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
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.
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.
Prebiotics, including seaweed, and probiotics (yoghurt) prevent lung cancer. How can this be true? Not convinced that seaweed protects against lung cancer. A 2019 study in the Journal of American Medical Association showed prebiotics, including seaweed, and probiotics (yoghurt) have a role in the prevention of lung cancer[1].
How can the gut and the lungs be linked?
The relationship between the gut microbiota and overall health and wellbeing is now well established. Metabolites from the microorganisms, including short chain fatty acids, trigger changes in metabolic pathways throughout the body. It has previously been shown that gut microbiota can influence inflammation in the lungs [2] and also improved lung function in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) [3]
Prebiotics and Probiotics – the difference.
Prebiotics are also known as soluble fibre. They are foods that dissolve when eaten to create a viscous gel that is readily digested by the good bacteria in the colon. This type of fibre is found in legumes and fruit. Prebiotics are different to cellulose rich insoluble fibre which is found in grains and vegetables. These are not digested, but act as bulk to enable bowel movements and prevent constipation.
Probiotics are foods or supplements that already contain a component of bacteria or other micro-organisms. Probiotics deliver bacteria to the lower intestines to improve the ratio of good to bad bacteria. Yoghurt is the most common example of this, but other probiotic foods include kombucha, kefir, miso and sauerkraut.
Peer-reviewed Studies Showing Seaweed protects against Lung Cancer
Scientists from around the world published the study in the Oncology Section of the Journal of the American Medical Association in October 2019.
The aim of the study was to assess the effect of individual or combined prebiotic and yoghurt intake on lung cancer risk. The positive effects from prebiotics and probiotics, specifically yoghurt, have been well documented in the past. Both create health benefits by modulation of gut microbiota and metabolic pathways. However, little research had been done to examine the effect of prebiotic and yoghurt intake on the development of lung cancer.
In this massive study data from 1.4 million participants from America Europe and Asia was collected over a period of 8 years. Scientists looked at fibre intake, yoghurt consumption and other known risks including age, smoking status, obesity and much more.
Results showed that both the prebiotic fibre and yoghurt decreased the risk of lung cancer by just under 20% each. But surprisingly, when prebiotic fibre and yoghurt were combined the risk reduction rose to 30%. This suggests a synergistic effect between prebiotics and probiotics.
Prebiotic Seaweed Protects Against Lung Cancer
Pacific Seamoss has a carbohydrate content of 38 percent, of which 34 percent is prebiotic soluble fibre. Pacific Seamoss, like other functional foods, has a wide variety of beneficial health effects because of its high prebiotic activity. It is the metabolites from the good bacteria which cross into the blood stream to create medicine-like effects throughout the body and improve overall health and resistance to disease.
This study suggests that Pacific Seamoss also confers a reduced risk of lung cancer, up to 30 percent if you are a regular yoghurt eater as well.
But I don’t smoke, so I don’t need to worry about lung cancer
“Unfortunately, this is a myth. 45% of females who get lung cancer don’t smoke”
Smoking is still the major cause of lung cancer accounting for about 90 percent of cancers in males but only 65 percent in females. Secondhand smoke is also a leading cause. But there is a high percentage of lung cancer cases that have no known origin and may be genetically linked or just related to getting older.
Lung Cancer is the Leading Cause of Cancer Deaths
Lung cancer is the 4th most common cancer but the most deadly. While more people are diagnosed with other cancers, including breast, colorectal, skin and prostate cancers, lung cancer is the deadliest with about 9,000 people dying each year in Australia and about 12,000 new diagnoses each year. [4]
The following figure shows that most people are not diagnosed until they are at stage IV, and the 5-year survival rates are terrifyingly close to zero at 3.2%. If diagnosed early as few are, then survival is about 65%.[4]
The 10 most common cancers are shown in the Table below.
From AIHW: Cancer in Australia 2019.
Seaweed Protects Against Lung Cancer – What We Recommend
The ratio of good to bad microorganisms in the colon changes when we change our diet. This study showed that daily consumption of prebiotic soluble fibre will reduce lung cancer risk, and this effect will be greater if a probiotic is also consumed.
We recommend a daily intake of the functional food capsules of Pacific Seamoss because seaweed protects against lung cancer and therefore while it has maximum prebiotic benefits, it also has high nutrient and nutraceutical content. Add your favourite low sugar yoghurt to your diet and not only are you enjoying your food, you are doing something positive for your long term health.
Both your gut and your family will love you for it.
References
[1] J. J. Yang et al., “Association of Dietary Fiber and Yogurt Consumption With Lung Cancer Risk: A Pooled Analysis,” JAMA oncology, 2019. (Abstract here)
[2] J. P. McAleer and J. K. Kolls, “Contributions of the intestinal microbiome in lung immunity,” European journal of immunology, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 39-49, 2018. (Publication here)
[3] H. Kan, J. Stevens, G. Heiss, K. M. Rose, and S. J. London, “Dietary fiber, lung function, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the atherosclerosis risk in communities study,” American journal of epidemiology, vol. 167, no. 5, pp. 570-578, 2008. (Publication Here)
[4] A. I. o. Health and Welfare, “Cancer data in Australia,” AIHW, Canberra2019, Available: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-australia.
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?
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
From Wanyonyi 2017. Blood glucose controlled with seaweed provided as a dietary supplement.
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
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)
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.
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.
[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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