Spirulina platensis in the Treatment of Obesity and some of its Consequences

Abstract

Introduction: Spirulina platensis is a substantial reservoir of functional foods and nutrients with low calorie content. Although several beneficial qualities are mentioned in the scientific literature, one of them is to increase the feeling of satiety, which opens the possibility of being used for preventing and treating obesity, as well as some of its consequences.

Objective: To describe the role of Spirulina platensis for treating obesity and some of its consequences.

Methods: A search of relevant literature on the subject was carried out in the first four months of 2020. The following scientific information search engines were used: Pubmed, Scielo, Google and Google Scholar. The search strategy included the following terms as keywords: espirulina [spirulina], Spirulina platensis, obesidad [obesity], exceso de peso [overweight]. Review articles, research articles and Web pages were assessed, which, in general, had been published within less than ten years, in Spanish, Portuguese and English, and which made specific reference to the study topic through their titles. Articles that did not meet these conditions were excluded. This allowed the study of 75 bibliographic references, of which 51 were cited in this article.

Conclusions: Spirulina platensis is an option as a nutraceutical and functional supplement, with preventive and coadjutant value for the treatment of obesity and some of its consequences, at least in the short term.