Category: Gut Microbiome

Pacific Seamoss seaweed improves Gut Microbiome health in animals and humans assisting in weight loss, reduced autoimmune diseases, cancer, blood pressure. While the patient is suffering any symptoms then recommeded to stop the virus asap.

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Biosea Health Gut Microbiome Health Benefits

Improve your Poo in the Times of Toilet Paper Shortage

There is a great deal of satisfaction in a nice clean poo. Remember the one that is well formed, not too hard, not too soft. The one that just slips out so cleanly that a small two squares of toilet paper will do the clean up nicely. Ahh, that feels good.

This is something very important to consider in this time of toilet paper shortage. The messy poo brigade is forced to hoard roll after roll of toilet paper in fear of never getting a clean wipe resulting in the dreaded skid mark on the undies

Improve your poo with the Bristol Stool Chart

What constitutes a good poo?

Thankyou for the Bristol Stool Chart for giving us way more poo information than we though we would ever need.That beautiful clean, low TP poo is a Type 4, maybe a Type 3. Most of us sit either side of these numbers. And all of us have experienced a “Why did I eat that food court curry?” Type 7 or the “Get me a jack-hammer” Type 1.

Improve your poo – How?

How do I get from the messy clean-up poo to the easy-clean Type 4 poo in this time of TP crisis?

Seaweed is the answer. Our customers have a lot of poo stories to tell us.

Yes, we were surprised about this too.

“My stools are firm and of a good colour – I ain’t pooed like this since I was 12”

Some report suddenly being “regular as clockwork”
Others tell us their ongoing mild diarrhea has cleared up. Some say the same about their ongoing constipation.

Even the dogs on seaweed are having their say. Check out Chris’s little dog Millie

Let’s not smear this lighthearted post with too much science. Let’s not mention the abundance of both soluble and insoluble fibre in the seaweed. Nor, shall we extol the wonders of improving bowel function with healthy gut bacteria. And we won’t even go near the toning of smooth intestinal muscle because of the increased Potassium.

Improve your poo. Baking a chocolate cake with bristol score

Let’s just sit (not too long) with the image of your next short, clean visit to the porcelain altar. Clean, low maintenance and most importantly, toilet paper friendly.

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Arthritis Biosea Health Gut Microbiome Heart Health Weight loss

5 Reasons to Feel Better with Seaweed

5 Reasons to Feel Better with Seaweed

Adding seaweed to our diet provides 5 reasons to feel better with seaweed. Our customers tell us they have more energy and enthusiasm for life. There is no question that adding seaweed to our diet makes us feel better. There is sound scientific reason for the health and wellbeing improvements that happen when you take seaweed every day. Here are just 5 reasons to feel better with seaweed and their main benefits according to published peer-reviewed science.

1 of 5 Reasons to feel  better with Seaweed is your Liver is Cleansed

The liver is a manufacturing and storage plant for all the nutrients, enzymes and proteins our body uses every day. It is also the major filtration system for removal of toxins and metabolic wastes. Unfortunately, the western diet causes the liver to become clogged with lobules of fat and then inflammation sets in. This interferes with the liver’s ability to do its job. Toxins begin to build up and vital molecules fail to reach the cells where they are needed. Seaweed removes the fatty build and halts the inflammatory response, so the liver begins to function properly again. [1].  In Professor Brown’s work, the inflammation of the liver is the first sign they see in their rats on a seaweed diet.

2. Inflammation is reduced

Inflammation is a cascade of biochemical and cellular responses designed to protect the body in case of injury or infection. Our modern lifestyle and diet mean we face infectious agents, pollutants and minor injury daily. When you add stress into the mix the process of inflammation becomes chronic leading to disease in the body. Seaweed reduces inflammation in two major ways. Sulphated polygalactan in seaweed works like aspirin to stop the inflammation process [2]. The prebiotic activity of seaweed promotes good gut bacteria that release a variety of anti-inflammatory molecules into the body[3]. So out joints are more free and overall inflammation is reduced. Reduced inflammation also means less energy is diverted to the immune system. Hence, we feel less tired.

3. Thyroid Function is Better

Iodine and tyrosine are the key molecules needed to produce thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones control metabolism at the cellular level and are necessary for proper functioning of all systems in the body. When iodine and tyrosine are in short supply thyroid hormones aren’t produced and metabolism is sluggish. This is experienced as weight gain, lack of energy and feeling cold all the time. Seaweed has healthy levels of bioavailable iodine and tyrosine for optimal hormone production and thyroid function.

