My friend, a nanny, recounted a story for me the other day. She took her charges (two boys 5 and 2) to the grocery store for a snack and they stopped in front of the frozen aisle and said “Seeeweeed, we want the seeeeeweeeed.” She stopped, confused, knowing that the snack pack of Sea’s Gift seaweed on the head of the aisle was a favorite of mine, hers, and other adults, but were these kids, at the edge of the ice cream aisle crying out for seaweed, truly?? Indeed, they were. They like many other kids from ages 3 to 16 are discovering seaweed – not just at the sushi bar – but in a convenient little snack pack and clamoring for it in place of other favorite snacks. I recently helped a mother send 2 cases of it to her daughter at camp because her friends were eating the ones she brought for herself as a potato chip alternative.
Lightly sweetened or salted, Sea’s Gift (soon launching in larger packs to satisfy the growing demand) delights the tastes of my clients on the sets of movies and TV shows (HBO’s Big Love is the latest). I’ve recommended it for travel packs, school snacks, as well as for the house (I like to top my salads with it or I crinkle it on top of my cultured vegetables for a nutrition / digestion powerhouse snack (www.healingmovements.net).
Seaweed, a staple of longevity diets such as the Okinawans, offers an array of nutrients that makes it top the list of many healthiest foods lists. It’s rich in iodine (critical for thyroid hormones), vitamin K (bone health), and very good sources of folate (heart health, fetus brain development), magnesium (motility, relaxation, bone health), as well as providing other B vitamins, calcium, and iron. Seaweed also contains lignans which plays a role in appropriate estrogen metabolism and cancer prevention.
There are many types of seaweed, and I recommend adding them daily to soup, stir fry, and salad, but if you are a little shy of the taste, starting out with Sea’s Gift as a snack is a delicious, nutritious and easy way to get some of the sea’s nutrients into your day.