- Actually, the algae isn't tiring me.
I'm tired of the people trying to sell it to me. Most blue-green algae
is sold in a multi-level marketing scheme through Cell Tech. Sellers see
me, a physician, as a potentially lucrative franchise to sell algae for
them. So I get two or three sales calls every week (once as many as twenty).
Never mind that selling algae to make myself money is a conflict-of-interest
and an unethical ploy already encouraged by pharmaceutical companies ("The
only solution I see for your diagnosis, Mr. Smith, is blue-green algae,
which I happen to have right here..."). I've tried the algae and it
doesn't do much for me. The cost/benefit ratio is poor. Nevertheless, in
the past three years I've received over 400 phone calls, dozens of tapes
in the mail, and had people barge into my office and home, all selling
algae. One salesperson has continued to call me for almost three years!
So 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.<algae.html#1.1 When I searched
the scientific literature, most of the information regarding A. flos-aquae
was not about health benefits, but health hazards.<algae.html#2.2 A.
flos-aquae is the green pond scum that sewage engineers constantly try
to control. It kills fish, livestock, wild animals, and people's pets.
The reason why more people aren't poisoned, one researcher noted, was the
repelling appearance of A. flos-aquae-contaminated water. The literature
is full of ways to eradicate it with chlorine, copper sulfate, and other
compounds. A. flos-aquae proliferates in sewage and other waters rich in
nitrogen and phosphorus. Upper Klamath Lake, where Cell Tech harvests its
algae, is a shallow eutrophied lake full of nitrogen and phosphorus from
animal feces. Klamath Lake lies along a migratory bird flyway, and large
colonies of pelicans poop there year-round in a protected sanctuary. The
August 1995 issue of Vegetarian Times describes the lake as pretty polluted.
Three epidemic fish kills have occurred there recently, due to algal blooms.
-
- Toxins may also come from bacterial contaminants.
Pathogenic bacteria luxuriate in water with a slightly basic pH, like water
found in Klamath Lake.<algae.html#3.3 The mucilaginous sheath encasing
A. flos-aquae and Spirulina spp. provides a strong anchor for adhering
bacteria. Most Spirulina cultivators recognize this problem and pasteurize
their product.<algae.html#4.4 Cell Tech substitutes expensive pasteurization
with a "heat-sanitize" process.<algae.html#5.5 Toxic samples
of A. flos-aquae are frequently infested with gram-negative rod bacteria.<algae.html#6a.6a
-
- A. flos-aquae also produces hepatotoxins
and neurotoxins. Some of these are carcinogenic.<algae.html#6b.6b Others
are acutely lethal. The LD50 of one hepatotoxin, microcystin-LR is a mere
50 µg/kg, compared to cyanide's LD50 of 10,000 µg/kg.<algae.html#7.7
Neurotoxins produced by A. flos-aquae include neosaxitoxin and anatoxin.<algae.html#8.8
Anatoxin is a chemical cousin to cocaine. Anatoxins may be the reason why
people eating blue-green algae sometimes feel energized. Some people also
describe being addicted to blue-green algae. Animals are known to develop
a fatal attraction to mats of blue-green algae washed up on shorelines.<algae.html#9.9
Anatoxins are neurotoxins and eventually destroy brain cells.<algae.html#10.10
And contrary to claims by Cell Tech, toxins have been found in A. flos-aquae
coming from Klamath Lake.6,<algae.html#1111,<algae.html#1212 Cell
Tech reportedly tests their algae for these toxins. But in 1984 batches
of blue green algae distributed by Cell Tech were found to be toxic and
seized by the FDA.<algae.html#13.13 According to a company posting,
tests for toxins are run every other day.<algae.html#1414 Cell Tech
uses a "bio assay" anatoxin test (which means they inject mice
and see if the mice die - PETA are you reading me?).
