Have you discovered seaweed salad? Since it has become a popular restaurant item as an appetizer or garnish in Japanese restaurants and sushi bars, some consider it the new coleslaw. Also called hiyashi wakame and goma wakame, seaweed salad is usually seasoned with sesame oil and seeds with red pepper flakes, vinegar, salt, mushrooms and seaweed-based agar agar added.1 While many people enjoy the taste of marine-derived greens, which include kelp, nori, kombu and wakame, seaweed is also one of the world's best sources of iodine.2 It has also been credited with significant health benefits such as neuroprotective,3 anti-inflammatory4 and anti-viral properties.5 Seaweed is also being studied as useful for high blood pressure6 — yes, your seaweed salad may lower your blood pressure. In an observational study in children,7 seaweed consumption was shown to lower diastolic blood pressure in boys and systolic blood pressure in girls. As for adults, research published in the American Journal of Hypertension found that a preparation made from seaweed decreased mean blood pressure in 62 middle-aged patients with mild high blood pressure.8 An article in Marine Drugs also cited several studies linking seaweed consumption to decreased blood pressure.9 The associations are encouraging. Seaweed Actions That May Lower Blood PressureHigh blood pressure is defined as a condition in which the long-term force of blood against artery walls is too high and may eventually cause health problems.10 Although there are many prescription drugs available to treat high blood pressure, their side effects are numerous. That is why natural treatments such as seaweed are so important. This is how researchers writing in Marine Drugs explain the likely potential actions of seaweed compounds on high blood pressure:11
In short, seaweed polyphenols exert effects similar to ACE inhibitor drugs, which in conventional medicine are often prescribed as a first-line treatment for high blood pressure. High Blood Pressure Is a Modern ConditionHigh blood pressure is a condition fueled by lifestyle behaviors. It began to emerge in adults in higher income countries from changes in how people live, eat and work.12 Contributors to high blood pressure include:
High Blood Pressure Is a Dangerous ConditionOne in 3 Americans suffers from high blood pressure, which amounts to 75 million people.22 People may not be aware that they have high blood pressure, but the condition is far from harmless. Worldwide, high blood pressure causes 9.4 million deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization.23 Here are some of the major complications of high blood pressure, according to the Mayo Clinic:24
Other Serious High Blood Pressure ComplicationsThere are other serious complications increasingly linked to high blood pressure, such as dementia and cognitive decline.25 Those with high blood pressure are at risk of memory and understanding problems as well as vascular dementia, likely because of narrowed or blocked arteries that can limit blood flow to the brain. Here is what scientists sharing their research in Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology wrote in 2016:26
Researchers are also now exploring the links between high blood pressure and the development of breast cancer. Evidence of links exist, wrote researchers in Scientific Reports in 2017:27
Other Studies Cite Seaweed Benefits for High Blood PressureThere is more evidence of seaweed's value in controlling high blood pressure. This is what researchers wrote in a 2009 issue of Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition about seaweed's effect on metabolic syndrome, a condition in which high blood pressure is central:28
Further, even as only one part of an improved diet, seaweed has been found useful in treating high blood pressure, according to research in Current Hypertension Reviews.29 The study found that following a diet that includes traditional Japanese foods, including seaweed, green/yellow vegetables and mushrooms, supports the prevention and improvement of high blood pressure for people with readings in the high-normal range. More Seaweed BenefitsAs I noted earlier, seaweed is a good source of iodine, which is an important nutrient. In fact, kelp is credited as the largest known dietary source of iodine — capable of providing close to 2,000% of the recommended daily intake.30 Iodine helps regulate the thyroid gland to produce strong, healthy hair, skin and nails and forms the important thyroid hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine. Iodine is also crucial for regulating the body's energy and brain metabolism, which are under the effect of the pituitary gland, and for formation of your skeletal framework itself. Iodine is an especially important nutrient for developing babies. Balanced iodine during pregnancy and breastfeeding is central to the myelination process, correct formation of the baby's central nervous system and the development of a baby’s brain cells.31 Edible seaweed contains other valuable substances such as potassium, calcium, iron and alginic acid. Alginic acid naturally protects marine plants from bacteria and binds to heavy metals in humans, a process sometimes called chelation. This makes seaweed an important detoxifying food. It is not a surprise that alginic acid is used, medically, as a chelator to remove heavy metals from blood. It is also used to make dental and prosthetic molds and in wound and burn dressing.32 Compounds containing alginic acid are also used in the treatment of patients with symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) because it displaces the postprandial gastric acid pocket in people in whom GERD medications don't work.33 In fact, seaweed outperformed antacids for this purpose in some studies.34 Alginic acid is also used in weight loss.35 Clearly any new treatments for high blood pressure, especially natural ones, are good news for those affected. So, don't forget to enjoy your seaweed salad — and be sure any seaweed you consume is harvested from nonpolluted waters. from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/11/25/seaweed-salad-benefits.aspx
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