Tropical seaweeds improve cardiovascular and metabolic health of diet-induced obese and hypertensive rats

Ryan du Preez, Sunil K. Panchal, Lindsay Brown

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperConference Paperpeer-review

Abstract

![CDATA[Seaweeds have been an important part of the diet of coastal populations in Asia possibly for millennia but only a few scattered coastal communities in Europe and the Americas have maintained these traditions (Mouritsen et al, 2019). Our studies have investigated the potential of two tropical seaweeds grown commercially in Asia, Sarconema and Caulerpa spp., as functional foods for the reversal of metabolic syndrome and possible mechanisms. Sarconema spp. are a source of carrageenans used as thickening and gelling agents in foods while Caulerpa spp. are consumed in South-East Asia as low-energy foods with high contents of vitamins and minerals. For our studies, male Wistar rats were divided into groups in a 16-week protocol: corn starch diet-fed rats (C); C rats supplemented with 5% dried seaweed for the last 8 weeks; high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats (H); and H rats supplemented with 5% dried seaweed for the last 8 weeks. H rats developed obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, glucose intolerance, fatty liver and increased left ventricular collagen deposition, infiltration of inflammatory cells and plasma liver enzyme activities. Seaweed supplementation decreased body weight, abdominal and liver fat, systolic blood pressure, plasma lipid concentrations, plasma activities of liver enzymes and collagen deposition. Further, seaweed supplementation modulated gut microbiota. Possible mechanisms for improved cardiovascular and metabolic health include a reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells into organs as well as an increased intake of fibre modulating gut microbiota composition.]]
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 1st International Electronic Conference on Nutrients - Nutritional and Microbiota Effects on Chronic Disease, Online, 2-15 November 2020
PublisherMDPI
Number of pages5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
EventInternational Electronic Conference on Nutrients - Nutritional and Microbiota Effects on Chronic Disease -
Duration: 2 Nov 2020 → …

Publication series

Name
ISSN (Print)2504-3900

Conference

ConferenceInternational Electronic Conference on Nutrients - Nutritional and Microbiota Effects on Chronic Disease
Period2/11/20 → …

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI_Basel_Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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