History of  Scuba Diving

Edible delicacies from the sea

Scuba Diving has been a benefit to people who eat from the sea. They eat all sorts of fish and sea vegetables that they harvest off the bottom of the sea.  In prehistoric time in China, Japan and Korea they would free dive holding their breath for as long as they could with nets, cut and take what they could while they were under the water. Seaweed has been a staple in their diets for as long as anyone can remember.  Then as years went by they used snorkels and more sophisticated Scuba diving equipment.

There are actual farms on the ocean floor now. That grow sea vegetables and well as fish and other edible sea life. It’s a growing market that is in most countries.

Seaweed is one that is harvested the most. Edible seaweed is an alga that is used for food preparation of foods. It contains high amounts of fiber and contains a complete protein unlike land based plant foods. They are in a group of multicellar algae such as red algae, green algae and brown algae.

Harvesting seaweed is for the extraction of alginate, agar, and carrageenan, a gelatinous substance known as hydrocolloids or phycocolloids. These substances have commercial significance in food additives.

Freshwater algae are mostly toxic where marine algae are not. But there are some marine algae contain an acid that can irate the digestive tract.

Seaweed is high in iodine, calcium and magnesium. Seaweed is used in all sorts of food dishes. Sheets of dried red algae is use to wrap sushi and in soups.

There are sea grapes that are grown in the Philippines and are eaten raw with vinegar as a snack or in a salad. Roasted sheets of nori and Kombi are used to wrap sushi.

Fish and shell fish are consumed; it’s an important source of protein in diets around the world. Most of the seafood food harvest is consumed by humans but a proportion is used as fish food to farm other fish or raise a farm animal. Kelp is used for food for other plants that are farmed, such as fertilizer. So in indirect ways seafood is used to produce food for human consumption.

Health benefits are a large factor in farming and harvesting from the sea. Nutrients and minerals in seafood make improvement in the development of the brain as well as the whole human body. Different parts of the world have shown low levels of heart disease and studies have shown that the main staple of their diets is seafood. Fish is known to be low saturated fats and high in Omega-3 oils that cut the chance of having a heart disease. Omega-3 helps lower cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood two fats that raise the risk of heart attacks.

A percentage of the human brain is made up of lipids, including Omega-3 fat DHA. Studies have shown brain power can be boosted by eating more oily fish. Older people who consume more oily fish have been shown to increase memory and think faster. More research has shown that children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder that eat fish reduce behavioral problems as well as improve their reading skills.

Joint problems such as rheumatoid arthritis can benefit from fish as part of the regular diet. Studies show that people with RA who eat fish are less stiff and sore in the morning when they keep their fish oil intake up.

Fish is also high in zinc, iodine and selenium, minerals that keep the body running smoothly. Our bodies use iodine to keep our thyroid gland healthy selenium is used to make enzymes that protect the cell walls from cancer-causing free radicals.  Fish are also a great source of vitamins such as A and D.  Vitamin A is needed for healthy skin and eyes. Vitamin D is used by the body to absorb calcium for healthy bones and teeth.

There are some health risks with eating seafood such as food allergens that come from shellfish. Both shellfish and fish have a tendency to store mercury in their bodies.  This is in the form of methyl mercury, a highly toxic organic compound of mercury. The most common fish this is found in is shark, swordfish, albacore tuna and tilefish. All fish contain mercury but these named have a higher concentrations.  The first widespread mercury poisoning in humans occurred in Minamata, Japan now called Minamata disease.

Scuba Diving plays a big part in farming this seafood. From free diving to harvest what people could thousands of years ago to the high tech diving equipment that is used today, there are a number of delicacies farmed and harvest from the sea.