Objectives
Generate the guidelines for a communication campaign about the knowledge of Spirulina, an ancestral Mexican food,witha comprehensive approach from diverse perspectives.
Methods
Descriptive and exploratory.
Results
Evidence is presented to demonstrate that the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan, prior to the Conquest of Mexico, consumed large amounts of these blue-green microalgae that they called tecuitlatl and whose species was unknown at the time. The historical perspective of the uses and customs related to this ancestral food was first approached during the Conquest and during the Colony, and continues in our time. A detailed analysisof its nutritional characteristics includes both the quantity and quality of its nutrients, as well as a comparison with other foods, particularly maternal milk; spirulina is considered one of the most complete natural foods. Then, information is exposed on its curative uses derived from testimonials, and a list is presented with over fourteen therapeutic properties of spirulina that have recently been reported in medical literature. Also it is mentioned about the virtues of spirulina in caring for the environment and ecology, which include saving resources, such as water and earth needed to produce one kilogram of spirulina protein, and its capacity to generate oxygen into the atmosphere.
Conclusions
The principles and guidelines for spirulina generation strategies and communication campaigns have been created based on the knowledge we have of Spirulina derived from disciplines such as nutrition, medicine and ecology, as well as history, philosophy and sociology. The communication campaign offers a comprehensive perspective and view of the importance of Spirulina consumption in humans, having a direct influence on eating habits, health, and care for the environment. Today, these habits have been seriously affected by the lifestyle common to large cities; and it is because of this that the diffusion of such a campaign must be considered.
