Seaweed for Treatment of Osteoporosis

The regular consumption of seaweeds, also known as sea vegetables, can greatly reduce your chances of getting osteoporosis, which is considered a preventable lifestyle disease. Seaweed is unusually high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that protect against degenerative diseases. According to Oceanvegetables.com, our coastal forefathers gathered and included seaweed in their regular diet and experienced dramatic health benefits such as longevity and prolonged good health.

Keeping Bones Healthy

• Your bones are alive and are being built up and broken down daily. As we age, our bone density degenerates. If we do not have a lifestyle rich with daily exercise and optimal nutrition, loss of bone mass can exceed bone growth, and over a prolonged period of time becomes osteopenia in its first stages, and osteoporosis in more severe cases. Osteoporosis has been called a "silent killer" because you don't feel the loss of your bone mass until you break a bone and it won't heal. A nutritious diet and regular exercise are the major components to maintain bone density.

Seaweed Offers Superior Nutrition

• Recorded proof of seaweed as a superfood dates back to 300 BC in China. Many coastal tribes from the Mediterranean coast, Nordic countries, Iceland, Alaska, the Pacific Coast, and Hawaii harvested, cultivated and ingested seaweed regularly and, as a result, enjoyed robust good health. Ounce per ounce, seaweed is higher in vitamins and minerals than any other food. The phytochemical cells in sea vegetables rejuvenate, renew and repair cell growth. Seaweed has 14 times more calcium per ounce than milk does and is more easily absorbed in the body. It is also a tremendous source of magnesium, which aids the absorption of calcium and is a natural source of vitamin D that is vital to bone health. By incorporating sea vegetables into your diet on a consistent basis, you can increase bone health and possibly avert osteoporosis, or bone loss, as you age.

Harvesting Seaweed

• Seaweed must be carefully harvested to avoid contamination and must be transported with non-motorized fishing boats. It is easily dried in sunlight and has innate long-term stability. It has an indefinite life storage when kept dry and away from sunlight. It is safer to buy seaweed at a grocer's or Asian market than to harvest it yourself because of the risk of contamination.

How to Eat Seaweed

• Seaweed comes in different prepackaged varieties that can be cooked in a number of ways. Nori seaweed is commonly used for making sushi and comes prepacked in paper thin squares. You can roll up some rice, vegetables and fish and make a seaweed wrap or you can eat it right out of the package as a nutritious snack by itself. Other varieties such as arame and kelp are thicker and more coarse and are best if soaked in water for an hour or so before cooking in soups, stir-fries or beef, pork, chicken or vegetarian dishes.