How About Fucoxanthin? What A Pigment!

According to the research of Dr. Miyashita and his associates, the fucoxanthin appeared to stimulate the UCP1 protein in the mice that were eating it. This protein is found in abdominal fat, particularly the fat around vital organs like the kidney and liver. When the UCP1 protein was stimulated in the study's rodents, the fat began to oxidize and change into heat energy, eventually leading to fat loss in these test animals. Mice not being fed fucoxanthin did not have this change in their abdominal fats.

During the study, the researchers fed some of the rodents fucoxanthin combined with soybean oil. This change caused the levels of DHA, an important omega-3 fatty acid, in the livers of the mice and rats to increase in measurable amounts. The results of this study have lead to further research into the potential of using fucoxanthin as a dietary supplement for humans.

While this research is promising, it raises the question as to what fucoxanthin is. It is an element of brown seaweed called a carotenoid. Carotenoids are pigments located in the chloroplasts of certain water plants. As a pigment, fucoxanthin is responsible for giving the plants their brownish color.

Carotenoids have a vital function in the process of photosynthesis, which is the process in which a plant changes energy from the sun into usable sugar energy, or glucose. Carotenoids allow plants to change blue light into glucose, allowing them to use as much of the light from the visible spectrum as possible. Carotenoids also protect plants from some of the damage that can occur from the sun. Fucoxanthin is the carotenoid that allows brown algae to absorb blue green and yellow green light from the sun.

Brown seaweed has been used as a flavoring for soups and salads in many Asian countries for quite a long time. For instance, the fucoxanthin used in Dr. Miyashita's study was harvested from wakame, a common Asian seaweed. Since people in this part of the world tend to be healthier than Americans in general, research into the health benefits of seaweed has been conducted on a regular basis. This is part of what led to the research into fucoxanthin in particular. While it is found in most types of brown seaweed, Fucoxanthin is found in the highest levels in kelp.

There are several ways to add fucoxanthin into a person's diet. It can easily be eaten in its natural form by adding seaweed to the diet. It can also be processed and put into dietary supplements. The ingredient is usually harvested by taking brown marine seaweeds and then using special cultivation methods to increase the amount of fucoxanthin that they contain. When trying to consume fucoxanthin by eating straight seaweed, this artificially produced variety is the best option because it contains high levels of the carotenoid. Current lines of research into the potential uses of fucoxanthin are focusing on ways to use the ingredient as a supplement, either in the form of a pill or liquid, by finding ways to extract it from the seaweed efficiently.

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