What would be a good alternative to seaweed? I was thinking given the current radiation, mercury levels etc perhaps it maybe wise to give up on the sea products altogether. And eat instead something that equals them in nutrition/properties but without harmful extras.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

It would be helpful to know what specifically about seaweed you are looking to replace.

I am looking for "something that equals seaweed in nutrition/other properties"

Thanks!

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

Ps just to clarify it does not have to be a single product of course! Perhaps several foods which together provide what seaweed is good for.

Also it's really only the health properties I'm after, not form/texture/taste.

Almost everyone agrees that seaweed is really good for health, and I would have no problem eating it but for this radiation/toxins issue. Hence Im wondering perhaps anyone else has worried about it too? and has come up with a good substitute to seaweed.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

There are a lot of seaweeds out there. Really, be specific. Are you looking for another source of iodine? What exactly?
For minerals just increase the greens in your diet.

Chat,

I hadn't heard about mercury being an issue in sea vegetables. I think the main heavy metal in sea vegetables of concern is arsenic. In general, it's present only in very trace amounts, with the exception of hijiki. If buying hijiki, certified organic should mitigate the risk.

On radiation, I know there was some concern after Fukishima. But honestly, my understanding is that alginates and other compounds in sea vegetables may help protect against radiation. [www.naturalnews.com]

I don't know. It has something to do with the ability of the compounds in the sea veggies to chelate, or bind up the radionuclides.

In terms of substitutes, agree with Coco, it would be better to know what specific constituents you are looking for (e.g. iodine, fucoidans, other). The minerals should be easy to find substitutes for. But the organic compounds may be more difficult.

Paul

Well, cilantro is supposed to be good at removing heavy metals (and chlorella, too, as I recall) so perhaps that would be a good idea. I know you are probably concerned about the radiation from Fukishima, but isn't Maine Coast dulse a safe bet? Since it's from the Atlantic side and all...

The more I read about seaweed the more I understand you guys were right and there are many different things which are good about it. My head sometimes hurts trying to fit and digest the wealth of information about raw life style, and of course as in everything the more I read the more I realise how much I still don't know!

I think I'm going to give seaweed a miss for now, except chlorella powder. Will have to research it a bit more in terms of properties, locations etc. In UK we have this Japanese Sea Vegetable Salad sold by Clearspring, and I was munching on it happily for a few days, right out of the packet without any soaking, like crisps, it was so delicious! And then I noticed on the packet it says "product of various countries", which means it can come from anywhere. And that threw me off a bit.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2012 08:48PM by chat.

chat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What would be a good alternative to seaweed? I was
> thinking given the current radiation, mercury
> levels etc perhaps it maybe wise to give up on the
> sea products altogether. And eat instead something
> that equals them in nutrition/properties but
> without harmful extras.

l wouldn't buy into alot of the stuff people say about heavy metal toxicty in sea weeds. The celluliar structure of sea vegetables is unique in that they will absorb very very little heavy metals if any at all, and experiments done off the coast of Japan (heavy sea pollution) found that the sea weeds didn't contain heavy metals in large amounts (certainly not dangerous amounts). But to add to this, scientists discovered that the unique celluliar structure of sea vegetables were excellent to remove the radiation heavy metals at Chenobal, but even better was chlorella.

lf you are getting sea weeds from the sea, the weed will have pollution coated over the surface but very little [if any] will be absorbed into the plant. So, wash your weeds.

Dr Brian talks about it here:
[www.youtube.com]

And naturally....Dr Brian, having promoted and got people onto sea vegetable foods for the past 40 years would have to know something about this topic. Obviously people aren't getting sick from his diet and heavy metals aren't turning up in blood tests they do at his institute on all his many thousands of clients on semi regular periodic bases.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2012 03:27PM by The Sproutarian Man.

You might want to look into an organically sourced seaweed, or if you're just lookin for the nutrients, there are plenty of suppliers for chlorella and spirulina out there which offer organic.

[fresherthanlife.com]

Thanks Sproutman that was interesting info!

Yep I decided to eat chlorella since it's freshwater and cultured, and I definitely buy it organic. Though i'm not entirely convinced about organic watergrown products...

For example, in UK we have organic standard for salmon (it's not EU regulated, just within the country afaik). But if you google the matter, it seems wild salmon is regarded as preferable to organically grown one, because the latter contains much more mercury and toxins, it seems being organic does not help much here.

So I was thinking, could it be the same with algae? I think the chlorella i use is Australian grown.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2012 08:34AM by chat.

I have started to take a supplement with iodine since our soil is depleted. I find the smell and taste of seaweed revolting. Esp. after years of being raw. I love fresh greens grown on land, though.

Sproutman,

Can't entirely agree. Arsenic in hijiki is a specific risk that needs to be watched for. It's a specific metal in a specific seaweed, nonetheless, it needs to be taken seriously. Losing hijiki or verifying organic hijiki are two viable strategies. Dulse flakes and dulse are great iodine sources. Wakame, and kombu are excellent. The author of Practically Raw, Amber Shea Crawley mentions the value of Irish Moss in replacing cashews in manna bread... lowering fat. So in that example, you'd be using a sea vegetable to reduce fat content from nuts and seeds. Best.

Paul