Seaweed beat infections

Malnutrition is the gateway to many infections and other problems. Seaweed are rich in proteins, vitamins and trace elements. Their amino acids are partly in other proportions than those of cereals and other land plants, but not so favourably composed as those in meat and egg. The total quantities are much too small to fill the protein gap. As a possible remedy for malnutrition, seaweed should be selected primarily for their content of vitamins and trace elements. Many species rank among the most vitamin-rich plants of the world. Their antiberberic activity has been known for centuries among the peoples of the Far East. In the long run tropical people would profit more from eating their algae than from exporting them. Certainly, phycocolloids have many blessings, such as use for bacteriological agar and many andvantages for luxury consumption, such as for ice-cream softening, at present a big commodity, but the main bulk of world seaweed resources should be reserved for human food and in particular for the groups mentioned who demand iodine and other protectional substances.In addition to these benefits of broad importance which may be attributed to most species of algae – iodine, vitamins and phycocolloids are typical for most of them – there are also a number of seaweeds with particular pharmaceutical properties.