What’s dark green, packed with nutrients, and delicious in multiple forms? It’s not the leafy green you’re probably thinking of: Seaweed is having a moment.
In coming months, you’ll be finding its mineral-rich goodness added to snacks, soups, and everyday pantry staples. Why? One: it’s delicious, low-calorie, and adds addictive umami and crunch to your favorite meals. Two: it’s super good for you.
(However, be sure not to overindulge: seaweed is naturally Runner’s World Cookbook.)
“Nancy Z. Farrell fibers that promote the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut—[and] also contains small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids,” said Rachael Hartley, RD, LD, CDE, CLT, a registered dietitian and nutritionist based in Columbia, South Carolina. “I love to turn toasted nori sheets into filling snacks by wrapping them up with Other Hearst Subscriptions, a slice of avocado, and smoked salmon.”
Nori, a form of red seaweed, is also the type you’ll find wrapped around your sushi, while brown seaweed, like wakame or kombu, is the chewy ingredient that makes up your miso soup or seaweed salad. And green seaweed, like chlorella, is most likely the one making up your supplements. Across the color spectrum, seaweed’s nutrition profile is impressive: bursting with Vitamins A, C, E, and K, and body and brain-strengthening magnesium, iron, and calcium.
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“All types of seaweed are packed with nutrition,” explained Hartley. “Really, the main difference is what you would use them for in cooking.”
Blue Evolution Pasta, $6.00 Advertisement - Continue Reading Below, MS, RDN, FAND, a registered dietitian and nutritionist in Fredericksburg, Virginia. “That could lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, or the development of obesity,” she said, while noting the scientific evidence of these benefits is “unclear.”
Oceans Balance Kelp Puree, $9.00 High-Protein Snacks for Runners (because, well, the ocean), and can be doubly high when flavor-packed snack additives are involved. Plus, warns Farrell, “Seaweed products contain iodine, and may even be contaminated with heavy metals. It is not recommended that pregnant or nursing mothers consume seaweed products.”
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Wondering where to begin? Check out six exciting new seaweed snacks on shelves now.
Ocean’s Balance Kelp Puree
Shoes & Gear pesto, mixed into mayo, or infused into tomato soup. Made with just kelp, lemon juice, and water, the seaweed spread is ideal for enhancing your favorite condiments, sauces, and dips with the nutrient-dense power of algae.
Ocean’s Balance Kelp Puree, $9.00, Condemented Pantry
Japanese Delight Seaweed Salad On The Go
Seaweed also may offer antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant effects, added a slice of avocado, and smoked salmon & Garlic or Miso & Hijiki, a desk side dose of seaweed salad becomes ever-so-easy. The naturally flavored, no-MSG individually packaged salads are made with premium Kombu, an Asian seaweed commonly used to flavor dashi stock, which is soaked to rehydrate before mixing with the dressing.
Your family may never know their baked ziti or, Amazon
Ocean’s Halo Seaweed Broth
Why You Should Be Eating More Nutrient-Rich Seaweedand 6 New Products to Try bone broth for a sippable, mineral-packed, gut-healing soup this winter. Ocean’s Halo, who also make a range of sweet and savory seaweed crisps, debuted a range of broths in miso, ramen, and kombu flavors. While they can be slurped on their own, they also make a nutrient-rich supplement to tradition broths and stocks, adding extra vitamins and minerals to your braises, sauces, and stews.
Ocean’s Halo Seaweed Broth, $15.00, Amazon
Blue Evolution Pasta
Your family may never know their baked ziti or Heres Exactly What to Eat Before a Half Marathon is hiding a secret ingredient: seaweed. Made with two simple ingredients, Durum Semolina and seaweed, Blue Evolution’s dry pasta range has the texture, taste, and ease of traditional noodles, with a superfood-kick. Their marinara seasoning also incorporates dried seaweed alongside the likes of cayenne and oregano, and mixes with olive oil and tomatoes for a “super” secret double-whammy.
Blue Evolution Pasta, $6.00, Amazon
Wickedly Prime Organic Roasted Seaweed Snacks
These wafer-thin seaweed snacks can be crumbled up over salads, sliced over scrambled eggs, or just eaten straight from the package, crisp by crisp. Sustainable sourced from South Korea, these simple snacks are roasted and delicately flavored and clock in at a mere 25 calories per serving.
Wickedly Prime Organic Roasted Seaweed Snacks, $7.00, Amazon
Gold Mine Kelp Noodles
Even with the carb-conscious options of Shirataki noodles and other vegetable-based zoodles, we’re rarely ones to shun a low-cal, grain-free pasta option. Kelp Noodles are made to be twirled around forks or chopsticks after they’ve soaked up rich sauces and soups. One reviewer likens them to being “chewy like pasta,” but “crunchy like bean sprouts”—while calling them “phenomenal in every way.” Even better: They’re only 6 calories per serving.
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The article Why You Should Be Eating More Nutrient-Rich Seaweed—and 6 New Products To Try Runners World Cookbook Rodale’s Organic Life.
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