Sea Vegetables - Kombu

Western cultures are only recently beginning to enjoy the taste and nutritional value of sea vegetables, often referred to as seaweed, that have been a staple of the Japanese diet for centuries. Numerous various varieties of sea vegetables can be found in health food and specialty stores throughout the year. Owing to their rise in popularity, they are also becoming much easier to find in local supermarkets as well.
Sea vegetables can be found growing both in the marine salt waters as well as in fresh water lakes and seas. They commonly grow on coral reefs or in rocky landscapes, and can grow at great depths provided that sunlight can penetrate through the water to where they reside since, like plants, they need light for their survival. Sea vegetables are neither plants nor animals but classified in a group known as algae.

Sea Vegetables offer the broadest range of minerals of any food, containing virtually all the minerals found in the ocean-the same minerals that are found in human blood. Sea vegetables are an excellent source of iodine and vitamin K, a very good source of the B-vitamin folate, and magnesium, and a good source of iron and calcium, and the B-vitamins riboflavin and pantothenic acid. In addition, sea vegetables contain good amounts of lignans, plant compounds with cancer-protective properties.  Kombu is a very good source of the B-vitamin folic acid. Studies have shown that diets high in folate-rich foods are associated with a significantly reduced risk for colon cancer.
In Japan, kombu is used to make over 300 products, including condiments and teas.
kombu is used to make dashi, a basic Japanese soup stock, and to flavor rice and stews. Usually sold dried, in strips, or sheets, it is dark green, almost black in color. Kombu is often called “natural MSG,” and is used as a flavor enhancer and food tenderizer. It is also used medicinally, especially in Japan and China.

Healthy Thyroid Function

Sea vegetables, are nature's richest sources of iodine, which as a component of the thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine, is essential to human life. The thyroid gland adds iodine to the amino acid tyrosine to create these hormones. Without sufficient iodine, your body cannot synthesize them. Because these thyroid hormones regulate metabolism in every cell of the body and play a role in virtually all physiological functions, an iodine deficiency can have a devastating impact on your health and well-being.

 




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