-
- Luckily, it seems these toxins rarely
arise in Klamath Lake. But why eat algae with such toxic potential? Spirulina,
a blue-green algae marketed by other companies, never produces anatoxin
nor microcystin. Dry Spirulina contains 66% protein,<algae.html#15.15
compared to 63% in dry A. flos-aquae "Alpha Sun."<algae.html#3.3
Spirulina contains about the same or more B vitamins than A. flos-aquae,
with the exception of B12. Spirulina also contains more calcium, phosphorus,
magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese, and chromium than A. flos-aquae, but
less iron, iodine, fluorine, selenium and molybdenum.<algae.html#1616
-
- Despite these facts, or perhaps because
of them, Cell Tech slams Spirulina as a vastly inferior food.<algae.html#3.3
Cell Tech's literature is full of corporate hype. The bogus health claims
made by Cell Tech distributors really make me mad. At last count, A. flos-aquae
has cured over 600 diseases, including Alzheimer's and AIDS. These claims
are creating large expectations in the public. And when these expectations
go unfulfilled, the public may turn cynical and stop buying not only blue-green
algae but all herbal remedies. The algae/herbal market will crash. (Cell
Tech itself is already diversifying its product line, going into telecommunications.)
The Cell Tech distributors will dash back to their old jobs, and people
like myself, who worked with herbs long before Cell Tech came along, will
remain behind to begin rebuilding the public's faith in herbal medicine.
-
- Blue green algae is a lot like the Kombucha
tea - of dubious benefit and full of potential danger. But while most Kombucha
is distributed free as an act of caring and love, Cell Tech made $50 million
off its algae last year, and 54¢ of every dollar's worth of algae
goes to sellers as a commission.<algae.html#3.3 I realize this article
may anger some people distributing blue-green algae. I'm sorry. But I hope
they'll stop asking me to buy and sell the stuff.
-
- Epilogue
-
- The above article was published in a
local publication, the Vermont Alternative Medicine Newsletter. A mere
three days after mailing the newsletter around Vermont, I received a nasty
phone call from Cell Tech in Oregon. Cell Tech makes Super Blue-Green Algaeª
(SBGA), and they didn't like my article. They rudely assumed I was "paid
off by the Spirulina people." They refused to believe that I wrote
the article on my own, for nothing. The concept of doing something for
free seemed very foreign to them (although Cell Tech does understand tax
write-offs, from which they generate hype about corporate humanitarianism).
Cell Tech has paid people to write propaganda for them, and they have paid
off critics to stop writing. Needless to say, they haven't paid me off
yet!
-
- Christian Drapeau, Cell Tech's Director
of Research, sent me a letter saying I "obviously lacked the scientific
training and background necessary to correctly interpret the scientific
literature that is available on blue-green algae." The arrogance!
I've published more research in the scientific literature than Drapeau
has; I've probably published more articles than Cell Tech's entire research
department. The point of my article on SBGA was not whether SBGA has scientific
nutritional value. It most certainly does (albeit at a terrible cost-to-benefit
ratio). My article took issue with the greedy misconduct of Cell Tech distributors,
spewing their half-truths and lies to generate sales commissions.
-
- Drapeau missed my point. Instead he vigorously
denied that Cell Tech's algae have ever produced toxins in Klamath Lake.
For every scientific publication stating the species has produced toxins,6,<algae.html#1111,<algae.html#1212
Drapeau devised some contradictory flim-flam defense. On several occasions
he even contradicted himself. Drapeau did correct me on one point: the
FDA never seized algae produced by Cell Tech. The FDA seized algae sold
by Victor Kollman, Cell Tech's predecessor. After Kollman was busted for
fraud, his brother, Daryl, took over the algae business and Daryl created
Cell Tech and its cult of personality.
-
- I received several pro-algae letters
from Vermonters; 100% were Cell Tech distributors. Nobody wrote a positive
note who didn't have a vested interest in Cell Tech. I heard from six people
with bad "algae stories," who suffered many side effects after
taking SBGA, including nausea, vomiting, chills, fever, anxiety, psychosis,
and even hepatitis.
