Eating seaweed for iodine anyone?

leosmith66
leosmith66 Posts: 69 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been eating seaweed daily for about a year now to try to get more natural iodine in my diet, and keep my thyroid healthy. The trouble is, not many packages actually specify how much iodine is in it. In fact iodine seems to be a bit of a mystery, because very few products list it, and even this site (last time I checked) doesn't include it.

Questions: Do you eat seaweed? What kind? Do you know how much iodine it has in it?

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I do eat seaweed fairly regularly (nori, dulse, and kelp), but I'm not sure how much iodine it has in it. I take an iodine supplement -- made from kelp -- a few times a week to ensure I'm getting sufficient iodine. It does have an amount listed on it.
  • ClubSilencio
    ClubSilencio Posts: 2,983 Member
    Do you enjoy seaweed as a snack? Because if you're just eating it for the iodine then you could use dulse instead, which does list the iodine value. (Maine Coast brand)

    It's sold in long, ropey pieces or small granules. Good in soups and smoothies.



  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    I take a supplement called Source Micromax for the micronutrients. This is a blend of kelp and seaweeds. It does give some information on content for Iodine which is probably what you would find in most seaweeds. 100-199 ppm.

    http://www.4source.com/technical/additional_technical_information.shtml
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    ClubSilencio wrote: »
    Do you enjoy seaweed as a snack? Because if you're just eating it for the iodine then you could use dulse instead, which does list the iodine value. (Maine Coast brand)

    It's sold in long, ropey pieces or small granules. Good in soups and smoothies.



    Dulse is a seaweed, LOL.

    I do like seaweed, hijiki and nori in particular, but most of them are good. Except wakame (unless al dente, it turns into slime if overdone) and kombu, gawd it stinks when you cook it. The ex used to dredge boiled kombu strips in flour and fry it, it was good like that, but most of the time yuck.

    Dulse is yummy too, that's an american seaweed, it's very very salty. If you bake it you can use it kinda like bacon on a sandwich.

    Anyway, yes I like seaweed.
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    What about iodized sea salt?
    I love seaweed salad but I have iodized sea salt everyday.
  • littlechiaseed
    littlechiaseed Posts: 489 Member
    I eat it but it doesn't say.
  • leosmith66
    leosmith66 Posts: 69 Member
    Yeah, I eat dulse and kombu (kelp). I'm not a big fan of dulse, but I love kombu. I ate a lot of wakame on my recent trip to asia. I think I'll replace the dulse with that next time I run out.

    I use iodized salt too, but I don't eat tons of it, and it really doesn't have much iodine. For that matter, supplements don't either, not that I take any. The average Japanese diet has much more (10X ?) iodine in it than the SAD, and they have much less thyroid problems.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    edited October 2016
    "One gram of brown seaweed contains roughly five to 50 times the recommended daily intake, while red and green varieties provide slightly less (the exact iodine content depends on the water in which it’s grown)"

    Apparently seaweed can also contain a unhealthy dose of arsenic if it's from polluted water ...

    Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/superfood-seaweed-health-benefits_n_3786076.html

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