Seaweed is popular in Asian cuisine, especially Japanese cuisine. It's widespread usage in Japanese meals may account for the Japanese people's long lifespans and good skin.
You must be wondering how that frumpy thin piece of weed-like substance is so good. Seaweed grows in the ocean, where it picks up a range of minerals and other nutrients. It is non-complex, making it easy for the body to break down and release the minerals and nutrients inside. Seaweed also has no fat or other unhealthy component. It is usually prepared without any oils.
How eating seaweed benefits you!
- Seaweed can help control your appetite– Seaweed is low in fat but packed with soluble fibre, which helps control blood sugar levels and keeps your bowels moving. The fibre can help you feel full on very few calories.
- It's chock-full of vitamins and minerals – Seaweed is a great source of vitamins A, C, E, K and B vitamins. It's also rich in minerals, including iodine, selenium, calcium and iron.
- Lowers cholesterol – Seaweed helps block fat absorption so it increases weight loss.
- Better skin – Seaweed contains methionine and cysteine-rich in algae so it can prevent skin drying, often fresh or dry skin rich luster and oily skin may improve oil secretion.
- Increases immunity against some types of illnesses – The protein extract of seaweed polysaccharides boost immunity against various viruses.
The optimal diet focuses on a variety of fruits and vegetables. Since seaweed grows in the ocean, it contains certain vitamins and minerals that aren’t even available in land-grown vegetables. This extra variety makes seaweed a good food to mix into your diet.
It's very easy to mix seaweed into your diet! You can simply sprinkle dried seaweed flakes to your food, or roll your rice and ingredients into dried seaweed wrappers. You can find pack of these wrappers, which are called “nori”, in most supermarkets like Cold Storage, NTUC Fair Price, Isetan Market and Cheers. You can also add dried seaweed to soup. Soggy seaweed tastes just as nice as a crisp sheet of seaweed!
If you feel like snacking, seaweed is a great substitute for chips. Dried seaweed is crispy, and it is sometimes flavoured with chilli flakes and other flavourful substances for a greater variety of tastes. Do watch the salt content of such flavoured seaweed though!
Adding sesame seeds to a bowl of dried seaweed strips makes a delicious and healthy snack too!
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