ABSTRACT
References ............................................................................................................665
In Japan, brown seaweeds such as kombu, wakame, and mozuku have been a
mainstay of the traditional diet for several thousand years. The prefecture of
Okinawa, whose inhabitants enjoy some of the highest life expectancies in Japan,
also happens to have one of the highest per capita consumption rates of kombu (1 g
per person per day). In contrast, the average per capita consumption rate of kombu in
Japan is approximately 0.5 g per day. On Okinawa, the death rate from cancer is the
lowest of all the prefectures in Japan. The longevity and low cancer rates may be
caused in part by a substance called fucoidan.
