Author
Bowtie Team
Updated on
2025-07-30
Disclaimer: This article is translated with the assistance of AI.
Can sea cucumber really help fight and prevent cancer? Bowtie brings in a Chinese medicine expert to break it down, exploring its health benefits, consumption taboos, and even some tasty recipe ideas.
What is Sea Cucumber?
Sea cucumber refers to the whole body of the sea cucumber from the Holothuriidae family or other species. It is mainly produced in coastal areas of Liaodong, China, as well as Japan, Korea, and also in North and Central America, the South Pacific, Australia, and the Middle East.
In terms of nutrition, sea cucumber is a high-protein, low-fat, low-cholesterol food, rich in trace elements like zinc, iron, and sodium. It also contains various amino acids such as arginine, lysine, and taurine, along with over 50 nutrients beneficial for human physiological activities, including vitamins B1, B2, and B3.
Can Sea Cucumbers Fight Cancer?
A U.S. study indicates that “sea cucumber saponins” can eliminate cancer cells, prevent their proliferation and metastasis, and activate NK cells (a type of immune cell) to attack cancer cells. Another study shows that applying sea cucumber protein at certain concentrations over a period can inhibit the vitality of cancer cells (HepG2, A549, Panc02). Through cytotoxic effects, it induces apoptosis, alters cell morphology, and inhibits metastasis with targeted effects.
Of course, these are just findings from some studies. Whether sea cucumbers truly help the human body fight or prevent cancer still requires further clinical research and observation.
From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, sea cucumbers tonify the kidneys and essence, nourish blood, and moisten dryness. They treat deficiencies in essence and blood, weakness, impotence, nocturnal emissions, frequent urination, intestinal dryness, and constipation. In TCM, the kidneys store essence, which generates marrow; marrow nourishes bones, and bone marrow is the source of blood production. Abundant bone marrow enhances blood production, boosting qi and blood to improve immune function.
Other Benefits of Sea Cucumbers
Tonify Kidneys, Nourish Yin and Blood
The arginine in sea cucumbers regulates sex hormones, offering special benefits for impotence and kidney deficiency. Elements like phosphorus, zinc, manganese, selenium, and nickel play key roles in various physiological activities, especially reproduction, enhancing sexual function and regulating female endocrine systems.
Boost Physical Strength
Sea cucumbers are rich in protein and arginine, essential for immune function, helping to regulate the body’s immunity.
Delay Aging
Collagen protein, arginine, chondroitin sulfate, phosphorus, selenium, vitamin B3, and silicon in sea cucumbers help eliminate fatigue, prevent skin aging, promote cell regeneration, and repair bodily damage.
Improve Sleep and Memory
Arginine has special effects on neurasthenia and significantly improves sleep, while vitamin B3, calcium, taurine, and lysine help repair brain fatigue and enhance memory.
Combat Fatigue
Rich in acidic mucopolysaccharides, arginine, vitamin B3, taurine, potassium, and nickel, sea cucumbers quickly relieve fatigue, regulate the nervous system, and offer clear body-regulating and anti-fatigue effects.
Regulate Blood Lipids
Vanadium, manganese, potassium, copper, vitamin B3, and taurine affect fat metabolism, preventing fatty liver, regulating blood lipids, inhibiting cholesterol synthesis, and enhancing hematopoiesis to prevent cardiovascular diseases and lower blood pressure.
Improve Osteoporosis
Abundant calcium, phosphorus, manganese, copper, germanium, and silicon help prevent rickets in infants, osteoporosis in adults, bone abnormalities, deformities, and poor dentin and enamel development.
Who Should Eat Sea Cucumbers?
Suitable for people with diabetes, anemia, those in recovery from tumor radiotherapy and chemotherapy, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, low immunity, physical weakness and fatigue, fear of cold, excessive sweating, frequent colds, bronchitis, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, mental laborers, heavy physical laborers, frequent urination, kidney deficiency, decreased libido, loss of appetite, constipation; pregnant women, postpartum women, and children in growth period.
Precautions for Eating Sea Cucumbers
Prohibited for those taking blood-thinning medications, with gout/hyperuricemia, or renal insufficiency; not suitable to eat with grapes, persimmons, pomegranates, hawthorns, etc., to prevent abdominal discomfort.
Sea Cucumber Recipes
Sea Cucumber Congee
【Ingredients】1 soaked sea cucumber, 100g glutinous rice, 250ml chicken broth, appropriate amount of ginger shreds, appropriate amount of chopped green onions
【Method】Blanch the sea cucumber and slice it. Wash and soak the glutinous rice for 1 hour. Put both into a pot, add water and chicken broth, cook into congee, then add ginger shreds and chopped green onions for seasoning.
【Benefits】Nourishes skin and beauty, tonifies kidneys and benefits essence
【Precautions】Not suitable for those with external pathogenic fever
Braised Sea Cucumber with Shiitake Mushrooms and Dried Oysters
【Ingredients】5 shiitake mushrooms, 5 dried oysters, 1 soaked sea cucumber, appropriate amount of oyster sauce, a little rock sugar, a little chicken powder
【Method】Soak shiitake mushrooms and remove stems. Wash and soak Japanese dried oysters. Blanch the sea cucumber and slice it. Heat wok with oil, lightly stir-fry mushrooms, add 1L water, chicken powder, rock sugar, and oyster sauce. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes. Add dried oysters and simmer for another 30 minutes. Finally, add sea cucumber and simmer for 10 minutes.
【Benefits】Nourishes skin and beauty, tonifies kidneys and benefits essence
Sea Cucumber Stuffed with Shrimp Paste and Oyster Sauce
【Ingredients】150g fresh shrimp, 4 soaked sea cucumbers, 4 small bok choy, 2 water chestnuts
【Seasonings】Appropriate amounts of salt, ginger, pepper, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, cornstarch, green onions, 2 garlic cloves, 1 shallot, 250ml chicken broth
【Method】Blanch sea cucumbers. Wash and pat dry shrimp, devein and flatten. Stir clockwise with salt, cornstarch, and pepper to form a paste, then mix in chopped water chestnuts. Blanch bok choy and set aside. Heat wok with oil, sauté ginger, garlic, and onions, add sea cucumbers, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 15 minutes. Remove and drain, reserve sauce for thickening. Stuff shrimp paste into sea cucumbers, steam over water for 5-8 minutes. Plate, thicken sauce and pour over.
【Benefits】Nourishes skin and beauty, tonifies kidneys and benefits essence
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the effects of taking sea cucumber pills or extracts the same as eating sea cucumber?
Sea cucumber pills and extracts mainly refine effective ingredients, such as sea cucumber saponins, offering more targeted benefits. However, the full range of nutrients found in sea cucumber may not be completely absorbed through these products.
How to cook dried sea cucumber?
- First, clean the salt on the surface of the dried sea cucumber and the fine sand in the abdominal cavity, then soak it in clean water for 2 days.
- If it doesn’t feel soft yet, soak it longer, changing the water once a day. Absolutely avoid contact with salt or oil.
- Place the sea cucumber in boiling water and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover, and let it cool. Cut open the belly and remove the internal organs.
- Repeat this process 2-3 times until the sea cucumber is completely soft.
- Once cooled, you can cook it or store it in the refrigerator for later use. It pairs well with strong-flavored ingredients for braising or stewing.
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