Some people think I'm goofy, but when I eat wild algae, I thank it for sharing its three and a half billion years of planetary wisdom, and I ask it to teach me what it knows.

—Cat Saunders

My Wild Blue Green Love Affair
The Amazing Effects of Eating Algae

By Cat Saunders

Don't tell my partner, John, but I’ve been having a love affair since 1993. I'm head-over-heels in love with wild algae! In the past, I avoided writing about algae because I was also selling it. I didn't want people to think I was using my published writing to advertise my business. However, I stopped selling algae after a few years because I had to focus on my other work. So now you can rest assured that I won't profit from your choice if this article inspires you to buy some algae.

Before I say more about the amazing effects of eating algae, let me tell you what kind of algae I'm talking about. Perhaps you've heard about popular forms of cultivated algae (spirulina and chlorella) and you've probably seen plenty of pond scum! What I'm talking about here, though, is called Aphanizomenon Flos-Aquae (AFA), or blue-green algae, which grows wild in Oregon's Klamath Lake.

I'll be happy to direct you to someone I love and trust who sells algae (see end of article), but I can't mention the name of the company or the trade name of the algae in this article. Why? Because if I use those names in writing, I'd have to get the company's stamp of approval, and frankly, I want to say some radical things about my personal experience with algae.

I respect the company's need to control what is said about their product, so I'll just call the algae by its Latin name or simply call it "wild algae." Then I say whatever I want and not step on anyone's toes. I especially want to be free to talk about the metaphysics of wild algae, because I'm truly amazed by this humble organism's deep-level effects on my well-being.

The man who founded the company–who's been eating algae regularly since the early 1970s–-definitely knows about the metaphysics of algae, and he even writes about it himself. Even so, I bet he doesn't say as much publicly as he says in private, since there are so many people "watchdogging" him. You see, this particular company grew like algae and became very successful over time. As a result, it has learned about the shadow side of success–that you get "shot at" sometimes.

Of course, it's important to address people's objections, even if these objections aren't stated with respect. Because wild algae has become so popular, there are those who would like to bring the giant down, so to speak. They may do this by disputing people's personal experiences with wild algae, or they may question the purity of Klamath Lake, or they might attack the company's integrity.

For instance, once of my favorite "bad press" objections comes from a March 1997 piece in Self, which quotes Dr. Andrew Weil: "It seems quite possible that the product contains some pharmacological agent, and it’s worrisome that nobody knows what it is." Dr. Robert Swift, from the Brown University, is also quoted: "Many organisms contain natural compounds that have psychotropic effect on humans–take psilocybin, which is a found in fungi–and it is quite possible that blue-green algae contains one that we don't yet know about."

With all due respect, I think these statements are way off the mark. I mean, think about it. Individual, relatively scarce mushrooms and other rare psychotropic plants are a lot different from algae, some form of which can be found in every drop of water all over the world. The fact is, algae is at the bottom of the food chain, and every living creature already ingests algae–-either directly, by eating it, or indirectly, by eating other organisms that eat it. Either way, we're all algae eaters!

Specifically, in relation to Klamath Lake's blue-green algae, can you imagine if the algae were psychotropic? If it were, there would be a lot of stoned fish swimming around in the lake. Also, since all the local animals drink from those waters or from waters that come from it, there would be a lot of deer and raccoons off in the bushes, hallucinating like crazy. Maybe there are, but somehow I doubt it.

I think nature knows better than to make algae psychotropic. Algae is too much of a staple food, pure and simple. Besides, indigenous people all over the world have been eating blue-green algae for centuries. If it was psychotropic, I think we would have heard about it by now.

The fear of psychoactive agents is only one of the objections people have about wild algae. Other objections may not be so far fetched, but they still deserve more attention than I can provide here. If you want more information on this topic, you're welcome to ask my resource person (see end of this article). At this point, let me say that I appreciate the objections. I don't believe in blind faith, and I’ve learned more about wild algae as a result of researching both sides of the story. For now, let me return to the plus side.

There are countless articles, tapes, and videos about wild blue-green algae, and you could check out any of the ones available to find out about algae's many benefits. If you do, you'd be likely to hear about how algae increases energy and physical stamina, improves memory and mental clarity, alleviates fatigue, improves digestion and elimination, relieves PMS and allergy symptoms, stimulates immune function, and more.

You'd also learn that algae is more than ninety percent assimilable, that it contains all the essential amino acids in a balance which nearly matches that of our own cells, and that it contains all the trace minerals essential for human health. You might even read about a scientific study that favorably compares blue-green algae's fatty acid content to that of human breast milk.

My algae-eating cohorts and I can personally attest to the truth of these benefits–-plus a few more. For instance, wild algae changed my dreams in dynamic ways (if I start telling you how, I'll be here all night!). Also, I remember that when I first started eating algae, I'd sometimes sit quietly and just watch my mind work, because the ideas were flowing at an accelerated rate. This eventually became "normal" once I got used to it, but it was definitely a noticeable change.

Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you that algae is for everyone. For some people, it's too powerful and they get scared at the first sign of "detox"–-the body's natural cleansing response, which may occur during any healing process. Besides this, some people may not notice major changes with algae because they’re already functioning at such high levels. Last of all, it's different strokes for different folks! In other words, some people don't resonate with the idea of eating wild algae. After all, it's slimy pond scum, isn't it?