-
- Since the printing of my article I've
seen other authors issue warnings about blue green algae in Scientific
American, Vegetarian Times, Natural Health, and Prevention. Are they all
just crying sour grapes because Daryl Kollman is a millionaire? I think
not. It seems SBGA, like many species of blue green algae, is encased by
a mucilaginous sheath, which provides a strong anchor for adhering bacterial
contaminants. One such bacterium associated with blue green algae is Legionella
pneumophila, the cause of Legionnaires disease.<algae.html#17.17 Another
bad bug, Vibrio cholerae, can actually live inside blue green algae.<algae.html#18.18,
<algae.html#1919 Drinking V. cholerae-contaminated water causes cholera,
if the bacteria survives passage through the stomach. Protection within
algae may aid the bacteria's passage through the gastric acid barrier.<algae.html#20.20
Algal protection also allows bacteria to survive in aquatic conditions
that would normally kill them. McCarthy & Khambaty<algae.html#21.21
suggest this is how cholera spread from Bangladesh to Latin America - first
V. cholerae attached to algae in polluted Bangladesh water, then cargo
ships took on the algae-infested water as ballast, sailed to Peru and Mexico,
discharged their ballast, the cholera reverted to an infectious state,
and started a New World epidemic. Ships are now required to discharge their
ballast on the high seas to reduce the possibility of introducing pathogens
into U.S. coastal waters.
-
- I'm not saying Cell Tech sells algae
contaminated by Legionella pneumophila or Vibrio cholerae. But has anyone
looked for these organisms? Both are extremely difficult to isolate in
vitro.<algae.html#1919 According to Epstein,<algae.html#2222 algae-disseminated
disease will increase on a global scale due to global warming. Like Cell
Tech's propaganda, Epstein sees blue-green algae looming large over the
21st century. But Epstein is not happy about it.
-
-
- Correspondence to:
-
- John M. McPartland, DO Director, Vermont
Alternative Medicine 53 Washington Street Middleburg, Vermont 05753 USA
-
- Peer Review
-
- The manuscript has undergone truthful
peer reviews by another health practitioner, Dr. Matheson; an author/medical
researcher, Dr. Roos; and researcher, Dr. Soons. Their letters are enclosed.
All references directly support the statements and assertions of my article.
No conclusion or summary statement of any reference is in opposition to
my premise. I have not been paid to write this article. I do not work for
a proprietary company which will benefit by publication of this article.
I do not sell or provide a product or service which will benefit by publication
of this article.
-
- References
-
- 1. Gorham PR. 1964. Toxic algae, pp.
307-336 in Algae and Man, Jackson
- DF, Ed., Plenum Press, NY.
-
- 2. Alam M, Euler KL. 1981. Chemical studies
on toxins from the
- blue-green alga Aphanizomenon flos-aquae,
pp. 405-414 in The Water
- Environment: Algal Toxins and Health.
Ed. WW Carichael, Plenum Press,
- NY. 491 pp.
-
- 3. Kollman DJ. 1994. Product Information
Booklet: The Miracle of Super
- Blue Greenª Algae. Cell Tech, Klamath
Falls, OR. 45 pp.
-
- 4. Jassby A. 1988b. Some public health
aspects of microalgal products,
- pp. 181-202 in Alagae and Human Affairs.
Eds. CA Lembi & JR Waaland.
- Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
UK.
-
- 5. Drapeau C. 1996. Personal letter
to John McPartland, 8 April 1996.
-
- 6a. Ecker MM, Foxall Tl, Sasner JJ. 1981.
Morphology of toxic versus
- non-toxic strains of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae,
pp. 113-126 in The Water
- Environment: Algal Toxins and Health.
Ed. WW Carmichael, Plenum Press, NY.