4 of 5 Reasons to feel better with Seaweed is Sodium Potassium Balance Improvement

Sodium and potassium are related elements that are vital to life. The western diet tends to be high in sodium but low in potassium, so over 98% of American adults are potassium deficient. Signs of low potassium include fatigue, muscle weakness or cramps and constipation. Diets low in potassium are also known to cause hypertension. Seaweed is high in potassium but low in sodium (4 to 1 ratio) thus can correct the sodium potassium balance. When balanced, potassium makes muscle contraction easier, including the muscles in the arteries, so less effort is required, and fatigue is reduced.

5 of 5 Reasons to Feel Better with Seaweed: Brain function improvement

Seaweed contains many different neurotrophic factors that increase neural connections and generate new cells in the brain. Plant sterols in seaweed create an enriched environment for increased cell connections resulting in improved memory and quicker cognition. [4] Seaweed is also rich in the ancient molecule taurine that helps generate new brain cells. [5] Tyrosine increases dopamine and noradrenaline in the brain, creating feelings of motivation, reward and decreased fatigue, and this has been linked to enhanced performance.[6]

References

[1] S. Wanyonyi, R. Du Preez, L. Brown, N. A. Paul, and S. K. Panchal, “Kappaphycus alvarezii as a food supplement prevents diet-induced metabolic syndrome in rats,” Nutrients, vol. 9, no. 11, p. 1261, 2017. (Open Access)

[2] F. Makkar and K. Chakraborty, “Antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory potential of sulphated polygalactans from red seaweeds Kappaphycus alvarezii and Gracilaria opuntia,” International Journal of Food Properties, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 1326-1337, 2017. (Food Online)

[3] I. Sekirov, S. L. Russell, L. C. M. Antunes, and B. B. Finlay, “Gut microbiota in health and disease,” Physiological reviews, vol. 90, no. 3, pp. 859-904, 2010.

[4] G. Tirtawijaya et al., “Spinogenesis and Synaptogenesis Effects of the Red Seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii and Its Isolated Cholesterol on Hippocampal Neuron Cultures,” Preventive Nutrition and Food Science, vol. 24, no. 4, p. 418, 2019. (pubmed)

[5] M. L. Cornish, A. T. Critchley, and O. G. Mouritsen, “Consumption of seaweeds and the human brain,” Journal of Applied Phycology, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 2377-2398, 2017. (SpringerLink)

[6] P. Watson, “Tyrosine Supplementation: Can This Amino Acid Boost Brain Dopamine and Improve Physical and Mental Performance?,” Sports Sci. Exch, vol. 28, no. 157, pp. 1-6, 2016. Reference

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Arthritis Biosea Health Gut Microbiome Health Benefits

Seaweed reduces obesity? Will it save Queensland’s Fattest City?

seaweed reduces obesity Eat Pacific Sea Moss

USQ scientists set to break the obesity cycle with leading edge findings. Are functional foods better than dieting and exercise…..

Toowoomba takes out the unenviable title of the fattest city in Queensland according to researchers at the Mitchell Institute. Over 83% of the Toowoomba population is overweight or obese, posing major disease risk and a potential public health crisis in the region. But all is not lost for the Garden City with one of its locals possibly holding the key to ending the city’s obesity problem. Professor Lindsay Brown of University of Southern Queensland at Toowoomba has spent more than a decade investigating functional foods and their affect on lifestyle diseases such as obesity, high blood pressure and cancer. Professor Brown says that seaweed is showing exceptional effectiveness in reversing obesity related health problems in animal studies and would like to see them in human studies.

Prof Brown and his team of researchers fed rats a junk food diet. The rats, just like humans, gained weight especially around the belly, and also developed fatty liver disease, high blood pressure, pre-type 2 diabetes, arthritis and inflammation of the gut.

But eating as little as 5 gm of seaweed per day completely reversed all of these symptoms.  Blood pressure returned to normal and cell damage to the heart and liver was reversed. Fatty deposits in liver and blood vessels disappeared.  The body’s response to sugar reverted back to the healthy functioning and diabetes risk was eliminated. Inflammation throughout the body was minimised so joint and heart health was much improved.  Professor Brown says the results are highly impressive and somewhat unexpected. He anticipated an improvement in symptoms but not a complete reversal, and a result better than if the patient was taking multiple medicines.

Blood pressure control with seaweed dietary supplement also stopped weight gain
From du Preez 2020 Seaweed reduces weight gain from rats on a junk food diet and makes no different to rats on a standard diet.

