FAQ

If you get the right amount of seaweed in your diet, that's all you need. But you need to eat about 200g fresh seaweed to get the same amount of SeaFibre that we included in our clinical studies. This means that some seaweed are not suitable as they have too much iodine to be eaten in such amounts. PhycoHealth uses seaweed that has safe levels of iodine and formulates food and supplements with the full knowledge of the trace element profile for real and safe health outcomes.  

SeaFibre-3 is a very concentrated extract of the glycan or gel fibre molecules in our unique species of green seaweed. Therefore it is different to most brown and red seaweed products on the market, as it is a clinically tested, concentrated extract in a capsule, not just seaweed in a capsule. Our clinical studies indicated some specific gut flora changes and how this is associated with reduced inflammation. These sulfated molecules with high rhamnose and glucuronic acids have unique recognition patterns with human epithial (skin) and immune cells and we are undertaking research on how they interact with the human gut directly, gut flora as well as optimising the food you eat.

Consider SeaFibre-3 as a way to get more clinically proven seaweed glycan fibres into you without needing to become a sushi chef, or knowing the different species of seaweed. You might need to use it all the time, or just when you know that your dietary fibre and food patterns are not optimal and keep them in your PhycoHealth food pantry. 

Both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, as well as rheumatoid arthritis, are increasingly being linked to the gut. Although different in diagnosis, they are regarded as autoimmune and both show raised inflammation in blood tests (CRP). Inflammatory disorders are increasingly being linked to gut dysbiosis (imbalance).

In our clinical studies with our seaweed extract SeaFibre, we found that inflammation was reduced in groups that had high CRP-inflammation, and this might be one of the mechanisms that led to case studies of reduced psoriasis. How this works is still being studied, but it could be a result of direct interaction of our connective tissue-like seaweed extracts with the gut lining and immune system, or effects on the microbiota that reside in your gut.

Because of the special structure of our seaweed extract that mimic human connective tissue, we undertook a series of studies with human skin cells and wound healing research. We found that unlike other seaweed extracts, our seaweed PhycoDerm extracts are recognised by special receptors on human skin cells and have a strong binding affinity. This means that human cells attached to and thrived on our extract, which also modulates and protects natural collagen in the skin structures. This is why we have developed a new skin product range featuring both connective tissue rich and peptide rich extracts for cleansing and caring for your skin daily.

PhycoHealth is proud to be increasing our footprint in retail stores. We believe that these retailers espouse good food, responsible sourcing and packaging, and value the important things including how food can make a difference to your lifelong wellness.

You can see our stockists here. Alternatively if you are visiting the Jervis Bay area, you can call in to our factory at 1 Scallop St Huskisson NSW 2540.

Soon we hope to be in a few international retail stores so watch this space.

We are so grateful that most of our customers are regulars. We would like to reward all regular customers, and there are two ways you can benefit from these rewards. Please follow this link here to find out how.

For shipping within Australia, we offer free shipping for orders above $100, and orders below this will incur a $10 shipping fee. Shipping for subscription orders is $5 for orders under $100. Please head to our shipping page here to find all of our shipping rates.

 Yes, we do ship internationally. The shipping rate for all international orders is $25 for orders under $150 and free above $150. Please note your own countries import taxes and duties for orders over certain values, as we cannot cover these costs.

Seaweed is both famous and infamous for the levels of iodine. But each seaweed is different. It is a bit like asking if all plants have iron. Parsley is full of iron but bananas are not. Brown seaweeds like Kombu are exceedingly rich in iodine - in such high concentrations that you can't eat more than a sprinkle a day. At the other end of the spectrum, our green seaweeds and nori are good but very, very, safe sources of iodine. That is why the PhycoHealth range is focused on a unique species of Australian green seaweed, that you can eat 100g fresh every day, or 10g of dried seaweed and still stay well below the safe levels of iodine. Considering that this trace element is essential for mental health and hormone function, we should all be including a bit of seaweed in our food every day.

PhycoHealth farms seaweed on the South Coast of NSW Australia. We are the first food-grade seaweed farm in Australia. We farm a unique species of Australian green seaweed that the founder Pia Winberg has undertaken 2 decades of research on. Seaweed Species 84 is what we call it, and we are so amazed by it's profile of high protein, diverse amino acids, anti-oxidant pigments, nice Omega-3 profile and the amazing gut-healthy fibre.

Wherever we can, we use Australian and organic ingredients. Sometimes we have to choose between these. Ingredients like Pistachio nuts and cummin are wonderful flavours that we just don't have a supplier for in Australia, and we don't want to compromise on the flavour profile of Phukka by eliminating them. But we are always on the lookout for novel and organic flavours that we can create new 100% Australian ingredeints products with.

