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How seaweed can save your diet
Published
8 years agoon
By Jackie Rainford Corcoran EBS Health Columnist
Have you ever been grocery shopping and found yourself in the ethnic foods aisle wondering how one incorporates seaweed into one’s diet outside of eating sushi?
The next time you’re there, do yourself and your family a favor and pick up a bag of kombu, a member of the kelp family found in oceans around the world. It costs about $5 and will provide added nutrients to many meals.
Here’s how to use it: Tear off a 2-by-4-inch strip of kombu, and add it to your grains, beans, legumes or soups before you turn on the heat. Cook your food as usual, and the kombu will expand and stay intact.
As this sea vegetable cooks with your food, it releases essential trace minerals and vitamins like calcium, iron, vitamin B, vitamin A, potassium, magnesium, iodine and zinc to name a few.
Kombu has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties, and is alkalizing, meaning it balances your body’s pH so it can optimally perform basic functions. It also improves digestibility, reduces gas and bloating, and tenderizes grains, beans and legumes.
Once you remove the sheet of kombu after cooking, you’ll notice a subtle and unique aroma, but one that has little impact on the flavor and salinity of your food.
You might also enjoy the taste and texture of the kombu. If so, chop it up and add it to your meal. If you’re eating with others who have a squeamish appetite, keep it on the side and invite them to try a small piece.
If eating kombu isn’t for you, try feeding it to your dog. It’s considered a superfood for your furry friend, and is easy to digest. If that fails, add it to your compost – your soil will be better for it.
It’s worth noting that sea vegetables like kombu are an abundant source of iodine. Until the 1920s, America had many communities that were iodine deficient and experienced severe thyroid disease.
Our bodies don’t make iodine, so we have to get it from food. And without it, our thyroid can’t function properly.
In 1924, after the discovery that iodine supported healthy thyroid function, Morton Salt started an effective trend by adding iodine to table salt, which greatly reduced thyroid disease related to insufficient iodine.
Today, there’s much debate about iodine deficiency in the U.S. In recent decades, several factors have depleted our iodine intake. Please note: if you have a hyperthyroid (overactive thyroid) condition like Grave’s disease your physician may want to limit your iodine intake. Ask their opinion.
Kombu is easy to come by, affordable and has a long shelf life. Store it an airtight glass container at room temperature. Keep it near your grains, beans and legumes as a reminder to add it before cooking.
Let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear about other unique ways you’re adding sea vegetables to your diet.
_____
Recently, a number of factors have depleted our iodine intake. Here are a few:
1. American’s consume large amounts of highly processed and salty foods, but most food companies don’t use iodized salt.
2. When cooking at home, many of us have switched to gourmet salts that have not been iodized.
3. Our soil has been depleted of naturally occurring iodine, which diminishes iodine levels in the plants that grow in it or the animals that graze on it.
Jackie Rainford Corcoran is an IIN Certified Holistic Health Coach, a public speaker and health activist. Contact her at rainfordcorcoran@gmail.com.
Megan Paulson is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Outlaw Partners.
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My Barking Dog is a nightmare comedy
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My Barking Dog is a nightmare comedy that tells the story of Toby and Melinda, two lonely people whose lives are forever changed the night they encounter a starving coyote at their apartment building. Over time they grow to expect him, leaving ritual offerings to entice the coyote every night. Toby and Melinda forge a connection over this visitor and share curiosity and concern about his presence in the city. The coyote expands their world–until, one night, their world is shattered. Their lives are pushed suddenly into uncharted territory, sending them on a surreal odyssey that changes their city–and the world–forever.
Directed by LX Miller. Starring Max Schneider and Denise Hergett
Verge Theater is continuing their mission to provide accessible theater to our community. Tickets for My Barking Dog are Pay What You Wish with a suggested price of $35. Audience members are offered the opportunity to select the price point that is comfortable for them when purchasing tickets.
My Barking Dog runs March 15-17, 22-24, 28-30
Performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays begin at 7:00 p.m., with Sunday matinees offered at 3:00 p.m.
Suitable for ages 16 . No animals are harmed in the staging of this production.
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Area parents are encouraged to bring their young children to Symphony Storytime with a Bassoon which will be presented at the Bozeman Public Library’s Community Room during
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Area parents are encouraged to bring their young children to Symphony Storytime with a Bassoon which will be presented at the Bozeman Public Library’s Community Room during their regular Toddler and Preschool Storytime on Wednesday, March 20, at 10:15 a.m. The free program, presented by the Bozeman Symphony is especially for children ages 3 to 5. Children will be able to listen to Montana Shakespeare in the Parks actor Emma Rather, who will be joined by Bozeman Symphony Bassoonist Sam Macken. The goal of the program is to encourage a love of music, literacy, and discovery. Additional programs are scheduled at the Library on April 10 and June 12. For more information, visit www.bozemansymphony.org or call 406-585-9774.
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