The Seaweed Diet: How Kelp Can Help with Weight Loss

You may think of it as an unhealthy side dish when you order a Chinese, but not only is sea weed a nutrition-packed way to enhance your wellbeing, it may also promote weight loss. Wellness writer Tamra Mercieca, founder of Naked Therapy, explains, ‘Seaweed has been used in Asian dishes for centuries but is now fast gaining recognition for weight-loss benefits. High in vitamins A and C, seaweed contains plenty of protein and is one of the few non-animal sources of B12, making it an excellent food for vegetarians. Wakame is a type of brown seaweed often used to flavour traditional dishes such as soups and salads.’

 

In fact, in 2006, Japanese researchers found that it is the brownish pigment in wakame, fucoxanthin, that helps to promote weight loss. Researchers at the Hokkaido University in Japan gave fucoxanthin to obese rats on top of their regular diet, and found that these creatures lost five to 10% of their body weight. According to Mercieca, ‘Fucoxanthin works by stimulating the production of a protein that increases the burning of fat. It was also found to reduce LDL cholesterol (or bad cholesterol) and improve triglyceride levels (which affect metabolism).’ Study professor, Dr Kazuo Miyashita, noted that if it is effective in humans, fucoxanthin could potentially be developed into new types of medication to combat obesity.

 

However, despite a lack of research in how effective seaweed can be as a slimming aid in humans, this hasn’t stopped celebrities from trying out seaweed right now. In an effort to keep her weight down, even Victoria Beckham has tried a posh mix of seaweed and algae, and Foods For Life nutrition consultant Yvonne Bishop-Weston argues that this eating regime isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Bishop-Weston comments, ‘Algae and seaweed are superfoods, with many of the vital nutrients our bodies need. Algae such as chlorella aid detoxification, help reduce water retention and break down fat deposits.’ However, she adds, ‘Victoria used algae and seaweed shakes as part of a personalised nutrition strategy. We are all different and there is no perfect one-size-fits-all weight-loss program.’

 

It’s not just weight loss that eating seaweed provides; seaweed is also an excellent skin treatment, showing promise in the treatment of conditions such as acne. Mercieca notes, ‘Demographic studies haveshown that people who regularly eat seaweed have fewer problems associated with mineral depletion, and generally live longer. Seaweed has been found to help prevent cancer and heart disease, lower blood pressure and even prevent ulcers and kill bacteria. It has been shown to cleanse the body of pollutants and improve hair condition. It has been said that the thick, black, lustrous hair of the Japanese is partly due to their regular diet of brown sea vegetables. The Japanese certainly take seaweed eating seriously, downing as much as four kilograms of the plant per person per year. Japanese women who eat a diet high in kelp have reported lower rates of breast cancers.’

 

So then, how do you work seaweed into your diet? For sports dietician Emilie Isles, sushi is the answer. ‘When eaten in appropriate portions, sushi can provide an excellent source of carbohydrate and protein, and often includes some vegetables, making it low in fat,’ Isles points out. ‘In the right amounts, sushi is an appropriate everyday option, although you need to watch out for varieties that contain fried meats and creamy mayonnaise because of their saturated fat content. The other thing to be mindful of is portion size, as sushi can be very easy to over-consume. Seaweed is most likely to promote weight loss when incorporated as part of a balanced diet, which includes adequate fresh fruit and veggies, as well as regular activity.’

Categories: acne, bishop weston, diet, japanese, loss, promote weight, regular diet, seaweed, weight, Weight Loss

Could An Under-Sea Discovery Lengthen Your Life?

Nowadays advances in the fields of health, wellness and wellbeing are allowing humans to live longer than ever before. Many of the diseases that killed off our ancestors prematurely have now been wiped out due to medical advances such as vaccination, as well as improved standards of living and hygiene.

 

Today, the biggest killers stem from the way we live our lives rather than from bacteria and viruses alone. One of the biggest killers, of course, being heart disease especially that linked to high blood pressure. This slow but deadly killer takes 10, 20 or even 30 years of the lives of many people.

 

One of the reasons that heart disease is so common is that people, whilst living longer, are living far unhealthier lives. In order to help guard against the disease, a lot of people would have to make some pretty major changes to their lifestyle, and these changes are not at all easy to make. Changes include things such as implementing a serious exercise regime or radically changing the diet are the only real ways to avoid getting heart disease in later life.

