A large brown seaweed, reaching a length of 13 m. The body of the algae consists of a ribbon-like plate, tapering at the bottom of the stem-like formation, equipped with root-like outgrowths, with the help of which the kelp is attached to the pound. The thallus is soft, slimy to the touch, greenish-brown in color, reproduces by spores.
Saccharine kelp is a seaweed. It lives in the Black Sea and in the basin of the Pacific and Arctic Ocean, forming in some places the largest thickets at a depth of up to 40 m. In addition to it, under the name of seaweed, Japanese kelp is harvested and used from the Far Eastern seas and palmate kelp from the northern ones.
For therapeutic purposes, the lamellar part of the thallus of sea kale is used. It contains a lot of carbohydrates, organic acids, mineral salts, vitamins B[, B2 and B12, as well as iodine. They get cabbage from boats with hooks, and in shallow water they tear it off with their hands. For medical purposes, the best thalli are selected and cleaned from the remnants of stavushki, adhering parts of other plants and sand, and then dried. Dried thalli are coarsely crushed, packaged in boxes, and they go to pharmacies in an unprocessed form. They make dragees, caramels, etc. A lot of seaweed is canned. Such canned food completely retains all the healing properties.
Seaweed, due to its high iodine content, is widely used in medicine for the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis and the treatment of goiter, as well as an antiscorbutic and regulating the functional activity of the gastrointestinal tract remedy for constipation. In chronic constipation in the elderly, the laxative effect of kelp is associated with the ability of cabbage particles to swell strongly, which leads to irritation of the nerve endings of the intestinal mucosa and increased peristalsis.
Contraindicated in persons suffering from diseases in which iodine products cannot be used: pulmonary tuberculosis, nephritis, neurosis, furunculosis, acne, hemorrhagic diathesis, urticaria, also pregnant.
Application
Sold in pharmacies, grits of sea kale are recommended to be taken 1 teaspoon 2-3 times every day with soup or tea. For the prevention of endemic goiter, it is enough to take 1/2 teaspoon of seaweed 2 times a week.
Seaweed is effective for constipation, sclerosis and thyroid diseases, hypertoxicosis, uric disease, osteomyelitis, goiter, obesity, trophic ulcers, heart attacks, heart pain, etc.