what is blue-green algae and why does it make people so obnoxious?
I investigated the algae when one of my patients came in sick after eating some. The patient had symptoms of poisoning caused by endotoxins or enterotoxins – nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, malaise. I called the salesman who sold my patient the algae, and he said these symptoms proved the algae was working, that the patient’s body was ridding itself of toxins. But this patient was a vegetarian, lived in the country, exercised regularly, and was very healthy before she ate the algae. Based on the salesman’s reasoning, my reaction to eating algae should have been ten times more nauseating, since I eat meat, drink city water, live in a moldy home, listen to Lou Reed records, etc. The species of blue-green algae sold by Cell Tech, scientific name Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, is one of six species of blue-green algae known to produce toxins.1 When I searched the scientific literature, most of the information regarding A. flos-aquae was not about health benefits, but health hazards.2 A. flos-a