Professor Brown now wants to get the message out to the residents of his home town to help change Toowoomba’s frightening health reputation.  He openly provides all the science so residents can judge the effectiveness for themselves. However the media and medical industry have been slow to realise the potential of functional foods.

Categories
Biosea Health Gut Microbiome Health Benefits Reviews

Seaweed Reverses Metabolic Syndrome

seaweed reduces metabolic syndrome

Rats fed seaweed reverses metabolic syndrome caused by a junk food diet. Sounds too good to be true?  Professor Brown was astonished. This animal study was published in 2017 but few seem to understand the ramifications.  You can negate a junk food diet with seaweed. Alternatively, you will be able to reverse the ill-health effects of a bad diet.

The Trial

Professor Lindsay Brown University of Southern Queensland supervised this PhD study along with Dr Sunil Pachal at the University of Southern Queensland.  The paper is listed below.

They took rats and fed some of them on an junk food (extra sugar + fat) diet.  Just like in the movie Super Size Me, a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock. Spurlock’s film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he ate only McDonald’s food. The film documents this lifestyle’s drastic effect on Spurlock’s physical and psychological well-being. If you want to see what a human on junk food diet looks like. Or not.

Professor Brown’s trial had 3 groups of 10 rats each.  Group 1 had normal rat diet. Group 2 had a Junk food diet. Group 3 had the junk food diet plus some seaweed (Kappaphycus sp) .  The trial went for 8 weeks.

Outcomes

This data is taken directly from the peer reviewed published paper, and highlights a few key metrics. There are other more complicated conclusions as well.

Seaweed Reverses Metabolic Syndrome:Weight 

Normal          Supersize Supersize+ Seaweed
Final Weight g

350

 431

348 
Energy Intake kJ/day

38

 23

21
Feed conversion efficiency g/Kj   

0.04

 0.2

0.03

Fatness

Indicator     Normal       Supersize Supersize+ Seaweed
Circumference cm 

18.4

 20.5

18.9
Abdominal Fat mg/mm     

342

 632

337
Total Fat Mass Times 

49

 98

53

Bone Density

Indicator  Normal      Supersize    Supersize+ Seaweed
Bone Mineral Density  g/cm2

10

 12

10

Blood Measures

Indicator Normal         Supersize Supersize+ Seaweed
Basal Blood Glucose mmol/L

3.7

 4.7

3.6
Total Glucose mmol/L.min

650

 800

753
Triglycerides  mmol/L

0.6

 1.7

1.3
Systolic Blood Pressure mm

120

 136

127

NO WEIGHT GAIN. WHY NOT?

blood pressure control with seaweed dietary supplement also stopped any weight gain from junk food
From Wanyonyi 2017. The rats on the junk food + seaweed were no different in weight than the standard diet, in contrast to rats on a junk food diet.

BLOOD GLUCOSE BACK TO NORMAL

blood glucose control with seaweed dietary supplement
From Wanyonyi 2017. Blood glucose controlled with seaweed provided as a dietary supplement.

Additional Measures

  • Gut microbiota diversification profiling
  • Metal and metalloid liver analysis
  • Histology
  • Organ weights
  • Body composition
  • Fatty liver disease reversal
  • Gut microbiome reverts to normal
  • Gut inflammation eliminated.
  • Damage to the heart was reversed.

BLOOD PRESSURE. NO HYPERTENSION

Blood pressure control with seaweed dietary supplement reduces liver inflammatory cells
From du Preez 2020. Seaweed markedly reduces liver inflammatory cells in less than 8 weeks. The damage is completely mitigated by the seaweed.

GUT MICROBIOME CHANGES

gut microbiome changes are the likely reason that blood pressure control with seaweed dietary supplments worked.
Figure from Waynonyi 2017. The microbiome was radically changed with the introduction of Kappaphycus alvarezii to the diets of the junk food animals.

Conclusion

Professor Brown was astonished.  The introduction of seaweed did not reduce the symptoms a little. The seaweed had such a dramatic effect it was if these rats had not eaten the junk food diet. What was going on?

References

[1] Wanyonyi, S; du Preez, R; Brown, L; Paul, N; Panchal, S  2017 Kappaphycus alvarezii as a Food Supplement Prevents Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome in Rats. Nutrients (9) 11 DOI:10.3390/nu9111261 (Click for Abstract) (Click to download full paper)

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Biosea Health Gut Microbiome

Seaweed changes Microbiome

seaweed changes microbiome Eat Pacific Sea Moss

We know seaweed changes gut Microbiome. There are more than 10 times more bacteria in the gut (microbiome) than cells in human body!

