Sergio Baamonde López. Biologist specialising in marine macroalgae. Grupo Algamar.

After the unfortunate interference of the coronavirus in our lives, and the COVID-19 it can cause, our most recent focus has been on the search for a pharmaceutical solution to alleviate and remedy the damage it causes and prevent its proliferation. And not without good cause: these tools are obviously necessary and essential to achieve that end, according to the criteria of medical professionals studying this particular case.

However, it is important to reflect on this question and to be aware that you and your body are the main line of defence and barrier against diseases and pathological agents.

In addition to primary natural barriers, such as the skin and mucous membranes, you have an immune system composed of certain organs, tissues and cells, as well as certain processes. All these have developed and become perfected over thousands of years of evolution to fulfil their objective: to defend you from the aggressions of external pathogens such as viruses and bacteria and, in the event that they manage to infect you, to eliminate them while maintaining the “homeostasis” or internal balance of your body.

Logically, the stronger and healthier your immune system, the better it will fulfil its mission. This can be achieved by maintaining a healthy physiological and mental state. Therefore, it is essential to rid yourself of defeatism and the idea that contagion is inevitable, focusing passively only on the possible consequences of COVID-19, which, as we already know, range from being asymptomatic to the (less likely) possibility of developing a serious illness. In contrast, you should become aware that it is possible to proactively stimulate your natural defences and reinforce the specific and nonspecific immunity of your immune system. In this respect it is possible to control certain habits and hygienic-sanitary conditions that can help you achieve this objective, such as reducing stress, engaging in physical activity, taking adequate rest, and moderating sun exposure, among others. Most notable is the enormous importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet and this is where sea vegetables have a lot to contribute.

It is important to emphasise that the premise of this article is to deal with nutritional deficiencies derived from unhealthy eating habits that are, in turn, due to various current socioeconomic or cultural factors. These include a shortage of time to cook fresh food; the mass availability of low-cost, low-quality processed foods; a lack of economic resources; the junk food and convenience food culture; the absence of a gastronomic culture in younger generations; the overuse of phytosanitary products in conventional food, etc. Therefore, “in a situation of a clear deficiency of a nutrient involved in the immune system, taking it can have an effect on your immune response” (Vilaplana, 2015).

Marine algae or “sea vegetables” constitute an extraordinary and varied source of nutrients, in many cases superior to that of terrestrial vegetables. They are therefore often called “nutrient cocktails” or “superfoods” since they have a wide and abundant spectrum of vitamins, minerals, proteins, fibre and other essential elements to meet the nutritional needs of the body and, specifically, many of the nutrients directly involved in the immune system.

To support this exposition and to demonstrate that sea vegetables can make an important contribution as natural supplements of these nutrients, we will highlight the nutritional virtues directly related to the immune system of the five most commonly eaten varieties of Atlantic sea vegetables. They are all sustainably harvested on the coasts of Galicia (northwest Spain) by companies belonging to the Algamar Group (Algas Atlánticas Algamar, SL and Conservas Mar de Ardora SL).

References

Fernández Sáa, Clemente. Algas de Galicia. Alimento y Salud (2002). Algamar.

Kyoung Kang, Hee; Hyung Ho Lee, Chang Ho Seo and Yoonkyung Park. Antimicrobial and Inmunomodulatory Properties and Applications of Marine-Derived Proteins and Peptides (2019). Marine Drugs. Research Gate.

Kuznetsova, Tatyana A.; Elena V. Persiyanova, Svetlana P. Ermakova, Maxim Yu. Khotimchenko and Natalya N. Besednova. The Sulfated Polysaccharides of Brown Algae and Products of Their Enzymatic Transformation as Potential Vaccine Adjuvants (2018). Natural Product Communication. Vol.13, No. 8, 1083 – 1095.

Xu, Shu-Ying; Xuesong Huang, Kit-Leong Cheong. Recent Advances in Marine Algae Polysaccharides: Isolation, Structure, and Activities (2017). Marine Drugs. Research Gate.

Vilaplana i Batalla, M. Nutrición y Sistema Inmunitario (2015). Farmacia Profesional. Vol. 29, Núm. 6, Noviembre-Diciembre 2015.

Wells L., Mark; Philippe Potin, Sabeeha S. Merchant, Mary Ellen Camire, James S. Craigie, Katherine E. Helliwell, Susan H. Brawley, John A. Raven and Alison G. Smith. Algae as nutritional and functional food sources: revisiting our understanding. J Appl Phycol (2017) 29:949–982

Zaporozhets, T.S.;  N.N. Besednova, T.A. Kuznetsova, T.N. Zvyagintseva, I.D. Makarenkova, S.P. Kryzhanovsky, V.G. Melnikov. The Prebiotic Potential of Polysaccharides and Extracts of Seaweeds (2014). Russian Journal of Marine Biology. Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 1–9.