Seaweed medicine pdf

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Nishino T, Nagumo T Anticoagulant and antithrombin activ-ities of oversulfated fucans. Drug Dev. Tetrahedrom Lett. Even though they are not manufactured by the seaweeds, they are concentrated against the osmotic gradient to cause a much higher concentration of each mineral inside seaweed cells and intercellular spaces than in the surrounding seawater.

This enables seaweeds to use water equilibrium mechanics to move materials in and out of their cells. It is no accident that seaweeds concentrate metal cations and other elements many times their respective concentrations in seawater. They have almost unlimited access to mineral resources unavailable to most land plants and animals. CAUTION: Celtic Sea Salt and other designer so-called natural or raw, evaporated seawater sea salt products are not good sources of some trace elements, particularly iodine, iron, copper, and selenium.

This is unfortunate since just plain sea salt is basically healthier than the modified commercial table salts. It is more abundant in seaweeds, any seaweed, than any plants or animals. Land plants, vascular plants in particular, seem to have no detectable iodine requirement. This iodine is used in thyroid hormones, T4, thyroxine, and T3, tri-iodothyronine to control all fetal development, postnatal growth, and ongoing daily body metabolism. No iodine, no vertebrate life.

The choice of iodine seems to have been its isoptopic stability: there is only one known natural iodine isotope, iodine It is reliable, not subject to radioactive decay. When vertebrates lived in the sea, even at about 60ppb, there was a constant reliable source of iodine. Since some vertebrates left the sea, obtaining enough iodine has been a challenge to their descendants, including ourselves.

Since no land plants have a need for iodine, their taking it in from roots or leaves may be just incidental. That has meant that few land plants are reliable or even adequate iodine sources unless consumed in large quantities as by large herbivores. Plants grown proximal to the marine environment and those deliberately fertilized with seaweeds can accumulate enough iodine to provide adequate dietary supplies for herbivores and humans. Potatoes, garlic and other root crops are the best accumulators and dietary sources of plant-based iodine supplies.

Eating grams of most dried, unrinsed seaweeds will provide the RDA of micrograms. Lack of iodine can cause developmental structural and neural fetal abnormalities collectively called cretinism.

This condition, directly as a result of low maternal iodine supplies, is difficult to correct postpartum, if at all. That means treating the problem 2 generations before a particular pregnancy. In the moment, maternal iodine supplies can be monitored by maternal urine testing and any deficiencies immediately corrected by adding dietary iodine. Mammalian fetal iodine need is about three times per unit body weight of the mother. In adult humans, chronic low iodine consumption often results from iodine deficient soils and water, and consequently low iodine food.

The treatment is often simply more dietary iodine for both conditions And this can be easily accomplished with dietary seaweeds. For treatment,the Chinese developed warm-water Laminaria kelp varieties which they now cultivate in great quantity with entire villages growing and processing up to , metric tons each year to provide more than enough dietary iodine for 1.

This is a most curious successful marvel; nearly years ago, in an herbal attributed to the Emperor Shen Nung, goiter was described, and the treatment was seaweed, apparently Fucus. Nori seaweed was also touted as the most wonderful elixer Katzutosi. A little bit too much intheir diets and they begin to exhibit hyperthyroid signs and symptoms: nervousness, heart palpitations, sleeplessness, irritability and even iodine-induced goiter.

No iodine, no life. These are all approximate and will vary considerably by season, location, age, and harvest practices. Curiously, I was told by Japanese nationals that the kombu was left in the miso broth for minutes and then discarded. The soaking or prolonged rinsing of high-iodine content seaweeds may reduce the risks for excess iodine-induced disease. That means not only nuclear weapons, bombs, but also, all of the controlled nuclear events in Nuclear reactor fuel rods.

Hundreds of them are licensed to do so. This means that we are all continually and erratically dusted with Iodine every day of every year. As shown by reliable research for over 50 years, nuclear power plant stack gases circle the earth in days, continuously dusting us all until all settled.

The Chernobyl disaster on April released enormous quantities of Iodine into the atmosphere. Since then, millions of iodineinduced thyroid disease patients have been reported worldwide starting shortly after the event and continuing today.

Relatively rare 20 years ago and unknown prior to , thyroid cancer is now the number one cancer in children in USA. Thyroid cancer is one of the fastest increasing cancers in both adult men and women. Iodine is hazardous because our bodies will happily take it in if we need iodine. Since prior to the human atomic age there was no iodine , we have no defense against it if we need iodine, and no way to selectively excrete it.

IF we have sufficient iodine in our bodies, Iodine , the only natural iodine isotope, our bodies will not take in the heavier iodine How the weighing is done is an interesting question to be considered elsewhere. We can do this by eating grams of seaweeds daily. If we are worried about iodine which reasonably might be expected in the seaweed, we can let the seaweed iodine if any, decay for 8 weeks.

