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Can Seaweed Help Tackle Obesity?

Sustainability Technology & equipment Education & academia +3 more

UK - Researchers at BBSRC have found that seaweed can be used to help tackle the problem of human obesity.

Lucy Towers thumbnail

By 2050 half of the UK population could be obese. Obesity already costs us £4.2Bn per year, and that could double. In the UK, fat makes up about 40 per cent of our diet. That adds up to crisis, for health and the economy. What can we do about it?

Researchers found that alginate from seaweeds, especially kelp, helps to stop the body from digesting fat. And it doesn’t have the side effects that come with other obesity treatments.

Alginate is in lots of foods we eat, but there isn’t enough to do the trick. However, fat busting alginates are easily extracted and incorporated into other foods.

When researchers used it in bread, tasters actually preferred the seaweed bread.

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