Seaweed Nutrition and Uses

Seaweed Nutrition and Uses

Seaweed contains high levels of iodine relative to other foods. In the Philippines, Tiwi, Albay residents discovered a new pancit or noodles made from seaweed, which can be cooked into pancit canton, pancit luglug, spaghetti or carbonara and is claimed to have health benefits such as being rich in calcium, magnesium and iodine.
Polysaccharides in seaweed may be metabolized in humans through the action of bacterial gut enzymes. Research has failed to find such enzymes in North-American population, while being frequent in Japanese population.
In some parts of Asia, nori 海苔 (in Japan), zicai 紫菜 (in China), and gim 김 (in Korea), sheets of the dried red alga Porphyra are used in soups or to wrap sushi or onigiri. Chondrus crispus (commonly known as Irish moss) is another red alga used in producing various food additives, along with Kappaphycus and various gigartinoid seaweeds.
Japan consumes seven types of seaweed identified by name, and the general term for seaweed is used primarily for science and not in menus.