Category: Biosea Health

Biosea Health seaweed is full of vitamins, minerals and pre-biotics. Demonstrated blood pressure reduction, anti-inflammatory compounds and providing better gut microbiome.

Seaweed Drug for Alzheimers Disease

Post author By Hugh Butler
Post date November 5, 2019

Seaweed drug Alzheimers Disease shows promise

Back in early 2005, researchers noticed seaweed reduces Alzheimers disease in elderly patients and wondered if people who regularly eat seaweed were less likely to develop AD. A formal research program was started in 2009 in China.

By 2019, a new drug, extracted from seaweed was approved. Clinical trials show effectiveness in treating mild to moderate forms of the disease, and it may even improve cognitive function. The news immediately drew worldwide attention, and suspicion ensued. Is it possible that a discovery coming out of China—whose biotech industry is just taking off—could succeed where seasoned researchers from the likes of Biogen and Eli Lilly have failed miserably?

What We Now Know

The microbiome impacts Alzheimer’s Disease and other inflammatory Diseases
Seaweed may prevent onset either in whole form or in an extract of a particular polysaccharide
Human clinical trials are very promising.
If you are concerned about Alzheimers there is no better time to start seaweed. Treatment of the disease once it has progressed may not be reversible.

What’s the Current Thinking about Alzheimers Disease

Despite the tremendous efforts made in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the past decades have witnessed the continuous failure of β-amyloid (Aβ)- or tau-centric therapeutic strategies in late-stage clinical trials. Only 1 out 200 promising drugs with animals translated to any positive improvements in humans.

There are two promising areas of research and they both involve seaweed. The question is how does seaweed reduces Alzheimers Disease. When researchers talk about AD they often use a term called an axis of Brain-Gut-Microbiota.

The diagram of this “pathway” (from Kowalski and Mulak) is below. Note that it all begins in the gut.

The amyloid beta proteins that are seen in people with dementia are made by the microbiota, the gut nervous system and the brain itself.
What is often seen is leaky gut syndrome, and gut inflammation.
Finally the damage is done in the brain with neuro-degeneration.

Disturbances of the brain-gut-microbiota axis in Alzheimer’s disease. Disturbances along the brain-gut-microbiota axis, including the central nervous system (CNS) and the enteric nervous system (ENS), contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. The gut microbiota is known to upregulate local and systemic inflammation due to lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from pathogenic bacteria and synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines. Alterations in the gut microbiota composition may induce increased permeability of the intestinal barrier and the blood-brain barrier further enhancing inflammation at the gut, systemic and CNS levels. Amyloid beta (Aβ) formation takes place in the ENS and the CNS. In addition, a large amount of amyloids is secreted by the gut microbiota.

Disturbances along the brain-gut-microbiota axis may significantly contribute to the development of neurodegenerative disorders. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent cause of dementia – with progressive decline in cognitive function and formation of amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. We know poor gut microbiota composition increase permeability of the gut barrier. This results in an autoimmune reaction. E.g. Immune activation leading to systemic inflammation, which in turn may impair the blood-brain barrier and promote neuroinflammation, neural injury, and ultimately neurodegeneration. It has been shown in inflammatory disease but has been extended to AD.

However, current understanding of the specific mechanism between the gut and brain in AD progression is still very limited. There will be many claims until further research is done. The figure below shows the 3 separate areas of activity, but it remains unknown which types of infiltrated immune cells are functionally involved in AD development. What are the underlying driving forces that promotes peripheral immune cells to infiltrate the brain, leading to the enhancement of the residential neuroinflammation. Moreover, as we discover the importance of microbiota metabolites, researchers will try to find the specific metabolites that are involved in linking gut microbiota and brain neuroinflammation in AD progression.

