Home > Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine > Sargassum Seaweed

Description

Sargassum seaweed is a type of seaweed found along the coasts of Japan and China. Two species, Sargassum fusiforme and Sargassum pallidum, are both referred to as sargassum seaweed or gulfweed in English and hai zao in Chinese.

Sargassum seaweed is a brown algae with leafy segments supported at the surface of the ocean by air bladders. Many species of sargassum are found worldwide. In fact, the Sargasso Sea, an area of the Caribbean near the West Indies, is named for its large floating masses of sargassum seaweed. However, sargassum used in healing is usually of Asian origin.

General use

Sargassum seaweed, or Hai zao, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) since at least the eighth century A.D. In TCM it is characterized as having a cold nature and a salty,...