chem Toxicol. 2009 Sep;47(9):2189-95. Epub 2009 Jun 9.First detection of anatoxin-a in human and animal dietary supplements containing cyanobacteria.Rellán S, Osswald J, Saker M, Gago-Martinez A, Vasconcelos V.
Y. Jiang, P. Xie, J. Chen, and G. Liang. Detection of the hepatotoxic microcystins in 36 kinds of cyanobacteria spirulina food products in china. Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess, 25(7):885-894, 2008.
This is hardly surprising since they are both essentially pond scum and if you've ever kept a planted or marine aquarium you know how easily cyanobacteria can swamp entire set-ups.
Why is this an issue? Because cayano bacteria produce toxins that affect the nervous system and liver:
Cox PA, Banack SA, Murch SJ, Rasmussen U, Tien G, Bidigare RR, Metcalf JS, Morrison LF, Codd GA, Bergman B. Diverse taxa of cyanobacteria produce beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine, a neurotoxic amino acid. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Apr 5;102(14):5074-8. Epub 2005 Apr 4.
Torres-Duran PV, Ferreira-Hermosillo A, Juarez-Oropeza MA. Antihyperlipemic and antihypertensive effects of Spirulina maxima in an open sample of Mexican population: a preliminary report. Lipids Health Dis. 2007 Nov 26;6:33.
Cingi C, Conk-Dalay M, Cakli H, Bal C. The effects of spirulina on allergic rhinitis. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2008 Oct;265(10):1219-23. Epub 2008 Mar 15.
Mazokopakis EE, Karefilakis CM, Tsartsalis AN, Milkas AN, Ganotakis ES. Acute rhabdomyolysis caused by Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis). Phytomedicine. 2008 Jun;15(6-7):525-7. Epub 2008 Apr 22.
It has even been shown to cause infant seizures where a mother uses spirulina:
G. Moulis, A. Batz, G. Durrieu, C. Viard, S. Decramer, J.-L. Montastruc. Severe neonatal hypercalcemia related to maternal exposure to nutritional supplement containing Spirulina. Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 2012 68(2):221 - 222
R. J. Marles, M. L. Barrett, J. Barnes, M. L. Chavez, P. Gardiner, R. Ko, G. B. Mahady, T. L. Dog, N. D. Sarma, G. I. Giancaspro, M. Sharaf, J. Griffiths. United States pharmacopeia safety evaluation of spirulina. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2011 51(7):593 - 604
I do not mean to say that this will happen to you with your supplement, but it is definitely something to consider when supplementing spirulina.
Edited by LexLux, 21 February 2014 - 06:31 AM.