Green Lipped Mussel History

The green lipped mussel history starts over 1000 years ago and brings in front the Maori people, an indigenous population of New Zealand. These individuals based their diet mostly on seafood harvested from their coastline and were known to have a very good physical condition and health state.

Rarely experiencing body aches or inflammatory diseases, the tribe attributed its resistance and impressing health to its diet staple, the so called New Zealand mussel or Perna canaliculus. Although neglected for many years by researchers in the European and American continents, these shellfish started to be investigated more carefully in the 1960's.

First steps in the recent green lipped mussel history

In 1960, NASA started some research studies on various types of seafood in New Zealand, among which the green lipped shellfish. These mussels aroused strong interest among researchers due to their particular composition so they started to be investigated for their potential health benefits in humans.

This is how scientists discovered New Zealand mussels contain high concentrations of fatty acids (Omega-3) and complex carbohydrates (glycosaminoglycans), both these substances being involved in stopping inflammatory processes from developing and spreading throughout the human body.

Once the anti-inflammatory properties of these shellfish were well known and argued, pharmaceutical companies showed their interest in producing dietary supplements obtained from New Zealand mussels and this is how the first mussel powders appeared on store shelves, in the early '70s.

But the green lipped mussel history doesn't end here. As time passed, more and more producers started to use New Zealand shellfish extracts in their dietary supplements, especially in those destined to people suffering from rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, asthma and other inflammatory diseases.

Besides the powder, they started to create mussel oils as well and to use these oils in capsules and topical gels. Nowadays, there are four different types of products including green lipped mussel extracts: the dietary powders obtained usually from fresh, frozen or freeze-dried shellfish, the oils extracted from powders and encapsulated in gelatin capsules, the tables containing GLM powder and the creams or ointments containing powder or oil.

Green lipped mussel history in the '90s: the popularity boom

In 1992, a new form of mussel extract was developed and it consisted of a more concentrated formula, containing not only Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and proteins but also important amounts of chondroitin sulphate and glucosamine.

This was a very important step in green lipped mussel history as researchers managed to remove some lipids (which were considered harmful for the human body) and to preserve the useful ones (essential fatty acids), stabilizing the Perna canaliculus extracts. The new technologies used for obtaining the powders and oils were less damaging for the active ingredients in New Zealand shellfish.

As the new supplements were more natural, containing higher amounts of active principles and lower concentrations of chemicals and stabilizers, the popularity of these products raised significantly. Moreover, the shellfish supplements started to be used not only by people with arthritis or asthma, but also by those interested in improving their overall health state, as researchers discovered these mussels have lots of additional benefits.

They're helpful in increasing the bones and muscles strength, in improving the functionality of the cardiovascular system and preventing blood from clotting, in protecting the digestive tract from the harmful effects of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs and also in increasing the immunity level.

The history of green lipped mussel provides scientific arguments for all these properties and health benefits.