 

Now, however, there has been a significant scientific breakthrough that could have a huge effect on the treatment of high blood pressure. This discovery has been compared to the effect of penicillin or quinine, in terms of the magnitude of the discovery. It has been found that a rare ingredient in seaweed that is only found off the coast of Korea has some amazing health benefits, including being able to totally restore high blood pressure to normal levels.

 

A massive scientific experiment has been conducted into this ingredient, and it has proved that it is 100 times more potent than any other land-based antioxidant as it stays in the body for 12 hours as opposed to the usual 30 minutes of any other antioxidant.

Categories: Blood, blood pressure, Disease, extend, heart, heart disease, high, high blood, life, nbsp, seaweed

Give Your Nutritional Wellness a Seaweed Supercharge!

Seaweed may seem like a hassle at the beach, but it may be able to play an important role in your wellbeing. This is according to a study due to be published in the journal Biomedicine & Preventative Nutrition, which found that red and brown seaweed are rich in minerals and carry great potential for use in nutritional supplements.

According to Syad et al, the research team who assessed the nutritional profile of two marine algae; (Gelidiella acerosa, or red seaweed, and Sargassum wightii, or brown seaweed), ‘The results suggest that both seaweeds have greater nutritional value and could be used as excellent nutritional supplements.’ The team of researchers added that the marine algae could also be used as a highly-nutritious dietary source or cooking ingredient.

So what is so nutritional about red and brown seaweed? The study, “Seaweeds as nutritional supplements: Analysis of nutritional profile, physiochemical properties and proximate compostion of G. acerosa and S. wightii,” found that the high fibre content of the seaweeds (13.45mg per gram of dry weight) and high vitamin C content (roughly 5mg per gram of dry weight) were the prime reason why the plants are beneficial to wellness – but the nutrition perks didn’t stop there.

The researchers also said that the plants were rich in carbohydrates, protein, lipids, praline and chlorophyll. Red seaweed in particular was found to have high potassium levels, while brown seaweed was discovered to have high levels of sodium. In addition, both seaweeds – as you might expect – were rich sources of major fatty acids, such as linolenic acid, and essential amino acids, such as valine, methionine, lysine and phenyl alanine.

That’s why they’re beneficial, but how on earth do you begin to include seaweed in your diet? In Japan, brown seaweed is commonly used in soups, where it is also fermented with other ingredients in soy source. The food industry also uses brown seaweed as a gelling agent, as it is a source of alginic acid. Likewise, red seaweed used as a gelling agent, as it is a major source of agar. This is a hydrophilic colloid used in sugar confectionary, icings, canned meat and fish.

Categories: fibre, seaweed, vitamin c

Under the Sea: Trace Minerals in Seaweed Pack Powerful Punch

Seaweed may not be something you think of as a food, unless you’ve had it as part of a Chinese takeaway – but even then it’s not something you’d think of as a healthy food! However, not only is seaweed edible and very beneficial to your overall wellbeing, it can actually be used as part of your anti-ageing programme.

In fact, Dr. Mao Shing Ni, bestselling author, doctor of Oriental Medicine and board certified anti-ageing expert, cites seaweed as one of the top 10 foods for health and longevity wellness in his new book, Secrets of Longevity Cookbook. He says this is because, during his 25 years of studying centenarians, the same 10 foods kept recurring again and again in the diets of long-living individuals – and seaweed was right up there with the best of them!

Seaweed is a top longevity food packs a powerful nutrient punch that very few other foods can match. In many types of seaweed, there is more calcium than you would find in cheese, more iron than you would find in beef, and more protein than you would find in eggs. Seaweed has roots that penetrate into sea beds that are filled with trace minerals, which are no longer present on land, and so many consider seaweed to be the king of vegetables. Indeed, seaweed has been a staple in Asian diets for thousands of years.

There’s more to seaweed than the shredded, fried variety you get in a takeaway (which, let’s face it, is basically glorified cabbage). There are more than 20 types of edible seaweed, such as nori, kombu, hijiki, wakame, dulce, chlorella, and Irish moss. Complementary wellness experts believe that edible seaweed even has healing properties, helping to heal almost anything and everything. Seaweed is supposed to treat cancer, lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation, dissolve tumours and cysts, detoxify heavy metals, reduce water retention, and aid in weight loss.

Kombu seaweed, in particular, is known for helping your body in detoxification. The vegetable comes in long, thick brown strips, and contains powerful trace minerals. Your body needs the high content of iodine in Kombu, for example, to produce two important thyroid hormones that control your metabolism. As your body doesn’t produce this mineral, many people are deficient in iodine and so kombu can come to the rescue!

Categories: iodine, kombu, seaweed