Poised to be the next big superfood, Sea Moss has a wide range of benefits. They include healthy skin, thyroid hormone support, mucus membrane support and digestive health. With its powerful antioxidant properties, it just may be the ocean's gift to humanity 🌊. Apart from its therapeutic uses, Sea Moss is packed with an abundance of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants--hence its popularity among Vegans. This red algae is so nutrient rich, one can survive for months eating only raw Sea Moss. In addition, Sea Moss is an Alkaline food. Recent research has demonstrated the benefits of making the body more alkaline, going as far as stating disease cannot survive in alkaline environments. While we won't go as far as making those claims, we're sure there must be some benefit to decreasing acidity in the body. Nutrient dense makeup Very few foods are as complete as Sea Moss, what I mean by this--it contains 92 of the 102 minerals our body needs to function. This includes the macro-minerals calcium, phosphorous, sodium, magnesium, potassium, chloride, sulfur, and the trace minerals iron, copper, manganese, iodine, zinc, fluoride and selenium. In addition, Sea Moss contains 13 vitamins: Vitamin C, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Vitamin B-6, Folate, Choline, Vitamin A, Carotene, Vitamin E and Vitamin K. I'm not done.....to top it off, Sea Moss is also rich in fatty acids (Omega 3, 6, 9), dietary fiber and protein. Promotes Healthy Skin Sea Moss contains the stable dipeptide Citrulline-arginine which acts to improve the bioavailability of arginine by increasing skin energy levels, encouraging cell growth and metabolism, and protecting the skin. In addition, it releases arginine and citrulline, amino acids that are important sources of nitrogen and essential for protein and collagen synthesis. Citrulline-arginine is indicated for the prevention and improvement of skin aging. It acts as a skin protector in extreme conditions such as cold and dry climates, pollution, and air conditioning. It also aids wound healing (Watson, 2017). Healthy Thyroid support According to the American Thyroid Association (ATA), Iodine is an essential element needed for "the production of thyroid hormone. The body does not make iodine, so it is an essential part of your diet. Iodine is found in various foods. If you do not have enough iodine in your body, you cannot make enough thyroid hormone. Thus, iodine deficiency can lead to enlargement of the thyroid (goiter), hypothyroidism and to intellectual disabilities in infants and children whose mothers were iodine deficient during pregnancy" (ATA, 2019). This is where Sea Moss comes in--it is one of the most Iodine rich foods on the planet. Further more, it contains selenium as well, another essential mineral that helps to regulate Thyroid function. May Help to Reduce Excess Mucus Contrary to popular belief, a bit of mucus is actually healthy for our bodies. It creates a layer of protection that acts as a selective barrier or lubricant allowing us to live alongside harmful microbes. Even further, when these microbes actually enter our bodies, mucus clings to them and it is expelled as phlegm--hence the coughing up mucus whilst we're sick. However, when mucus production becomes abnormal or excess, it looses its ideal viscosity and harmful microbes can infect the body more easily (Zheng, 2018). This is where Sea Moss comes in--it contains Potassium Chloride, Omega 3 fatty acids and Chlorophyll. These three ingredients are key when it comes to dissolving excess mucus and maintaining healthy fluid balance in the body. Helps to Enhance Immune Response A scientific study performed in 2013 demonstrated Sea Moss' ability to enhance host immunity and suppress quorum sensing when exposed to Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (PA) bacteria (60% mortality rate). Consumption of Sea Moss resulted in a 28% reduction of the bacteria, as well as a restraint of the expression of the bacteria ( Liu, 2013). Contains Powerful Anti-oxidants An older 1996 study conducted on edible red algae possessing high concentrations of Beta-carotene, Chlorophyll, and Lutein demonstrated significant suppressive activities against mutagenic substances (Okai Y, 1996). In addition to the aforementioned above, Sea Moss also contains prominent antioxidants Vitamin A, C, E, lycopene, and Selenium. Digestive Support Highly touted for its effect on the digestive system, we did some in-depth research to find out why. Turns out, Sea Moss has a high concentration of pre-biotics. Prebiotics are a type of dietary fiber that feed the good bacteria in your gut. This in-turn helps the gut bacteria to produce colon nutrients and leads to a healthier digestive system. A study performed in 2015 tested the prebiotic effects of Sea Moss on the digestive system of rats. The control group showed a 4.9 fold increase in the population of Bifidobacterium breve (good bacteria) and a decrease in the pathogen species Clostridium septicum and Streptococcus pneumonia (bad bacteria) . The study also reported a higher concentration of short chain fatty acids (gut microbial metabolites), and an increase in faecal moisture. The study concluded that Sea Moss has multiple prebiotic effects, such as influencing the composition of gut microbial communities, improvement of gut health and immune modulation (Liu, 2015). If you're interested in trying out this amazing superfood yourself, please click here or the link below! References 1. Watson, R. (2017). Nutrition and functional foods for healthy aging. London: Elsevier/Academic Press. 2. Iodine Deficiency, https://www.thyroid.org/iodine-deficiency/. 3. Zheng, J. (2018). All About That Mucus: How it keeps us healthy - Science in the News. [online] Science in the News. Available at: http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/mucus-keeps-us-healthy/ [Accessed 5 Sep. 2019]. 4. Liu J, Hafting J, Critchley AT, Banskota AH, Prithiviraj B. Components of the cultivated red seaweed Chondrus crispus enhance the immune response of Caenorhabditis elegans to Pseudomonas aeruginosa through the pmk-1, daf-2/daf-16, and skn-1 pathways. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2013;79(23):7343–7350. doi:10.1128/AEM.01927-13 5. Okai Y, e. (1996). Identification of antimutagenic substances in an extract of edible red alga, Porphyra tenera (Asakusa-nori) - PubMed - NCBI. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8620448/ [Accessed 5 Sep. 2019]. 6. Liu, J., Kandasamy, S., Kirby, C. W., Karakach, T., Hafting, J., Critchley, A. T., … Prithiviraj, B. (2015, August 14). Prebiotic effects of diet supplemented with the cultivated red seaweed Chondrus crispus or with fructo-oligo-saccharide on host immunity, colonic microbiota and gut microbial metabolites. Retrieved from https://bmccomplementalternmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12906-015-0802-5
