BUT I’M NOT A TURNIP…why do I need a seaweed supplement
Knowledge of the oceans is more important than just a matter of curiosity. Our very survival may hinge upon it. President John Kennedy, 1961
The answer to this question will open a fascinating window with new respect for what Mother Nature has truly provided in the richest biome on Earth, the ocean. This article is about amazing research on how liquid seaweed extracts help plants to grow strong and stay healthier longer. Your appreciation will also grow tenfold for the whole value of the amazing gardens of the sea and their place in the total ecology of the earth including human biology
Two main questions surface of elemental importance both to plants and humans:
1. What do you know about the valuable features of seaweed extracts for plants?
2. What do you know about the benefits of seaweed supplementation for people?
So, what is the connection between any plant food and our body? Of course, you can argue that youre not a turnip, a cucumber, a tomato or any other plant the point is the balance of elements outside and inside your body is crucial to cellular structure and optimal health. First, the turnip starts off absorbing all the essential nutrients from soil and second, when you eat it, the nutrients are integrated into your bodys cells. If you never eat a turnip, of course, youll never have turnip biochemicals in you, but if you do eat turnips, then your cells will contain turnip molecules. Our bodies can only be constructed by what we eat (or drink). As humans we cannot produce primary food biochemically through photosynthesis, water and minerals from the soil. Our bodies rely totally on the nutrient database found in soil, unless by chance we could grow roots for direct absorption. Unfortunately, for decades, our mass agricultural soil has successively become more depleted and lacking in total nutrients. Hence, the need for ways to supplement soil, plants and our bodies becomes integral to whole health.
Always remember there is a one to one relationship between plant health and human health. Healthy plants will give us healthy cells. Undernourished plants will give us undernourished cells.
Heres the amazing window of knowledge, once opened, cant close on old thoughts
Liquid seaweed extracts, safe and non-toxic, applied to plants are very beneficial to their growth. Decades of field observation and practical experiences are short of breathtaking in noting how liquid seaweed extracts benefit plants. Plants treated with seaweed extract show the following benefits
Plants tend to develop a resistance to pests and disease (such as red spider mites, aphids, scabs, mildew and fungi) In fact, disease controlling qualities of seaweed came as a complete surprise to many agricultural scientists.
Seaweed helps plants produce special hormones (specialized chemical substances) which are the main internal factors controlling growth and development known as auxins gibberlins, cytokins, indoles. This is one way to explain the daily rapid growth of two feet a day for certain seaweed
Seaweed stimulates beneficial soil microbial activity. Plants grow substantially larger root masses. Healthier roots make more nutrients available to the plant and resist root diseases. It is a known fact that soil fungi and bacteria produce natural antibiotics which hold down the population of plant pathogens. The higher organic matter in soil produces more antibiotics. In plant physiology the subject of controlling plant disease by introducing substances into the plant itself is known as chemotherapy..an interesting correlation to our human application. .
Seaweed treated plants have stronger and hardier vascular systems. For example, tomatoes increase their size by 37% more and cucumbers by 41%.
Seaweed helps plants to better withstand stressful conditions such as improved cold tolerance. Seaweed sprays are the best treatment to prevent threat of frost damage. Plants delay senescense or deterioration of cells and tissues that result in rotting and help to increase shelf life.
Seeds soaked in seaweed extract germinate more rapidly, have larger root masses, and more rapid stem and shoot development
Plants absorb nutrients through their leaf and stem tissues as well as by root intake. Seaweed extract can be absorbed equally effectively through roots by soil drench or foliar spraying. In contrast, little benefit has been demonstrated by spraying highly concentrated NPK fertilizer on the leaves directly or other chemicals. It is interesting to note that soils supported by synthetic fertilizers comprise over 90% of agricultural land in America. Plant scientists have even developed hybrid grains and vegetables that can grow in fertilizer alone. However, its clear, NPK fertilizers can not possible contain all the microelements and growth regulators needed for maximum development. This makes you wonder whether synthetic supplements for humans have about the same effect.
The answer to the first question is plants grow bigger and stronger with seaweed extracts probably because of better nutrition. From a personal perspective, it was wonderful to ascribe healthier plants to seaweed extracts as visible tangible objects produced in a season. How else can we actually see the effects of total nutrients on living organisms? Certainly not on complex human long term cycles where we use supplements in blind faith hoping they produce some results.
Now even a basic understanding that plant and human physiology are inter-related at the cellular level begs the second question: Can people receive benefits by using liquid seaweed extracts as dietary supplements?
Your own research will more fully answer this question. But as a start, here are a few points to consider. People have used seaweed traditionally for millennia for food, medicine and other restorative benefits. Ocean water contains quantities of all known elements (replenished from run offs and leaching). It can even be said that ocean water is becoming more enriched as land soils become more depleted. Seaweed has an exceptional nutrient-rich matrix with no major nutritional deficiencies. It thrives in this rich solution of sea water containing at least 70 micronutrients) including several not found in land based plants. These micronutrients are micro in the sense that only very small amounts are required for enzymatic activity.
Brown seaweed contain vitamins common to land plants, thirteen in all, including the vitamin B family, Vitamin C, betacarotene, Vitamin E (as a tocopherol) pantothenic acid, folic acid, and Vitamin K. The most complex of seaweed constituents are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur. It contains all known minerals and trace elements such as iodine, sodium, iron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, cobalt, boron manganese, magnesium in its natural state. Trace elements are made available by natural chelation or combining a mineral atom with an organic molecule Seaweed has 20 highly bioavaible amino acids. It contains exceptional saccharides in the form of glyconutrients, complex sugars and starches, but is extremely low in fat and calories. Other key components include chlorophyll, laminarin, fucoidan, furanone and lignans.
No wonder vegetables and fruits do so well when sprayed with seaweed from seeds to maturity to senescence!
Can we look to seaweed then as a source of supplementation for humans and even pharmaceutical benefits through medical botany? Scientific curiosity and research are turning again to the sea and are discovering some exciting results.
The answer that counts at the end is a personal choice of a dietary supplement, perhaps one of the most important choices for everyones health. Modern bioscience now shows that the body requires at least a 100 nutrients daily for maximum structure, function, defense and repair. Are a handful of manufactured pills less expensive and sufficient to best supply this vital synergy of nutrients? Or do we look at the bounty of what Mother Nature has provided in evolutionary wisdom. Do we think egocentrically, like children, how can we act on it or improve it? Or do we let Nature work her mastery on us and improve us— as it has done inherently, immemorially, through the connection of air, water, soil, plants, food, nutrients, cells, well-being, and freedom from disease.
So, Im not a turnip but my body and health are inclusive of everything I eat, fortunately mostly plants, including turnip which I enjoy.
My personal reverence for seaweed has increased so much as valuable gardens of the sea after learning and seeing the benefits of seaweed extracts on plants. It is another way of validating my personal good fortune to have discovered a unique liquid seaweed extract used as a dietary supplement exactly what I believe can help to provide total nutrients at the same time in the right ratio with innate immune support ingredients. The body has amazing innate healing abilities if provided with total nutrition and, I believe, the oceans nutrients are in a bottle in my fridge and delicious. Your requests for resources, scientific studies, questions and comments are appreciated.