Moreover, there are more than 150 time total genome of microbiota than the human body. Mounting evidence suggested that gut microbiota plays an important role in the development of disease in the brain. And there is a bidirectional relationship between the brain, gut, and the microbiota within the gut, which is referred as the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Seaweed Changes Gut Microibiome in Animal Studies

In a 2017 study Dr Sunil Panchal and Prof Brown[1] put rats onto a obesity inducing diet. They had 3 groups of 10 rats each.

  • Group 1 had normal rat diet.
  • Group 2 had a Junk food diet.
  • Group 3 had the Junk food diet plus some seaweed (Kappaphycus sp) and in human terms that was about 13 gm per day.

At the end of  the 8 week trial they looked at the gut microbiota.  Find the full details in the references, but this graph stands out.

There are 4 families of bacteria.  The black lines is from the feces of the normal food rat. The Red lines are from those Supersize diet, and the Green is from the Supersize plus seaweed.

Bacteriodes species – 3 times more. This is a strong marker for obesity so it helps explain why the seaweed reversed obesity. Seaweed has over 30% sulfated polysaccharide (carrageenan) and it is a good food source to the bacteria A recent study has shown that Bacteroides sp. are able to digest carrageenan
producing oligosaccharides which possess lipid-lowering properties.

In the s24-7 type seaweed increased the counts back to above the normal.

In the Clostridiacea and the Osciallspira back to normal

Microbiota in Alzheimer Disease

While improved microbiome helps in diseases such as blood pressure, obesity, there is also a growing body of evidence that microbiome is important in Alzheimer’s Disease.

Here is 1 figure between 40 patients with AD compared with “normal” patients.  Read more in Dr Zhung’s paper.

Changes in gut microbiota in Alzheimer disease

The Microbiota–Gut–Brain (MGB) Axis

The concept of the MGB axis is well established. The neuroendocrine and neuroimmune systems, in addition to the sympathetic and parasympathetic arms of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the ENS, are key pathways in gut–brain communication. Although the exact mechanisms mediating gut–brain interactions are not fully understood, they were suggested to involve endocrine, immune, and neural pathways (vagus nerve and enteric nervous system), leading to possible alteration in AD patients or aggravating inflammation.

The concept has now expanded and has become a quickly evolving area of research that led to convergence of research efforts in the fields of neuroscience, psychiatry, gastroenterology, and microbiology—disciplines that were previously considered to have distinct and separate research objectives and focuses.

Further, depending on the diet that the Microbiota is living on has a cascade effect on compounds made, adsorbed and therefore the makeup of that microbiota.

No longer.  It is clearly integrated, and treating them as a whole system is now essential.

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REFERENCES

[1] Wanyonyi, S, du Preez S et al 2017 Kappaphycus alvarezii as a Food Supplement Prevents Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome in Rats. Nutrients 9 (11)  DOI:10.3390/nu9111261 (Pubmed)

[2] Li, M.; Shang, Q.; Li, G.; Wang, X.; Yu, G. Degradation of marine algae-derived carbohydrates by Bacteroidetes isolated from human gut microbiota. Mar. Drugs 2017, 15, 92

[3] Dinan, T Cryan, J 2017 Gut instincts: microbiota as a key regulator of brain development, ageing and neurodegeneration  Journal of Physiology 595 (2) 489-503 https://doi.org/10.1113/JP273106

[4] Zhuang ZQ, Shen LL et al. 2018 Gut Microbiome is Altered in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (2018) Journal of Alzheimer’s disease: JAD 63(4):1-10 ·  https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-180176

[5] Vo Van Giau OrcID, Si Ying Wu 2017 Gut Microbiota and Their Neuroinflammatory Implications in Alzheimer’s Disease Nutrients 2018, 10(11), 1765; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10111765

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Biosea Health Gut Microbiome Heart Health Seaweed for Humanity

Experience backed by Science

Experience is backed by science - eat Pacific Seamoss for health

Is consumer experience backed by science?  What we are looking for is that science provides validation for personal experiences. Seaweed improves health. Scientists know why your blood pressure improves by 15mm Hg. Long term science backs up personal  health improvement. However, one cannot make any health claim. Because the regulatory industry was established for artificial drugs and medicines, and functional foods struggle for registration and have to be tested in human and animal clinical trials.

There are some clinical trials on humans. There are thousands of peer reviewed publications on the health improvements in vitro, in animals and for limited studies, humans. Google Search for “seaweed functional food” returns 3.5 million hits.

