Seaweed - Nutrient Dense Raw Food From The Ocean

Because of it's unique growing environment, seaweed offers many unique health benefits not found in soil grown plants.

As well as being a nutrient dense superfood, raw organic seaweed products can add colour, variety and abundant flavour to a raw food diet.

Kelp, seaweed or sea veg?

Seaweed is known by many names. Kelp refers to the family of over 30 sea dwelling plants of the genus Laminiaria.

These many varieties are sometimes collectively referred to as sea vegetables or sea veg. Around the world, examples of seaweed products include:

kombu
dulse
nori
wakame
gim
laver

Sea veg is eaten most commonly in East and Southeast Asia. It forms part of the daily diet for much of the Japanese population, being an ingredient in miso soup and a common flavouring in other recipes. In the west we encounter nori being used as a seaweed wrap for raw fish and vegetables in sushi restaurants. Kelp looks like a brown or grey vegetable and grows in vast underwater kelp forests. Once harvested it is sun dried and becomes a hard, dark green substance which can be pressed into a sheet or powdered.

Kelp - nature's richest source of organic mineral salts

Plants that are grown on land in soil can lack lack essential minerals due to poor soil quality or overuse of pesticides. Kelp and sea veg get their nutrition directly from the ocean. To date over 60 different nutrients have been identified in sea vegetables. In recent years, brown seaweed extract, kelp supplements and concentrated liquid seaweed have become a popular health products. Seaweed and kelp vitamins include:

iodine
calcium
selenium
magnesium
folate
iron
vitamin A
vitamin B12
vitamin B1
vitamin B2

vitamin C

Health Benefits Of Seaweed

Seaweed has been claimed to help in many different areas of health. Iodine is necessary to regulate the thyroid gland and controls metabolic rate, which is an important consideration in weight loss.

Studies have also shown that kelp can help improve digestion, reduce blood cholesterol, improve your immune system and produce healthy skin. Kelp is also an iron rich food and high in sodium chloride, or salt. This article from the Guardian explains seven reasons why you should eat seaweed

Other Uses For Seaweed

Today, seaweed is used for a bewildering array of health and beauty products including:

seaweed shampoo
seaweed diet pills
seaweed bath soak
seaweed face mask
seaweed body wrap
fertilizer
seaweed detox products

Seaweed For A Raw Food Diet

Sea veg is a popular choice for many raw food enthusiasts because of it's unique taste and nutrient dense superfood properties. Vegans can benefits from organic seaweed's high B12 content.

Being an iron rich food, seaweed is also a great substitute for meat and fish. Common seaweed recipes include raw nori rolls and dulse seaweed salads. Sea spaghetti is kelp formed into long thin strips which make a great pasta substitute.

Organic seaweed can be found in most health food shops, although it is important to check whether the product has been toasted as in most commercially available nori products. Other raw seaweed products include kelp powder and kelp flakes.