Seaweed is a generic term for sea vegetables that include laver and agar. According to “Prevention" magazine’s Nutrition Advisor, kelp is the most common of all the vegetable products referred to as seaweed. Kelp and the other seaweeds are a more efficient source for getting iodine into your diet than any other food source. Other nutritional properties found in seaweed have the potential to reduce the possibility of blood clots, prevent neural tube defects and soothe digestive problems.
Most Nutritious Seaweed
A comparison of 3.5 grams of kelp, laver and agar at healthaliciousness.com reveals that kelp is the most nutrient-rich of the seaweeds. If you really want to get nutritional value from seaweed, go with kelp, and that 3.5 grams will provide you with just 43 calories packed with 83 percent of your daily recommended intake of vitamin K, 45 percent of the recommended intake of folate and 30 percent of your recommended intake of magnesium.
Iodine
Goodnutritioncenter.com points out that kelp’s most prevalent mineral is iodine. According to the USDA nutrition label, just one fourth of a cup of kelp contains 415 micrograms of iodine, or 276 percent of the recommended daily intake. Iodine is necessary for synthesizing hormones used by the thyroid in the process of metabolism. The high iodine concentration of kelp can therefore stabilize hormone production and prevent deficiencies.
Sodium
The biggest negative nutritional property associated with seaweed is probably its high sodium content, according to “Foods that Harm, Foods that Heal.” You will consume 10 percent of your daily recommended intake of sodium when you eat the 233 mg found in just 3.5 ounces of kelp. Anyone who on a low-sodium diet or who suffers from heart problems should consult his physician before adding seaweed to the list of foods he eats.
Vitamin K
That 83 percent of vitamin K in kelp is delivered through 66 international units per 3.5-gram serving. According to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, the benefits of vitamin K range from preventing blood clots to playing a role in the metabolic system of bone growth and development.
Folate
The 180 international units of folate in a 3.5-ounce serving of seaweed is almost half of the recommended daily intake of this vitamin. The NIH recommends folate for pregnant women as a method for reducing the potential of neural tube defects in fetuses.
Magnesium
Magnesium’s benefits include its function as a laxative when large doses are consumed and acting as an antacid when small doses are consumed, according to “Minerals, Supplements and Vitamins.” You can get 30 percent of your daily recommended intake of magnesium in the 121 mg found in a 3.5-ounce serving of kelp seaweed.
References
- Healthaliciousness.com: Nutritional Value of Seaweed
- Goodnutritioncenter.com: Does Kelp Really Help?
- "Prevention" Magazine's Nutrition Advisor: Mark Bricklin; 1993
- "Foods that Harm, Foods that Heal"; Theresa Lane (editor); 1996
- National Institutes of Health: Benefits of Vitamins
- "Minerals, Supplements and Vitamins"; H. Winter Griffith; 2000
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