Iodine - the seaweed experiments
When researching following a vegan or a vegetarian diet I found that iodine was a common mineral you might need to consider taking a supplement for. But what is iodine and where would you get it as a meat eater?
Well, iodine is used for healthy thyroid function and helps control your metabolism and most people get it from cow’s milk or fish. I’ve always been allergic to cow’s milk and I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten enough fish every week. Suddenly I’m wondering if the reason I always struggle to diet and lose weight is the fact I don’t have enough iodine (as it can’t be the vast amount of chips and pasta I eat on a daily basis). So I wanted to find out how to get iodine if you don’t eat fish or drink milk.
The other food source we can get iodine from is seaweed. Our bodies don’t absorb it as much or as well as we do from milk and fish but we still get some iodine from seaweed. I headed to my nearest Chinese supermarket to pick up a few different seaweeds to try.
1.Seasoned seaweed
This was the tastiest of the three I tried. It was salty snack that’s lower in calories than crisps. However, the amount of salt on the seaweed and the fact it’s fried, makes me think it might not be a long term solution because it would be too unhealthy.
2.Seaweed strips
These were not quite as nice as the seasoned seaweed, but they didn’t taste bad at all. They also satisfy the unhealthy salty food cravings I get. The package claims that because it’s fried with olive oil it’s healthier for you. I noticed I ate less of his type in one sitting so if I was going to eat seaweed daily this would be my number one choice.
3.Dried kelp
This black dried seaweed does not look the most appetising, or smell it but it didn’t taste awful. You have to thoroughly wash it before cooking and then chop it up and add it to soups or to a stir fry. I added it to my tofu fried rice. It didn’t taste of much when it was put in with other things, although the texture of it was not pleasant, slightly chewy and slightly slimy, but for the most part I didn’t really notice there was seaweed in my food. This seemed like a good option as you can’t taste it too much but the preparation seemed like a faff and smell when cooking it was fairly unpleasant.
I also tried cutting the kelp up into thin strips and frying them in toasted sesame oil. These taste better than when it was in with the rice. Frying it makes it very similar to the taste of the seasoned seaweed but chewier and with a slightly tangy taste.
In the end my verdict was although the seasoned seaweed was nice, it wasn’t particularly healthy or cheap. The dried kelp seemed like a winner because it was cheaper but the taste in dishes just wasn’t for me, and the preparation of it smelled awful. So I decided to head to the shops again and pick up an iodine supplement. I found sea kelp tablets in Holland and Barrett for £5.99 (for 250 tablets) and their half-price sale means I now have enough iodine to last me for the next year and hopefully it will improve my metabolism.