Actually, Aphanizomenon Flos-Aquae is not slimy pond scum at all. It's a beautiful blue-green aquatic plant, with lovely long tendrils of discrete, branching "leaves." More precisely, AFA is not only a plant; it also shares some characteristics of animals and bacteria. It's a plant because it performs photosynthesis. Yet it's like an animal, because its cell walls are made of protein. Finally, it's in the kingdom of bacteria, because like all bacteria, the cells of wild blue-green algae have no nuclei.

It's this last quality that makes wild algae intriguing to me metaphysically. Without going into the scientific details, let me explain briefly. The fact that AFA has no nucleus means that its "guts"–all the cellular memory stored inside its cells–spill out into ours when we eat it. Typically, the cellular memory (DNA) of plants and animals is locked away inside the nuclei of their cells, and this DNA information only becomes available through cell division during reproduction.

This means that humans generally don't assimilate the DNA of ingested plants and animals. However, through a process of sharing information with other bacteria in our own digestive systems, AFA's three and a half billion years of cellular memory become available to us. The ramifications of this fascinate me!

Some people think I'm goofy, but when I eat wild algae, I thank it for sharing its three and a half billion years of planetary wisdom, and I ask it to teach me what it knows. In a way, wild algae is a shaman to me, because it has "journeyed" through time and space to bring information from many levels of reality, to help in there here and now. That's what shamans do, too!

Algae brings me information directly from the sun, stored deep in its bright green, chlorophyll-rich strands. It brings me information from the three kingdoms of plants, animals, and bacteria. In addition, algae clones itself to reproduce, so present-time algae contains the genetic information it has gathered during three billion years of life on this planet. So in essence, wild algae brings me DNA memory about how to survive.

Am I getting too far out for you? Let me ground it. One of the things my friends and I noticed when we started eating algae was that we began to stand up for ourselves better. Many of my friends are helping professionals, so we've been trained to focus on other people's needs. While this may win us a lot of brownie points, it doesn't necessarily support good self-care.

As the weeks went by, my friends and I reported back to each other that we were having more confrontations than usual. I don’t mean we were brandishing weapons at the office. For us caretaker types, "confrontation" may simply mean saying no when someone wants us to say yes. As I watched our self-respect grow increasingly stronger, I began to wonder why this humble little organism could change people so dramatically. What was happening?

I know algae is full of raw neuropeptides, the basic amino acid building blocks that feed the brain. So when people's brains work better, it would make sense that they'd become psychologically stronger. However, I think it's more than that. I think the reason wild algae makes people stand up for themselves is that it has survived everything on earth for three and a half billion years. I think that when I eat algae, it shares this powerful sense of survival with me.

Along with becoming more assertive, I think algae has helped me and my friends make better choices for ourselves, probably for the same reasons mentioned above. That is, if your core belief in your ability to survive increases substantially, you're increasingly able to make better choices for yourself–which in turn enhances your ability to survive and thrive.

People often make positive changes in diet, exercise, activities, and even relationships during the months and years after they begin eating wild blue-green algae. Since algae is not a drug, it affects everyone differently, according to what needs rebalancing. Let me give you a simple analogy to explain.

Imagine a coin counter with one hundred slots each for quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. Let's say this particular coin counter has 47 quarters, 23 dimes, 55 nickels, and 76 pennies. Now imagine that someone comes along and dumps a large number of coins into the machine. When the waterfall of coins is over, each of the compartments is now full.

Next, imagine that this coin counter is the human body, and the waterfall of coins is a shower of blue-green algae. The algae nutrients (coins) fill up whatever's missing in the body (the coin counter). After all the slots are filled up, there may be leftover nutrients or "money in the bank," so to speak. At that point, your body can do whatever it wants with the extra nutrients.

Are you still with me? Okay, so if your coin counter is missing pennies, but mine is missing quarters, it's obvious that you and I not only have different amounts of money, but also different needs in terms of getting our coin counters filled up. The same is true with nutrients and the body. Since I’ve been working with various forms of chronic pain and illness for most of my adult life, my own "coin counter" was pretty empty when I started eating algae, despite years of helpful healing practices.

Because my coffers were running dry, I experienced huge improvement in my physical and emotional functioning from my very first capsule of algae. Other people might undergo more subtle changes, if they were already enjoying good health. Even with the addition of algae to my diet, I still work with a few challenging physical conditions. However, there's no comparison between my body now and my body before algae. Wild blue-green algae is truly a wonderful helpmate.

Thus, it's not really the algae that works magic; it's the miracle of the human body. When the body gets enough of everything it needs, it can flourish. Wild algae provides raw, organic, easily assimilable trace minerals and other nutrients that are often missing from modern foods. In contrast to foods grown on depleted soils, Aphanizomenon Flos-Aquae grows in a lake with 35 feet of mineral deposits. That's a rich mix!

Klamath Lake's abundant mineral base makes it easy to understand why wild algae is so much more nutritionally complex than cultivated algae like spirulina. Of course, many people prefer the idea of ingesting cultivated algae, which is grown in controlled, standardized ponds. But for those of you who would rather trust Mother Nature, I recommend a walk on the wild side.

It took me three years before I learned how to pronounce Aphanizomenon Flos-Aquae, but it took only three seconds for me to down that first capsule. The rest, as they say, is history. Three and a half billion years of history!


This article was originally published by The New Times (May 1997).

For more information or to purchase wild blue-green algae, please contact Donia Alawi at doniasea@aol.com. Be sure to say hello for me and give her my love!