Sea Vegetables and Heart Disease
Traditional oriental medicine has long held that the use of seaweeds reduces the risk of heart disease. Recent research sited by Dr. Zakir Romazanov in Neutriceuticals World (vol.2, No. 6) claims that certain elements in bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosis) and rockweed (Ascophyllum nodosum) have the ability to lower blood plasma cholesterol levels, a key to heart health.

Dr. Seibin Arasaki in Vegetables from the Sea also identifies five different studies involving numerous seaweed species that have shown cholesterol-lowering activity.

Lowering blood pressure is another way of taking care of the heart. High levels of potassium in the blood have been proven to help reduce the risk of high blood pressure. All seaweeds offer extraordinary levels of potassium (see our Nutritional Chart and the sodium to potassium ratio in most is very similar to our natural plasma levels.

Sea Vegetables and Hypertension
Back in the late 60's in England Dr. Eric Powell, Ph.D., N.D., successfully treated patients suffering from hypertension with Bladderwrack (Fucus sp), which he called kelp. He writes in his book Kelp, the Health Giver (distributed by NutriBooks), "Kelp has a normalizing action on the thyroid and parathyroid…Better function of the parathyroid glands means that the system can take up and utilize mineral matter to the best advantage: in particular calcium, iodine, and sodium which all play a part in maintaining the health and elasticity of the arterial walls."

Debra Ahern, Ph.D., R.N., reporting her findings in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (Vol.89, No.7), sees it a little differently. It is well known to dietitians that people with low blood potassium levels are more prone to hypertension. Dr. Ahern maintained that seaweed-based seasonings provide not only high concentrations of potassium but also chloride, a means of retaining this potassium. In her study she says, "Chloride may play an indirect positive role in hypertension by allowing renal retention of potassium. If this is the case, potassium sources that provide chloride may be more effective in raising blood plasma levels than fruits and vegetables. The high chloride content of those seasonings with seaweed may make them good sources of potassium of clients at risk of hypokalemia (too little potassium)."

And finally, an article, "Blood Pressure and Nutrient Intake," from U.S. Science magazine states that higher intakes of calcium, potassium, and sodium are associated with lower mean systolic pressure and lower absolute risk of hypertension."

Sea Vegetables and Radioactive/Heavy Metal Detoxification
Sea vegetables' effectiveness in treating radiation and heavy metal poisoning is well documented and well known worldwide. The first studies on fighting radiation poisoning with seaweed were started 30 years ago at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Researchers found that alginic acid, one of the important intercellular polysaccharides found in large brown algae like Kelp and Alaria, could reduce the amount of strontium 90 absorbed through the intestinal wall. (S.C. Skoryna et al, "Intestinal Absorption of Radioactive Strontium," Canadian Medical Association Journal 191, 1964)

Even the U.S. government has done research on the detoxifying qualities of alginates from Kelp. The EPA's Environmental Toxicology Lab found that alginates could bind and eliminate both radionucleides such as Strontium 90 and heavy metals such as cadmium. They also discovered that Strontium already stored in the bones was re-secreted and bound by the alginates and safely passed through the intestines. Thus the remarkable kelps can help alleviate past as well as present toxic contamination. (Steven Schacter, Fighting Radiation with Food, Herbs and Vitamins, East West Health Books, 1988)

After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Russia we noticed an increase in our sales of Kelp. We also joined with other small producers in sending a kelp care package to survivors. We subsequently learned that the Russians have been seriously researching the use of their kelps from Vladivostok, from which they have isolated the polysaccharide U-Fucoidan, a radioactive detoxifier.

Another very important function of sea vegetables in helping our bodies fight radiation poisoning takes place in the thyroid gland, where radioactive Iodine 131 (for example, from a nuclear power plant emission) can accumulate. Dr. Ryan Drum tells us "… we are regularly taking in radioactive isotopes from the total world contamination by continual radioactive fallout from all nuclear power plants, weapons facilities and past nuclear "tests."

If our thyroid is full with "healthy" iodine, it will not absorb the radioactive contaminant. So it serves us well to keep our thyroids full of natural, organic iodine. Sea vegetables are the best food source of iodine. Of the sea vegetables, Kelp is the most significant source. Please refer to our Nutritional Chart, as well as to What About Iodine on the Nutrition FAQ page and Sea Vegetables and the Thyroid on this page.

Sea Vegetables as an Anti-inflammatory
Traditional uses of sea vegetables particularly in Asia have shown it to provide some therapeutic effect on the inflammatory response, particularly in tissue wounds. Ryan Drum, Ph.D., herbalist and seaweed specialist, asserts that fucoidan is the bio-active element in brown seaweed responsible for lessening the inflammatory response. Fucoidan is a water-soluble compound that can be easily extracted by boiling/simmering a quart of water with an ounce (about 1 ˝ cups) of dried brown sea vegetable for 20 to 40 minutes. Either pre-surgically or after tissue wounding has occurred Dr. Ryan recommends drinking this fucoidan extract daily for 1 to 2 weeks.

Sea Vegetables as an Anti-viral
Ryan Drum, Ph.D., herbalist and seaweed specialist, indicates several elements in sea veggies that make plausible their traditional use as antivirals. Fucoidan, a water soluble compound found in the brown algae, has been shown to interfere with every stage of viral attack: cell attachment, cell penetration, and viral intracellular penetration. He also notes that certain polysaccharides or glycoproteins from red seaweeds (dulse and laver are red seaweeds) have been successfully used in treating genital herpes and Herpes Zosters. He also notes in the seaweed literature that carrageenan derivatives have expressed strong antiviral activity.

Sea Vegetables and Joint Pain
Thalassotherapy in European spas and seaweed baths in the British Isles have been traditional methods of relieving muscle and joint pains. Victorian English flocked to the seaweed baths and immersed themselves in very hot water filled with Bladderwrack (Fucus species) or other highly mucilaginous seaweeds with high iodine content to ease their aches and pains. A number of these bathhouses still exist and more are being planned in Western Ireland, according to Ryan Drum, Ph.D. He also believes seaweed can help with knee joint deterioration. He treated a 50-year-old woman with such severe knee pain she was forced to walk with a cane. By soaking her knees daily for almost a year in 16" high rubber boots filled with a bladderwrack suspension (bladderwrack in hot water), he reported a complete recovery. Dr. Drum speculates that her success might be attributed to fucoidan (see above) and the biomolecular iodine compounds that were passing transdermally into her legs.

Sea Vegetables and the Thyroid
Most seaweeds are a good source of Iodine 127, the biomolecular compound the thyroid gland needs for proper functioning. Ryan Drum, Ph.D., points out that bladderwrack (Fucus species) provides di-iodotyrosine (DIT) which is a precursor to forming the essential thyroid hormones Thyroxine (T4) and Tri-iodothyronine (T3). He claims that in providing the immediate precursors for T4 and T3 Fucus seems particularly effective in treating both hypothyroidism and Graves hyperthyroidism.

Another important reason to get plenty of sea vegetables' Iodine 127 into the thyroid is to prevent uptake of radioactive and toxic Iodine 131, which in modern times has a background presence in our food and air supply, and which is likely to be a major pollutant of a nuclear accident. By "loading" the thyroid with healthy Iodine, we can maintain our health even if fallout levels increase dramatically. (See Sea Vegetables and Radioactive/Heavy Metal Detoxification) On a cautionary note, Dr. Drum advises that those people who are iodine sensitive should avoid the northern deep-water kelps that have exceptionally large amounts of iodine. Sea vegetables such as Dulse, Laver, Nori, and Bladderwrack that have lower concentrations of iodine may provide a good alternative. See What about Iodine.