Living in Hawaii, you are likely to run into some seaweed especially if you are out enjoying the water at the beach. Most of us do not realize that these ocean vegetables offer a precious addition to our diets.
Seaweed comes in many forms. Perhaps the most notable local expressions are: nori which is the black sheet that sushi is rolled with; and limu that you find in poke, a raw fish appetizer. If you ever had nishime at a Japanese deli, you will know about nishime kombu, the knotted seaweed. You may not realize that the Japanese jello, kanten, is also made from seaweed. It’s otherwise called agar-agar and reportedly helps with weight reduction.
The special attribute of seaweed is its high concentration of minerals. In some seaweed, there is 10 to 15 times the minerals as in the same weight of beef or trout.
One square inch of either wakame or kombu seaweed meets the daily dietary requirements of iodine, known to help thyroid function. Another important mineral in seaweed is calcium. Seaweed can have ten or more times the quantity of calcium as the same weight of milk or cheese.
Other minerals found in seaweed include iron, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, sodium and zinc. Seaweed also has quantities of vitamins A, C and B complex, including B12, a vitamin especially important for vegetarians. All in all, seaweed helps with nails, teeth, hair and bones.
Seaweed is noted for having alginates which help to detoxity effects from radioactivity and heavy metals, so if you are regularly around x-rays, you might use more seaweed in your diet. Seaweeds, especially nori and dulse, also have protein and dietary fiber to help reduce cholesterol.
You can easily add seaweed to your life by using it in soups. Kombu, arame or wakame are particularly nice when used this way. Kombu, or specifically “dashi Kombu”, is used to make soup stock. Its flavor comes from its monosodium glutamate, MSG, but in a healthier form. Sushi nori can be eaten daily to accompany any grains where you can “roll your own”. Another alternative is to use flakes of seaweed, such as ao nori, kelp, or dulse to sprinkle on your food; these flakes are most likely found in health food stores. Fresh limu can be used in salads, in soup, or cooked with various dishes.
Seaweed can be used in dishes other than soups. The Japanese dried seaweed has to be soaked in water for 10 to 20 minutes to soften it. These dried seaweeds include kombu, arame, wakame, nori and kanten from the Oriental food section of the supermarket. You do not need to eat a lot of seaweed daily. Several tablespoons a day are a good start. If you eat too much, you might have mineral overload. Even these humble seaweeds can be beneficial to our health.