Spirulina: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Spirulina is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Sold as
- Spirulina
- Generic available?
- Yes
Every spirulina product we track (1)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
Only one: Spirulina.
Spirulina and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for spirulina: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadSpirulina (Aphanizomenon sp., Spirulina sp., and others) is a fresh-water blue-green alga that contains various nutrients such as protein, B vitamins, vitamin E, chlorophyll, beta-carotene, and iron. Spirulina has no specific lactation-related uses. No data exist on the excretion of any components of spirulina into breastmilk or on the safety and efficacy of spirulina in nursing mothers or infants. Spirulina is generally well tolerated when grown under controlled conditions. Minor adverse effects include diarrhea, bloating, upset stomach, flatulence, edema, headache, muscle pain, facial flushing, and sweating. Products that are grown in uncontrolled conditions can contain heavy metals and other contaminants. Some products can be contaminated with the blue-green algae species Microcystis aeruginosa, which produces the hepatotoxins called microcystins. Breastmilk discoloration, green in one case, has been reported.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised June 21, 2021. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about spirulina
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 480 reports naming spirulina, and the FDA flagged 64% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- fatigue54 reports
- dizziness40 reports
- nausea39 reports
- insomnia34 reports
- diarrhoea33 reports
- dyspnoea32 reports
- rash29 reports
- headache28 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean spirulina caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved July 26, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is Spirulina?
A blue-green algae rich in protein and antioxidants, taken as a nutrient-dense green supplement.
Can you take spirulina with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run spirulina against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
Is there a generic spirulina?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic spirulina product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Spirulina: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/spirulina
- MLA
- “Spirulina: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/spirulina.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for spirulina on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.