Sea Kelp & Health

Algae
Nutritive, to Enhance Health, Boost Immunity, Detoxify.

The people in Okinawa eat about five times more seaweed than their fellow countrymen elsewhere in Japan. They believe that the food that you absorb in your body every day should be infused with the power of the earth and the sea. The power of the earth (plants), the flexibility of the sea (vitality).

The powers of seaweed have been drawn upon for thousands of years and respected for their ability to prolong life, prevent disease, and impart beauty & health. Remarkable because due to the high intake of seaweed the daily uptake on a number of minerals and trace elements exceeds the value as recommended by the WHO.

One lesson to be learned; Your lifestyle and dietary choices make an enormous difference to your lifespan and to your quality of life in later years. A good diet will help to keep healthy. However you have to act in the ‘here and now’ to keep you in a good shape for later.

Demographic studies did show that the genes do not hold the answer to the secret of these old ones; they are not the decisive factor. Those who left Okinawa, or changed their traditional lifestyle, experienced a dramatic decline in life expectancy. And in the Americanised  south of the island you can find now the fattest people of Japan.

That is one of the reasons why it is good to use food grown in the sea like fish, shellfish and seaweed, preferable one meal a day.Because it is difficult to get fresh fish, shellfish, shrimps or other products from the sea on a regular basis.

Seaweed is the alternative because well dried seaweed will stay fresh for years on end. Has a very high concentration of minerals, vitamins, proteins and indigestible fibre. But not only for it’s nutritive value but also for health-protective and health enhancing properties, using it as a condiment (salt). Clearly these early insights were based on simple observations that nutrition - aside from the obvious need to eat sufficient energy - has a direct effect on the health of the organisms.

It is now also known that the human digestion system contains a population of a range of bacteria which are essential to digestion, and which are also affected by the food we eat. Nutrients in sea vegetation help to cleanse the colon and improve digestion and absorption. A study of fecal flora in the Japanese diet versus the Western diet showed significant differences in the numbers of beneficial aerobic (oxygen-loving) organisms in fecal flora. This is believed to be due to the antibiotic activity of seaweed that destroys harmful anaerobic bacteria.

The available nutrients of the sea combined with the energy of the sun. Not only minerals but hundred’s of different so-called phytochemicals, antioxidants, vitamins, essential protein (amino acids) choline and fatty acids. Only a small part of there properties understood/discovered. Especially Eastern cultures have for more than two thousand years used certain foods (e.g. herbs) as remedy.

The main lesson to be learned that in the West, more people reach a “biblical age”–but nearly all in a state of “multi-morbidity”: “plagued by a multitude of illnesses, dependent on medication, for years and years on end”, the typical risks of painful aging and premature death, in need of care.

Starchy foods, once avoided by dieters as fattening, are actually a good source of energy for those who want to lose weight. Many people think that starchy foods such as bread, potatoes and pasta are high in calories. They aren't - until the bread is thickly buttered, the potatoes generously topped with sour cream, and the macaroni mixed with cream and cheese sauce. Starches (and proteins) provide only four calories per gram, while fat provides nine calories per gram. Without the toppings, or with only moderate amounts, complex carbohydrate foods can be less fattening than animal-protein foods that naturally contain fat.

Diabetics also may benefit from a diet high in complex carbohydrates and low in fat and sugar, according to the American Dietetic Association. Some researchers believe that dietary fiber improves the ability of diabetics to process blood sugar.All together those dieters, athletes, and other health-conscious people have made complex carbohydrates - once a simple staple for the poor - into a new-found "in" food.

Kelp is rich in Dietary fiber which is generally accepted as having protective effects against a range of diseases. The term ‘dietary fiber’ is defined as plant material that resists digestion by the secreted enzymes of the human alimentary tract . However they may be  fermented by micro flora in the colon. Most hydrocolloids can be listed as fiber. Increased fiber consumption has been associated with lowering total serum cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, modifying the glycemic and insulinemic response and protecting the large intestine from disease.

Increase of fiber to assist against including colorectal cancer, coronary heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and diverticular disease. Lack of fiber a problem of Western society. Non-digestible oligosaccharides have aroused significant interest in recent years due to their ability to stimulate growth of potentially beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacteria in the gut.

 Your lifestyle and dietary choices can make an enormous difference to your lifespan and to your quality of life in later years.