Tag: reduce inflammation

Categories
Biosea Health Pain Reduction

Seaweed reduces Hangovers

Pacific Seamoss Seaweed reduces hangovers

Rainee, a convertee to Pacific Seamoss confided to me that consuming seaweed reduces hangovers. During the Covid-19, we know that consumption of alcohol has increased [1]. Not everyone wants to admit this, but I had consumed a bottle of white wine, and the next morning felt full of energy, and not hungover. My alcohol tolerance is low, and consuming 2 standard drinks of alcohol would leave me feeling very jaded the next day.

With the comments of Rainee, and my own experience we dived back into the literature. Was this effect real? Could it be explained?

You don’t have to be good to feel good!

Hangovers suck. If there’s one statement all of humanity can get behind, it’s hangovers suck. Throbbing headaches, fluey shakes, gut-churning bedspins—it doesn’t matter if you spent the night pounding cheap beer or vintage Bordeaux; when you’re hungover, you want one thing: to make all the awful feelings stop.

And there are whole heap of really weird hangover cures in various societies.

  • Cow intestine, calves’ feet, and milk are the three main ingredients in khashi, the slippery white stew that Georgians swear by as a hangover panacea
  • The Peruvians use the left over juice from ceviche
  • The Italians have a Neapolitan tonic on the brink of extinction, gassosa dall’acquafrescaio which blends fresh-squeezed Sorrento lemon juice, sparkling volcanic water, and baking soda to create a frothy “eruption” in the glass
  • Outer Mongolia – sheep’s eyes
  • USA – prairie oysters – raw egg and Tabasco sauce (not calves testicles)
  • Korean haejangguk (literally “hangover soup”) is the catch-all genre of beef-and-vegetable stews – but with seaweed.
  • According to Irish folklore, it was said that the cure for a hangover was to bury the ailing person up to the neck in moist river sand. This is obviously not a recommended hangover cure.

Look No Further! Seaweed to the Rescue

In a consumer survey in 2019 from early users of Pacific Seamoss surprisingly said that they felt better at 8 to 12 days. Published research work from Prof Lindsay Brown on obesity rat models showed marked improvement in liver function. His team demonstrated red seaweeds reduction in fatty liver fat deposits, reduction in fat vesicles. [3] [4]. We know that the liver damage from obesity is pathologically the same as the damage from alcohol. For a full review of liver damage caused by non-alcohol check out this review [5] but for alcohol fatty liver disease this reveiw [6]. More concerning is that fatty liver disease is associated with cancer [7].

What we know from science:

  • Alcohol causes liver inflammation
  • Seaweed reduces liver inflammation and the presence of fat vesicles in the liver of with obesity models
  • Seaweed extracts reduced liver inflammation

Extracts of Seaweed Reduced Liver Damage

In a trial with mice in 2017, Yin et al used extracted carbohydrates from a seaweed. They fed different rates of seaweed extracts to mice who were fed alcohol, and looked at liver function and size.

Growth rates increased

We know that alcohol stunts growth, one of the many reasons why women should not drink during pregnancy. We also know alcohol is contributor to a whole range of diseases including heart, dementia and cancers. But in this trial, scientists used growth rates to measure health in mice. They found seaweed extracts negated the effects of the alcohol on growth.

Group7 day15 daysGrowth %
Control222831
OAS 50 mg + alcohol243443
OAS 150 mg + alcohol233345
OAS 250 mg + alcohol233447
OAS 350 mg + alcohol243543
From Yin et al Growth rates of animals with seaweed extract were normal.

When the researchers looked at the serum levels after feeding alcohol, and the damage change that alcohol sets off, what they concluded is that the seaweed has a protective mechanism on the liver.

From Yin et al 2017. Effects of AOS on serum ALT and AST enzymatic activities against alcohol-induced acute liver injuries in mice.

So seaweed has a protective mechanism, and the authors concluded that mice should take these seaweed extracts 2 hours before consumption of alcohol.

But our best guess is taking seaweed on a daily basis will provide that same protection. Given most people who suffer hangovers will drink to excess on a regular basis. So take seaweed. Stop the hangovers. Then see a support agency to stop drinking to excess.

Our study demonstrated that AOS exerted promising hepatoprotective effects, which may have potential applications in prevention and protection of oxidative stress-induced liver injuries

Yin et al 2017.

Conclusion

  • Seaweed shows protective mechanism against liver damage from alcohol.
  • Seaweed shows protective mechanisms against obesity and high sugar intake.
  • Customers report feeling better with no hangovers from alcohol
  • Yet another reason to consume seaweed for good health.

Disclaimer

We do not promote excess alcohol consumption. We recommend you follow the appropriate health guidelines set by your national health bodies.

References

[1] Alcohol consumption increases during COVID-19 crisis (Australia National University Report)

[2] Yin et al 2017. Preparation, characterization and alcoholic liver injury protective effects of algal oligosaccharides from Gracilaria lemaneiformis Food Research International Vol 100, Part 2, October 2017, Pages 186-195 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2017.08.032

[3] Wanyonyi, S., du Preez, R., Brown, L., Paul, N. A. & Panchal, S. K. Kappaphycus alvarezii as a Food Supplement Prevents Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome in Rats. Nutrients 9, 2 (2017).

[4] du Preez, R. et al. Carrageenans from the Red Seaweed Sarconema filiforme Attenuate Symptoms of Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome in Rats. Mar. Drugs 18, 97 (2020).

