Weight regulation
(See also above under Detoxification, Diabetes, and Obesity)
Research on wild wrack (fucus in un-controlled trials, University of Pavia, Italy, 1998/99) claimed significant reductions in hip and thigh measurements and subcutaneous fat and increased blood flow to the epidermis in over 80% of female trial subjects. Claims for weight regulation to ‘normal’ levels, rather than weight loss are supported by broad consumer experience in the UK. A number of factors including thyroid/hormone regulation, improved digestion and metabolism and Seagreens® detoxifying special polysaccharides may be involved.
“Seaweeds are useful in weight-loss programmes and for lowering cholesterol and fat in the blood. Marine plants have a ‘sinking’ quality and hence direct the energy of the body lower and more internally. They contain soothing, mucilaginous gels such as algin, caragheenan, and agar, which specifically rejuvenate the lungs and gastrointestinal tract” (1). “So concentrated in minerals that they are normally used as a supplementary item in recipes to provide a mineral foundation for better utilization of protein and all other nutrients” (1 p107).
Dr Peter D’Adamo says: “I have also found that (wrack seaweed) is very effective as an aid to weight control for Type Os - especially those who suffer thyroid dysfunctions. The fucose in bladderwrack (fucus species) seems to normalize the sluggish metabolic rate and produce weight loss” (3).
Research reported in The Ecologist magazine (110) points to environmental pollutants being stored in body fat cells. Weight loss without proper detoxification may lead to these chemicals being released into the bloodstream. As blood levels rise, levels of essential thyroid hormones necessary to maintain efficient metabolism, can fall dramatically - called 'adaptive thermogenesis'. A comcomitant reduction in muscle oxidative enzymes which determine how efficiently the muscles use energy, results in energy being stored as fat, creating a vicious cycle - weight loss / rising blood contaminants / loss of oxidative enzymes / increase in fat. The point is that Seagreens® may have 3 uses here:
- to help clean out the pollutants
- to help restore the hormone balance and thyroid
- to help in weight regulation
In 2007, researchers at Hokkaido University, Japan confirmed that fucoxanthin, an antioxidant carotenoid pigment in brown wrack seaweeds such as Seagreens® fucus and ascophyllum, significantly reduced fat tissue in laboratory-fed rats and mice which lost 10% of body fat, mainly around the gut. In obese animals, the compound appeared to stimulate a protein called UCP1 which causes fat to be broken down.
The protein is found in a type of fat called white adipose tissue, which is responsible for the thickening of the girth dubbed "middle-age spread". Research has shown that excess amounts of fat around the midriff are particularly linked to heart disease and diabetes. The pigment also caused the liver to produce dicosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which can help cut levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol associated with diabetes, obesity and heart disease. When combined with soybean oil, results were comparable to supplementation with fish oil. No adverse side effects were seen in the animals used in the study (218). Prior work on fucoxanthin by the same researchers showed that it helps promote the death of human prostate cancer cells in culture.