Seaweeds are among the oldest representatives of the plant world. In the oceans, their reserves amount to hundreds of millions of tons. The most popular for the prevention and treatment of brown algae, these include sea kale or kelp. A seaweed extract obtained from kelp is used for the manufacture of medicines and dietary supplements.
According to the Eastern healers, after 40 years of age, products from kelp should always be present in the diet of all people.
Seaweed Varieties
In total, there are more than 25 thousand species of seaweed, and only a few are used in cosmetology and medicine. These are brown and red algae. The latter have more than 4 thousand species, of which agar-agar is obtained.
There are almost 1.5 thousand species of brown seaweed, but the most valuable of them are bubble fucus and kelp. These species are the source of:
- polysaccharides;
- organic acids;
- amino acids;
- vitamins;
- bromine and iodine compounds;
- mannitol;
- agar-agar;
- sodium alginate.
A variety of seaweed - kelp belongs to the genus kelp and has about 100 species, mostly edible.
Another species is the genus Fucus. Seaweed of this type is such as fucus vesicular, serratus and bilateral, also edible, but less popular.
Production
Algae have long been the subject of fishing for people, the most intense in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan belongs to the palm. In this country, a variety of dishes and goodies are made on the basis of kelp; it is added to meat dishes, soups, salads. The Japanese do not suffer from goiter and scrofulous diseases, and they also have a much lower level of nervous disorders. All this is due to the use of kelp.
Seaweed extracted from the bottom is dried on special hangers under awnings to protect from rain, fog and dew, since when interacting with fresh water, kelp loses iodine, mannitol and potassium salts.
Beneficial features
The concentration of micro and macro elements in algae is much higher than in seawater. Sea kale is rich in potassium, sodium, calcium, manganese, magnesium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, iodine, selenium, fluorine and other elements, many of which are part of enzymes and vitamins necessary for the interaction of human cells with the environment.
Perhaps the only source of dietary iodine is kelp. Without it, the proper functioning of the thyroid gland is impossible. Its deficiency leads to a disruption in the production of thyroxine, which, in the end, leads to the development of goiter, the occurrence of breast and thyroid cancer.
Brown seaweed
This is one of the most valuable medicinal resources, a real marine pharmacy. Healers of Ancient Egypt used algae to treat all kinds of diseases.
Brown algae have a wide range of skin-friendly substances. The amount of vitamins in them is ten times higher than in any land plants. Unfavorable ecology, nervous breakdowns, stresses affect well-being, and the skin becomes defenseless and unattractive. Seaweed positively affects the integument, restoring the mineral balance. They also normalize the sebaceous glands, promote the synthesis of vitamins E and D.
Brown algae include:
- vitamins A, B1, B2, C;
- chromium, copper, zinc, manganese, iron salts;
- folic acid, plant proteins and other components.
The content of selenium and iodine in them improves metabolic processes in the body, protects against the harmful effects of free radicals, activates the activity of the entire lymphatic system, improves blood microcirculation in the skin.