Seeking Saltwater- Seaweed Week
Now, I can’t speak for anyone else but one of my surfing pet peeves is getting tangled in seaweed. Especially when I wipe out. The sensation of its slippery stipe and the weight of it wrapped around my ankles…well it just irks me!
Fortunately, seaweed contributes so much more to the world than a selection of sour-faced surfers.
Love it or loathe it, the scent of seaweed is intimately intertwined with our associations of the sea. Whether you approach from the gravel of a car park, the sways of grassland or the dust of sandy dunes, the smell of seaweed will always be waiting you.
Acting as a source of food, shelter and protection for an abundance of marine life, the virtues of seaweed can seem limitless. Not only is it an integral part of the ocean’s ecosystem, seaweed also has a lot to offer humans.
Rich in iron, calcium, vitamin D and iodine, seaweed is a nutritious and readily available human food. In fact, the name for seaweed actually translates as sea vegetable in other cultures. With a huge range of pleasantly sweet and edible varieties, consumption of seaweed is particularly popular in Japan and other parts of Asia. And acting as the source of a fantastic gut healing prebiotic to boot, it’s not surprising that seaweed is increasingly being referred to as a superfood!
So, the next time you find yourself in a fight with a frond, try to take a deep breath and remember how amazing our favourite sea vegetable really is! Without it, the ocean wouldn’t be the place we know and love.