Yes first there is the species difference. Very different species and so the fibres in particular will differ. But nori is still a great seaweed if you get it from a clean source. Diverse and different seaweeds are as import asnt as diverse and different vegetables.. Second is that our capsules are concentrated. We have taken out and concentrated the fibre component that we used in our clinical studies and measured the doses required to reduce cholesterol and inflammation. The same goes for the algal Omega-3 component, so that you get the two important parts to support anti-inflammation processes. The dose we recommend is 2g or 4 caspsules per day. This would be like eating 10g dried or 100g of fresh seaweed to get the same dose of these molecules. But I agree with you.... which is why we have 10% of our seaweed in our pasta. it would give you 2g of the fibre in a 100g serve. If you eat muesli, pasta, snacks and Phukka or Phybre each day then you can get the same as the capsules.... you just have to keep on top of that regularly and include nori as well.

Considering that the PhycoHealth range of food products has a spectrum of gold, silver and bronze medals at the Australian Food Awards, even in blinded tastings against traditional foods, we can safely say that PnycoHealth products are delicious. In fact, the products offer that extra dimension that makes pasta more interesting (Phettuccine and SeaSpirals), dukkah more complex and moreish (Phukka), and we don't think you will ever eat plain corn chips again (Sea C's). You might not even believe us when we tell you that our PhycoMuesli is one of our most popular products! Not to mention the richness of roasted macadamias with seaweed next to a cool glass in summer (PhycoDamias), the intensity of nutrition in snack bites on the mountain hike (PhycoBites), or simply a softer feel to your salt (PhycoSalt) with the flavour that umami offers. Nothing fishy about it!

That said, our SeaFibre-3 is a supplement with boosted Omega-3 DHA from algae. A super important Omega-3 for your health, but it does come with an aroma - so that is the only product that we can raise an alert for on an Omega-3 taste. Fish eat algae or seaweed too either directly or indirectly - which is where they get their Omega-3 from. 

However, our other supplements SeaFibre-Cal and Seafibre-Fucoidan do not have a fishy aroma at all, and still include the clinical study doses of SeaFibre which is what was shown to shift the gut microbiome, reduce inflammation, reduce cholesterol and improve glucose metabolism. So if you just don't need or tolerate Omega-3 aromas, try one of these other supplements.

At PhycoHealth, our first mission has to bring better health through seaweed into the most familiar and common foods on Australian tables. In this way, not all foods in our range cater to individual needs, but we are working on it. About 1% of us are diagnosed with coeliac disease, and this is a serious health issue. A number of our products are made in gluten-free facilities, including PhycoBites and Sea C's, and these will be suitable products for you.

Other products in our range are not made in a certified gluten-free facility, but they do not contain gluten in the ingredients, and these products will be suitable to those of you choosing to lower your gluten intake for other reasons, or less sensitive gluten intolerance. These products include Phukka, PhycoDamias, PhycoSalt, SeaFibre-3 and Phybre.

Some people also want to eat our pasta in a gluten-free version, and we are working on that, so please watch this space as we work hard to grow on many fronts, including being able to offer you gluten-free pasta. 

You can make a change to any upcoming subscription order in three ways:

1) You will have received an email 3 days ahead of your next dispatch alerting you to your upcoming order, and in that email you can add, delay or change anything about your order order. Anything you add through your upcoming subscription will have a 10% discount as well.

2) You can create an account through our website to access your order history and to change any upcoming orders. Just create a log in here with a password. Then log in at any time here, to make changes, change your address, delay or bring forward subscription orders and add to them. If you forget your password just reset it here.

3) You can make changes to an existing subscription order in our PhycoHealth App, but as yet you can't add any new products to an existing subscription order there. We are working on resolving this.

4) If you just want us to help you make the changes, please reach our through the website chat or by email to support@phycohealth.com

We are there to help you get seaweed into your life - anytime.

We don't have PayPal or other alternative payment methods as a payment option option for subscriptions because the system needs to keep a record of your payment details (card details) for automatic charges, and this doesn't work with PayPal and other alternative payment methods.

In our view prebiotics are more important than probiotics, because without the right food source, your probiotics will just be passing through and not doing anything. You need to feed the right microbes inside your gut, and hopefully most of them are there already. We did not use probiotics in our clinical studies and we got significant results with SeaFibre alone.

That said, you do need to "update" and diversify your microbiome profile through your diet regularly, and this is why it is good to eat fermented foods, including cheeses, fermented drinks or yoghurts, sauerkraut or kimchi etc. This is the best source of probiotics.

However if you don't eat fermented foods or have been taking antibiotics, then probiotic supplements can be useful, but they are not very diverse.

Because SeaFibre-3 is about filling the gaps in our modern food and especially fibre for the microbiome, we recommend to eat it with food. So say 2 capsules for breakfast and 2 with an evening meal. There is also less of the Omega-3 aroma to deal with if you do this, and Omega-3 absorbs better if taken with other fats too... like olive oil, cheese, avocado, nuts and seeds.

However, that said, it is still going to work with your microbiome at any time so you can take 4 capsules whenever it is practical for you... taking them at all ranks higher than when you take them.