I found a palm sized piece of kelp washed up on the beach here where it is seldom seen. It juiced up fine with my usual carrot/coconut etc. concoction, but I know what you mean about the oddness of seaweed. I wonder how sea cows (recently hunted to extinction) of the northern Pacific used to live on kelp. I'll bet they were cud chewers...

Regarding hijiki I always liked the Eden Foods write-up --

"In October 2001 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued a Fact Sheet stating that Hijiki, also known as Hiziki, a brown sea vegetable contained inorganic arsenic that exceeded tolerable daily intake levels. No test results or methods of analysis were given. However, they did state, "Although no known illnesses have been associated with consuming hijiki seaweed to date, inorganic arsenic is suspected of causing cancer in humans and exposure to high levels of inorganic arsenic has been linked with gastrointestinal effects, anemia and liver damage." As a result of the CFIA warning, three years later on July 28, 2004, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Britain issued a warning advising people not to eat hijiki because of the high level of inorganic arsenic that it contains. The level of inorganic arsenic was not a result of pollution, but appears to be more dependent on the species concerned..."

[www.edenfoods.com]

These reports on iodine and arsenic in seaweed tell me it's best to have some "how to" knowledge when adding new foods to my diet. The Japanese are advised to limit hijiki to once a week. It would be prepared in the traditional way, by soaking, discarding the soak water and possibly preboiled.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2010 10:48AM by loeve.

suncloud Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My understanding is that there's "organic" iodine
> and "inorganic" iodine - not in the sense of
> "organic" as we know it, but in the sense that
> "inorganic iodine" is a heavy metal pollutant.
>
> Exposure to the less toxic "organic" form of
> arsenic hasn't been associated with adverse health
> consequences.
>
> If the seaweed has been tested for heavy metals,
> it should be OK. Health agencies of Canada, the
> UK, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia have all
> issued advisories for consumers to avoid hijiki.
> Tests in 2005 on hijiki and
> other species of seaweeds, including tests on
> internet products, found inorganic arsenic only in
> the hijiki. The other seaweeds had less than the
> detectable limit.
>
>
Right! It's like organic sodium and fluorine versus fluordide. Actually, a few stalks of celery will LOWER your blood pressure, while table salt will raise it!