Quite simply, because it’s within our values to support the health of our community.
Benefit to our Community
Many people in the seafaring businesses are wondering what their livelihoods may look like as climate change continues. We are not sure what to expect from lobster, fish, and water temperatures, leaving many people with their assets completely invested in life on the water at risk of financial burden, as well as unreasonable working hours to make money. Over time, the sustainability of fishing and lobstering is a concern to many—these concerns at times even cause people to abandon the business of sea-based agriculture entirely.
Seaweeds stand as an incredible growing hope, symbolizing a sustainable relationship with the ocean, with well-established practices around harvesting to ensure the longevity of this important part of our ecosystem and important food source. Seaweed harvesting practices reflect the very best approach of a relationship to the Earth: harvesting mostly by hand, leaving most behind, saying thank you, and respecting its role in the environment. This industry is getting young people into a career that is sustainable in the long term—with no fear of slowing or needing to increase prices due to supply—and also keeping those people in our community long-term.
Benefit to our Bodies
Sarah and I have dug into many of the specifics of the medicinal benefits of seaweeds in the blog so far, but what unites all of them? Why are seaweeds relevant to our lives? There are so many things they can do for us, so I’ll focus on the common concerns I see in our community. For further reading, check out our other articles on the blog about seaweeds, as well as the informational articles linked below.
Over and over again, I hear so many people coming in asking questions about chronic inflammation, heart health concerns, chronic fatigue, hormonal health concerns, and chronic digestive concerns. What these issues all have in common is the rising trend of ultra-processed foods with an imbalance of nutrients, and a rising trend of chronic stress in our times.
Seaweeds are rich in minerals like magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, and more, and vitamins, and provide the opposite of what the “standard American diet” represents: overconsumption with undernourishment. Many people may eat 3 meals a day but the total fiber, mineral, amino acid, and vitamin intake doesn’t represent the full potential of what 3 meals could offer us, even if we may feel full at the end of the day. Over time, many people wind up feeling exhausted and have a hard time building up vitamin and mineral levels in the tissues (especially when facing chronic stress, which depletes many nutrients even faster).
Chronic stress in the body depletes magnesium, as we require more magnesium when processing high-stress hormones. Lower magnesium levels cause additional muscle tension, depleted liver function, difficulty building iron, potential for depleted thyroid function, greater sensitivity to pain, and difficulty producing strong stomach secretions (as one of the main ingredients in our stomach acid is in fact magnesium). This comes back around to yet another way chronic stress damages our digestion and causes inflammation in the body. It is all connected. After a long time, chronic stress often contributes to hormonal and even thyroid concerns, and in many people, iodine deficiency is clear—especially in low thyroid conditions. I think our thyroids are often neglected until we are testing positive for something. Why wait to nourish them, especially if we already know we are facing high stress? Seaweeds offer one of our best mineral-rich options to ensure that we can expect more magnesium, iodine, and more from our food, balanced with all the other minerals needed for our body to utilize them.
During a stressful week, especially if I know my moon is coming, I make sure to eat seaweed daily or at least every other day. I have no concerns for hyperthyroidism, so it is completely safe for me to eat lots of seaweed. I often feel very tired late in the month, I get vague cravings that cannot be satisfied, I feel increased anxiety, difficulty sleeping, etc. I talk to so many people about this as well; why don’t we talk about it more in the open? To me, it is as important as speaking about the commonalities of headaches. The biggest connecting point for all of these people I talk to and what helps all of us? Minerals. When I have even one Kelp Krunch bar on a day I am feeling vaguely hormonal, exhausted, etc., it changes my day around and I feel like my body is getting back the fuel it’s been using by being stressed and processing progesterone. Seaweeds have been the most convenient, fast-acting food and medicine for me during this time. That has been huge! So many cultures ensure that people who are menstruating, people who have just given birth, people going through menopause, anyone who needs extra nourishment, receive ample seaweeds. Let’s start doing that for ourselves! Ample iodine levels also help to ensure breast tissue is less susceptible to xenoestrogens from our environment, which is especially important for people with a history of breast cancers.
Not only that, but seaweeds offer support for the repair work needed after years or even a lifetime of chronic stress—demulcent action on the gut lining, soluble fiber and incredible antioxidants to support lowering cholesterol, unique prebiotics and other polysaccharides that are experts and balancing the microbiome and excess yeasts, total polysaccharide content assisting in blood sugar regulation, incredible iodine content to support the thyroid and breast tissue, and powerful anti-inflammatory actions, just to name a few. Seaweeds can be consumed regularly to lower inflammatory levels in the gut and throughout the body, but when used as wraps, seaweeds like kelp can be applied around joints, lower back, neck, etc. for tension and to speed healing of sprains and strains. For thousands of years across the globe, we have made sure people who need restoration, people who are convalescing, people who are sick or in pain, and people who are undernourished receive ample amounts of seaweed for their health. When we are having a hard time, can we start giving ourselves seaweed and see what happens? We need to begin to look at chronic stress as a state of under nourishment due to the toll it takes on the body.
Another tip:
For acute or chronic inflammatory skin concerns, such as eczema and dandruff or even a rash from a poison plant or moth, seaweeds (especially Irish Moss) can be applied as a gel to cool inflammation with incredible demulcent quality and constituents such as zinc and niacinamide, which are well-known to reduce redness and irritation. I am very prone to redness and irritation, so I love to reach for those active ingredients. When I realized Irish Moss contained them along with its soothing magnesium and more, that’s when it clicked why it works so well for my skin! Though, as Maine Coast Sea Vegetables reminds us, seaweeds are more than a sum of their parts. I find Irish Moss gel works much better for my skin and scalp than anything with isolated zinc or niacinamide because of the full complex of constituents and juicy, silky demulcent properties.
Going into bite and rash season, try some cooling Irish Moss Gel and you’ll fall in love with it, too. With any extra, give yourself a scalp and face mask for glowing skin and hair.
For more reading:
An Overview to the Health Benefits of Seaweeds Consumption
Commonwealth Holistic Herbalism Articles on Seaweed
From last year:
