Brown Seaweed Nutrition

Brown seaweed has long been used as an ingredient in staple dishes by various cultures around the world, especially those in coastal regions. Brown seaweed is a rich source of minerals and vitamins and other nutrients, and its components are used in natural or alternative concoctions to fight various conditions and ailments, including obesity and cancer, according to the Cancer Active website. The sea vegetable is also still used in exotic dishes and soups.

Definition

Seaweed is a kind of algae found in oceans, but like land plants, it requires plenty of sunshine to survive. Brown seaweed is one of thousands of types of seaweed found around the world. Also known as wakame, it's commonly used to flavor Asian stews and soups, according to the European Food Information Council, or EUFIC. Brown seaweed has recently gotten attention from nutrition and health experts for its ostensible medicinal properties, especially for its purported ability to promote weight loss, according to the EUFIC and NutraIngredients.com.

History and Uses

Seaweed was first used by peoples living along coastal regions as a primary ingredient for soups and other staples. It's long been recognized for its nutritional and remedial properties, and brown seaweed is still commonly used in modern cooking in Eastern countries, such as China, Japan and Korea, according to EUFIC. Brown seaweed is used to make a variety of salads and is often a main ingredient in miso soup and similar foods, according to the Healthy Green Lifestyle website. You can find brown seaweed in health food stores, Asian markets and online. Add it to your salads and soups for its nutritional power, as well as its disease-fighting perks.

Nutritional Value

Brown seaweed contains healthful minerals and vitamins, such as iodine, vitamin K and magnesium. According the book "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why," brown seaweed is an excellent source of iodine with double the recommended daily allowance, or RDA, percentage, and it contains over 16 percent RDA of vitamin K; 9 percent RDA of folate; 6 percent RDA of magnesium; over 3 percent RDA of calcium; and other trace minerals, including iron and tryptophan. Further, brown seaweed contains compounds that promote weight loss and fight diseases such as cancer, according to Cancer Active.

Fucoidan

According to Hashemite University researchers participating in the Dead Sea International Conference on Advances in Cancer Research, or AACR, a natural compound found in brown seaweed called fucoidan is known to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells, reports Cancer Active. The researchers used an extract derived from brown seaweed and found that fucoidan "suppressed cancer cell growth and caused a significant increase in apoptosis, or cellular death," in cancer cells causing lymphoma but concurrently left healthy cells intact, says Cancer Active.

Fucoxanthin

A constituent found in brown seaweed known as fucoxanthin is purported to encourage fat loss, according to NutraIngredients.com. A brown seaweed extract used for obesity is known to especially benefit loss of upper body fat such as dangerous abdominal fat, which is considered a precursor to cardiovascular disease and diabetes, according to Zhion.com.

Clinical Studies

Many of the studies on the health benefits of brown seaweed are preliminary and more research is needed to prove its effectiveness for conditions and diseases, such as obesity and cancer. Consult your health-care provider before relying on brown seaweed to treat disease or help with weight loss.