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BACKGROUND INFORMATION Seaweed has been used as food by both humans and animals for thousands of years. Today it is eaten in many Asian countries as a vegetable but when the knowledge of it’s high food value spreads to the western world many people have begun eating algae in tablet form. As food to human beings, brown (Phaeophyta), green (Chlorophyta) and red (Rhodophyta) varieties have the greatest significance. No land-grown vegetables have so rich and balanced content of vital minerals and vitamins as vegetables from the sea. Algae were among the first form of life on earth, and the very first to produce their own food through photosynthesis. Algae can therefore be regarded as the ”mother” of all organic life. Seaweed is exceptionally nutritious. It contains carbohydrates, oils, proteins, vitamins, trace elements, minerals and fibers in balanced proportions. Seaweed is especially well known for it’s high levels of minerals (salts) and trace elements (metals). The mixture of minerals and trace elements is highly beneficial to human beings. The earth surface contains minerals and salts. Precipitation washes these tiny particles down streams and rivers and eventually they reach the ocean and blend into the water. Some are absorbed and stored by seaweed which compared with other plants contains much higher levels of these sparse substances that are so vital to life. Phaeophyta has 12 vitamins including the B12 complex (vitamin B12 is not found in land plants), vitamin A and E with a complete set of isomers found only in seed oils such as wheat germ oil. 18 amino acids plus 40 minerals and trace elements are also included. Phaeophyta contains a total of more than 80 substances. Our seaweed is harvested by a clean process from the world’s cleanest ocean, free from artificial interference in cold fresh seawater of the northern Iceland. Not even Norway’s seacoast is untouched today, therefore is Iceland and Greenland the only choice, if you want to be sure of the quality.
Principal nutritional and health benefits. Balances blood cholesterol levels, provides broad support in all bodily functions, strengthens the immune system (works like a penicillin), promotes healthy skin hair and nails, binds and expels fats, heavy metals, toxins and pollutants, prophylactic effect increases with use, helps regulate blood pressure and aids digestion and bowel action. More detailed references can be found under the heading ”Medical and healthcare research findings”. It’s mode of action has been explained on the basis of multiple biological mechanisms, principally connected to its ability to, ensure the entire range of organic mineral elements vital for healthy growth, performance and disease resistance without attendant dangers of deficiency or toxicity, increase the availability of other nutrients in digestion, especially through its content of mannitol, an important chelating agent, secure the nutritional balance, most significantly against poor diet and processed and inorganically produced foods, blind and remove pollutants and heavy metals, aid healthy bowel action and positively influence the bacterial in the stomach. Our Chlorophyta grows in an unpolluted mountain area long away from civilization. Chlorophyta grows in freshwater, that means that this algae don’t absorb salts like Iodine, so you can use higher quantities of this algae than Phaeophyta. Every consignment of algae is tested by laboratories for both purity and nutritional content. Our algae is freeze-dried not heat treated or flash-air dried. Freeze drying preserves 97 % of the nutritional content. Chlorophyta has about the same effects as Phaeophyta.
Enhances physical and mental well-being, Substantial medical evidence has brought out their efficiency in clearing away the free radicals generated in our body which are held responsible for cataracts, strokes, cancer and aging. Needless to say, Chlorophyta will be the leader among all sources of natural carotene’s as it is the only source which can provide other necessary nutrients like Tocopherol (E), and Zinc which are essential for proper assimilation of carotene’s in our metabolism. Carotene is very essential too in combating vitamin A deficiency. Many people lose their eye sight every year due to vitamin A deficiency. Chlorophyta will go a long way solving this major problem in the world.Among all known sources, Chlorophyta has the highest content of protein (nearly 70 % of it’s dry weight). It’s protein content is nearly three times more than pulses, six times more than egg and twenty times more than milk.A lot of current research is looking at the role of essential fatty acids in human health, of with Omega-3 and Gamalinolenic acid (GLA) is two very important ones. Clinical research has revealed that the direct intake of GLA can heal arthritis, heart disease, obesity and premenstrual stress. Though Linoleic acid is available in plenty through vegetable oils, there is very limited occurrence of GLA in natural sources. This makes Chlorophyta, (which contains 29% of its total fatty acid as GLA) unique. Omega-3 fatty acid, see under ”Medical and healthcare researches of seaweed”.