Is Experience Backed By Science?

Discussion and peer reviewed publications with

  • Professor Lindsay Brown University of Southern Queensland (been doing research for 20 years on superfoods)
  • Professor Jane Teas Southern Carolina University
  • Dr Jan Villasend – Aarhus University Hospital in clinical research arthritis in Denmark
  • Dr Monique Mulder Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Our “Pacific Seamoss” red seaweed is 35% sulfated polysaccharide and is pretty indigestible, and passes through the stomach into the intestines. The microbiome get busy on it and composition changes and protects the lining. As well as the extra fibre, and normalisation of the bacteria, some of the other 1000 compounds in the seaweed get absorbed. Some of the compounds have been identified and implicated in the beneficial effects. (eg fucoidan) but there are many unknowns on the mechanism.

Some brown seaweeds (Kelp, Dulce) have an issue with iodine levels too high so you cannot eat the 5+ grams per day of seaweed. The five grams is a daily serve of veges.
Is there a major difference between seaweeds. Possibly if you refine them. But if you have them whole there may not be due to the very complicated interactions.

Metabolic Syndrome Clinical Trial with Humans – 2013

Prof Jane Teas. Did a human double blind clinical trial on 40 overweight volunteers who were already on blood pressure tablets and statins. They all had metabolic syndrome so they all had 2 of those symptoms – Hypertension, weight, high cholesterol and sugar intolerance. They were given 5gm of seaweed, between 4 and 8 gm depending on the treatments.

Significant Outcome. Blood pressure was down 10mm Hg. Patients lost on average 3 kg. There was a reduction in type 2 diabetes. Their cholesterol went down by 2 whole points.  The attached paper has more details.

Animal Studies Obesity Fats Rats made Thin 2017

Professor Lindsay Brown from University of Southern Queensland / UQ has been doing functional food research for 15 years on animals. They did do some human trials on Queen Garnet Plums through Univ Victoria with Nutrafruit.com.au. Over his research spanning 2 decades and multiple products, including purple fruits (with anthrocyanin), purple carrots, purple plums, purple corn and also on linseed, and more recently on seaweed with various species the results are the same.

  • Improvement of gut microbiome
  • Reduction or elimination of fatty liver
  • Bone density increase
  • Blood pressure reduction
  • Weight loss reduction
  • Cartilage increase .

What is interesting that essentially fatty liver disease is gone, heart fibrous tissue gone, cholesterol down and good DNA data from the gut microbiome returning to normal.

Prof Brown’s conclusion is that there is no real difference between the whole food and if you try to split out the active compounds. They had done the work for the purple plum and the outcomes were the same for the whole food versus the identified other compounds.

Some of his work has been documented in the media.

Diabetes

Prof Brown’s work with rats over the past 15 years shows all of these conditions improve with the super food. Be it purple carrots, linseed, Purple Garnet Plums, Purple Corn, Achacha (Garcinia humalis) Mangostem, Seaweed. As consumers start to eat seaweed daily then it is clear that consumer experience backed by science, and the challenge is to undertake more science on humans that continue to do work on animal studies.

Fatty Liver and Kidney Disease

In the animal studies Lindsay showed reversal of metabolic syndrome and that fatty liver disappear and kidney function returns.

Breast Cancer – Humans 2013

A short single blind trial by Jane Teas in 2013. Only 16 people, all breast cancer survivors and only for 12 weeks. 4 weeks placebo, 4 weeks 5 gm Unadaria (a brown). The Creatinine levels halved. Creatinine is a marker of inflammation and more importantly implicated in breast cancer. . She was looking to explain why Japanese women have 1/10 breast cancer rates of those in USA

“uPAR is higher among postmenopausal women generally, and for BC patients, it is associated with unfavorable BC prognosis. By lowering uPAR, dietary seaweed may help explain lower BC incidence and mortality among postmenopausal women in Japan. “

There is other animal and invitro studies and it shows that in mice the oestrogen was stripped out. See this blog

Dementia 2019

Prof Brown says animal studies in dementia do not translate well into humans and that 1 drug out of 200 is the track record to date. But Dr Monique Mulder with Sargassum (brown) and others published in Nature in March 2019 that Dietary Sargassum fusiforme improves memory and reduces amyloid plaque load in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model. The thing seems to be multi-modal in that it provides plant sterols to the brain crossing the blood brain barrier, and stops amyloid plaques and tangles. And reverses it in mice. They are moving from animals to humans in their trials.