This work is one of a whole new area of studies that show the dynamic interaction between the intestinal microbiota and host innate and adaptive immune system. If the gut microbiota are abnormal, they could jeopardize host immune responses and promote the development of various inflammatory disorders. Remember that Prof Jan Villadsen in the arthritis and gut inflamatory responses – same type of response and in this blog post. (Arthritis stopped in its tracks)

Antibiotics are Bad

It now appears that antibiotics are bad for AD-associated inflammation. Both animal and human studies show an association between dysbiosis of the gut microbiota and the microglia activation during AD development. Minter et al. discovered that perturbations (upset) in gut microbial diversity influenced neuro-inflammation and amyloidosis. Antibiotics-treated mice showed a significant decrease in plaque-localized microglial activation positive for IBA-1. Besides, gut microbiota-produced lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was found in the post-mortem brain samples of AD patients,and peripheral injection of LPS could promote microglial activation.All the evidence suggests that gut microbiota is likely involved in regulating microglia activation and neuroinflammation in AD. Change that microbiome and there is a cascade of other complications.

Promising GV-971 Drug

The media is full of the work of Geng Meiyu and her team at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. They suggest that a polysaccharide, oligomannate, a seaweed-derived compound, can reduce AD. The work was supported by Ocean University of China and Green Valley.

Here is Geng Meiyu (bottom left – she worked for 30 years on this.

The Chinese Govt has approved the drug GV-971 which was based on a phase 3 trial involving 818 Chinese patients.

In that study, patients on oligomannate scored better on a standard clinical scale called ADAS-Cog that’s used to evaluate cognitive function in Alzheimer’s patients. ADAS-Cog scores range from zero to 70, and higher scores indicate greater dysfunction

In previous animal studies Geng’s team showed in mice that oligomannate works by modulating gut microbiota and hence inhibiting inflammation in the nervous system, reducing beta amyloid buildup and tau tangles.

According to results Geng presented at last year’s Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease Conference in Barcelona, a statistically significant improvement between the drug and placebo was observed as early as week four and continued over the course of the trial. After 36 weeks, patients in the oligomannate arm had improved their ADAS-Cog scores by a median 2.54 points more than placebo patients.

Seaweed Changes Gut Microbiome

Prof Lindsay Brown of USQ showed in super-sized obese mice they could reverse the changes in microbiome back to normal with Sarconema species seaweed. This was with Sargassum sp and Laminaria sp It may be that the species is not so important as getting the right microbiome.

What is the Cell Membrane?

Here are two images of the membranes in the gut. There is only a few cells between the gut, and the bloodstream. If this is not functioning correctly, then the blood says “Whoa. Nasty bacteria too close”. And starts an autoimmune process.

This simple figure (Minter) shows the intestine as a pipe with a cross section. There is really only 1 layer between health and death.

This gut blood barrier is much more complex. Here is simple model which shows some of the dozens of cells identified.

Within this are many other processes and involve T-Cells, B-Cells, and range of other immunology pathways.

Proposed Mode of Action of GV-971 Gut Brain Axis

Wang et al in the Nature paper cited below says that this gut blood brain change is what makes the new drug effective. The polysaccharide reconditions the microbiota. The inflammation reduces, and then reduced the nero-inflammation.

The work from The Netherlands by Dr Mulder and others (Bogie et al) in animal studies have seen lipids enter the brain, and this reduces inflammation but also reduced the reduction in the brain size which is also a symptom of Alzheimer’ Disease.

In a separate Nature communication commenting on the drug GV-971 Seo (2019) provides a commentary on the paper on GV-971 and how microbiota influences Alzheimer’s Disease.

Schematic Diagram (from Seo, 2019)

Poor functioning (or dysbiosis) of the gut microbiota alter amino acid metabolism and immunity.
Elevated phenylalanine and isoleucine (Phe/Ile) increase plasma T helper type 1 (Th1) cells
Th1 cells invade through the blood brain barrier.
Get inflammation in the brain
- Increases pro-inflammatory microglia abundance
- Get amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition
- Neurofibrillary tangles (as per research from Europe with Monique Mulder)
Treatment with GV-971 reconditions the gut microbiota and stops progress of Alzheimer’s

This mechanism seems to be a consistent finding among Alzheimer’s Disease researchers and why there is continued research on how seaweed reduces Alzheimers disease.

