With globalization and the ease of moving around the world, in your own city You can now have the option of trying food from other countries totally different from yours, such as Asian.
One of the foods that Asians use the most is seaweed, as its consumption has increased in recent years thanks to this globalization. What’s more, seaweed is rich in protein, vitamins, fiber and minerals, and is low in calories.
The Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU), seeing that their consumption increased drastically, began to warn about the danger of cadmium or iodine that algae can contain.
What is cadmium and what can it cause
Cadmium is a heavy metal that can be found in algae, fish, meat, legumes, or grains. Excessive consumption can cause health problems in the bones, kidneys and liver.
This is why excess cadmium accumulates in the kidney and liver of the person, eventually causing kidney failure, demineralization of bones and even kidney cancer.
In addition, according to the Agency for Research on Cancer, cadmium can become carcinogenic, being a metal that can cause senseless mutation of cells.
![the OCU recommends monitoring its consumption, how much seaweed do you have to eat to make it dangerous? Wakame seaweed](https://i.blogs.es/af53e6/algas-wakame/450_1000.jpeg)
How much seaweed do you have to eat to make it dangerous?
According to the OCU, there is no legal maximum of consumption so that it can be dangerous to health, in the case of algae, so you just have to watch out not to consume them excessively as we would with any other food.
The tolerable consumption is between 2.5microg / kg of weight, so, in principle, as long as this dose is not drastically exceeded, you will be in a safe range.
The algae problem is governed by the fact that they are low in calories and provide important substances such as folates and minerals (such as calcium, zinc, magnesium, iodine, iron and selenium) that help to strengthen the immune system and a proper functioning of the body.
![the OCU recommends monitoring its consumption, how much seaweed do you have to eat to make it dangerous? Algae](https://i.blogs.es/c90141/algas/450_1000.jpeg)
In addition, they are considered a sustainable food with many health benefits, so their consumption is usually high, something that must be watched, since an excess of cadmium or yogo can be harmful.
In short, the maximum levels of consumption have yet to be determined, because it is not possible to determine exactly how much cadmium is in the algae.
The OCU simply advises monitoring the consumption of algae bearing in mind that you are ingesting this heavy material, especially people who have liver and kidney dysfunction, since it is more difficult for them to eliminate toxic minerals from the body.
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Images | iStock