Spirulina
Arthrospira platensis
Spirulina is a blue-green cyanobacterium, Arthrospira platensis, eaten as a whole food for its protein, carotenoids and phycocyanin rather than for any single isolated compound.
AlphaCleanse, 2-capsule serving
- Milk Thistle165 mg
- Spirulina110 mg
- Ginger110 mg
- Turmeric110 mg
- Dandelion Root55 mg
- Reishi MushroomReishi55 mg
- Beetroot55 mg
- Burdock Root27.5 mg
- Rhubarb Root27.5 mg
- Schisandra BerrySchisandra27.5 mg
- Nettle Leaf27.5 mg
- BioPerine2.75 mg
Every amount is printed on the label. No proprietary blend.
2 things make it unusual on this panel.
Its human evidence is decent but comes almost entirely from gram-level doses, which puts our 110 mg a long way below the studies.
And it is the one ingredient here where the growing method itself creates a safety question, because open-pond cultivation can pick up toxin-producing species from the surrounding water.
That second one is the question worth putting to any spirulina seller, ours included, and this page answers it on the record.
How much is in AlphaCleanse
In short: AlphaCleanse contains 110 mg of spirulina per 2-capsule serving, joint second by weight on its 12-ingredient panel.
110 mg of spirulina per 2-capsule serving. That is joint second by weight on the AlphaCleanse Supplement Facts panel, level with turmeric and ginger.
It sits behind milk thistle at 165 mg and ahead of the 55 mg and 27.5 mg ingredients below it.
The panel lists spirulina as a whole ingredient with no standardisation figure, which is normal for spirulina because it is a food rather than an extract.
There is no proprietary blend. All 12 ingredients carry their own amount, and AlphaCleanse is made with organic ingredients.
What the evidence shows
In short: spirulina's human trials used 1 to 8 g a day, roughly 55 times the 110 mg in an AlphaCleanse serving.
Lipids are where the pooled human data is strongest.
A meta-analysis of 7 randomised controlled trials found spirulina moved 4 lipid measures, all at P ≤ 0.001, with the effect tracking duration rather than dose (Serban et al., Clinical Nutrition 2016;35(4):842-851, PMID 26433766):
- Total cholesterol down 46.76 mg/dL (95% CI -67.31 to -26.22).
- LDL down 41.32 mg/dL.
- Triglycerides down 44.23 mg/dL.
- HDL up 6.06 mg/dL.
Blood pressure is the other pooled finding. A meta-analysis of 5 trials in 230 subjects taking 1 to 8 g a day found systolic pressure fell 4.59 mmHg and diastolic 7.02 mmHg, mainly in people with hypertension (Machowiec et al., Nutrients 2021;13(9):3054, PMID 34578932).
The liver study people cite is small and uncontrolled.
15 adults in Crete with fatty liver, median age 48, took 6 g of spirulina daily for 6 months.
AST fell 38.5%, ALT 37.5%, HOMA-IR 19.6% and body weight 8.1%, while the ultrasound appearance of the liver did not change (Mazokopakis et al., Annals of Gastroenterology 2014;27(4):387-394, PMID 25331487).
Single-arm, no placebo, and 8.1% weight loss running alongside the result, which on its own moves liver enzymes.
Where our dose sits: a long way below. Those trials used 1 to 8 g a day and the liver study used 6 g, against 110 mg here, roughly a 1 to 55 ratio.
We claim none of those results at 110 mg.
What this page stands behind. Spirulina is here as a nutrient-dense whole food, and the human evidence worth citing for it is the lipid and blood pressure work above, printed with its doses and its sample sizes.
We do not claim that spirulina eliminates heavy metals, at 110 mg or at any amount, because no human trial showing that happening in people could be verified.
What genuinely separates one spirulina from another is not a chelation story but where it was grown and what it was tested for.
You can ask us for that in writing at help@liverated.co.
Why this dose
In short: 110 mg is a supporting nutrient-dense amount, because 6 g of spirulina will not fit inside 2 capsules.
Because 110 mg of spirulina is a supporting nutrient-dense ingredient in a 12-ingredient formula rather than a standalone clinical dose, and 6 g of anything does not fit into 2 capsules.
That constraint is worth being concrete about.
6 g of spirulina a day is 3 heaped teaspoons of powder, which is why the trials use powder.
The 12 ingredients in an AlphaCleanse serving add up to well under a gram between them, so no single ingredient here can sit at a gram-level dose without the product becoming a different product.
That is the design rather than an accident.
The formula runs on one anchor and 11 supports. Milk thistle takes 165 mg and carries the clinical weight, and spirulina is one of the 11 that widen what a single botanical can cover, at an amount you can read straight off the panel.
The only evidence we hold about the combination itself is our own registered 12-week study in 40 adults, single-arm and open-label, which cannot attribute anything to 1 of 12 ingredients.
Set against a 6 g solo trial, 110 mg of spirulina will always look small.
Set against the liver formulas that list spirulina inside a proprietary blend and print no amount at all, 110 mg is a number you can hold us to, and the panel gives you 11 more of them.
Safety and interactions
In short: contamination is spirulina's real safety question, and AlphaCleanse batches are tested for heavy metals and microbiology, not microcystins.
