Introduction:
Kelp is found all over the world in shallow coastal water. It is found only in cold waters.
Marine plants and extracts have many beauty benefits, from revitalising your skin to improving your hair and overall health. It’s a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals. Seaweeds contain dietary fiber, essential amino acids, vitamins, A, B, C, and E, Omega-3 fats, and minerals such as iodine, calcium, iron, zinc, and magnesium.
All of these nutrients combine to reduce inflammation, lift your energy, maintain strong bones and teeth, support thyroid health and hormonal balance, and even reduce your risk of cancer.
Kelp is naturally high in antioxidants, including carotenoids, flavonoids, and alkaloids, which help to fight against disease-causing free radicals.
Sea kelp has shown many health benefits to cure or reduce risk of different diseases like thyroid, cholesterol, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes and obesity etc.
It is used specially in cooking,salad dressing,spices and medicines. Due to its high iodine, mineral and antioxidant content, kelp is believed to help moisturise and soften the skin, and help in retain that moisture.
Benefits of kelp :
1. Great Source of Iodine
- Iodine is a vital nutrient that helps support a healthy thyroid, protects against certain kinds of cancer, promotes healthy growth and development in babies and children, and even helps you maintain a healthy brain.
- Powdered kelp has been used to treat hypothyroidism in patients with severe motor intellectual disabilities, who are at a very high risk of iodine deficiency.
2. Helps You Lose Weight
- It’s not only a nutrient-rich food that’s beneficial to any diet, but it also has specific fat-fighting properties.
- A protein found in kelp, known as fucoxanthin, has been shown to significantly reduce fat tissue
- Sea kelp is the richest natural source of iodine it can help to regulate metabolism and in turn affect weight loss.
3. Helps to prevent or Treat Diabetes
- It’s is beneficial for diabetic patient to cure or control diabetes.
- kelp consumption greatly improved blood glucose levels, positively influenced glycemic control and increased antioxidant enzyme activities in patients with type II diabetes.
4. Helps with Blood-Related Disorders
- There’s a power nutrient found in many varieties of kelp, it has shown effectiveness against blood-related problems. It’s called fucoidan.
- Fucoidan has shown effectiveness in preventing blood clots that can lead to dangerous health problems, including stroke and heart attack.
5. Slows the Growth of Many Types of Cancer
- Kelp has multiple nutrients that gives protection against cancer.
- Fucoxanthin can help remove drug resistance in cancer patients undergoing dangerous chemotherapy treatments.
- It causes cancer cells to die (a process known as “apoptosis”) in leukemia, colon, breast and lung cancer.
- It’s the fucoidan and fucoxanthin combo that makes this sea vegetable one of the most effective cancer-fighting foods.
6. Natural Anti-Inflammatory
- It is a general defense against most diseases.
- Certain kinds of kelp have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties (and serve as antioxidants)
- Antioxidant vitamins like vitamin C, and minerals like manganese and zinc, help to combat oxidative stress and may offer benefits to cardiovascular health.
- If you suffer with breakouts then Sea Kelp is beneficial, it has anti-inflammatory properties which will help reduce the inflammation that causes red, painful breakouts.
7. Helps Prevent Bone Loss
- Kelp has more calcium than many vegetables, including kale and collard greens.
- Calcium is important to maintain strong bones and optimal muscle function.
- It also prevent from osteoporosis and arthritis due to its high content of vit K and calcium
- It provides denser bones that will not easily succumb to arthritis and osteoporosis.
8. Beneficial for skin
- Antioxidant rich seaweed is incredibly nourishing for the skin
- Kelp also remove toxins, soothe and hydrate the skin, and it also aids in keeping it smooth.
- It is often used in facial serums, eye creams and night creams because of its potent anti-ageing properties.
Uses:
- Stirred into a Smoothie : add kelp to green smoothie or fruit smoothie.
- Mixed into a Salad Dressing : soak and add kelp buds to salad dressing by blending with oil n vinegar
- Add pinch of kelp powder to your favourite dips,spices,seasoning.
- Add to Stocks and Soups: Kelp can add a spark of flavor to heated dishes like stocks, soups, stews and curries. Sprinkle in about a tspn after the simmer has finished and you are about to serve. Note that heating does negate the enzyme content of the seaweed to a certain extent- however the taste is light and lovely, and most the vitamins/minerals will be preserved.
NUTRITIONAL FACTS:
Serving of raw kelp (about 28 grams)
- 12 calories
- 2.7 grams carbohydrates
- 0.5 gram protein
- 0.2 gram fat
- 0.4 gram fiber
- 47 milligrams calcium