A Deeper Dive Into Seaweed

We wrote briefly about nori yesterday, when we compared it with well-known superfood spirulina. In nutritional terms, it blew spirulina out of the water:

Spirulina vs Nori – Which Is Healthier?

We also previously touched on it here:

21% Stronger Bones in a Year at 62? Yes, It’s Possible (No Calcium Supplements Needed!) ← nori was an important part of the diet enjoyed here

What is nori?

Nori is a seaweed, but that can mean lots of different things. In nori’s case, it’s an aggregate of several kinds of red algae that clump together in the sea.

When dried and/or toasted (which processes improve* the nutritional value rather than diminishing it, by the way), it looks dark green or dark purple to black in color.

*Effects of pan- and air fryer-roasting on volatile and umami compounds and antioxidant activity of dried laver (Porphyra dentata) ← this is nori, by another name

If you enjoy sushi, nori is the dark flat sheety stuff that other things are often wrapped in.

The plant that has animal nutrients

As established in the head-to-head we linked above, nori is a nutritional powerhouse. But not only is it very full of the perhaps-expected vitamins and minerals, it also contains:

Omega-3 fatty acids, including EPA, which plants do not normally have (plants usually have just ALA, which the body can convert into other forms including EPA). While ALA is versatile, having EPA in food saves the body the job of converting it, and thus makes it more readily bioavailable. For more on the benefits of this, see:

What Omega-3 Fatty Acids Really Do For Us

Iodine, which land plants don’t generally have, but seaweed usually does. However, nori contains less iodine than other kinds of seaweed, which is (counterintuitively) good, since other kinds of seaweed often contain megadoses that go too far the other way and can cause different health problems.

• Recommended daily amount of iodine: 150µg ← note that’s micrograms, not milligrams
• One 10g serving of dried nori contains: 232µg ← this is good
• Tolerable daily upper limit of iodine: 1,100µg (i.e: 1.1mg)
• One 10g serving of dried kombu (kelp) contains: 13,270µg (i.e: 13.3mg) ← this is far too much; not good!

So: a portion of nori puts us into the healthiest spot of the range, whereas a portion of another example seaweed would put us nearly 13x over the tolerable upper limit.

For why this matters, see:

• 8 Signs Of Iodine Deficiency You Might Not Expect
• Foods For Managing Hypothyroidism (incl. Hashimoto’s)
• Eat To Beat Hyperthyroidism!

As you might note from the mentions of both hypo- and hyperthyroidism, (which are exacerbated by too little and too much iodine, respectively) hitting the iodine sweet spot is important, and nori is a great way to do that.

Vitamin B12, again not usually found in plants (most vegans supplement, often with nutritional yeast, which is technically neither an animal nor a plant). However, nori scores even higher:

Vitamin B12-Containing Plant Food Sources for Vegetarians

Beyond nutrients

Nori is also one of the few foods that actually live up the principle of a “detox diet”, as it can help remove toxins such as dioxins:

Detox diets for toxin elimination and weight management: a critical review of the evidence

It’s also been…

❝revealed to have anti-aging, anti-cancer, anti-coagulant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-Alzheimer and anti-tuberculose activities.❞

~ Dr. Şükran Çakir Arica et al.

Read: A study on the rich compounds and potential benefits of algae: A review

(for this to make sense you will need to remember that nori is, as we mentioned, an aggregate of diverse red algae species; in that paper, you can scroll down to Table 1, and see which species has which qualities. Anything whose name starts with “Porphyra” or “Porphridum” is found in nori)

Is it safe?

Usually! There are two potential safety issues:

1. Seaweed can, while it’s busy absorbing valuable minerals from the sea, also absorb heavy metals if there are such pollutants in the region. For this reason, it is good to buy a product with trusted certifications, such that it will have been tested for such along the way.
2. Seaweed can, while it’s busy absorbing things plants don’t usually have from the sea, also absorb allergens from almost-equally-small crustaceans. So if you have a seafood allergy, seaweed could potentially trigger that.

Want to try some?

We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon 😎

Enjoy!