SEAWEED'S NUTRITIONAL VALUE Two of these elements are particularly valuable, i.e. iodine and calcium, both of which are sorely lacking in the world’s population. The all-time champion for iodine content is brown algae, with dry Phaeophyta ranging from 1500 to 8000 ppm (parts per million) and dry rockweed from 500 to 1000 ppm. In most instances, red and green algae have lower contents (100 to 300 ppm dry), but remain high in comparison to "standard" sources. The nutritional implications are obvious: daily adult requirements, i.e. 150 µg/day, could be covered by very small quantities of seaweed. It is clear that seaweed would be useful as an occasional food additive or supplement. Seaweed is one of the richest plant sources of calcium, with content sometimes reaching 7% of dry matter in macro-algae and as high as 25 to 34% in encrusting red algae (Rhodophyta). The amounts of seaweed ingested as food in Japan, or in supplements, is often considerably more than 1 gram a day. Studies show that the human body adapts readily to higher iodine intake, where the thyroid gland is the main tissue involved in use of iodine (it is a component of thyroid hormones). Huge portions of the world population get insufficient iodine because the land, plants, and animals that serve as common dietary sources are very low in iodine. In many countries, iodine is added to table salt to assure adequate levels are attained. However, some developing countries are still catching up and suffering from the effects of low iodine intake. China is has the largest population with a history of low iodine intake, followed by India. Aside from iodine, seaweed is one of the richest plant sources of calcium, but its calcium content relative to dietary requirements pales in comparison to the iodine. The calcium content of seaweed is typically about 4-7% of dry matter. At 7% calcium, one gram of dried seaweed provides 70 mg of calcium, compared to a daily dietary requirement of about 1,000 mg. Still, this is higher than a serving of most non-milk based foods. Seaweed contains a rich cocktail of all the vitamins. The main ones are provitamin A in the form of beta- and alpha-carotene found in red and brown algae, with contents of 2 to 17 mg/100 g dry; vitamin C in red and brown algae, with contents ranging from 50 to 300 mg/100 g dry – equivalent to the tomato; and vitamin E in brown algae. B-group vitamins are generally well represented. An unusual feature is that seaweed contains B12, which is not the case for land plants. Seaweed’s lipid content is very high, ranging from 3 to 7% of dry matter. Seaweed lipids have a higher proportion of essential fatty acids than land plants. Green algae, whose fatty acid make-up is the closest to higher plants, have a much higher oleic and alpha linoleic acid content, the latter being essential to man along with linoleic acid. Red algae have a high 20-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acid content, particularly the famous EPA, which is most unusual, as these fatty acids are basically found in animals. Arachidonic acid is also well represented. They also contain 18-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acids (linolenic or linoleic). In brown algae, fatty acid distribution is fairly comparable, with a higher linolenic acid concentration.
Green, Brown and Red algae are partly broken down by contact with human intestinal bacteria and are producing a large amount of short-chain fatty acid; alginates are partly broken down. Oligomers produced in this manner have displayed bifidogenous effects in rats both in vitro and in vivo, opening up possibilities for prebiotic applications. Seaweed draws an extraordinary wealth of mineral elements from the sea that can account for up to 36% of its dry mass. The mineral macronutrients include sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, chlorine, sulphur and phosphorus; the micronutrients include iodine, iron, zinc, copper, selenium, molybdenum, fluoride, manganese, boron, nickel and cobalt. Protein content in seaweed varies somewhat. It is low in brown algae at 5–11% of dry matter, but comparable in quantitative terms to legumes at 30–40% of dry matter in some species of red algae. Green algae is well known for its very high content, i.e. 70% of dry matter. Seaweed has a high total
dietary fiber content (32% to 50% of dry matter). Seaweed contains several vitamins. Red and brown algae are rich in carotene (provitamin A) and are used, in fact, as a source of natural mixed carotene for dietary supplements. The content ranges from 20-170 ppm. The vitamin C in red and brown algae is also notable, with contents ranging from 500-3000 ppm. Other vitamins are also present, including B12 which is not found in most land plants. Seaweed has very little fat, ranging from 1-5% of dry matter, although seaweed lipids have a higher proportion of essential fatty acids than land plants. Green algae, whose fatty acid make-up is the closest to higher plants, have a much higher oleic and alpha-linoleic acid content. Red algae have a high EPA content, a substance mostly found in animals, especially fish. Seaweed has a high fiber content, making up 32% to 50% of dry matter. The soluble fiber fraction accounts for 51-56% of total fibers in green- and red algae and for 67-87% in brown algae. Soluble fibers are generally associated with having cholesterol-lowering and hypoglycemic effects.
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