Seaweeds

Seaweed draws an extraordinary wealth of mineral elements from the sea that can account for up to 36% of its dry mass, the mineral macro nutrients include sodium,calcium,magnesium ,potassium,chlorine,sulfur and phosphorus,the micro nutrients include iodine,iron ,zinc,copper ,selenium,molybdenum,fluoride,manganese,boron,nickel and cobalt.Seaweed has such a large proportion of iodine compared to dietary minimum requirements ,that it is primarily known as a source of this nutrient the highest iodine content is found in brown algae.Red and green algae have lower contents-daily adult requirements,currently recommended at 150 micro gram per day -Just one gram of dried brown algae provides from 500-8000 micro gram of iodine and even the green and red algae provide 100-300 micro gram in a single gram.Aside from iodine,seaweed is one of the richest plant,sources of calcium,the calcium content of seaweeds is typically about 4-7% of dry matter,at 7%calcium ,one gram of dried seaweed provides 70mg of calcium compared to a daily dietary requirement of about 1000 micro gram ,still this is higher than a serving of most non-milk based foods protein content in seaweed varies some what.It is low in brown algae at 5-11% of dry matter ,spirulina ,a micro algae is well known for its very high content ,i.e,70% of dry matter .Seaweed contains several vitamins.Red and brown algae are rich in carotenes (provitamin A ) and are used ,in fact,as a source of natural mixed carotenes for dietary supplements .The vitamin C in red and brown algae is also notable,with contents ranging from 500-3000 ppm.Other vitamins are also present ,including B12,which is not found in most land plants.Seaweed has very little fat ,ranging from 1-5% of dry matter although seaweed lipids have a higher proportion of essential fatty acids than land plants.Seaweed has a high fiber content,making up 32% to 50% of dry matter.There is soluble fiber in seaweed which are generally associated with having cholestrol-lowering and hypoglycemic effects.
Anyway as you see with such a huge nutrients it is not far from imagination that far east countries used seaweed for curing the cancers !.