Benefits of Seaweed

I believe everyone is familiar with the benefits of seaweed. Let’s review it with the editor below.

Seaweed

Seaweed is algae that grows in the sea. It is a cryptogamous plant in the plant kingdom. Algae include several different types of organisms that produce energy through photosynthesis. They are generally considered to be simple plants, with the following main characteristics: no vascular tissue, no differentiation of true roots, stems, and leaves; no flowers, no fruits and seeds; no specialized protective tissues in reproductive organs, often directly producing spores or gametes from a single cell; and no embryo formation. Due to the simple structure of algae, some botanists classify it with fungi as the "thallus flora" of lower plants.

Benefits of Seaweed

Marine vegetables are seaweeds such as kelp, laver, moss, wakame, and kelp. my country is rich in seaweed resources, of which more than 100 species are of economic value. Seaweed contains essential proteins, fats, carbohydrates, multiple vitamins and minerals, and its nutritional value is much higher than that of terrestrial vegetables. Because seaweed converts various inorganic substances in the ocean into organic substances under photosynthesis, it contains some compounds that are not found in terrestrial vegetables.

One is to lower blood pressure. Kelp and other brown algae contain alginate. Experts have found that alginate has a significant blood pressure lowering effect. Some people use dried kelp root products to treat hypertension. Among the 158 people who received treatment, 86 were effective, and the patients' blood lipids also decreased, with 58% of them having a decrease in cholesterol and 50.3% having a decrease in triglycerides. The sugar content in seaweed such as kelp and laver is as high as 30% to 57%. People have found that the sugar in seaweed not only provides energy, but also the fucoidan contained in it is a unique mucus component of seaweed, which is not found in terrestrial vegetables. Fucoidan has the activity of heparin, which can prevent the aggregation reaction of animal red blood cells and prevent the increase in blood pressure caused by increased blood viscosity.

Second, it can prevent stroke, cerebral thrombosis, and cerebral hemorrhage, and reduce their mortality and disability rates. Eating seaweed will greatly reduce the incidence of stroke. Seaweed contains a certain amount of essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid and linolenic acid, many of which are eicosapentaenoic acid. Eicosapentaenoic acid is a highly unsaturated fatty acid that can prevent thrombosis. According to laboratory analysis, almost all seaweed contains eicosapentaenoic acid, and some account for 15% to 20% of fatty acids. Brown algae starch sulfate extracted from fucoidan (starch) has the effect of lowering cholesterol and inhibiting lipid accumulation and cerebral vascular sclerosis.

The third is to protect the heart. In addition to polysaccharides and fatty acids that protect the cardiovascular system, seaweed is also rich in selenium. German scientists have found that selenium deficiency in the human body is one of the causes of cardiovascular disease. They found from a survey of patients that people with coronary artery sclerosis and myocardial infarction have much less selenium in their bodies than healthy people. People living in low-selenium areas have three times more deaths from heart disease than those in selenium-rich areas. American scientists have found that in Colorado, where people are used to eating selenium-containing seaweed, the number of people who die from heart disease is only one-fifth of that in Washington State.

Fourth, it is anti-tumor. Middle-aged and elderly people who often eat seaweed rarely suffer from cancer. Japanese scientists have confirmed that kelp and brown algae near the coast of Japan have the effect of inhibiting tumors. The low incidence of breast cancer in Japanese women is related to their eating habits of eating seaweed. Some people have used 10 kinds of edible seaweed in the Sea of ​​Japan to conduct anti-tumor experiments. The results show that 6 kinds of edible seaweed have anti-leukemia effects, and it is believed that the main anti-tumor component is alginate. Seaweed also contains more water-soluble cellulose, which is effective in preventing and treating constipation, thereby reducing the excessive accumulation of harmful substances in the human body. Edible seaweed is alkaline food. Regular consumption of alkaline food helps to improve the acidic constitution of modern people and strengthen human immune function. All of these can greatly enhance the body's anti-cancer ability. The selenium rich in seaweed also has the effect of blocking cancer cell metabolism and inhibiting cancer cell division and growth.

The benefits of "sea vegetables" on human health are not limited to these. They have a good preventive and therapeutic effect on many diseases that are common in modern people. In view of its special functions and the rich seaweed resources in my country, we might as well put more "sea vegetables" on our tables.