“Wakame?”Here!sea mustard
Hasn’t appeared in a scanned product yet.
As a supplement
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Roll Call does not check drug interactions or assess personal safety.
An edible brown seaweed common in Japanese cooking, sold in supplement form as a dried powder or extract. It is a natural source of iodine and a carotenoid called fucoxanthin.
Why it’s used
Taken by some as a source of dietary iodine or for its fucoxanthin content, which is of interest for metabolic and weight-related research.
What the evidence says
Human research on fucoxanthin, wakame's most studied active compound, is limited and largely small-scale, and most of it uses purified fucoxanthin extract rather than whole wakame powder. Separately, wakame's iodine content can vary considerably by batch, which is not something isolated-compound research addresses.
Where we looked
There was no paper to cite here, so this is the search instead — run it yourself and see what we saw.
- PubMed: 89 records · searched September 2026
"Undaria pinnatifida"[Title/Abstract] AND (review[pt] OR "safety assessment"[Title/Abstract] OR "risk assessment"[Title/Abstract] OR toxicology[Title/Abstract] OR toxicity[Title/Abstract] OR characterization[Title/Abstract] OR characterisation[Title/Abstract]) - PubMed: 4 records · searched September 2026
"Undaria pinnatifida"[Title/Abstract] AND ("dietary supplements"[MeSH] OR supplementation[Title/Abstract] OR supplement[Title/Abstract] OR supplements[Title/Abstract] OR "oral administration"[Title/Abstract]) AND (randomized controlled trial[pt] OR clinical trial[pt] OR meta-analysis[pt] OR systematic review[pt]) AND humans[MeSH] - PubMed: 564 records · searched September 2026
"Undaria pinnatifida"[Title/Abstract]
This says what this database holds under these terms. It is not a finding that no research exists.
Context
Some fucoxanthin-focused research appears to exist for metabolic outcomes, but it could not be verified here to a citable source specific to whole wakame. A reviewer looking to resolve this should search for standardized fucoxanthin extract trials rather than whole-seaweed wakame supplements.
Rumors
Wakame's fucoxanthin promotes weight loss by burning fat.
Not gradedhealth and safety evidence
No sources cited yet.
What was measured is not yet noted.
- Reduction of HbA1c levels by fucoxanthin-enriched akamoku oil possibly involves the thrifty allele of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1): a randomised controlled trial in normal-weight and obese Japanese adults (Peer-reviewed) · Funded by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (government) · No conflicts declared
Who’s saying this
- drweil.com — we couldn’t open the site to see who runs it
Too much iodine from wakame causes thyroid dysfunction.
Supports — suggestivehealth and safety evidence
Measured as a biomarker.
- Iodine Status and Thyroid Function in a Group of Seaweed Consumers in Norway (Peer-reviewed) · Funded by Institute of Marine Research (government) · No conflicts declared
Who’s saying this
- biochron.net — we couldn’t open the site to see who runs it
Wakame blocks the growth of cancer cells.
Supports — suggestivehealth and safety evidence
Measured as a biomarker.
- Extracts from New Zealand Undaria pinnatifida Containing Fucoxanthin as Potential Functional Biomaterials against Cancer in Vitro (Peer-reviewed) · Funded by Auckland University of Technology (School of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences); Wakatu Incorporation supplied seaweed · No conflicts declared
- Fucoidan Derived from Undaria pinnatifida Induces Apoptosis in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma SMMC-7721 Cells via the ROS-Mediated Mitochondrial Pathway (Peer-reviewed) · Funded by Education Department of Liaoning Province; Science and Technology Department of Liaoning Province, China (government) · No conflicts declared
Who’s saying this
- Healthline — a publisher: health information publisher; part of RVO Health, backed by Red Ventures and UnitedHealth Group's Optum
How we know who this is
- “Healthline is a digital publisher and does not offer personal health or medical advice.” (their page)
- “Healthline is part of RVO Health, a company backed by Red Ventures and UnitedHealth Group’s Optum.” (their page)
Wakame lowers blood sugar.
Does not support — suggestivehealth and safety evidence
Measured as a biomarker.
- Effects of Undaria pinnatifida (Wakame) on Postprandial Glycemia and Insulin Levels in Humans: a Randomized Crossover Trial (Peer-reviewed) · Funding not checked · Authors declare a conflict of interest
- Effects of the intake of Undaria pinnatifida (Wakame) and its sporophylls (Mekabu) on postprandial glucose and insulin metabolism (Peer-reviewed) · Funding not checked
- Effect of brown seaweed on plasma glucose in healthy, at-risk, and type 2 diabetic individuals: systematic review and meta-analysis (Peer-reviewed) · Funded by Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) (government) · No conflicts declared
Who’s saying this
- biochron.net — we couldn’t open the site to see who runs it