Fucoidan, The Active Ingredient in Fucopia™
The ingredient in holistic organic pet supplement Fucopia™, Fucus Vesiculosus, contains large amounts of fucoidan polysaccharides, alginates and beneficial nutrients such as selenium, lignans, L-tryptophans and iodine. In clinical studies fucoidan has been shown to:
- Prevent the ability of tumors to create blood vessels1 that allow tumor growth
- Induce apoptosis2, which is the process of immune cells (macrophages) causing death of abnormal cells and removing them from the body
- Inhibit metastasis3 to prevent the spread of abnormal cells
- Reduces arthritis4 pain through suppression of the inflammatory response
- Promotes stem cell5 production and differentiation to repair body cells
- And many more benefits as shown in over 1300 studies6 published at The US National Library of Medicine
- UPDATE – New 2016 study shows effectively inhibits leukemia 7
The Clinical Studies
In vitro studies (in test tubes) have shown that fucoidan was able to totally destroy cancer cells within 72 hours. Fucoidan increases the macrophages (special immune system cells) activity making the immune system recognize cancer cells and destroy them, while preventing new growth of abnormal cells.
In Japan, where seaweeds have been used for centuries, cancer rates are much lower than in the United States. This is attributed to their diet, which is rich in seaweed on a daily basis. The scientific evidence from studies to date supports the use of fucoidan rich supplements as beneficial for pets with cancer and tumors, without the fear of unwanted side effects.
You Must Be Sure You Are Getting the Right Fucoidan Supplement!
Some unscrupulous companies market Kelp or seaweed supplements that are sourced from Kombu, Icelandic Kelp and other seaweeds with extremely high iodine content that can be unsafe for pets (or people!). The proper amount of iodine is crucial for thyroid function and metabolism, but too much is not good. That is why we choose specific species of seaweed and do not advise feeding more than the recommended amount on our order page.
Supplements are also sold made with fucoidan extract or powders that come from China or the Pacific. Due to the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster that occurred in 2011, the Pacific Ocean has been tainted with radiation, which continues as more of the containment water is released periodically to flow into the Pacific. The bulk of fucoidan extracts from China have been extracted with solvents, We can not recommend giving your pet a supplement if you don’t know the source of the seaweed used in the product or the method of extraction. In fact, we believe the most potent source of fucoidan is the natural seaweed concentration that occurs through drying in the sun. Other companies maintain only an extraction that is artificially produced through solvents or other processing give you potent fucoidan, however if this were true, all of the Asian cultures with lower incidence of cancer would not be achieving those results through ingesting natural seaweed! Brown seaweeds are most frequently used in miso soup in their natural state or dried.
The Fucopia™ Difference
We use only the best source of 100% organic seaweed, sustainably harvested in the USA in the North Atlantic where purity and non-contamination can be assured. Our seaweed is sun dried and milled with no additives of any kind, to give you the purest essence of the best fucoidan source from nature.
1 Fucoidan extract derived from Undaria pinnatifida inhibits angiogenesis by human umbilical vein endothelial cells.
2 Induction of apoptosis by low-molecular-weight fucoidan through calcium- and caspase-dependent mitochondrial pathways in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells.
3 Prophylactic administration of fucoidan represses cancer metastasis by inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in Lewis tumor-bearing mice.