this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2023
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I already eat a lot of algae but the packaging always has warnings that algae are very high in iodine. You usually can only safely consume a gram or so per day. Strange that they didn't address this in the article...
This could be for marine algae, which might have high iodine and sometimes high organic arsenic (though there is some debate over how toxic that is) - but freshwater algae are not necessarily high in iodine. Like spirulina for example.
Seems to be species dependent. But it doesn't seem to be well studied. But the variation in iodine levels is crazy...
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8035890/
yep, these are all marine algae. I think the market will develop and more consistent products (and no doubt thorougly coated with preservatives) will become prevalent once dear old General Mills, ConAgra, and their like enter the fray.
I wonder if it's only some forms of algae, or if they can reduce iodine levels with processing and genetic modification.
Yes, seems to be species dependent. But it doesn't seem to be well studied. But the variation in iodine levels is crazy...
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8035890/
Would we have to worry about mercury?
Unlike fish, Algae are basically the bottom of the food chain. Mercury is an issue because it bioaccumulates in higher trophic levels. Because Algae is right at the bottom, it won't collect very much at all.
The issue with marine algae is not mercury, but arsenic. We know inorganic arsenic is toxic, but marine algae accumulate arsenic in organic molecules, which some studies seem to show that is less toxic or even non-toxic. But some effects of arsenic toxicity are long term, like cancer, and apparently it is not a decided issue yet. There has been arsenic in the sea for a long time, and marine creatures of all sorts have evolved to deal with it in various ways.
How do you eat it? I'm just learning about the world of eating algae now--outside of seaweed, that is (which I also just learned is algae and not just some underwater plant lol).
Well, I've been vegan for >11 years and love Korean & Japanese food that's why I eat it. Usually with rice, i.e. roasted seaweed like Nori leaves or already in stripes. Or as sushi. Also in soup like misoshiru where you usually have the stock from specific algae and you can even put wakame seaweed in it. With sushi you can often also get a wakame salad, which is really tasty, too.
But usually I just cook rice (or use leftovers) and mix it with sesame seeds, sesame oil, soy sauce and some form of seaweed (usually I get a seasoned package of roasted seaweed with added flavors, but nori leaves work great as well). All in all this is a great staple food because you can store everything for longer periods of time and it is easy to make.
Hope this helps!