Oceans of beauty: the amazing power of micronized seaweed.(Innerbeauty: new strategies for vibrant living)

In 1904, the famous French biologist Rene Quinton demonstrated that seawater and human blood plasma shared identical nutrient ratios. The French have long been passionate about their sea-based therapies. But as common as seawater and seaweed therapies may sound to seasoned American spagoers, truly authentic thalassotherapy (from the Greek word "thalassa," meaning "the ocean") is a rarity in the States.

"When people think of thalassotherapy, they picture sitting in a large tub filled with water and seaweed or mineral salts. But true thalassotherapy utilizes all the properties and products of the sea in a marine environment--breathing sea air, bathing and exercising in sea water, seaweed treatments and eating well," says Susan Yunker, RN, spa nurse at Gurney's Inn in Montauk, New York.

Breathing salt air is one important way to experience real benefits front the ocean. "When the sea is turbulent, the air--full of negative ions--is believed to be sterile. The sea vapor we breathe is full of minerals, which are absorbed through the capillaries in the lungs and delivered to the body. The negative ions quench free radicals. It's like taking a mineral [pill] in perfect combination" says Yunker.

But for those of us unable to get to the seaside regularly, seaweed therapies are a viable alternative. "Seaweed concentrates all of the ocean's nutrients in the same perfect balance for humans," says Dan Flyda, author of the new book The Ocean Within (Spa Management magazine), due out this month. "Whether eaten or applied topically via micronized seaweed products, [seaweed] is virtually a perfect sustenance for the body and skin, providing the richest source of minerals, trace elements, amino acids, antioxidants, phytohormones, polysaccharides and enzymes found anywhere in nature."

From Cold Sores to Cellulite to Suntanning to Wrinkles

Seaweed and algae possess an almost eerie array of super-powered, human-friendly protective substances. Here are just a few of their extraordinary benefits:

* Anti-aging skin care. "Because the molecular weight of the nutrients in seaweed is so small, nutrients penetrate to the skin's basal cell layer. These charged minerals and trace elements (marine ions) ionize and regenerate cells and connective tissue, inhibit free radical damage, stimulate collagen synthesis and stimulate cellular turnover," says Fryda.