- 491 pp.
-
- 6b. Elder GH, Hunter PR, Codd GA. 1993.
Hazardous freshwater
- cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). Lancet
341:1519-1520.
-
- 7. Hunter PR. 1992. Cyanobacteria and
human health. J Med Microb 36:301-302.
-
- 8. Carmichael WA, Biggs DA, Peterson
MA. 1979. Pharmacology of
- anatoxin-a, produced by the freshwater
cyanophyte Anabaena flos-aquae.
- Toxicon 17:229-236.
-
- 9. Codd GA, Edwards C, Beattie KA, Barr
WM, Gunn GJ. 1992. Fatal
- attraction to cyanobacteria? Nature 359:110-111.
-
- 10. Adeyemo OM, Sirn A-L. 1992. Cardio-respiratory
changes and
- mortality in the conscious rat induced
by (+)- and (±)-anatoxin-a.
- Toxicon 30:899-905.
-
- 11. Gentile JH. 1971. Blue green and
green algal toxins, pp. 27-67 in
- vol. 7 of Microbial Toxins, Kadis S,
Ciegler A, Ajl SJ, Eds., Academic
- Press, NY.
-
- 12. Phinney HK, Peek CA. 1961. Klamath
Lake, an instance of natural
- enrichment. Trans. Sem. on Algae and
Metropolitan Wastes. Robert A. Taft
- Sanitary Engineering Center, Cincinnati,
OH.
-
- 13. Rados WM. 1985. Algae eaters. FDA
Consumer 19(2):38-39.
-
- 14. Cell Tech. 1995. Cell Tech products
are safe! Internet
- http://www.island.net/~bionet/whatabo.html.
-
- 15. Lapp FM. 1982. Diet for a Small Planet.
Ballentine, NY.
-
- 16. Jassby A. 1988a. Spirulina: a model
for microalgae as human food,
- pp. 149-179 in Alagae and Human Affairs.
Eds. CA Lembi & JR Waaland.
- Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
UK.
-
- 17. Tison DL, Pope DH, Cherry WB, Fliermans
CB. 1980. Growth of
- Legionella pneumophila in association
with blue-green algae
- (cyanobacteria). Applied & Environmental
Microbiology 39:456-459.
-
- 18. Tamplin ML, Gauzens AL, Huq A, Sack
DA, Colwell RR. 1990. Attachment
- of Vibrio cholerae serogroup O1 to zooplankton
and phytoplankton of
- Bangladesh waters. Applied & Environmental
Microbiology 56: 1977-1980.
-
- 19. Islam MS, Miah MA, Hasan MK, Sack
RB, Albert MJ. 1994. Detection of
- non-culturable Vibrio cholerae O1 associated
with a cyanobacterium from
- an aquatic environment in Bangladesh.
Transactions Royal Society Tropical
- Medicine & Hygiene 88:298-299.
-
- 20. Spira WM. 1981. Environmental factors
in diarrhea transmission: the
- ecology of Vibrio colerae O1 and cholera,
pp. 273-288 in Acute Enteric
- Infections in Children. Holme T, Holmgren
J, Merson MH, M°lby R, Eds.
- Elsevier/North-Holland, Amsterdam.
-
- 21. McCarthy SA, Khambaty FM. 1994. International
dissemination of
- epidemic Vibrio cholerae by cargo ship
ballast and other nonpotable
- waters. Applied & Environmental Microbiology
60:2597-2601
-
- 22. Epstein PR. 1993. Algal blooms in
the spread and persistence of
- cholera. BioSystems 31:209-221.
- _________________
-
- Copyright© Townsend Letter for Doctors
and Patients 1998. All Rights Reserved
-
- Phone 360-385-6021 / Fax 360-385-0699
/
- <mailto:info@tldp.cominfo@tldp.com
/
- <mailto:webmaster@tldp.comwebmaster@tldp.com
|
Sightings HomePage