02.19.05
Marine Source Nutraceuticals
New Wave Of Health From The Sea
By Dr. Zakir Ramazanov, President of National Bioscience Corporation, Warwick, NY
Sea vegetables offer untapped plethora of health benefits.
Much attention has been focused of late on the Asian diet, which appears to contain a wealth of protective health-promoting compounds. An examination of the Asian diet reveals that it is rich in sea vegetables. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the long recognized traditional health benefits of certain sea vegetables are now being confirmed by modern scientific research.
Seaweed has long been used in the Japanese and Chinese diet. In 600 B.C., Sze Teu wrote in China, “Some algae are a delicacy fit for the most honored guests, even for the King himself.” Some 21 species are used in everyday cooking in Japan, six of them since the eighth century. Seaweed accounts for some 10% of the Japanese diet and seaweed consumption reached an average of 3.5 kg per household in 1973, a 20% increase in 10 years. Most important are nori (Porphyra species), kombu (Laminaria spp.) and wakame (Undaria spp.).
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