When human cells are attacked by free radicals, the antioxidant vitamins and minerals in the food we have eaten come to our defense.
When Laminaria Digitata is stressed the plant flushes large quantities of iodide as a powerful antioxidant out of it cells, which combines with highly reactive oxygen in the water and air to produce molecular iodine, which commonly is used in hospital surgeries as an antiseptic.
The findings, made by an international team of scientists, reveal iodine´s biological role as an inorganic antioxidant – the first to be described in a living system – and also point to the intriguing effects of iodine in scavenging free radicals in human blood cells.
Laminaria Digitata contains algin, a common emulsifying agent used in products ranging from pudding to paint, beer to make-up.