Health booster from the sea

GOOD morning to all my readers, I hope you all gad an enjoyable week, when something big happens-a blessing or a tragedy we recognize it immediately and respond with praise or pleadings to God, when we find a long-sought after job, hear of a love one coming the Christ or get bad news from the doctor, we think of God and turn to him. But in the little things, the routine, the mundane, the details, its easy for us to overlook that he is still working. God is at work in the big and little things of the forest too. The big stuff which is visible and colorful, and the partly decayed organic matter of leaves and sticks that cover the forest floor, but if you rake this back, you will find all sorts of important things happening. These little things means God is building a new forest. The Lord works similarly with us. He is at work with our everyday activities.

Let's thank God.

Let's pause for a moment: We can give thanks in everything And say – “you will be done” For God is at work in everything To make us like his son. Eyes of faith see God at work in everything. Amen. Our topic: For Filipinos, seaweeds which are often prepared as salad, are commonly known as an appetizer. But, unknown to many people, the sea plant has several health benefits and is a key ingredient in the food industry. There is a book available called “vegetables from the sea”. It was written by Seibin and Teruko Arasaki. And they say that sea plants like seaweeds have sufficient amounts of calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium, iodine, iron and zinc. The other health benefits of seaweed include regulating the hormones, enriching the blood stream, assisting in metabolism, promoting a youthful skin color and helping to warm the body to promote mental youthfulness.

In a report I read in my research, it said that the food of seaweeds varies for different species. The report however said that the average chemical analysis of 48 species of marine algae in the Philippines showed that the crude protein content in dry weight is 7.44 percent (green seaweeds) – 6.4 percent (brown seaweeds) and 9.29 percent (brown seaweeds) and 9.29 percent (red seaweeds). The report also added that such protein content is about two to three times more than protein content of common green leafy vegetables which is 3.27 percent dry weight. It is also noted that seaweeds are a good source of carbohydrates, minerals, and trace elements of vitamins A, B2, B12 and C. I also found out that a researcher named G.M. Smith in his study at Stanford University pointed out that it has been demonstrated in laboratory studies that seaweeds may have curative properties in tuberculosis, arthritis, colds and influenza and worm infestation.

Another study shows that seaweeds are harvested or cultivated for the extraction of alginate, agar and carrageenan, collectively known as hydrocolloids or phycocolloids. The hydrocolloids, the study says, have attained commercial significance because they are used in various industries, the most common being food production. Agar is found in foods such as confectionery, meats and poultry products, desserts and beverages and molded foods. Carrageenan is used in the preparation of salad dressings and sauces, dietetic foods and as a preservative in meat and fish products, dairy items and baked goods. Likewise, alginate enjoys many of the same uses as carrageenan, but is also used in the production of industrial products such as paper coatings, adhesives, dyes, gels, explosives and in processes such as paper sizing, textile printing, hydromulching and drilling.

The food industry exploits the gelling, water retention properties, emulsifying and other physical properties of these hydrocolloids. In the biomedicine and pharmaceutical industries, the alginates are also used in wound dressings and the production of dental molds and have a most of other applications. The most common species in the country are: caulerpa, codium and enteromorpha (green algae), hydroclathus and sargassum (brown algae) and eucheuma, gracilaria, halymenia and porphyra (red algae). The department of agriculture said that seaweed recipes were developed and evaluated by the former national research council of the Philippines . These included pickled seaweeds, okoy tagoton seaweesds, laksa with seaweeds, bamboo shoots and seaweeds salad, fishball and seaweed soup, and fish and seaweed, lumpia. To date, six firms process Eucheuma into carrageenan, three others process gracilaria into gulaman bars, another firm processes sargassum into feed meal. While another firm manufactures seaweeds into liquid fertilizers, seaweed farming is being pushed by the department of agriculture, so come on you people who tell me the Boholano's are fishermen and not farmers, now your turn to prove it. Take care, see you next week.