[Sca-cooks] Kelp

[Christine Seelye-King]

Sorry it took me so long to reply on this one.  I wanted to check with the
Herb Dept. Manager at work before I answered.  He and I talked about the use
of kelp as a salt substitute for High blood pressure concerns.  We both felt
that because of the types of salts present (not just sodium is salty, there
are other salts that occur in the ocean) and the other minerals present make
the uptake easier to deal with in the body, and the balance better for our
metabolism.  Also, the presence of vegetable matter along with the vitamins
(alaria is the only really good non-meat source of B-12, for example) cuts
down on the actual salts that you are taking in.  Basically, by using kelp
or other sea vegetables as a salt substitute, you are making it easier on
your body to process, similar to eating less refined forms of sugar vs. the
granulated, processed white stuff.
Of course, I would start slowly, read books like Nutrition Almanac or
Cooking with Sea Vegetables, and other nutrition sources before jumping into
a change.
Good luck,
Christianna

> -----Original Message-----
> From: sca-cooks-admin at ansteorra.org
> [mailto:sca-cooks-admin at ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of Marilyn Traber
> Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2002 8:58 AM
> To: 'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'
> Subject: [Sca-cooks] Kelp
>
>
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> At 233 mG per 100 grams, fresh edible portion, what does that work out to
> dried? Is this a tolerable sodium level for those on a low/no salt diet?
> From the same USDA reference, spirulina dried 100 gr edible
> portion is 1048
> mG to fresh 100 gr edible portion of 98 mG. Anybody know how much
> the change
> in weight due to moisture is?
>
> Just because it doesn't have US adding salt to it, doesn't mean
> that it has
> NO sodium in it...and I thought the whole purpose was to avoid sodium?
> margali
>
> the quote starts here:
> Powdered kelp is used as a salt substitute for those with high blood
> pressure concerns.  I don't have any period docs on this, but there are
> certainly ethnic coastal recipes that use sea weeds for various soups and
> other uses.  For that matter, using sea vegetables such as dulse (smoky,
> salty taste, can be fried and used in a "DLT" sandwich), wakame
> (aka Alaria
> from US waters), hijiki/hiziki (strands that need soaking or longer
> cooking), and a variety of others will increase your mineral content along
> with some sodium.
> Christianna
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