Seaweed Used to Lose Weight

Find out more about seaweed, if you're looking for a safe, simple way to increase your metabolism, improve thyroid function, and lose weight. Weight loss studies suggest that using seaweed or seaweed supplements can help you burn fat. (See references.) It may not be long until a real anti-obesity pill is developed from brown seaweed. And in the meantime, you can use seaweed as part of your well-balanced diet, exercise regularly, and still lose weight.

Brown Seaweed Compound Burns Fat

• In 2006, results of Dr. Kazuo Miyashita's seaweed research were reported at the American Chemical Society's national meeting. At the Hokkaido University in Japan, the doctor and his colleagues fed rats a concentrated substance named fucoxanthin, extracted from brown sea weed. The extract seemed to increase production of a protein that helps in the metabolism of fat. The obese rats lost 5 to 10% of their body weight.

  The compound fucoxanthin does something to a protein called UCP1, causing fat oxidation and conversion of energy to heat. It stimulates the protein to burn fat, particularly white adipose tissue, the kind of fat surrounding our internal organs. This suggests that brown seaweed supplements would be effective at reducing abdominal fat. The brown seaweed, also known as kelp or wasame, is often used to add flavor to miso soup and other Japanese recipes. Before you begin eating a diet of miso soup, remember it would take a lot of brown seaweed to lose weight.

Human Anti-Obesity Pill Is Around the Corner

• According to Dr. Miyashita, it would not be practical for people to consume enough fucoxanthin in the form of seaweed to lose weight. Eventually, when a concentrated form of the substance is developed, you will be able to access enough fucoxanthin to lose weight. "Human studies are planned," the researcher says, estimating that as early as 2011 an anti-obesity pill will be available to consumers, made from a compound extracted from brown seaweed.

Another Way Seaweed Can Help You Lose Weight Now

• Because high levels of iodine are also found in brown, red, and green seaweed, it is thought to be helpful to thyroid function. "The healthy functioning of the thyroid is essential to maintaining metabolism and preventing the accumulation of body fat," writes Burton Goldberg in "Alternative Medicine." Using seaweed and seaweed supplements can accelerate weight loss by supporting the thyroid. However, iodine is difficult for the body to absorb, according to Goldberg, who recommends that you also take vitamin A to increase iodine absorption.

Seaweed Is a Powerhouse of Nutrients

• Seaweed is rich in minerals that are just not found in high enough quantities in our food, yet they are all necessary for optimum health and metabolic efficiency. Authors Seibin and Teruko Arasaki list seaweed among "the vegetables of the sea," which is the name of their book. They report that "All of the minerals required by human beings, including calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium, iodine, iron, and zinc are present in sufficient amounts. In addition, there are many trace elements in seaweeds." You can get every important vitamin from these "vegetables" from the sea, too, including Vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene. Also, B1, B2, B6 and niacin, vitamin C, pantothenic acid, folic acid and even trace amounts of vitamin B12 are all present, which rarely occurs in land vegetables.

  Remember, seaweed is high in sodium which can cause high blood pressure. Be sure to check with your doctor before adding seaweed to your health regime.