Cancer Decisions® - Health Benefits of Seaweed

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INTRODUCING MY BLOG

I hope all my newsletter readers will also check out my new blog. Here's the address:
http://themossreports.wordpress.com/

This week I added two new entries on (1) the need for greater sensitivity on the part of some oncologists; and (2) some amazing new experiments with tumor killing bacteria. Please leave comments on the blog--I'd love to hear what YOU think!

HEALTH BENEFITS OF SEAWEED

What, if any, are the health benefits of seaweed? It was the research of Jane Teas, PhD, of the University of South Carolina Cancer Center, that showed me the potential benefits of seaweed. I wrote about her pioneering work in my 1992 book, Cancer Therapy. This past June, Teas and I had lunch at the New York Academy of Sciences and our conversation rekindled my interest in this fascinating topic. Dr. Teas is seriously examining the health potential of seaweeds. She believes that these products could be helpful against a wide variety of conditions. For instance, she notes that the "metabolic syndrome" (including weight gain, slow metabolism, tendency towards diabetes, etc.) might be counteracted by an intake of dietary seaweed. In Japan, she notes, most people consume from four to six grams (about one-fifth of an ounce) of seaweed per day. This is associated with a low prevalence of the metabolic syndrome.

Can one overdose on the iodine in seaweed? I realize that some people say no, but research seems to indicate that it is theoretically possible. There are reports that five years of excessive iodine intake by the Brazilian population may have increased the prevalence of chronic autoimmne thyroiditis (CAT) and hypothyroidism in people who were genetically predisposed to thyroid autoimmune diseases (Camargo 2008). Dr. Teas says that the tolerable upper iodine intake level is 1,100 micrograms day (Teas 2004). Cooking seaweed (as I do) reduces the iodine content. To get this much iodine you would probably have to eat a lot of the processed kelp granules (a salt substitute) made from Laminaria digitata. But estimating the exact iodine content in seaweed is difficult, as it varies from species to species, and even batch to batch. Moderation is the watchword.

Does seaweed eating have a beneficial effect on cancer? It is certainly a potential source of iodine in the diet, and some people believe that eating iodine rich foods, which is essential to the function of the thyroid gland, also helps prevent cancer, including breast cancer. There is an increased prevalence of thyroid disease in breast cancer patients. There is also an association between high seaweed consumption and low breast cancer rates among Japanese women, although whether this is a causative is unknown.

It is intriguing that "there are experimental findings showing the ability of iodine or iodine-rich seaweed to inhibit breast tumor development" (Smythe 2003). Seaweed is also considered a rich source of selenium, which is difficult to get into the diet. There are a number of authors who believe that the link between iodine deficiency and breast cancer is clear. But according to S.A. Cann, "Although there is suggestive evidence for a preventive role for iodine and selenium in breast cancer, rigorous retrospective and prospective studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis" (Cann 2000).

In the meantime, I intend to go on eating my Alaria seaweed in moderation. It is pleasant to be able to introduce a tasty and unusual food that may be of health benefit to one's whole family.

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

References:

Camargo RYA, Tomimori EK, Neves SC, et al. Thyroid and the environment: exposure to excessive nutritional iodine increases the prevalence of thyroid disorders in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Eur. J. Endocrinol. 2008;159:293-299.

Cann SA, van Netten JP, van Netten C. Hypothesis: iodine, selenium and the development of breast cancer. Cancer Causes Control. 2000;11:121-127.

Hoek, C. van den; D. G. Mann; H. M. Jahns (1995). Algae: An Introduction to Phycology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 166.

Smyth PPA. The thyroid, iodine and breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2003;5:235-238.

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Last Updated ( Sunday, 13 December 2009 )

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