Super seaweed: Nutritionist looks to the ocean for "incredible" food

Note from Miriam:
I am sure you don't eat sushi everyday, so get your seaweed in a tasty shot of Seven+. (Shhhhh....just don't tell my kids they're drinking it!)
So glad I don't have to spend $450 in one weekend to harvest my own fresh seaweed, but I get it every single day in a powerful extract form in my delicious little shot! Life is good!

Submitted by Heather Reese, KOMO Communities Reporter
Thursday, July 14th, 11:54am

Jennifer Adler holds kelp pickles in her downtown Seattle office. Kelp is a type of seaweed.
Blueberries...spinach...walnuts.

We've been hearing for years about so-called "super foods" packed with nutrients. But one Seattle nutritionist says - look to the ocean to find one super food that trumps them all.

"The nutrition in seaweed is incredible," said Jennifer Adler. "It makes kale look like iceberg lettuce."

Adler runs her private practice, "Passionate Nutrition," out of two offices in downtown Seattle and Bainbridge Island. She originally got interested in the healing powers of food as a high school student - after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She later moved to Seattle to attend Bastyr University, where she now teaches.

"It's about using food as medicine," Adler said.

In addition to health benefits, seaweed is said to be good for the hair, skin and nails. Adler said many people mistake her for being younger than 37-years-old, which may be credited to her daily intake of the green stuff.

"The key with seaweed is a little bit all the time," Adler said. So a once-in-awhile seaweed salad from your favorite sushi restaurant won't cut it.

Adler claims you can add seaweed to almost anything - like smoothies, soup, or even pasta dishes. "If you add small amounts of seaweed to food, people don't even know it's there," she said.

And like anything else - fresher is better. Adler began harvesting her own seaweed straight from the ocean about eight years ago.

"The minerals in the ocean are the same as the minerals in our blood," Adler explained, "so seaweed from the ocean is perfect for our bodies."

Every summer, she takes groups of people out to Lopez Island to harvest seaweed. "It really has to come from clean waters," she said. Her students spend the weekend hiking, kayaking and learning how to be sustainable in their harvesting.

Adler said everybody in the class is able to harvest enough seaweed to last an entire year. They learn how to dry and pickle their pickings, and a professional chef shows the students how to incorporate sea vegetables into meals.

"Everything we eat during the weekend has seaweed in it," Adler said. "(The students) walk away being empowered with their health."

If you can't get out and harvest your own seaweed, there are several health food stores around town that carry it. Adler recommends getting one-to-three grams everyday.

"It's a powerhouse food," Adler said. "I can't think of anything that compares to it."

The process of harvesting seaweed is similar to that of crab fishing, where you have to obtain an inexpensive license. There is still space available in Adler's summer sessions. The cost of the weekend is $450, including everything except transportation to and from Lopez Island. Sign up online.


http://downtownseattle.komonews.com/news/health/super-seaweed-nutritionist-looks-ocean-incredible-food/653140