BEST IDEA THIS MONTH:

‘SEA VEGETABLES’ SOUNDS LIKE IMAGINARY FOOD – IN FACT, THE NUTRITIOUS BENEFITS OF SEAWEED ARE ALMOST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!

Seaweed is the new kale

Before you shiver at the thought of munching on a bit of algae, know that there are various types of seaweed that are widely consumed. Think sushi. People living in coastal villages and in many Asian countries also regularly incorporate seaweed into soups and salads. It can be eaten dried, fried or soaked, and ranges in colour from red and green to blackish-brown.

Called ‘the new kale’, seaweed is packed with nutrients, just like its cruciferous namesake – maybe even more so than vegetables found above water. Here are a few of its top benefits.

1 It’s high in iodine

By eating just a gram of seaweed, your daily iodine intake will be met. Seaweed granules can be added to table salt to help increase the quantity of iodine. The iodine in seaweed – especially in the browner variations of the plant – helps with your thyroid and brain health, which then stimulates your metabolism, promoting weight loss.

2 The extra fibre makes you feel full and helps you lose weight

Adding seaweed to a meal increases the amount of fibre in the food. Participants in a study who ate seaweed-augmented food felt full faster and experienced less hunger during the day than those who ate normal food. This helped them not to overeat during subsequent meals. And don’t worry, it won’t make what you’re eating taste fishy – studies also found that no difference in taste was detected when seaweed granules were used in food.

3 It’s loaded with vitamins and minerals

Seaweed is a great source of vitamins A, B, C, D and E. It’s also high in vitamin K, much like kale, and is packed with minerals such as magnesium, potassium, copper and iron. It even has more calcium than broccoli, and is as high in protein as legumes.

4 Seaweed is great for your gut

Your body needs fibre for many reasons, but mainly to help slow down digestion and move food through your gut more easily. Seaweed is high in both soluble and insoluble fibre. Soluble fibre attaches to cholesterol particles and moves them out of the body, lowering your cholesterol and therefore your risk of heart disease. Soluble fibre isn’t well absorbed by your body so it doesn’t contribute to blood sugar spikes, which can be a contributing factor for diabetes. And, of course, insoluble fibre helps prevent both constipation and diarrhoea, promoting a healthy, well-functioning gut.

5 It contains all the right fats

Healthy fats are essential for good health and, like most foods that come from the sea, seaweed contains omega-3 fatty acids: one sheet of nori seaweed (the dried sheet used in sushi) contains the same amount of omega-3 as two avocados. Apart from helping to prevent heart disease, omega-3 fatty acids help prevent agerelated mental decline, lower symptoms of anxiety and depression, and reduce the risk of cancer.