Most people understand that trace elements and micronutrients, such as iron, iodine, magnesium, manganese, selenium and boron, are essential nutrients to keep our body system functioning properly; not least of all our bone, immune and hormonal systems. The important things to remember about trace elements and micronutrients however is the Goldilocks principle; that you need not too much, not too little but JUST RIGHT amounts. The consequences of getting too much or too little can be devastating for health, while getting them just right can mean the difference between life and death, or simply increased physical performance and quality of life.
Many of us have chronic lifelong deficiencies of nutrients without knowing it until we are faced with either old age or a disease.
Globally, iron deficiency causes lethargy and 20% of maternal deaths, while iodine deficiency is the biggest cause of childhood brain damage. Recently it has been shown that patterns of selenium deficiency are showing poorer outcomes in recovering from Corona virus.
As seaweed is a potent source for many micronutrients that are deficient in land plants or low meat diets, a little bit of seaweed every day can be a good contribution to keeping up lifelong and important trace elements.
It is important to understand which seaweeds have which micronutrients and how much is safe to eat. At PhycoHealth we have focused a lot of our research on tracking trace elements across different species of seaweeds, as well as across different parts of seaweed. In PhycoMuesli we target a 10% content of PhycoNibs which have all the essential amino acids and concentrated doses of manganese (>50% RDI), Iron (40% RDI) and selenium (100% RDI), as well as useful amounts of iodine, boron and magnesium. In our Phettucine, SeaSpirals and Sea C’s we target a whole seaweed content that can provide over 30% of your RDI for Magnesium, 40% for manganese, 60% of boron, iodine and 100% of selenium in a full portion. PhycoDigest is focused on providing concentrated glycan fibre for gut health and is taken in smaller 2g doses, but SeaFibre-3 can still deliver 10-40% of magnesium, boron, iodine and selenium. We will expand on the research and health information behind all of the trace elements in seaweed through our newsletters and blog site.