How do we know and expect this seaweed iodine to be protective against iodine fallout and decay? The Polish example. Within hours after the onset of the Chernobyl disaster, Polish authorities acted to get iodine solutions, potassium and sodium iodide tablets, even seaweed tablets and capsules into as many of their citizens as possible to protect them from the nearby huge amounts of iodine coming their way.

Over the intervening 20 years, the Polish people treated with iodine have almost time less thyroid disease than neighboring countries even further than Poland from the Chernobyl disaster site.

Not because of evil intent we hope but because of mechanical and materials deterioration and human error. Hundreds more nuclear power plants are planned, especially by developing countries anxious to reduce their energy dependencies on fossil fuels. Of course, that will mean increasingly huge amounts of radioactive iodine into the atmosphere and huge quantities of nuclear waste begging for safe disposal.

Simpler of course, would be to boil water with solar mirrors. All nuclear power plants so far are just fancy water boilers. Iodine passes readily through the epidermis, and alveolar cell walls into the body in addition to intestinal absorption. This means that any iodine 13l we breath or get on our skins is likely to be absorbed if we are the least bit iodine deficient.

How is iodine hazardous? It radioactively decays with a half life of about 8 days. This means in 8 weeks, there is probably not much left in a particular sample, and not enough to cause radiation damage. Iodine decays with the release of a high energy Beta particle, which crashes ionizingly through adjacent tissues, and ionizing high energy gamma radiation.

There is no safe exposure to radioactive-decay sourced ionizing radiation Shannon, There are no exceptions. Our bodies have no innate potassium conservation mechanisms. The human evolutionary assumption seems to be that we will always have plenty of potassium available in our wild and live food diets, since all living cells require potassium.

This is in contrast to sodium, also an essential element, for which we have a very rigorous sodium conservation mechanism. The human tongue, just as the average beginning analytical chemistry student, seems to have difficulty distinguishing potassium from sodium: both taste salty. In equal amounts, potassium is up to 8 times saltier than sodium.

These people are often overweight, puffy edemic , and complain of exhaustion. I suggest high-potassium powdered seaweed almost any seaweed, although the kelps tend to have more potassium than other seaweeds up to 10 grams daily until symptoms resolve. So far, I have not encountered any indications of potassium toxicity which might have been caused by excessive consumption of hi-potassium seaweeds, although such poisoning may be possible.

If practitioners are concerned, prescribe less seaweed consumption at any one time. I believe that almost any craving for salt in our dietary times of heavily salted, with sodium chloride, home-cooking, restaurant meals, and preserved foods is a strong indication of potassium deficiency, especially in pregnancy. Potassium is essential for even minimal nerve and muscle functioning, and as a cross-membrane transporter ion for neurotransmittors and hormones.

I have observed that adding high-potassium foods, especially seaweeds, to the diets of ADD children instead of Ritalin and adults can significantly improve behavior and mental functioning.

Similarly, fibromyalgia patients, the exhausted, the forgetful, the moody, the agitated, anxiety disorders, and depression are all favorably improved with high-potassium diets and seaweeds. In addition to optimal nerve and muscle functioning, these four elements are important in transporting many substances along the intercellular integrin network. Many women patients eating seaweeds to reduce PMS symptom severity report a distinct cyclical waxing and waning of seaweed cravings. Selenium is, like its partner in thyroid hormone metabolism, apparently not required by any land plants although some do concentrate it Brazil nuts are the usual culprit.

No selenium, no thyroid hormone production and conversion of T4 to T3. Selenium is present in all edible animals, and is easily absorbed from eggs in the diet. Selenium is required for many critical metabolic actions besides the selenodeiodinases.

Men usually have a much higher selenium demand than women because, like zinc, it is secreted in the male reproductive ejaculate, and must be replaced to maintain ejaculate production and sperm fertility. Check for selenium deficiency in males with fertility issues.

When added to the diet as a component of edible brown seaweed, algin powder, or sodium alginate, it can bind heavy metals present in the food stream and carry them out with the stool, since algin is generally not digestible Schecter.

Excretory algin tends to bind metal ions presented in the small intestine from distal body locations. A complex diffusion gradient transport system will move poisonous metal atoms a few at a time to the intestine for probable binding to insoluble dietary fiber. Apparently this is a way of removing hazardous metals in a way which avoids damaging the kidneys. Regular eating of even small amounts of brown algae can be an ongoing metal detoxification practice which can reduce the quenching of enzymes by heavy metals.

Hair analysis can be a better predictor of excess metal poisoning than blood or urine analysis because the body seems to use the sulfhydral groups in hair proteins as an excretory mechanism which also protects the kidneys. If a patient presents with relatively high levels of toxic metals in hair, blood, or urine, the addition of grams brown seaweed to the daily diet will help remove those metals from the body, but not the hair, of course.

Using brown algae as part of an aggressive metal removal treatment plan is recommended for both acute and chronic exposures and actual poisoning. Reducing further exposure to heavy metals is of course essential for a metal removal plan to succeed. I usually recommend a lot of rolled oats in the diet every morning to aid the seaweeds in metal removal.

