Seaweed That Tastes Like Bacon - But
Twice as Healthy
August 01, 2015
Story at-a-glance
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Researchers from Oregon State University are growing a
strain of dulse seaweed that tastes like bacon
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About 14 prototype recipes have already been created using
the unique dulse, including salad dressing, sesame seed
chips, and smoked dulse popcorn peanut brittle
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Seaweed is an excellent source of iodine, vitamins, fiber,
protein, and minerals, provided it comes from clean,
non-polluted waters
By Dr. Mercola
Dulse, a type of red seaweed with a chewy texture that’s
often used in dried, flaked form, has been harvested for
centuries in Europe. But this sea vegetable, which typically
grows along the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines, has remained in
relative obscurity in the US – until now.
Researchers from Oregon State University (OSU) were on a
mission to develop a new food source for abalone – sea snails
that are popular cuisine in Asia. Dulse, rich in proteins,
vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, turned out to be perfect
for this – but while growing the red plant, the researchers had
an idea – why not feed dulse to people too?
It might have been a hard sell in the US, where seaweed is
typically consumed only with
sushi or miso soup… and, to a greater extent, by some of
those in the vegan and vegetarian communities.
The strain of dulse being grown in Oregon, however, is
unique. It’s so unique that the research team is working on a
marketing plan to develop a new line of seaweed-based specialty
foods. Oregon State researcher Chris Langdon explained:1
"This stuff is pretty amazing… When you fry it, which
I have done, it tastes like bacon, not seaweed. And it's a
pretty strong bacon flavor."
Seaweed Can Take on a Meaty Flavor Due to Umami
Seaweed that tastes naturally like bacon could draw in a
whole new crowd of people looking to add nutrition and flavor to
their diets. While it may seem surprising that a sea vegetable
could take on a meaty flavor, seaweed imparts a strong
umami flavor into virtually any dish it touches.
It was more than 100 years ago when a Japanese chemist named
Kikunae Ikeda discovered the secret that made dashi, a classic
seaweed soup, so delicious. It was glutamic acid, which, in your
body is often found as glutamate.
Ikeda called this new flavor “umami,” which means “delicious”
in Japanese, but it wasn’t until 2002 that modern-day scientists
confirmed umami to be a fifth taste, along with sweet, sour,
bitter, and salty.
Most foods contain glutamate, although some more than others.
Foods naturally high in glutamate include protein-rich meat,
eggs, poultry, milk, cheese, and fish, along with sea
vegetables, ripe tomatoes, and mushrooms.
Umami is valued for making foods taste better. When an
umami-rich food like seaweed is added to soup stock, for
instance, it makes the broth heartier, more “meaty,” and more
satisfying.
Is Bacon-Flavored Seaweed the Next Superfood?
Seaweed is an excellent source of iodine, vitamins, and
minerals, provided it comes from clean, non-polluted waters.
Various types of seaweed and brown algae also support
detoxification and may also help prevent your body from
absorbing heavy metals and other environmental toxins.
Research also suggests that brown seaweed may help boost
fat-burning in your body while dulse is said to have twice the
nutritional value of kale and can contain up to 16 percent
protein by dry weight.2
Needless to say, this patented bacon-flavored variety could
easily take the superfood market by storm.
Adding to its allure, Chris Langdon, an aquaculture
researcher at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, and
colleagues have created a way to farm the seaweed, growing it in
huge vats of cold seawater.
This cultured dulse grows faster than wild dulse, and the
water could potentially be filtered to minimize the uptake of
contaminants. Wild-grown dulse is expensive, selling for up to
$90 a pound, but the farmed version is more affordable (not to
mention could theoretically be made much more widely available).3
Bacon-Flavored Seaweed Salad Dressing and More May Soon Be on
the Market…
Langdon currently grows about 30 pounds of the bacon-flavored
dulse strain a week, although he has plans to more than triple
production. The researchers have also teamed up with OSU's Food
Innovations Center in Portland, Oregon to explore ways to use
dulse in cooking. As OSU reported:4
“[Jason Ball, a research chef at the Food Innovation
Center in Portland]… is pushing the envelope, testing dulse
veggie burgers, trail mix, and even dulse beer. Working
directly with Langdon, Ball can experiment with different
strains that have different flavors and attributes.
With fresh dulse, he’s looking for a tender chewiness
and slightly salty finish. ‘Pan-fried,’ he says, ‘dulse can
be light and crispy with a savory saltiness, like bacon.’”
About 14 prototype recipes have already been created using
the unique dulse, including salad dressing, sesame seed chips,
and smoked dulse popcorn peanut brittle.
Seaweed’s Claim to Fame? Iodine!
Worldwide, it's thought that up to 40 percent of the
population is at risk of
iodine deficiency. In the US, however, agencies tend to say
most people are iodine "sufficient," meaning they get enough of
the nutrient from their diet.
This is controversial, though, as according to other sources,
such as Dr. David Brownstein, who has been working with iodine
for the last two decades, over 95 percent of the patients in his
clinic are iodine deficient.
Dr. Jorge Flechas, MD also believes severe iodine deficiency
is rampant and believes the current US daily recommended
allowance (RDA) for iodine may be completely insufficient for
overall physical health and prevention of diseases such as
thyroid disease, fibromyalgia, and cancer.
