This month, we bring an older study but appears to be garnering more recent international attention. From the Journal of Cancer Metastasis and Treatment, a concise review of seaweed's potential has been performed and once again, has shown dramatic results. Enjoy reading the summary below as well as dowloading the actual pdf in references for more information!
Seaweeds have been a food source since ancient times (600 BC) and are still widely used in Asia, mainly in traditional Chinese medicine and Japanese folk medicine. Nowadays, seaweed compounds and extracts have been gaining interest from the biomedical and pharmaceutical market sectors. Seaweeds have been referenced as feasible solutions in finding new potential compounds and therapies in prevention, control, and reduction of cancer development due to the multirole of some bioactive components (e.g, phenolic compounds and sulphated polysaccharides). Moreover, seaweeds are rich in important health-promoting molecules [such as poly and highly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs and HUFAs), essential amino acids, vitamins, and dietary fibers] and minerals (calcium, iron, iodine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, and fluoride).
In this article, the potential therapeutic effects of seaweed in the prevention and treatment of cancer are approached, as well as nutraceutical properties of seaweed to promote cell homeostasis.
Seaweed consumption can have benefits in the cancer prevention and treatment, yet there is need for more knowledge regarding seaweed nutritional and compounds profiles if to be used as food supplements with health benefits.
Otherwise, depending on the dose, seaweed consumption can be a problem to human health.
In cancer therapeutic, there are preliminary studies demonstrating seaweed’s potential against cancer, playing diverse roles in cancer therapy. However, due to the surrounding ecosystem that seaweeds inhabit, there are complex methods to extract and guarantee target compounds’ chemical stability and quality. This way, there is a need to surpass this problem through the production of seaweeds in cultivation systems to guarantee the target quality in all the seaweed biomass produced and which cannot be replicated in the natural habitat, especially with seaweed secondary metabolites.
Please feel free to read more below for detailed background on this unique study!!
References
Cotas J, Pacheco D, Gonçalves AMM, Silva P, Carvalho LG, Pereira L. Seaweeds’ nutraceutical and biomedical potential in cancer therapy: a concise review. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2021;7:13.