Rheumatoid Arthritis and Bowel Inflammation

Dr Jan Villadsen got given some seaweed/rapeseed/fermented mix from FermBiotics.com from his University friend Dr Belinda Bjerre who is a Project Diretor on some of the EU seaweed research programs. The mix was to developed to eliminate use of zinc oxide and antibiotics in pig production. The pig studies show equivalence or better than conventional Zn+antibiotic treatments. Note: zinc is banned in EU animal feed from 2022. A long term rheumatic arthritis (RA) sufferer, Dr Villadsen’s C-Reactive Protein goes to zero in 17 days. Patent. Publications. He and colleagues at Aarhaus are now doing a clinical trial with 200 patients on IBS and RA .

Osteo Athritis

We don’t know exactly which of the 100 different types of arthritis seaweed will work on. There is consistent strong anecdotal evidence. There is in vitro studies. A Nature publication from Prof Xiao and Prof Brown [6] demonstrated when they took the rats from Browns metabolic studies and they identified collagen and connective growth recovery in the rats. This is similar to the osteoarthritis work with extracted fucoidan extracts from brown seaweed.

Conclusion

Functional foods can provide health benefits by reducing the risk of chronic diseases and enhancing the ability to manage chronic diseases, and improving the quality of life. This gives seaweed great potential as a supplement in functional food or for the extraction of compounds.

Our company has a challenge to accelerate the clinical trials and register the benefits to be able to make health claims. Pacific Seamoss is just food. But make your own judgement. No one is stopping you eat food. Even nail growth! We have people where their nails grow more and this is a prime experience backed by science over 11 years ago.

References

[1] Wanyonyi, S; du Preez, R; Brown, L; Paul, N; Panchal, S  2017 Kappaphycus alvarezii as a Food Supplement Prevents Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome in Rats. Nutrients (9) 11 DOI:10.3390/nu9111261 (Click for Abstract) (Click to download full paper)

[2] Teas, J et al  2009 Could dietary seaweed reverse the metabolic syndrome? Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 18 (2) 145-157 (Click for Abstract) (Click to download full paper)

[3] Teas, J et al 2013 The consumption of seaweed as a protective factor in the etiology of breast cancer: proof of principle. J Appl Phycol 25 771-779  DOI:10.1007/s10811-012-9931-0 (Click for Abstract) (Click to download full paper)

[4] Bogie, J et al (Including Monique Mulder) 2019 Dietary Sargassum fusiforme improves memory and reduces amyloid plaque load in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model. Scientific Reports 9 (1) DOI 10.1038/s41598-019-41399-4 (Click for Abstract) (Click to download full paper)

[5] Villasend J;  Silkeborg R 2019 Clinical trial: Investigation of macroalgae as a synbiotic adjuvant in chronic inflammatory diseases. Seagriculture19 Belgium presentation  (Click to download presentation)

[6] Sekar, S., Shafie, S., Prasadam, I. et al. Saturated fatty acids induce development of both metabolic syndrome and osteoarthritis in rats. Sci Rep 7, 46457 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep46457

Media

  • https://www.abc.net.au/local/archives/landline/content/2016/s4419411.htm
  • https://www.abc.net.au/local/archives/landline/content/2015/s4180101.htm
  • https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-15/sleeping-giant:-linseeds-health-properties-could/8711970
Categories
Alzheimer's Disease Biosea Health Gut Microbiome Health Benefits Reviews

Seaweed Reduces Alzheimers?

seaweed reduces alzheimers disease Pacific Sea Moss

Seaweed reduces Alzheimers in animal studies and work is underway with dietary Sargassum fusiforme as it has demonstrated improvement of memory and moreover reduces amyloid plaque load in an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model. The research was presented by Dr Monique Mulder at the Seagriculture 2019 Workshop in Ostende Belgium in September 2019. Dr Mulder is from Erasmus University Rotterdam and working with colleagues globally.

Seaweed Reduces Alzheimer’s Disease – Background

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), also referred to simply as Alzheimer’s, is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gradually worsens over time. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events.

Seaweed reduces alzheimers disease
Aging Memory Decline

An ever-increasing reduction in memory occurs in patients. Language proficiency, the ability to solve problems and other cognitive functions also decrease. The disease is not yet treatable. 44 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. The costs involved are $ 1,000 billion. Due to the aging population, these numbers will increase drastically in the coming years. Over the past 20 years AD research has focused on either:

  • Early detection. Catch early and stop progression.
  • Drugs to stop the disease and the symptoms.

AD disease progression is complex.

