Health Benefits of Sea Cucumber

Sea cucumber is also known as beche de mer in some parts of the world, hai shen in Chinese and gamat among Malaysians. It is a type of marine animal. There are many species and most of them are oblong shaped, like cucumbers.

Among some Asians, it is a culinary delicacy. It is stir fried, added to some braised dishes and made into soups.

Chinese traditional medicine practitioners have been using it as a remedy to treat various conditions and illness such as muscle and joint pains and kidney disorders. They also believe that the benefits of hai shen or sea ginseng include providing longevity and in the prevention of diseases by nourishing the blood.

In Malaysia, minyak gamat or gamat oil has been used as a folk remedy to treat cuts, speed up wound healing, reduce inflammations and repair tissues. The massage oil is used to relieve muscle pains and aches. The gamat juice or air gamat is a remedy for duodenal and peptic ulcers, hemorrhoids and stomach discomforts. When combined with eurycoma longifolia it acts as an aphrodisiac and may treat impotency.

In the Western world, it is sold as a food supplement alone or in combination with other ingredients such as glucosamine to support healthy joints. The supplement may help treat arthritis, sprains and tendonitis.

One of the reasons why sea cucumber is effective for joint health is because of its rich content of chondroitin sulfate. This compound is known to be able to treat osteoarthritis which is a degenerative arthritis or degenerative joint disease. Studies have shown that chondroitin sulfate has the potential to reduce pain and improve functional disability.

It was also found that there is saponin glycosides present in this marine animal. Among the benefits of this group of organic compounds are their abilities to act as an adaptogenic agent thus helping the body fights stress and fatigue, improve the body's immune and liver function and enhancing physical and mental performances.

Researches are still ongoing to ascertain if it is able to fight certain cancers. Preliminary laboratory studies have shown that there is potential that certain compounds found in the marine animal may help slow cancer cell growth.

Beche de Mer are sold dried. Besides the oil extract, juice and tonic, they are also available in powder form and sold in capsules and tablets.

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