References

CNN News Article Chinese Alzheimers Drug (Click Here)

Novel Drug Treatment Shows Improved Cognition in a Phase 3 Clinical Trial in Persons with Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer’s Disease in China. 2018 (News report from Barcelona)

South China News China Approves first new Alzheimers Drug
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3036119/china-approves-oligomannate-worlds-first-new-alzheimers-drug-20

Fierce Pharma China approves a new, home-grown Alzheimer’s drug—and questions immediately follow (Click Here to read more)

Wang, X., Sun, G., Feng, T. et al. 2019 Sodium oligomannate therapeutically remodels gut microbiota and suppresses gut bacterial amino acids-shaped neuroinflammation to inhibit Alzheimer’s disease progression. Cell Res 29, 787–803 (2019) doi:10.1038/s41422-019-0216-x

Bogie, J., Hoeks, C., Schepers, M. et al. Dietary Sargassum fusiforme improves memory and reduces amyloid plaque load in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model. Sci Rep 9, 4908 (2019) doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41399-4

Kowalski K, and Mulak A 2019 Brain-Gut-Microbiota Axis in Alzheimer’s Disease J Neurogastroenterol Motil 2019; 25(1): 48-60 https://doi.org/10.5056/jnm18087

Minter M, Zhang C et al 2016 Antibiotic-induced perturbations in gut microbial diversity influences neuro-inflammation and amyloidosis in a murine model of Alzheimer’s disease. Scientific Reports volume 6, Article number: 30028 https://www.nature.com/articles/srep30028

Garrett, W. S., Gordon, J. I., & Glimcher, L. H. 2010 Homeostasis and inflammation in the intestine. Cell, 140(6), 859–870. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2010.01.023

Seo, D., Boros, B.D. & Holtzman, D.M. The microbiome: A target for Alzheimer disease?. Cell Res 29, 779–780 (2019) doi:10.1038/s41422-019-0227-7

du Preez, R.; Paul, N.; Mouatt, P.; Majzoub, M.E.; Thomas, T.; Panchal, S.K.; Brown, L. Carrageenans from the Red Seaweed Sarconema filiforme Attenuate Symptoms of Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome in Rats. Mar. Drugs 2020, 18, 97. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/18/2/97

Commercial Interests

The commercial entity in this new drug is Green Valley. Green Valley is a pharmaceutical company focusing its primary efforts on developing carbohydrate drugs for patients with complex chronic diseases in areas of central nervous system, cardiovascular, and oncology. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Shanghai with over 1500 personnel, Green Valley’s business presence in China covers more than 31 provinces/municipals including 2 GMP manufacturing sites and has achieved more than $700 million in revenue in 2018. The company’s product Salvianolate is a top 10 drug for cardiovascular disease in China. The new drug registration application and marketing authorization application for GV-971 has been recently submitted to CFDA for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Their website is http://www.greenvalleypharma.com/En

Tags Alzheimer's, dementia, seaweed health benefits

Biosea Health Gut Microbiome Heart Health Seaweed for Humanity

Experience backed by Science

Post author By Hugh Butler
Post date October 25, 2019

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

Tags cancer fighting properties, clinical evidence, improve heart health

Alzheimer's Disease Biosea Health Gut Microbiome Health Benefits Reviews

Seaweed Reduces Alzheimers?

Post author By Hugh Butler
Post date October 4, 2019

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

This 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.

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.

Plant sterols cross the blood-brain barrier to give a supply of cholesterol like plant sterols that are used in brain regeneration.
One of the compounds works on the LXRb gene expression process
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/

Tags Alzheimer's, dementia, health benefits of seaweed, improve memory, improvement dementia

Arthritis Biosea Health Reviews

Seaweed Stops Rheumatoid Arthritis in its Tracks

Post author By Hugh Butler
Post date October 4, 2019

Seaweed stops rheumatoid arthritis in its tracks. Dr. Jan Villadsen had spondylarthritis / Psoriatic arthritis and it was gone in 17 days. For the first time in 5 years, his C-Reactive Protein levels went to zero. Symptoms went.

SEAWEED STOPS RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Arthritis is a complex set of over 100 different types – generally categorized as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid. The main difference between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis is the cause behind the joint symptoms. Osteoarthritis was thought to be caused by mechanical wear and tear on joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s own immune system attacks the body’s joints. (The cause of osteoarthritis has recently been challenged.) Arthritis affects more than 350 million adults globally.