  • Brain shrinkage. As neurons are injured and die throughout the brain, connections between networks of neurons may break down, and many brain regions begin to shrink. By the final stages of Alzheimer’s, this process—called brain atrophy—is widespread, causing significant loss of brain volume.
  • Beta amyloid.  There is an abnormal build up of a protein called beta amyloid, which forms “plaques” outside the brain cells.
  • Tangles. Inside the brain cells, another protein called tau builds up into “tangles”

Seaweed Reduces Alzheimers in Mouse Memory

Dr Mulder has been working for the past 15 years on dietary and genetic approaches to Alzheimer disease in animal models. Dr Mulder explains that “I ended up in the seaweed by accident. I have always been interested in the relationship between nutrition and health. We were looking for a certain substance (the plant sterol Saringosterol) and found in the scientific literature that this substance had been detected in seaweed. Then it appeared that mice that we had fed with seaweed performed better in the field of cognition (information processing in the brain). That was the trigger for further research.”.

Seaweed Reduced Brain Atrophy

The brain atrophy is due to lack of cholesterol.  The brain cannot get cholesterol from the body as cholesterol cannot move across the Blood Brain barrier.  Dr Mulder’s previous work showed that the memory of mice with Alzheimer’s disease improves if the transport of cholesterol in the brain is activated with synthetic substances that stimulate certain receptors (LXR α and β). Unfortunately, serious side effects occur, such as fatty liver and accumulation of fatty substances in the blood, so that ruled out the synthetics.

But with in Sargassum, a natural substance was (Saringosterol) did work. It activated fat transport in the brain via LXR β. In mice with Alzheimer’s disease, she saw an improvement in memory and fewer brain abnormalities when they let them eat seaweed. Moreover, no adverse side effects occurred.

Reduction of brain with Alzheimer diseaser

Dr Mulder presented that the key issue is that the brain has to synthesis its own cholesterol – there is no blood to brain transfer. Defective synthesis in the brain causes brain disease. The regulation is with compounds called LXR. Brain sterols also play a part.

Details of the Research

In previous published work, when they increased the cholesterol turnover by LXR activation with compounds at about 0.015% w/w then mice improved their object recognition and object location tasks. (Did not affect mice without AD).

It turns out that common plant sterols (such as those from Sargassum) can enter the brain, and they are very similar to cholesterol but the ones they have tried previously do not change the LXR levels.

It is not simple, as the compounds have to turn on / turn off genes.  These compounds have to “agonist”. An agonist is a chemical that binds to a receptor and activates the receptor to produce a biological response.

A few years the research discovered that a sterol from Sargassum fusiforme is a novel selective LXR. The work at Erasmuwas done in collaboration with Shulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

Sargassum is very active anti oxidant

The researchers compared a range of plants and compounds including Azadirachta indica (neem oil) which has reputed health benefits.  You can see the much larger response from Sargassum

Sargassum fusiforme activates LXRb

This figure shows that the Sargassum stopped the folding of the brain which is associated with brain atrophy and tangles. There was no sign of fatty liver from the eating of the sterols, and that is consistent with research with research with the seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii where it was protective.

Sargassum activates LXR target genes in the brainThis figure shows that Sargassum actually affected 3 of the genes that regulate the LXR target genes.

The microbiome: A target for Alzheimer disease?

All the evidence from this work, and from others such as Lin 2019 shows that the getting the gut from a leaky gut to a healthy gut is subtle but very important. The Toll Like Receptors (TLRs) play a huge part in the regulation. The Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) is very important as well. Normally nothing gets into the brain except glucose.

Microbiota Gut Brain Axis

From Lin Fig. 1. Potential implications of TLRs and gut-brain-axis for AD. In healthy subjects, the gut epithelium is guaranteed by tight junctions between the cells. TLRs are expressed on macrophages, dendritic cells (DCs), and intestinal epithelial cells, serving as sentinels to monitor the pathogens in gut. Vagus nerve appears to modulate communication between the gut and the brain. The whole microenvironment maintains in homeostasis. During aging, the tight junction of intestinal and BBB become permeable. In AD patients, the diversity of gut microbiota decreased, while the population of pro-inflammation bacteria increased. Bacteria and their excretions could cross the leaky gut and then activate the TLRs in epithelium, IECs and macrophages, leading to production of pro-inflammation cytokines. These cytokines make their way through circulation or vague nerves to the brain, enlarge the neuro-inflammatory responses, and promote neuro-degeneration in CNS.

