Many of us, at one time or another, have been told by our parents to go out into the garden and pull weeds. This thankless, time-consuming task usually ended at sundown and left you with splinters in your hands, a sore back, and a burning resentment for anything green.
Seaweed might just make some progress towards reconciling those who relate to this anecdote with the bane of their childhood weekends. In an ironic twist, while numerous sunny hours were spent attempting to keep your family garden from being overrun with unwanted vegetation, the “human consumption of whole and processed seaweeds from a wide range of genera enjoys continuous record over millennia...” (Mouritsen et al, 2013: 1777) While it is not technically a weed at all, independent studies conducted at the Universities of Kyoto and McGill found that seaweed is high nutrients but low in calories, possesses properties that may help in detoxing your body, may help regulate hormones (Kirsch, 2006); and potentially may even be a bit of an aphrodisiac.
Our local partner, Mara Seaweed, from just down the street in Edinburgh, have hand-crafted their own lines of seaweed flakes that are meant to provide a healthy boost to any dish-while never sacrificing the standards of quality and ethical practices that have been the foundation of Mara Seaweed since Fiona and Xa started the company.
They recommend using their lines of seaweed flakes as a general garnish or addition to smoothies, greens, or really anything that you can eat or drink. The flakes are already dried and ground-all you have to do is pop them into your dish or drink and enjoy a moment of ‘flaking out’!
Why not pop into Real Foods for the in-store tasting with the lovely people from Mara in February, 2015; and be sure to go to Mara’s website and give them loads of love and support!
Mara Seaweed's range includes Shony (pictured left), Kombu and Dulse.
Find out more about the Real Foods’ stock of Mara Seaweed here.
Sources:
Kirsch, Michelle. Seven reasons to eat seaweed. The Guardian, 15 April 2006. Accessed 5February 2015.
Mouritsen et al. 2013. “On the human consumption of the red seaweed dulse (Palmaria palmata (L.) Weber & Mohr).” Journal of Applied Phycology 25.6: 1777-1791.