Simple Green

The ancient Aztecs harvested a form of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) from lake Texcoco using ropes to skim the surface, as seen in this historical codex. They then pressed and dried the green goo into cakes resembling, to my modern eyes, Soilent Green, and sold them as a source of protein.

 

And here we are many hundreds of years later and the stuff is now a fairly well-documented health food which we call Spirulina (misnamed, as the bacteria that forms it is really in the genus Arthrospira, but oh well).

 

I've always been fascinated by food, and in particular the food of our ancestors, before diet Coke and BBQ chips and Twinkies came on the scene. We eat mostly very naturally at home, if for no better reason than it can't be as bad as the stuff most American eat today.

 

And while many spurious health claims are made for dietary supplements like this, Spirulina actually has some scientific data behind it. It's been showing great promise in early research for treating some forms of disease, including ALS, because of its apparent ability to retard oxidation and nerve damage. It's also shown some positive results slowing down mental decline in the aged.

 

Spirulina may also be important in the future, as Earth's population explodes and food supplies become strained. It's fast-growing and reproduces rapidly. And it's a complete protein  - you could probably live off the stuff if you can handle masticating green cakes of algae three times a day. And NASA has stated that Spirulina is a perfect food to be grown on long-term space missions. 

 

Interestingly, there are only three lakes in the world that naturally support Spirulina populations, one of them being of course Lake Texcoco. The other two are in China and Africa. But that doesn't stop us resourceful humans, does it? No, it's now being farmed in many other lakes around the world.

 

My guess is we'll be seeing more and more Spirulina as costs come down and production goes up.