Background

Spirulina is a nontoxic blue-green algae that may improve lipid and glucose metabolism while reducing liver fat. Although some evidence indicates that it can facilitate weight loss, more research is needed to assess its efficacy.

The study

This 12-day randomized controlled trial assessed the effects of spirulina supplementation during a weight loss protocol on myostatin (MST), follistatin (FST), insulin-like growth-factor 1 (IGF-1), body composition, and liver enzymes in competitive wrestlers. Forty male wrestlers were randomly assigned to ingest capsules containing either 1,000 mg of spirulina or a placebo before each meal (3x/day) while undergoing a hypocaloric diet.

Before and after the study, the investigators assessed body weight, body fat percentage, fat mass, and skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and collected blood samples to assess MST, FST, and the liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST).

The results

The spirulina group lost a greater body fat percentage (−2.1% vs. −0.6%) and more fat mass (−2.2 kg vs. −0.9 kg) compared to the placebo group. Both groups lost body mass and SMM with no differences between groups. The spirulina group experienced a greater decrease in MST than placebo, whereas the placebo group experienced a greater decrease in the FST/MST ratio. There were no differences between groups in liver enzymes.

Note

The results of this study suggest that spirulina may facilitate favorable changes in body composition during a hypocaloric diet by modulating myostatin and follistatin. However, more studies of longer duration are needed to validate these findings.

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This Study Summary was published on May 4, 2021.