Hope Floats By Sally Friedman Special to The BCT If Holly Myers hadn't been the curious sort, she might never have stopped the woman at her church wearing a button that read "I eat algae! Ask me why!" But that fateful encounter did happen in fall 1994, and Myers, a Moorestown social worker, was intrigued by what she heard about the substance often dismissed as a gross material that you don't want in your backyard pool, let alone in your body. It wasn't, of course, that sort of algae that Myers was to learn about. It was, instead, a blue-green variety -- one of an estimated 40,000 different algae species -- that is found in only one place on Earth: Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon, where it floats on the lake and grows more abundantly as it is harvested.

Holly Myers, distributor for a line of blue-green algae products, conducts business from her Moorestown home.

Myers and her daughter Sarah, 19, both use and sell the algae from upper Klamath Lake in Oregon, where it floats in the water.

"I looked at this woman and realized that she looked at least 10 years younger than her age, and she seemed to be brimming with vitality," said Myers. "So I figured that if algae could do that for her, I'd sure be willing to try it for myself." Myers, who was working at a community mental health center at the time, made a sobering discovery as she began ingesting algae, one of the oldest forms of plant life known to man. "What I had accepted as excellent health was actually quite mediocre," said Myers, who realized that the late afternoon slump she had always assumed was inevitable disappeared as she became "revitalized" from the minerals and enzymes in the algae.

Within a week, I noticed real changes as I took the capsules. There was a dramatic shift in my energy, my outlook and the way my body felt."

The basic regimen Myers had begun includes four products, all in capsule form, that are designed to help digestion, stamina, brain function and energy. Blue-green algae food enzymes are taken with every meal.

Myers admits to loving blue-green algae marketed by a company in Oregon whose founders worked for years to get recognition and acceptance of the substance.

What's all the fuss about?

The blue-green algae that Myers, and now her daughter, Sarah, 19, both use and distribute, is presumably rich in nutrients, partially because of the purity of the lake where it is found.

Harvey Howard, an addictions specialist and single Moorestown father of three sons, learned of Holly Myers through the research of a former nanny in his household. The nanny didn't end up using algae, but he did, and his digestion has never been better.

The Moorestown man now claims that he sleeps better, wakes up feeling refreshed and enjoys foods he hadn't been able to eat for years.

"My children are also on the algae program, and in the case of my 9-year-old son, I'm even seeing improved grades," said Howard, who was told at a parent-teacher conference that the boy was more "focused~ in all subject areas.

"So I'm sticking with this," said Howard, who is admittedly a strong proponent of natural remedies, and has consistently used alternative medicine as his approach of choice.

And how costly is what for some seems a panacea?

According to Myers, the regimen that includes the four major products runs about $2.50 to $3 per day,. Some of her clients prefer to spend a bit less, while some indulge in skin care products, and nutritional supplements even for pets and plants.

While algae is recommended for use by most people, including babies and children, those on dialysis and pregnant women who had not used algae products before becoming pregnant, are not candidates for its use.

   © 1997 - 2002  Abundant Health for People, Pets and Plants