(Daily Mail) — It’s hardly the most appetising vegetable side dish.
But tucking into a clump of seaweed at dinner time could help stave off heart attacks, say researchers.
They have discovered key ingredients in the plant that help lower blood pressure, similar to commonly prescribed drugs.
According to a major study, seaweed is a rich source of proteins known as bioactive peptides – which are also found in milk.
These chemicals have a similar effect to ACE inhibitor drugs, which are widely prescribed to help lower blood pressure and prevent heart attacks and strokes.
Seaweed is rarely eaten in Britain but has been a staple of the Japanese diet for centuries.
Popular varieties include Wakame, used in miso soup, Kombu, and Nori, which is dried and used to wrap sushi.
One of the few types eaten by Britons is the red seaweed called laver, which is used to make laver bread. But experts insist many of the clumps found on our beaches are, in fact, edible.
Dr Maria Hayes, of the Teagasc Food Research Centre in Dublin, said seaweed – known as macroalgae – was an ‘untapped source’ of these healthy ingredients.
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