What is Brown Sea Weed and is it Good For Me?
We hope you are not confused by the colorful names that are given to all these seaweeds because it's not that complicated.
It's pretty simple.
Brown seaweed is just an alga that grows in oceans around the world. The reason why it's called brown seaweed is that it's kind of greenish-brown in color.
Brown seaweed has been part of the local tradition as coastal population has been using it for centuries. It’s mainly used as a culinary ingredient for cooking stews and soups.
Fun fact: MiyeokGuk is super popular soup in Korea that contains brown seaweed.
People of Asian countries eat it raw and pickled. Brown weed has also been used for medicinal purposes that we are going to discuss in a bit.
Let's Start by Getting to Know What Brown Weed is Made of
Brown weed contains vitamin B-2, magnesium, iron, fiber and so much more.
- Vitamin B2 is important for your cell health, good eye sight, healthy brain function, and good appetite and digestion
- Magnesium is good for your muscles, nerves and energy production. It keeps blood pressure in the normal range and reduces the risk of cancer, osteoporosis, hypertension and heart disease.
- Iron is vital for the production of haemoglobin that maintains healthy oxygen flow in red blood cells.
- And last but not least, fiber is important for your gut health. It keeps your weight in the healthy range and controls blood sugar and normal bowel movement.
Is Brown Sea Weed Healthy?
There are some claims that brown seaweed helps cancer patients as it contains fucoidan. It’s a compound that is said to be helpful to treat various types of cancers such as colorectal and breast cancer.
Similarly, it's also believed to be helpful with weight loss. Brown weed contains fucoxanthin, which is said to help lose weight. So if, because of some unknown reason, you are struggling in reducing your weight, now would be a good time to make a healthy choice and start using brown seaweed.
With all that said, of course, more research is needed to back up all these claims so that we can be sure about what this seaweed is good for.
Until then, let’s not be unsure regarding how amazing sort of a gift seaweed is.
Takeaway
Think about buying the 'right kind of seaweed from a reputable store and start adding it to your daily food intake. Even if we're unsure of the potential health benefits, there still are great overall all health benefits of seaweed that just can't be denied.
Thanks to the internet, the consumption of seaweed has become easier than ever. You can look up the latest and exciting seaweed recipes of your choice. You can add seaweed to your stews, soups, and desserts. If you’re not up for all that and want something easier, you can always add some of it to your smoothies. Yes, a tall, cold glass of your smoothie, with seaweed in it.
References
Alawi, A., Majoni, S.W., Falhammer, H. Magnesium and Human Health: Perspectives and Research Directions. Int J Endocrinol. 2018; 2018: 9041694. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5926493/
Moussanvou, G, Kwak, D., Obonou, B. et al. Anticancer Effects of Different Seaweeds on Human Colon and Breast Cancers. Mar. Drugs 2014, 12(9), 4898-4911. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/12/9/4898/htm
Abidov, M, Ramazanov, Z, Seifullah R. The effects of Xanthigen™ in the weight management of obese premenopausal women with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and normal liver fat. Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism. 2010; 12(1), 72-81. Available at: https://dom-pubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1463-1326.2009.01132.x
