Seaweed Benefits

Did you know that…
sushi rolls are 20 times healthier than green salad?

Getting to know nutritious seaweed benefits
Love sushi? Enjoy sinking your teeth into those tasty, melt-in-your-mouth Japanese hors d’oeuvres? Yes, those yummy, soft, sweet rice and fish, wrapped in crispy seaweed? Then you’re getting a health bonus:

Photo courtesy of Bananagranola They are more nutritious than green salad!

Here’s why… Nori, the type of seaweed used for rolled sushi is rich in protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals. And when compared with plants that grow on land, seaweed or sea vegetables from the ocean, are 20 times more nutrient-dense.

How’s that?

Our land today is robbed of energy-giving minerals due to over-mining and erosion. Sadly, man digs iron, tin, zinc, and other minerals from the ground, and makes them into consumer products like building materials, vehicles, and tin cans. This depletes nutrients from our soils and lessens the nutritive value of our land plants. Not only that, we're also taking in the chemicals and toxins used to prolong the shelf life of our once healthy fruits and veggies.

Seaweed being harvested

Food fad or age-old health secret?

The seaweed in the sushi we enjoy today is not just popular because of the trendy sushi bars or the rise in popularity of spirulina and chlorella. On the contrary, seaweeds have been age-old food favorites of many ancient coastal folk worldwide. Not only for their health-nourishing seaweed benefits, but also for the flavor and zest it adds to dishes.

Earliest savory salads from the deep

Photo courtesy of Bananagranola Our ancestors living in the coastal areas of Japan, China, Hawaii, Norway, to name a few, knew about the seaweed benefits, even with the absence of scientific research!

At one time, sea vegetable gardens were maintained in Hawaii specifically for royalty. In ancient Japan, exclusively Japanese nobility enjoyed these amazing sea vegetables.

Seaweed is the secret to super nutrition

Ocean vegetables are getting more and more in demand today mainly due to their many health benefits, and not just because sushi bars have mushroomed in our midst!

• Ocean vegetables are one of Nature’s richest sources of vegetable protein.
• Ocean vegetables provide full concentrations of beta-carotene, chlorophyll, enzymes, amino acids, and fiber.
• Ounce for ounce, along with herbs, they are higher in vitamins and minerals than any other food.
• Ocean vegetables are considered the most nutritionally dense plants available in the planet!

1. When compared to plants that grow on land, sea vegetables are 10 to 20 times higher in vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Seaweed nutrition is found to be higher than land vegetables.

2. The Japanese variety Hijiki (also known as hiziki), arame, and wakame contain 10 times the calcium of milk.

3. When compared to the iron available in beef, sea lettuce has 25 times more, hijiki 8 times more, and wakame and other kelps, four times more.

4. Love sushi? Nori, the dark sea vegetable sheet used to wrap those delectable Japanese rice rolls, can pack a walloping protein content as high as 25-50% of its dry weight – the highest of any ocean vegetable. It also high in Vitamin A which is recommended for maintaining good eyesight.

5. The natural iodine in seaweeds is an easy, nontoxic way to meet the iodine requirement in your diet. The symptoms of iodine deficiency include chronic fatigue, apathy, dry skin, intolerance to cold, weight gain, and enlargement of the thyroid (goiter). These symptoms are the same as those of thyroid hormone deficiency.

According to noted herbalist, Dr. Ryan Drum, you would have to eat about 40 lbs of fresh vegetables and/or fruits (that's a lot of veggies!) to get as much iodine as you would from 1 gram of whole leaf kelp.

6. Forget the fad diets. The only way to lose and maintain your weight is to eat healthy and exercise daily. Ocean vegetables help by breaking down the fat and flushing it out of your system. It helps you get in shape and stay that way!

7. Sick and tired of those daily allergies? Your weak immune system provides the never-ending runny nose and symphonic sniffing and sneezing every morning. Strengthen your immune system and you greet the day clog-free! One of the most appreciated seaweed benefits by allergy sufferers.

8. Seaweed naturally slashes your risk of a heart attack. Its nutrients clear the plaque in your arteries. This does not entitle you to eat all the fatty foods you want! You still have to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Read more about a healthy lifestyle through diet here: Diet Health at Live Healthy Guide.

9. Seaweed is high in fiber. Our colons rejoice when they get their daily dose of it! Seaweed cleans our digestive system: it soothes, disinfects, and nourishes distressed surfaces; helps out with the metabolism of lipids; and maintains a healthy balance of digestive yeasts and bacteria in the intestines.

10. Regular intake of ocean vegetables not only make our inner organs healthier, but also gives us glossier hair and luminous skin. Consider this one of those freebie seaweed benefits, particularly vitamin A. Who wouldn't want to have noticeably healthy hair and skin?

11. The naturally occurring sodium found in several types of seaweed bathes our body with rich salty nourishment, needed by our glands to communicate with one another. It also assists in the proper functioning of our nerves and muscles. Yes, salt is healthy when taken in moderation. Eat too much, and you're in trouble, health wise, that is.