When people get chronic inflammatory diseases such as spondylarthritis or Psoriatic arthritis, patients may be given disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). DMARDS are a category of otherwise unrelated drugs defined by their use in rheumatoid arthritis to slow down disease progression. The term is often used in contrast to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDS, which refers to agents that treat the inflammation but not the underlying cause and steroids (which blunt the immune response but are insufficient to slow down the progression of the disease).

Dr. Jan Villadsen is a Consultant Specialist Immunology at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark. Dr. Villadsen had suffered from spondylarthritis / Psoriatic arthritis for decades. Despite the treatment of conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARD) and combination therapy of sDMARD and bDMARD, there had been no significant improvement. Dr. Villadsen was provided with a synbiotic (seaweed/oilseed rape fiber fermented mix) from a commercial provider Fermbiotics (see www.fermbiotics.com).

The outcome was astonishing. For the first time in 5 years, his C-Reactive Protein (CPR) went to zero. The seaweed mix was also provided to other hospital staff, and they wanted it for weight loss and general health.

DR JAN VILLADSEN

What Is this Research?

This research work comes out of the Macro Cascade project of the European Union Horizon 2020 program, where the primary aim is to get novel feed products for pigs to avoid using antibiotics. The product is made with brown seaweeds (Saccharina and Ascophyllum) and rapeseed waste and fermented with lactobacillus yeasts.

The current research between Fermbiotics and the Aarhaus Hospital is a clinical trial of 257 patients to look at this outcome more broadly with Dr. Villadsen and Dr. Henning Glerup.

Seaweed stops Rheumatoid Arthritis

Gut health is now known to be very important in a whole range of autoimmune diseases including:

Rheumatoid arthritis
Psoriasis
Diabetes mellitus 2
Cancer
Autism
Multiple sclerosis
Obesity
Allergy and asthma among others.

References

[1] Review: Microbiome in Inflammatory Arthritis and Human Rheumatic Diseases. Jose U. Scher Dan R. Littman Steven B. Abramson 02 September 2015 https://doi.org/10.1002/art.39259

[2] Combined Pre- and Pro-biotic Composition. Compositions comprising fermented seaweed and/or algae WO 2017/077139A1

C-REACTIVE PROTEIN WENT TO ZERO

Tags arthritis, arthritis reduction, Benefits of Seaweed, Pacific Seamoss

Biosea Health Gut Microbiome Health Benefits

The Ultimate Sea Vegetable

Post author By Hugh Butler
Post date September 25, 2019

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

Tags health benefits of seaweed, Pacific Seamoss, seaweed as food

Health Benefits Seaweed for Humanity

Amazon Rainforest Vanishing Faster Than Ever

Post author By Hugh Butler
Post date September 13, 2019

The Amazon rainforest is vanishing faster than ever due to wildfires and needless destruction

Climate help may come from An Unexpected Place: Underwater.

Wildfires causing deforestation

Global warming impacts all life on Earth, gradually heating the planet and threatening the delicate balance. Rainforests and other carbon sinks scrub the air removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and providing oxygen. Unfortunately, deforestation is taking a heavy toll on the world’s largest forest. The Amazon rainforest is vanishing faster than ever and, with the recent fires, attention has once again focused on building carbon emissions.

Seaweed has photosynthesis

Seaweed, a form of algae, grows in both fresh and salt waters all over the world [1]. In the same way that trees clean the air through photosynthesis, seaweed “forests” support marine life by filtering carbon dioxide from the water and producing oxygen. A new look into this unlikely environmental hero shows that there is potential for sea vegetables to offset terrestrial carbon emissions [1].

Seaweed as effective as Amazon Rainforest as a carbon sink

Marine scientist Halley Froelhich, of the University of California, is the lead author of a new study. According to the recently published paper, industrial-sized farms would grow and harvest seaweeds which would then be sunk, along with the captured C02, into the deep ocean. There, the carbon dioxide would be trapped for hundreds, even thousands, of years [1].

Seaweed and aquaculture

According to Froelhich’s study, 18.5 million square miles of ocean suitable for seaweed cultivation [1]. (This number does not include freshwater varieties of macroalgae.) The scientists behind the study propose that farming 0.001 percent of the world’s seaweed-growing waters could offset the entire carbon emissions of the rapidly growing global aquaculture industry. For a scaled example, farming seaweed in 3.8 percent of federally controlled waters off the coast of California could offset the carbon emissions of the state’s multi-billion-dollar (terrestrial) agriculture industry [1].

