These minerals promote health and well-being. They are also responsible for maintaining or supporting the bodily functions necessary to sustain life. Have you heard of phytoplankton, mother nature's superfoods from the ocean? They are thought to be single-celled organisms and are sustainability superheroes responsible for more than half of the planet's oxygen production. Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are essential for good health. However, they are not produced naturally in the body, so humans, like all animals, must obtain them from food. Phytoplankton contains powerful xanthophylls, including zeaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant that has been shown to support eye health by protecting the macular region of the eye. contains 56 mg of zeaxanthin per serving. It is also a good source of carotenoids, beta-carotene and chlorophyll. Phytoplankton provide a wide range of essential vitamins, including vitamins C, E, and B groups (B1, B2, B6, B8, B9, especially B12). Finding a suitable plant-based form of vitamin B12 has been difficult... no more! ULTANA Phytoplankton contains 2 µg of vitamin B12 per gram of serving. These minerals promote health and well-being. They are also responsible for maintaining or supporting the bodily functions necessary to sustain life. Without an adequate supply of minerals, the body cannot absorb and process vitamins. Similarly, minerals have little effect unless supplemented with a vitamin-rich diet. Therefore, it is important to have a diet rich in both. These are called "essential" for good reason. Since it cannot be made by the body, it must be obtained from food. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and are necessary for nearly all essential biological and physiological functions, from growth and tissue repair to digestion and nerve health. Marine phytoplankton (a strain of Nannochloropsis) may be one of the most nutritious superfoods on the planet. It contains the most complete nutritional package of any known food. It is a complete source of protein, estimated to be about 60% protein by weight, with 100% bioavailability (how well your body can absorb nutrients from the food it is given). You can benefit from trace elements. Like algae, phytoplankton are not actually plants. Seaweed is a macroalgae, and phytoplankton is a microalgae, a type of plankton. But what are plankton? The definition of plankton is marine and freshwater organisms that are too small or too weak to swim against currents and therefore exist in a suspended or mobile state. These plankton are the self-feeding, plant-like constituents of plankton communities, and animal-like plankton communities are known as zooplankton. There are also bacterioplankton that play an important role in absorbing nutrients dissolved in water. Many people think of phytoplankton as seaweed or algae. To make the definition of true phytoplankton concrete, phytoplankton are clearly neither plants nor animals. They are better described as protists, members of a group of diverse eukaryotes, mostly unicellular microscopic organisms. Phytoplankton produce their own food by absorbing energy from the sun (photosynthesis) and nutrients from water. An estimated 50-85% of Earth's oxygen is produced by photosynthesis of this type of plankton, with the remaining percentage produced by photosynthesis of terrestrial plants.