Spirulina scores D, possible rare cause of clinically apparent liver injury, on the NIH's LiverTox database, which is the highest score of any ingredient on our panel apart from turmeric.
That rests on a single published case: hepatocellular injury appearing after 5 weeks with full recovery on stopping, in a patient also taking acarbose and simvastatin, which makes causality uncertain (LiverTox, NBK548312).
Contamination is the real spirulina question. LiverTox names it directly: "Contamination of the product with other cyanobacteria with cytotoxic microcystins is a possible explanation" for liver injury.
The risk is not theoretical. An analysis of 18 commercially available algae supplements containing spirulina or Aphanizomenon flos-aquae found 8 of them carried cyanotoxins at levels above tolerable daily intake values (Roy-Lachapelle et al., Toxins 2017;9(3):76, PMID 28245621).
That is a category problem created by cultivating cyanobacteria in open water without adequate quality control.
What we can and cannot tell you about our own material. Every AlphaCleanse batch is tested for heavy metals and microbiology.
We are not currently able to state that our spirulina lot is assayed specifically for microcystins, and we are not going to imply it, so that answer will change on this page only when the certificate of analysis in front of us says so.
If you want to see the COA before buying, email help@liverated.co and ask. That request is a fair one and we would rather have it than not.
Phenylketonuria. Spirulina is protein-rich and contains phenylalanine. If you have PKU, this is a reason to avoid it.
Autoimmune conditions. Spirulina has immune-stimulating activity in laboratory work, which is the basis of a standard caution for people with autoimmune disease or on immunosuppressants.
There is no human trial establishing harm, and there is none establishing safety either, so the caution stands as a caution.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Do not take AlphaCleanse if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive.
Stop and see a doctor if you develop dark urine, pale stools, yellowing of the eyes or skin, or new persistent itching.
Common questions
In short: we claim no heavy-metal removal, and you can ask for the certificate of analysis before you buy.
Can spirulina be contaminated with microcystins or heavy metals?
Yes, and it is the fair question to ask any spirulina seller, ours included.
Spirulina is a cyanobacterium usually grown in open ponds, so toxin-producing species from the surrounding water can end up in the harvest.
An analysis of 18 commercial algae supplements found 8 carried cyanotoxins above tolerable daily intake values (PMID 28245621), and LiverTox names microcystin contamination as a possible explanation for the rare liver injury reports attached to spirulina.
Every AlphaCleanse batch is tested for heavy metals and microbiology.
We cannot currently state that our spirulina lot is assayed specifically for microcystins, so we do not claim it, and this answer will change when the certificate of analysis says otherwise.
Email help@liverated.co if you want the COA before you buy.
Does spirulina pull heavy metals out of my body?
No, and we make no such claim anywhere on this page.
It is one of the most repeated statements in the supplement category and we could not verify a human trial showing that spirulina removes heavy metals from people at any dose, let alone at the 110 mg in an AlphaCleanse serving.
Most of what circulates traces to cell and animal work on binding in the gut, which is a reason to run a trial rather than a result.
There is a second reason to be careful with the claim. Contaminated spirulina products can add heavy metals rather than remove them, which is why the testing question above matters more than the chelation story.
If heavy-metal exposure is a genuine concern for you, that is a doctor's appointment and a blood test, not a supplement decision.
Is 110 mg of spirulina enough to do anything?
Not to reproduce the studies, no.
The pooled human evidence for spirulina comes from 1 to 8 g a day. A meta-analysis of 7 trials found total cholesterol down 46.76 mg/dL and LDL down 41.32 mg/dL (PMID 26433766).
The small liver study people cite used 6 g a day for 6 months in 15 adults with no control group and 8.1% weight loss alongside it (PMID 25331487).
AlphaCleanse contains 110 mg, roughly 1 fifty-fifth of that 6 g, and those trial results belong to spirulina powder taken by the spoon rather than to this formula.
Spirulina is here for nutrient breadth behind milk thistle at 165 mg, which is the anchor carrying AlphaCleanse's clinical weight.
6 g will not fit into 2 capsules alongside 11 other ingredients, so the alternative was leaving spirulina out rather than including it at a clinical dose.
What you get instead is 12 amounts printed in full on the panel, this one included, so nothing about what you are swallowing depends on trusting us.
Is spirulina safe for my liver, given the LiverTox score?
At 110 mg the risk looks very small, and you should still know what the score is.
LiverTox rates spirulina D, a possible rare cause of clinically apparent liver injury, which is the second-highest rating on our panel after turmeric.
It rests on 1 published case: injury appearing after 5 weeks, full recovery on stopping, in a patient simultaneously taking acarbose and simvastatin, so causality was never established.
LiverTox's own suggested explanation is microcystin contamination rather than spirulina itself, which puts the weight on product quality rather than on the organism.
AlphaCleanse contains 110 mg, well under the gram doses used in trials.
As with anything taken daily, stop and see a doctor if you develop dark urine, pale stools or yellowing of the eyes.
The other 11 ingredients
AlphaCleanse contains spirulina at 110 mg per serving.
See AlphaCleanse60-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked, no restocking fee.
Verified citations on this page: PMID 26433766, PMID 34578932, PMID 25331487, PMID 28245621, NIH LiverTox NBK548312. Every PMID was confirmed to resolve to the paper named on 2026-09-09, and none was re-attributed in this pass.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-17