With half the world’s seafood being supplied through aquaculture, countering the industry’s carbon emissions could prove a huge relief both environmentally and economically. Seaweed farms may prove a viable business model for socio-economically troubled coastal communities [2]. Many societies that traditionally rely on fishing face the real possibility of depleting local marine life. Lessening dependence on fishing would in turn decrease concerns of overfishing [3] and may have the added benefit of attracting marine life [2]. Researchers have found that, in California alone, kelp forests are home to over 800 species of marine life [2].

A profitable commercial crop, seaweed is widely used in beauty products, medicines, and food for humans, livestock and fish [1]. Currently, China is the industry leader in kelp farming, having produced more than seven million metric tons in 2015 [2]. Kelp, a variety of macroalgae found in cold coastal waters, grows quickly and prolifically in its natural environment. These underwater forests require no fertilization as they pull carbon dioxide from the water, as well as excess nitrogen and phosphorus [2].

Other uses for seaweed

The harvested materials could be converted into livestock feed, which research has shown can reduce methane emissions from grazing cattle by up to 70 percent. Seaweed can also be converted into biofuel or used as a natural fertilizer, replacing petroleum-based products [1]. All that is needed now, Duarte states, is to find a way for seaweed production to meet the demand.

References

[1] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/forests-of-seaweed-can-help-climate-change-without-fire/

[2] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/11/explore-sustainability-kelp-farming-seaweed/

[3] https://www.ecomagazine.com/news/regulation/overfishing-is-a-huge-problem-here-s-what-you-need-to-know

Healthy Seaweed Snacks

Post author By Hugh Butler
Post date September 11, 2019

Healthy Seaweed Snacks of Seaweed

Seaweeds have amazing health benefits. They are a rich source of vitamins, amino acids, and minerals. These nutrients have antioxidant properties that help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Pacific Sea Moss© has high fiber content and is low in calories and can help in weight management.

Seaweeds absorb trace nutrients from the seabed that are not available on land, therefore, they are richer in nutrients than land-grown fruits vegetables. As people start understanding and appreciating the immense health benefits of seaweeds, it has become a super-food that is now being incorporated in many types of food products, drinks, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.

Benefits of eating healthy seaweed snacks?

Every once in a while we tend to feel hungry in between our main meals. This is a normal feeling that can be an effective way of staying healthy and managing your weight. Healthy snacking is important because it helps you maintain your blood sugar levels. Healthy snacking also helps in preventing overeating and consequently helps you to maintain your weight. The choice of your snacks is important because they can also help in boosting your body with the right nutrients for your body. Seaweed snacks have gained great popularity due to their high quality and health benefits.

BE CAREFUL OF “HEALTHY” SNACKS

SEAWEED SNACKS MAY HAVE HIGH LEVELS OF NA AND FAT

healthy seaweed snacks may be high in calories and oil

Six + One ways of consuming seaweed

Seaweed snacks are an excellent option of providing our bodies with the health benefits of healthy snacking. BioSea Health provides seaweed as a simple way to consume food and manufactures healthy snacking options that provide our bodies with the desired nutrients.

Here are some ways of seaweed snacking:

Seaweeds can be added to crackers to manufacture a low sodium but still salty snack that is packed with more nutrients and lower calories.
Seaweeds can also be incorporated with noodles to make a healthy snack that is rich in fiber and gluten-free. This snack is also low in carbohydrates and high in omega-3 fatty acids, that are great for cognitive health and may help in improving memory.
Seaweeds can also be added to juice, smoothies or yogurt. With the right blend of the extra ingredients, the taste of seaweed is barely noticeable and can be blended with bananas, spinach, coconuts, and avocados to make a very healthy smoothie. Addition of the salty seaweed flavor helps in bringing out the sweet flavors of the other ingredients.
You can crumble dried seaweeds and add it to your toast. It can then be used to make healthy tea sandwiches and when taken they will pack your body with nutrients.
If you want to regulate your salt intake you can substitute salt with seaweed granules that will boost your iodine take and keep you healthy.
Dried seaweed can also be added to popcorn providing extra proteins and vitamins with the added signature salty taste of seaweeds.