For some persons, adding the seaweed to the oatmeal seems to hasten metal removal. This combination will tend to bulk the stool and reduce transit time.

I also encourage at least 2L of water just water, not drinks intake daily; as well as frequent hot baths and saunas with vigorous dry skin brushing before and after each bath or sauna. Chronic Passive Metal Poisoning Industrial activities, mining, and nuclear power activities release relatively large amounts of usually unseen toxic metals into our air, water, and unfortunately onto our food crops.

We are all being continually poisoned. From nuclear facilities radioactive medical wastes are increasingly a source of radioactive metal poisoning we are exposed to radioactive isotopes released into the air by way of gaseous emissions and radioactive substances released into cooling water.

Since most of these exposures are probably going to continue for the foreseeable future, we are advised to do what we can to reduce their negative health effects. The best action may be to eat a diet that is continually detoxifying our bodies. Regular seaweed consumption should be a part of that diet. The kelps and popular dietary brown seaweeds can do this.

Some of the salts of alginic acid present in aqueous solutions in ingested brown algae, such as potassium and sodium alginates, are digestible by intestinal flora. The metals they contain are released into the food stream and tend to be bound up by the undigested algal fibers. When consumed, it seems to reduce the intensity of the inflammatory response and promote more rapid tissue healing after wound trauma and surgical trauma.

This means that brown seaweed broth is recommended after auto collision , sports injuries, bruising falls, muscle and joint damage, and deep tissue cuts, including voluntary surgery.

Surgery I recommend patients anticipating surgery eat grams brown seaweed cooked as a vegetable broth daily for a week or two prior to surgery. Fucoidan in the pre-surgical patient diet seems to reduce the intensity of blood loss and vascular bed collapse shock during and after surgery.

The mechanism for this positive effect is unclear. We can all statistically expect major surgery sometime in our individual lives. We are the only animal that voluntarily submits to surgery. I believe this may cause some body integrity sanctity problems internally which may negatively effect the wound response and subsequent healing. Fucoidan may help the body decide to heal after voluntary surgery and other wounding such as radiation and chemotherapy. Patients undergoing radiation or chemotherapy seem to benefit from regular fucoidan consumption via brown seaweed broth before, during, and after treatments.

They report fewer and less intense adverse reactions, better recovery and sense of well-being. Antiviral Action Fucoidan interferes with every stage of viral attack, cell attachment, cell penetration, and intracellular virion production by stimulating the production of antiviral cytokines.

There may be some viral suppression in virus-infested patients but results are difficult to verify or measure. A fucoidan curiosity is that its teminal sugar is Fucose. All human cells studied have very precise Fucose recepter sites on their surfaces. Perhaps this results in stronger therapeutic responses. Carrageenan Carrageenan was originally isolated by simply boiling red seaweeds for an hour or more , discarding the seaweed mass, and saving the usually thick mucilaginous liquid.

It was used for soups, hot gruels when mixed with grains, seafood, and peas. It was drunk as a soothing treatment for sore mouths and throats and for constipation relief. It was used by the poor starving Irish during the oppressive British occupation of Ireland for years as an emergency food, filling if not totally nutritious. Today, carrageenan is used in over ten thousand proprietary industrial, food, and health and beauty products as a thickener, gelling agent, meat and sugar extender, medicines, and paints.

Red seaweeds containing carrageenan have been overharvested in many places, including the intertidal zones of the Canadian Maritime Provinces and many of the Carribean Islands. Historically, it has been used as a sexual lubricant in China, Korea, and Japan for millennia. Carrageenan eaten as red seaweeds such as dulse, Irish moss, and Euchemia, is partially digested and absorbed as small globular gel masses into the lymph and blood stream.

It can provide sugar molecules for glycoproteins secreted by mucous membranes and for cell surface aminoglycan labeling. Today, asthma is the leading cause of juvenile school absenteeism and is increasingly an affliction of adults. Red algae containing carrageenan have been used for millennia as treatments for respiratory ailments, especially intractable sinus infections and lingering pneumonias. Asthma was not separated out as such in the old literature. I use plain boiled-out carrageenan singly or in combination with strong antimicrobial herbs for all respiratory ailments.

The process is simple:. The gel can be consumed as soon as cool. It can be flavoured with anything suitable from honey, fruit juice, cinnamon, cayenne, vanilla, maple syrup, cocoa powder, to various distilled spirits, herbal tinctures and milk.

The extracted gel will keep cold without spoiling for only about two days. It is an excellent growth medium for microbes. Chengkui C. Tseng Z. Junfu C. Conference paper. Keywords Seaweed Economic marine algae Herbal medicine. This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access. Marine Medicinal Plants and Animals of China. Google Scholar. Tseng C. Lingnan Sci. The economic seaweeds of North China. Shandong Daxue Xuebao, 2: 57—82 in Chinese.