Findings from the Current Research

Seaweed improved memory in mice.  There are multiple reasons.

  • Sargassum seaweed is much more effective than other compounds or “anti-oxidants”
  • Sargassum increased cholesterol levels and that shows promise that brains won’t shrink.
  • Sargassum activates LXR-targets genes in the brain and there is half as much brain folding (i.e. degradation) and there has been reduction in beta amyloid and less tangles.
  • There is no downside.  Sargassum did not induce fatty liver or other side effects.

Will this Work in Humans?

In over 400 animal studies since 2002, the failure of drug development has been over 99% when the drugs trials were transitioned from animal studies to human studies. These studies by Mulder and her teams are different in that the Sargassum appears to be affecting all 3 of the causes of dementia.

  1. Plant sterols cross the blood-brain barrier to give a supply of cholesterol like plant sterols that are used in brain regeneration.
  2. One of the compounds works on the LXRb gene expression process
  3. There is less amyloid plaque deposited

So this is very promising work.  Would you consume seaweed now to prevent AD?

References

Are some animal models more equal than others? A case study on the translational value of animal models of efficacy for Alzheimer’s disease. Veening-Griffioen et al Eur J Pharmacol. 2019 Sep 15;859:172524. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2019.172524.

Lin C, Zhao, S et al 2019 Microbiota-gut-brain axis and toll-like receptors in Alzheimer’s disease 2019 Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal Volume 17, 2019, Pages 1309-1317
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2019.09.008

24(S)-Saringosterol from edible marine seaweed Sargassum fusiforme is a novel selective LXRβ agonist. Chen et al J Agric Food Chem. 2014 Jul 2;62(26):6130-7. doi: 10.1021/jf500083r.

Good Catch! https://amazingerasmusmc.nl/actueel/goeie-vangst/

Categories
Biosea Health Gut Microbiome Health Benefits

The Ultimate Sea Vegetable

The ultimate sea vegetable is Pacific Sea Moss

Could Pacific SeaMoss be the ultimate Sea vegetable?

Seaweed has been identified as a key food supplement that can be consumed conveniently in capsule form. Due to increased awareness about the nutritional and health benefits of seaweed, there has been a growing market for seaweed products in Europe. Seaweed is a good source of Vitamin (A, C, E, and K), and many minerals such as potassium, magnesium, copper, calcium, iron, and manganese that are often lacking in modern diets. Furthermore, food products made from seaweed are low in saturated fats and cholesterol. Seaweed contains iodine that helps in the proper functioning of the thyroid glands and normal energy-yielding metabolism.

Consumer demand for seaweed products in Europe

Utilisation of seaweed in Europe is still at its infancy, however, consumers are gradually seeking new sources of healthy and nutritious products and in effect looking towards seaweed. Demand from Europe is expected to increase due to increased consumer awareness on the health benefits of seaweed. In Europe seaweed could well become the next superfood and it is slowly being incorporated in very many different food and drink products. With the anticipated increase in seaweed for health, many leading health companies are now appreciating the potential impact of seaweed as a key ingredient in the manufacture of healthy food products. Food and beverage manufacturers are also looking into ways of incorporating seaweed ingredients into their products. 

Consumers of food supplements search for products that help them maintain a healthy lifestyle and are extremely conscious about their health. These consumers have a preference for natural and organic products, and as a result, they purchase the organic seaweed food supplements. Therefore, the demand for seaweed is growing because it is recognized as a certified organic product. In Europe, in 2016 the market for certified organic products grew by 11.4% to over €33.5 billion. Countries that have great demand for organic products in Europe include Switzerland, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

Companies that produce organic seaweed food supplements ensure that they maintain high-quality standards and have to always monitor the production process to avoid detoxification.

What is driving the demand for seaweed in Europe?

According to the World Health Organization, about 70% of European adults are overweight or obese, which has increased demand for food and diet supplements for weight loss. There is growing consumer awareness about the use of seaweed in pharmaceuticals as more and more people are preferring to use natural products for their health. Also, there is a growing popularity for Asian foods in Europe, and this is expected to support the growth of the target market. Seaweed food supplements have also been used to improve immunity and improved immunity is linked to preventive health. This opens up opportunities for seaweed supplements. Seaweed has fiber and sugars that can be used as food sources for good bacteria to nourish your gut. Seaweed is thought to help in preventing chronic diseases such as cancer and also aid in the prevention of high blood pressure in humans.

Maybe the ultimate sea vegetable is Pacific Sea Moss

Clean. Green, Sustainable. Good Food. Food for Health