Best Of All – The Seventh Option

You can easily take Pacific Sea Moss© capsules to get all the seaweed you need in a convenient form. When you take about 5 grams of dry seaweed (about a whole bowl of wet seaweed) in the form of 6 – 8 capsules, the seaweed has been shown to get through your stomach into your intestines. People who have taken the seaweed say it makes them feel full. There are some 32 hormones responsible for appetite, and a “full stomach” is the increase in leptin and other hormones released in the upper intestine. This process of counteracting the “feeling hungry” hormones with “I’m feeling full” or satiety hormones is the continual hormonal response to eating food. In clinical trials, people reported feeling full. Those who consume Pacific Sea Moss© report similar observations.

Pop 6-8 Pacific Sea Moss© capsules at the start of the day to get all the health benefits of seaweed in a convenient form.

“Seaweed – all the weed you will ever need.”

Many Uses of Seaweed

Post author By Hugh Butler
Post date September 4, 2019

There are many uses of seaweed. Most recognise food, but since ancient times are important to humanity for many other reasons.

In South America, Australasia, The Middle East and of course Japan, China and Korea Seaweed has long been an important source of nutrition. Presently, however, due to the unique properties of seaweeds, they are increasingly being used for a variety of advanced applications globally.

Nutritional components of seaweeds

Seaweeds are rich sources of vitamins and minerals and widely used as health supplements.

Potassium. 98% of Americans are deficient in K.
Calcium
Iron
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Magnesium
Phosphorous
Iodine plays an important role in the functioning of the thyroid and helps in the prevention of goitre.
Low in calories
High in dietary fibers that are highly beneficial for the human gut system by promoting the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria.
Contain several beneficial compounds such as fucoxanthin, antioxidants, and polysaccharides. These are being studied for their potential as antibiotics, anti-tumour, laxatives, anticoagulants, anti-cancerous drugs, and medication.

One of the many uses of seaweed is health

Polysaccharides from seaweeds can be used to reduce or replace added fats in foods in order to manufacture foods with reduced total fat content such as low-fat versions of meat-based and vegetable-based products. Additionally, fucoxanthin found in seaweeds has been found to help in the burning of fatty tissue and thus aiding in weight management. Some biologically active compounds found in seaweeds such as carotenoids and peptides have been shown to play a significant role in preventing chronic degenerative diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and arthritis. Other seaweed extracts can be used to improve the skin moisture retention properties of cosmetic products.

Improve the quality of food products

The addition of seaweeds extracts to some food products helps in eliminating or reducing the needs of artificial chemical preservatives. The bioactive compounds found in seaweeds are often referred to as functional ingredients due to their many beneficial health properties and prospective uses from food processing to and formulation of meat products. Due to the thickening properties of some polysaccharides found in seaweeds, they are used to thicken commercial foods such as sweets, sauces, and condiments. Other seaweed polysaccharides are used in the food industry to modify the texture of foods due to their gelling properties.

Seaweed extracts used as food additives

Seaweeds have for years been used in Asian countries as additives in salads and soups. The extracts from seaweeds have been used in Japan to prepare and preserve fish and meat. Powdered seaweed can be used to improve the human digestion of beans and as a flavour-enhancer since it is a natural source of glutamic acid. Other water-soluble polysaccharides from seaweeds have been used to stabilize some food products such as ice cream where they help the ice cream maintain a smooth texture by inhibiting the formation of large ice crystals.

Improving the shelf-life of Food

Seaweeds contains natural antioxidants that have been found to inhibit the lipid oxidation of fatty acids, which is a major problem in quality preservation of foods and can otherwise cause unpleasant smells in food products. In conducted studies, seaweeds have been identified to improve the shelf-life of bread by two days. Seaweed extracts have replaced chemical preservatives in the preservation of tilapia fish with no change of odour or taste of the tilapia. More importantly, the fish remained preserved with the same quality standard used for the chemical preservatives.

