Seaweed, Sea Vegetable 海带，海里生长的蔬菜

Seaweed, or sea vegetable has been always part of traditional Chinese diet, and other Asian diets. It is often overlooked in western diet, but has gained more and more reputation recent years because of its nutritional benefits. Seaweed is a good source of daily iodine need of our body, which is hard to come by in other foods. Seaweed is also high in calcium and protein. In my opinion, it’s a good alternative of milk, and natural way to intake calcium than a calcium pill. Sea vegetable also contains a good amount of vitamins B12 and A. It is also a great source of fiber, mostly soluble fiber, which will turn into a gel, and slow down the digestive process, thus inhibit the absorption of sugars and cholesterol. Seaweed is really a hidden treasure in vegetables.

Since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, there is a concern about the safety of seaweed from eastern Asian. We also has the same doubt, and has looked for other sources of sea vegetable, and came across Ironbound Island Seaweed company, which sells Atlantic seaweed. We have ordered a variety of seaweed: wakame, kombu, kelp, nori, and dulse from them. The quality is good, but the prices has been increasing.

海带一直在我们传统饮食里占有一席之地。由于富含碘，钙，蛋白质，海带在西方饮食里也越来越受到重视。海带还可以提供维生素B12和A， 还有可溶性纤维，可以有效减缓消化过程，阻止糖和胆固醇的吸收。担心日本核电站泄漏对海产品包括海带的不良影响的朋友们，可以选择大西洋产的。我们从Ironbound Island Seaweed 这个网站买过多次各种海带，质量都不错，但是价格增长了许多。有兴趣的亲们，可以去看看。