Health benefits of red seaweed discovered

A diet that includes red seaweed reduces your risk of cancer and has a positive probiotic effect, scientists have found.

The ocean-dwelling algae have long been a part of diets in Asian communities, with colon cancer rates in Japan the lowest in the world.

In a new study, published in Marine Drugs, researchers explained that they have found out why - the sugars found in the unlikely superfood.

"In the past, people have wondered why the number of colon cancer patients in Japan is the lowest in the world," Yong-Su Jin, a professor of food microbiology said in a press release. "Many assumed that it was due to some aspect of the Japanese diet or lifestyle. We wanted to ask whether their seaweed diet was connected to the lower frequency of colon cancer."

Scientists broke down the structure of different types of red seaweed using enzymes and tested the sugars that were produced to see which one of them was the source of the health benefits, with two, agarotriose and 3,6-anhydro-L-galactose, or AHG, showing the most.

Researchers found that AHG helped prevent cancer by triggering apoptosis or cell death in colon cancer cells, while agarotriose encouraged the growth of B. infantis, a probiotic bacterium found in the gut.

"These results show us that when we eat red seaweed, it gets broken down in the gut and releases these sugars which serve as food for the probiotic bacteria," Jin said. "It could help explain why Japanese populations are healthier compared to others."

Kyoung Heon Kim, a professor of biotechnology and the co-advisor on the paper, added that "hopefully" the research could pave the way for therapeutic use of red seaweed in the future.