What is sea cucumber? Health benefits of sea cucumber

Sea cucumber has long been considered one of the excellent, nutritious and favorite foods of the elite. So what are the benefits of sea cucumber for health, let’s find out right in this article.

What is Hai Sam?

Sea cucumber, also known as sea leech or sea ginseng , is a marine animal that specializes in eating dead bodies of other animals, for that reason they are often called ” Workers of the sea”. “ .

The food of sea cucumbers is mainly plankton, organic impurities located deep on the seabed. Sea cucumbers usually live on coral reefs or on the bottom of the sea , but we can also find sea cucumbers in large numbers next to human marine fish farms.

What is Hai Sam?

Sea cucumber has a structure consisting of a thick layer of tubular flesh , outside there are rough tumors, the body of sea cucumber has no head and tail to distinguish, but in the middle there is a small hole, which is the mouth of the sea cucumber. holothurian.

Around the mouth of the sea cucumber, there are small tentacles that can extend like arms to grasp food and put it in the mouth.

Sea cucumbers are distributed in many parts of the world, in particular, in the waters of Vietnam, more than 50 different species of sea cucumbers have been discovered and in the world there are more than 40 species of sea cucumbers with medicinal and food effects. Some common sea cucumber species can be mentioned as white breasted sea cucumber, sand sea cucumber, coconut sea cucumber, golden sea cucumber, etc.

Health benefits of sea cucumber

Helps relieve joint pain

Sea cucumbers are rich in chondroitin sulfate , which is a well-known compound that can help relieve joint pain and arthritis very effectively.

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2006, it was confirmed that supplementing with chondroitin sulfate found in sea cucumbers is very effective in treating pain problems in diseases. patients with knee pain and osteoarthritis.

Reduce the risk of cancer

According to Professor Nguyen Tai Luong from the Institute of Biotechnology , who is the leader of the sea cucumber project, said that sea cucumbers contain many vitamins such as B1, B2, B12, C … and very high levels of hormones such as testosterone, progesterone. can help control and prevent cancer very effectively .

Improve liver and kidney function

According to a study published in the journal BioMed Research International , the selenium content of sea cucumbers has the potential to help significantly reduce oxidative stress and liver damage in your body.

Improve immune system

According to Doctor Nguyen Thuong Hanh, a specialist in general internal medicine, sea cucumbers contain high levels of glycine and arginine , which are very beneficial compounds in strengthening the body’s immune system.

Glycine can stimulate the production and release of IL-2 and B cell antibodies , which perform an important task in removing foreign bodies .

As for arginine, this compound will support cell immunity by promoting the activation and proliferation of T cells, a type of white blood cell that is able to fight off dangerous pathogens. and cancer cells .

Support in the treatment of diabetes

Sea cucumber contains a lot of protein and has no cholesterol , so using sea cucumber in the menu of people with diabetes will be a great choice to help support the treatment of this disease.

Detoxify the body

Sea cucumbers contain Se , which is a very effective detoxifier and can neutralize heavy metals that enter the body through ingestion such as lead or mercury.

Support treatment of cardiovascular disease

Because sea cucumbers contain very little lipid and almost no cholesterol , sea cucumbers are an ideal food for people with dyslipidemia and coronary artery disease.

Sea cucumber also helps supplement essential amino acids , trace elements to help the body fight fatigue, strengthen the immune system, increase the body’s resistance, improve oxygen absorption, and fight muscle fatigue. heart.

Supplement blood, treat anemia

Sea cucumber is one of the foods with extremely rich nutritional value, it is estimated that every 100g of dried sea cucumber contains 76g of protein, 5 times higher than lean pork and 3.5 times higher than beef .

Sea cucumber also has a high content of precious amino acids such as lysine, proline… and many trace elements such as P, Cu, Fe… to help support the treatment of anemia.

Above is all about sea cucumber – a wonderful and extremely nutritious food for health. If this is the first time you hear the name sea cucumber, learn and experience this food immediately if you have the opportunity.

Source: Synthesis

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