Seaweed And The Environment

Post author By Hugh Butler
Post date August 24, 2019

Seaweed benefits enviroment - find out how Pacific Sea Moss benefits

Seaweed and the Environment

Watch these 2 videos from Prof Tim Flannery – passionate about climate change and believes a pathway forward is to grow seaweed on a large scale

For Food
For Biofuel
For packaging
For human health
For animal health

PROF TIM FLANNERY TALKS SEAWEED AND ENVIRONMENT

CAN SEAWEED SAVE THE WORLD ABC 2017

Seaweed – the smart organic medicinal food for boosting your immunity

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Tags seaweed as food, seaweed health benefits

Biosea Health Health Benefits

Seaweed and Motor Neurone Disease

Post author By Hugh Butler
Post date August 22, 2019

motor neurone disease may be improved with seaweed Pacific Sea Moss

Motor neuron disease has no cure. Seaweed slows progression, repairs brain damage, and reduces decline.

What is Motor Neurone Disease?

Motor neurone disease is also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Approximately 1400 people in Australia are living with this disease. MND typically affects people in their mid-50s and survival is approximately 2-5 years from the onset of symptoms. Although there is currently no cure for MND, an anti-glutamatergic medication is available and slows the progression of the disease.. It is a devastating neurogenerative disorder that affects and destroys the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons are nerve cells that control essential voluntary muscle activities such as walking, speaking, swallowing, and breathing.

When motor neurons are destroyed, the messages they send out to the muscles start to stop reaching the tissues progressively. Muscles stiffen, weaken, and eventually waste away. As the disease progresses, the affected person starts to lose their ability to do necessary muscular activities such as talking, walking, breathing, and eating.

Presently, there is no cure or standard treatment for motor neurone disease. People suffering from motor neurone disease are provided with supportive treatment to make them more comfortable while maintaining their quality of life. Other forms of treatment are symptomatic, whereby the therapy focuses on visible symptoms such as respiratory therapy to aid in breathing, and physical therapy to help in limb movement.

What causes motor neuron disease?

About 10 percent of all cases of motor neurone disease is inherited. In contrast, the remaining 90 percent of motor neurone disease cases are thought to be caused by toxic, environmental, viral, or genetic factors.

What are the symptoms of motor neuron disease?

During the early stages of motor neuron disease, the symptoms of the disease may be similar to those of other conditions, which may complicate diagnosis. However, typical symptoms of this disease mostly start in the mouth, arms, and legs, as well as the respiratory system. Some of the identified symptoms include a weakened grip that makes it challenging for a person to pick up and hold things. Muscle cramps, muscle pains, and twitches, fatigue, trouble breathing, or shortness of breath may also be present. Slurred speech, difficulty swallowing add to the challenges — odd emotional responses like laughing or crying, and weight loss due to muscle wasting.

What are the neuro-protective effects of seaweed?

There is significant evidence that oxidative stress has a considerable impact on the role in the progression of motor neurone disease. Oxidative stress is defined as the imbalance between the production of free radicals and the body’s ability to detoxify their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants. Oxidative stress is known to impair the architecture and function of cells, which may lead to various chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as motor neuron disease.

Seaweeds possess antioxidant polysaccharides. These have been found to slow down damage to the motor neurons, improve cognitive and motor functions, and reduce cognitive and motor decline in a range of neurodegenerative disorders. The polysaccharides found in seaweeds have been reported to have potent reducing power and can scavenge on the free radicals. Seaweeds also contain fucoxanthin, which is a carotenoid that is considered as a powerful antioxidant and is thought to play a significant role in brain injury. Research has shown that taking foods rich in antioxidant ingredients such as seaweeds has excellent potential in preventing conditions related to oxidative stress.

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4026683
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28968365
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28003344
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28003344
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25299277

Tags cancer fighting properties, fight motor neuron disease, health benefits of seaweed, motor neuron disease

SEAWEED STOPS RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

DR JAN VILLADSEN

BE CAREFUL OF “HEALTHY” SNACKS

SEAWEED SNACKS MAY HAVE HIGH LEVELS OF NA AND FAT

PROF TIM FLANNERY TALKS SEAWEED AND ENVIRONMENT

CAN SEAWEED SAVE THE WORLD ABC 2017

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