Think, Eat, Be Healthy

The Nutritional Bounty Of Seaweed

arame seaweed

Arame seaweed

There are many varieties of edible seaweed, each with its own unique flavor and nutritional profile. All edible seaweeds share iodine, calcium, iron, copper, magnesium, zinc, sodium and potassium. All of them contain soluble fiber and protein. They all have vitamins A, K, E, C and several of the B vitamins including B12(very rare for a plant). The specific amounts of each nutrient vary among the varieties of seaweed. The vitamin mix also makes seaweed a highly anti-inflammatory food. The fiber and protein make it very filling and satisfying.

The high iodine concentration found in most seaweeds is important if you do not use iodized salt. Iodine is critical for proper functioning of the thyroid gland, which controls many aspects of our metabolism. Just 1 gram of most seaweeds each day can provide all of our body’s iodine needs. There are few other plant or animal as good as seaweed for dietary iodine. Iodine from seaweed is also easily absorbed by the body.

purple seaweed

Purple Seaweed

Anyone that does not regularly include meat in their diet should be eating seaweed as a natural source of vitamin B12. Seaweed is one of very few plant sources of this vitamin which is found most abundantly in red meat. The vitamin B12 found in seaweed is more readily absorbed and metabolized by the body than than the form contained in most supplements.

I include seaweed in recipes at least four to five times each week. My pantry is almost always stocked with several varieties of seaweed and I often use different varieties together in a recipe(remember – variety is a wonderful thing when it comes to diet). My usual varieties are arame, wakame, hijiki, nori, kombu, dulse, brown and purple. Using several varieties together in a recipe ensures a more complete range of nutrition as well as a more interesting flavor and mouth feel.

wakame seaweed

Wakame Seaweed

Seaweed can be added to a vegetable stir fry, to steamed vegetables,  to soups, stews and casseroles, to meat or vegetable loaves, to rice, barley or other cooking whole grains and many other dishes. Using seaweed in a recipe allows cutting back on added salt due to the fairly high sodium content. Seaweed will also act as a mild thickener in soups and stews. The glycemic index of any recipe is lowered by adding seaweed because the fiber slows absorption through the intestinal wall.

kombu seaweed

Kombu Seaweed

I have heard many people over the years complain that they do not like seaweed because of the “fishy” taste and odor. I can also say that several of those same people ate dishes prepared by me that contained seaweed; they ate the meal, liked the food and never knew it contained seaweed. I truly believe the “fishy” odor and flavor is just a mental expectation because seaweed comes from the ocean. I have talked with a few of these people at length and they really think that anything that comes from the ocean has to smell and taste like fish. This makes no sense to me as many fish, when very fresh, do not smell like “fish”. But you just can’t change what people think and expect.

If you eat sea salt(great idea) instead of commercial iodized salt and if you don’t regularly eat red meat(I think red meat is good as long as it is 100% grass fed), there are big gaps in your nutrition intake unless you eat a little seaweed daily. Seaweed is a super nutritional boost no matter what the rest of your diet is like. Just as importantly it adds(are you ready for this) more variety to any diet.

brown seaweed

Brown Seaweed