Brendan’s Atlantic Seaweed Blog
Welcome to my seaweed blog. If you are not already all that familiar with seaweed or algae (also called sea vegetables when referring to edible seaweed) then I hope to share some humble knowledge with you about seaweed, particularly seaweed which is harvested from the sea along the Irish coast. Firstly I’d like to present some background information and facts followed by some recipes for incorporating seaweed into your diet.
Growing up in Ireland just a few kilometres from the coast I was familiar with edible seaweeds, particularly dulse (locally referred to as dillisk in the west of Ireland) and carrageen moss. Having lived in Poland for most of my adult life I hadn’t given much thought to such things, but with the general trend towards more health-conscious living and eating in Poland and elsewhere over the past number of years I’ve decided that I’d like to contribute to that by sharing some secrets from the seaweed world.
I will be exploring the various applications of Atlantic seaweed (or sea vegetables) in this blog such as cooking with seaweed and some interesting recipes, healthcare and skincare with seaweed, and the use of seaweed or seaweed extracts as a fertilizer for your garden lawn and plants.
What exactly is seaweed?
Briefly speaking, seaweeds are marine algae. There are three main groups of seaweed species and they can be divided according to colour: green algae, brown algae and red algae. However this division is rather simplistic as the algae have various different compositions and properties. I will go into more detail on different seaweed plants later on.
Seaweed harvesting and tradition
Seaweed has been harvested from Atlantic seas for hundreds of years from the Norwegian coast to Portugal. Apparently, monks on the island of Iona (off Scotland) used seaweed as a food source and seaweed was also used to fertilise the land. However, these days there is growing awareness of the nutritional and health values of this special resource.
In Ireland, anyone is free to collect seaweed along the shore for their own use but for commercial harvesting a special state issued license is required. There are a small number of businesses involved in the harvesting of seaweed, including some with organic producer certification. The harvesting process is labour intensive and harvesting is still done by hand.
This is great news for those who are concerned with the impact on the environment and for those who wish to purchase natural products. The seaweed is usually dried before further processing and packaging takes place.
Benefits of using seaweed
There are many benefits to using seaweed plants and extracts. Seaweed contains an abundance of trace elements, minerals, nutrients, fibre and vitamins. Our bodies need trace elements in very small amounts and can readily absorb the right amount of organically occurring trace elements from seaweed if we supplement our diet with a small amount of seaweed. In this way we can reduce or avoid the need for supplements in inorganic or chemical form. Trace element deficiencies even in an otherwise nutritious diet can lead to health problems such as delayed wound healing or hypothyroidism.
There are claims that regular consumption of small amounts of seaweed can reduce cancer risk and diabetes type 2 sufferers may also benefit from this supplement (particularly the wakame variety) however research on these matters is still ongoing and not yet proven. For skin, seaweed is used as a toxin remover and acne mitigator.
Seaweed is an excellent fertiliser and can be used to give garden and home plants and seeds a real boost. It can also improve the quality of certain soils and lawns. Seaweed fertiliser is used in agriculture and horticulture where it can improve crops’ and plants’ resistance to pests as well as improve overall health and harvest size.
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