A new article just published in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, reviewed the primary research surrounding fucoidan and its health benefits. Fucoidan is a complex polysaccharide found in many species of brown seaweed. It is said to be an antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor. The researchers admit, “such a wide range of biological effects of fucoidan causes mistrust, therefore legitimate to ask a myth or reality.” The study focused on the antidiabetic properties of fucoidan, by reviewing preclinical studies on invitro models (on separate cell systems) and in vivo (on various laboratory animals) and the first phase of clinical trials—tolerability and safety as well as pilot studies were conducted on the second phase of clinical trials.
The review concluded that sulfated polysaccharide fucoidan promotes maintaining homeostasis of glucose due to the decrease rate of its absorption in the gut and increase in utilization of muscle fibers, which leads to the prevention of the development of glycaemia and lipedema. The positive effect fucoidan at diabetes mellitus linked to its antioxidant properties and ability to reduce manifestations of apoptosis, in particular, beta cells of pancreas, which save the ability of cells to secrete insulin. And therefore, fucoidan should be clacified as a functional food for diet therapy for the prevention and treatment of diabetes mellitus.
Fucoidan is currently available on the market as a supplement, or you could consume it as people in Japan and Korea have for centuries, by eating brown seaweeds.