Seaweeds have drug-like effects to control BP

The study, published in the 'Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,' suggests that seaweeds that have been an important part of the Japanese diet for many centuries are a rich new potential source of 'bioactive peptides,' the proteins which are also found in milk products.

Seaweeds have drug-like effects
In their study, the researchers discovered that bioactive peptides in the plant not only provide nutrition, but can also help in treating or preventing certain diseases.

The bioactive peptides, obtained mainly from milk products, can help lower blood pressure, which is one of the most common causes of heart failure, they said.

These chemicals control the blood pressure in the same manner commonly prescribed drugs do, according to the researchers.

They believe bioactive peptides are as effective as angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, which are widely prescribed to help control blood pressure, prevent congestive heart failure, strokes and hypertension, or diabetes-related kidney damage.

Study details
For their study, Maria Hayes, chemist at the Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ireland and colleagues Ciarán Fitzgerald, Eimear Gallagher and Deniz Tasdemir reviewed almost 100 scientific studies that evaluated the benefits of consuming seaweed, known as macroalgae.

After analyzing the studies, Hayes and team concluded that some seaweed proteins work just like the bioactive peptides in milk products to balance blood pressure, which in turn may contribute to good heart health.

"The variety of macroalgae species and the environments in which they are found and their ease of cultivation make macroalgae a relatively untapped source of new bioactive compounds, and more efforts are needed to fully exploit their potential for use and delivery to consumers in food products," Hayes and her colleagues concluded.

A little about seaweed and its usage
Seaweed is a plant found in every sea or ocean. These marine plants provide food and shelter to many sea creatures.

Seaweed is rarely eaten in Britain but people in East Asian and other cultures have been taking seaweed in their diet for centuries, e.g. Nori in Japan, dulse in coastal Europe, and limu palahalaha in native Hawaiian cuisine.

Many health shops and oriental grocery houses sell seaweed in various forms. The seaweed is processed in the laboratory to produce alginate, a tasteless and odourless off-white powder, which can be added to food to enhance fibre content.

Alginates, which are high in fibre, are already used in small amounts by manufacturers to thicken and stabilise foods. It’s also widely used in areas such as wound dressings because the body seems to recognize it as friendly rather than foreign.

Seaweed is very low in calories and in some earlier studies it has been established that it helps weight loss by preventing the absorption of fat.