Iodine is a vitally important nutrient that is detected in
every organ and tissue. Along with being essential for healthy
thyroid function and efficient metabolism, there is increasing
evidence that low iodine is related to numerous diseases,
including cancer. Other tissues also absorb and use large
amounts of iodine, including:
Breasts |
Salivary glands |
Pancreas |
Cerebral spinal fluid |
Skin |
Stomach |
Brain |
Thymus |
Iodine deficiency, or insufficiency, in any of these tissues
will lead to dysfunction of that tissue. Hence the following
symptoms could provide clues that you’re not getting enough
iodine in your diet. For example, iodine deficiency in:
- Salivary glands: inability to produce
saliva, producing dry mouth
- Skin: dry skin, and lack of sweating.
Three to four weeks of iodine supplementation will typically
reverse this symptom, allowing your body to sweat normally
again
- Brain: reduced alertness and lowered IQ
- Muscles: nodules, scar tissue, pain,
fibrosis, and fibromyalgia
Iodine actually induces apoptosis as well, meaning it causes
cancer cells to self-destruct. Dr. Flechas is adamant that
absence of iodine in a cell is what causes cancer.
The jury is still out on whether iodine in supplemental form
is safe (especially at higher doses). As an alternative,
toxin-free sea vegetables (and spirulina), which are naturally
iodine rich, are likely the ideal natural sources from which to
obtain your iodine — as long as you make sure that these are
harvested from uncontaminated waters.
Why Else Is Seaweed Good for You?
Natural iodine aside, there are many other reasons to include
sea vegetables in your diet as well. It’s a rich source of
potassium, calcium, and iron, for instance. Seaweed also
contains alginic acid, which protects the plants from bacteria
but has the action of binding to heavy metals when you eat them.
This means sea vegetables are natural detoxifiers.
There’s even research showing a kelp-containing diet helped
lower levels of the sex hormone estradiol in rates, which
suggests it may help lower the risk of estrogen-related cancers,
such as breast cancer, in humans.5 In
addition to the familiar nutrients like iron and vitamin C,
seaweed also contains a number of unique vitamins, minerals, and
antioxidants that many Americans don’t eat much of. As noted
by the George Mateljan Foundation:6
“As part of their natural defense mechanisms, sea
vegetables contain a variety of enzymes called
haloperoxidases. These enzymes all require vanadium in order
to function. Although this mineral is not as well known as
some of the other mineral nutrients, it appears to play a
multi-faceted role in regulation of carbohydrate metabolism
and blood sugar.
… [V]anadium may help to increase our body's
sensitivity to insulin by inhibiting a group of enzymes
called protein tyrosine phosphatases. It may also help us
decrease our body's production of glucose and help us
increase our body's ability to store starch in the form of
glycogen… Recent research from India makes it clear that a
variety of non-flavonoid and non-carotenoid antioxidant
compounds are present in sea vegetables, including several
different types of antioxidant alkaloids.
An increasing number of health benefits from sea
vegetables are being explained by their fucoidan concent.
Fucoidans are starch-like (polysaccharide) molecules, but
they are unique in their complicated structure (which
involves a high degree of branching) and their sulfur
content. Numerous studies have documented the
anti-inflammatory benefits of fucoidans (sometimes referred
to as sulfated polysaccharides)… The sulfated
polysaccharides in sea vegetables also have anti-viral
activity and… anticoagulant and antithrombotic properties
that bring valuable cardiovascular benefits.”
Creative Ways to Add More Sea Vegetables to Your Diet
OSU’s bacon-flavored dulse is not yet widely available, but
there are many other seaweed varieties to try. Among them:7
- Hijiki: A stronger-flavored seaweed
that grows in thick branches, which expand considerably when
cooked.
- Nori: Often used to make sushi rolls,
nori is deep purple or red but turns bright green when
toasted. (Untoasted nori is best, nutritionally speaking.)
- Arame: Arame has feathery leaves and a
sweeter flavor than some other varieties.
- Wakame: Found in miso soup, wakame is
brown with delicate leaves and a mild, non-fishy flavor.
- Dulse: As mentioned, dulse has a chewy
texture and is often used in dried or flaked form.
Try fresh sea vegetables as a salad or added to eggs, stir
fries, and soup. The flaked form can be used as a seasoning in
place of salt or added to smoothies. You can also add sea
vegetables to your fermented vegetable recipe to increase the
mineral, vitamin, and fiber content. You can add pieces of whole
dulse or use flakes.
Wakame needs to be presoaked and diced into the desired size
prior to using. As a reminder, choosing seaweed from
non-polluted waters is crucial, as these plants absorb the
contents of the water in which they’re grown. While this is part
of what makes them so nutritious, it can also be their downfall
if sourced from contaminated waters.
Further, seaweed that comes from large, industrial seaweed
“farms” (often in Asia) may be machine harvested in ways that
harm the environment. Look for seaweed sourced from non-polluted
waters that is harvested in a sustainable, environmentally
friendly manner (such as hand harvested). Also check that your
sea vegetables are processed using only sun drying or
low-temperature air drying, not high heat that may damage
nutrients.
Many suppliers also have their products routinely tested for
chemicals, heavy metals and, after the nuclear disaster at
Fukushima, Japan, radioactivity. By seeking out a supplier with
high standards and ethics, you’ll receive a true superfood
without any risks of contamination or environmental harms.
© Copyright 1997-2015 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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