To assess the effect of a supplementation of brown seaweed, a double-blind randomised clinical study against a placebo was conducted with around fifty overweight Japanese people for 8 weeks. The brown seaweed used was Laminaria japonica which had a reduced iodine content from cooking for 60 minutes. Via this algal supplementation, the subjects in the test group received the equivalent of 3g of alginate and 1,000 µg of iodine daily.

The effect of algal supplementation was not significant in women. However, the authors concluded that there was a significant reduction in the percentage of body fat in overweight Japanese men.

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