[5] Than N, Newsome P. 2015 A concise review of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease 2015
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2015.01.001

[6] Osna, N. A., Donohue, T. M., Jr, & Kharbanda, K. K. (2017). Alcoholic Liver Disease: Pathogenesis and Current Management. Alcohol research : current reviews, 38(2), 147–161. (NCBI)

[7] Dhamija, E., Paul, S. B., & Kedia, S. (2019). Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease associated with hepatocellular carcinoma: An increasing concern. The Indian journal of medical research, 149(1), 9–17. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_1456_17

Support Agencies

Lifeline Australia https://www.lifeline.org.au Tel 131114

Alchoholics Anonymous
Australia https://aa.org.au/ 1300 222 222
UK 08009177650 https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/
NZ https://aa.org.nz/ 0800 229 6757
Philippines http://www.aaphilippines.com/ WhatsApp +63 917 842 9280

Beyond Blue Australian 1300 22 4636 www.beyondblue.com

Categories
Biosea Health Heart Health

Healthy Heart on Seaweed

Improve heart health with seaweed Pacific Sea Moss

The cardiovascular system is made up of the heart and all the arteries, veins and capillaries that are threaded throughout the body. The number one role is to deliver oxygen to every cell in the body. Get a healthy heart on seaweed. The heart is the strong pump that drives the oxygen delivery and beats from the first weeks after conception through to our last breath. No wonder heart health is so important.

Un-Healthy Heart – Cardiovascular Disease

The term “cardiovascular disease” can refer to a raft of heart and arterial diseases that affect this system. These range from aortic aneurysms to congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease and stroke. All these conditions have the same underlying causes that are either modifiable, like diet, or non- modifiable like genetics. We are all well educated about how to change our lifestyle to prevent heart disease. But despite major medical advances and public health campaigns over the past decades, Cardiovascular Disease remains the number one cause of death for both men and women in Australia. [1]

Health Food –> Healthy Heart

Science tells us that the solution may be easier and more readily available than the medical profession would have us believe. Nations with low rates of cardiovascular diseases, such as Japan, eat a diet rich in seaweed. The evidence is clear that on the Japanese diet of 1975 they had healthy heart on seaweed diet. This sea vegetable is rich in novel phytochemicals that create functional changes in the body when consumed regularly.

How Can Seaweed Help Prevent Cardiovascular Disease?

Healthy Heart on Seaweed as fresh or dried improves heart health1. Seaweed reduces blood pressure.

The mechanism is not known, but several studies have shown that systolic blood pressure is returned to normal range in rats when seaweed is included in the daily diet for several weeks. [2]. One study compared seaweed intake with blood pressure medication and found regular seaweed consumption caused the same BP reduction as an ACE Inhibitor. [3]. The effect has been shown to be just as strong in humans, dropping high blood pressure to normal measures, while not lowering healthy pressure. [4] This suggests the seaweed is returning the cardiovascular system to health, rather than just dropping blood pressure in isolation.

2. Healthy heart on seaweed – prevents ventricular hypertrophy

When the heart muscle is placed under stress because of high blood pressure the body compensates by thickening the walls of the heart. This reduces the size of the chamber into which the blood flows. The heart is unable to effectively pump anymore eventually lead to heart failure. Studies have shown that seaweed prevents the hypertrophic thickening of the heart walls even in the context of a high fat diet. [3]

3. Healthy Heart on Seaweed prevents cardiac fibrosis

In any state of cardiac stress or disease, a structural protein, collagen, builds up in the heart muscle causing fibrosis – a hardening and enlarging of the heart muscle. This limits the ability of the heart muscle to contract and interferes with the electrical conduction that makes your heart beat regularly. Cardiac fibrosis is progressive and eventually leads to heart failure. Seaweed removes collagen from heart tissue independent of dietary and lifestyle changes. [2]

4. Seaweed Reduces Blood Lipids

Caused by a diet high in fat or genetic predisposition, high cholesterol, particularly bad LDL cholesterol, leads to arterial plaques the eventually block arteries, particularly the coronary arteries. These are the small arteries that run along the outside of the heart bringing blood supply and oxygen to the heart muscle itself. When these arteries are blocked the heart muscles stops functioning and may die – this is called myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack. Seaweed has been shown to interfere with the normal mechanisms of lipid breakdown, preventing dietary fats from building up in the blood stream and causing arterial plaques.[2] One study showed seaweed was as effective as a statin medication in reducing cholesterol. [3]

5. Seaweed reduces inflammation

Most cardiac disease is ultimately caused by inflammatory processes in the body. Damage ranges from hardening of small injuries to the arteries caused by arterial plaques, or invasion of inflammatory cells into the heart muscle itself. Seaweed has a dual action to remove inflammation in the heart and the arteries. The prebiotic component of seaweed upregulates good bacteria in the colon which in turns sends anti-inflammatory molecules into the blood stream to reach the arteries and heart.[5] In a second, unknown mechanism, seaweed removes inflammatory cells that build up in the cardiac muscle from stress, western diet or age. [2].  The Japanese demonstrate that you get a healthy heart on seaweed.

Check out a detailed science review on Blood Pressure Control with Seaweed Dietary Supplement

References

[1] A. I. o. Health and Welfare, “Deaths in Australia,” AIHW, Canberra2019, Available: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/life-expectancy-death/deaths-in-australia.

[2] 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.

[3] Z. Eshak, “PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF Kappaphycus alvarezii ON THE HEART OF HYPERTENSIVE AND HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIC INDUCED SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS,” Malaysian Journal of Microscopy, vol. 12, no. 1, 2016.

[4] J. Teas, M. E. Baldeón, D. E. Chiriboga, J. R. Davis, A. J. Sarriés, and L. E. Braverman, “Could dietary seaweed reverse the metabolic syndrome?,” Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition, vol. 18, no. 2, p. 145, 2009.

[5] 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.