Adding Seaweed to your Diet for Fibro

I think I could handle Wakame... thank you, SulaBlue. And putting it in salad sounds like a great idea, too. Not sure how I'd feel about kale chips, but since I haven't tried them, I wouldn't know for sure. For something like that, I'd assume that homemade would be much better than processed. Is that a fair assumption?

I haven't tried the 'in a bag' kale chips, but really they're so simple to make that there's no point in paying a huge price for them.

Take 1 bunch of kale, organic if possible and remove the thick ribs. Tear the remainder of the leaves into medium-sized chunks. I quartered the larger leaves, halved the smaller. Mix with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4th teaspoon of sea salt (and/or other spices if you're feeling adventurous!). Spread kale out on a large baking sheet, but don't let it bunch up and overlap. Bake at 400 on a rack in the upper half of the oven for about 8-12 minutes, until the leaves are fully dehydrated and crisp. Be careful not to burn! Lining your baking sheet with parchment or a silpat will help getting them off as they can be very delicate once crisp. I found them to be quite tasty - enough so that it was hard not to eat the entire batch in one sitting. I will admit it only makes about enough to fill a quart-sized ziplock bag. The kale really shrinks when you take the water out.

Wakame is excellent stir-fried with some shrimp marinated in soy sauce and honey. I add a pinch of chili flakes for an extra kick. It goes well with grilled or pan-fried salmon as well.

Oooh, that sounds like an excellent way to get Wakame in the diet! Anything with shrimp and honey *has* to taste great! I'm not sure I'd try it with your "extra kick" the first time (I'm a big chicken!) but maybe. My biggest challenge would be finding where to buy it... I'm rather sure my regular grocery store wouldn't have it... it took them forever to carry anything in that section besides tofu products.

I bought mine at a little corner International Grocery. If you go to maps dot google dot com and put in "oriental grocery loc: Harrisburg, PA" you'll get about a half dozen Asian markets in the Harrisburg area.

I used to take kelp pills, and that helped a lot with the iodine supplement. I think that having a little seaweed in my diet would be a good thing, but I have no idea where to find it at. Where does everyone get their seaweed at ? Do some grocery stores carry it, or do I get it online, or at a health food store ?

Happyflowerlady said:

I used to take kelp pills, and that helped a lot with the iodine supplement. I think that having a little seaweed in my diet would be a good thing, but I have no idea where to find it at. Where does everyone get their seaweed at ? Do some grocery stores carry it, or do I get it online, or at a health food store ?

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I hope someone will be able to answer this for you... but in the meantime I'll say that when I think of seaweed, I think of the sheets of it that are used to make sushi. (Yum!) I'm sure that it comes in additional forms than that, though.

Maybe that would be the best kind to add to salad, now that I'm thinking of it, but I'm not sure if there are different degrees of "pureness" like some other health foods have. If the sheets are not 100% and other forms are, it would make a difference in my decision.

Thank you for sharing this article about the benefits of seaweed. It's easy and cheap to try! I've had dry seaweed wrapped around Jasmine rice and it's pretty good. That would make for a quick and easy way to prepare it.

As with all alternative methods it is best to check with your doctor before using. I do not have a thyroid condition, however, I am very allergic to iodine. Thus I have to avoid all seafood and seaweeds, that contains iodine, as well as, plants like kale. However, for someone who has no such health issues I would say using it in cooking or eating it from dried packs would be a good idea. Seaweed and kale, are high in other minerals and vitamins, and would provide a natural way of adding them in your diet.

Just remember to add it in small amounts until you know how your body is going to react to eating it.

I used to take kelp tablets. I haven't done that for a long time, and I don't know if they even sell them any more. Kelp was supposed to be one of the best kinds of seaweed to take, and I remember I even bought a bag of it for my horses and goats as a supplement.
If it is helpful, I guess I need to see if I can find the tablets online again. I just shop at a little local grocery, so they don't have any of that special food like you can find in a large supermarket with a delicatessen.