In movies on TikTok, influencers wince as they dig spoons into jars of what seems to be like slime. Generally the glop is pale inexperienced or yellow, typically it’s deep crimson. Some folks wrinkle their noses and grimace as they swallow a dollop; others sniff their spoons and grin into the digital camera. “It type of smells like ocean water,” one lady mentioned earlier than choking down a glob after which overlaying her mouth, showing to gag, eyes watering. “It’s actually good,” she mentioned flatly and unconvincingly, blinking away tears. “I’m going to do it every single day.”
They’re amongst quite a lot of folks on-line who’ve been selling the well being advantages of sea moss — an edible sea vegetable within the algae household that’s filled with vitamins like folate, vitamin Okay, vitamin B, iron, iodine, magnesium, zinc and calcium.
Whereas the plant will be consumed uncooked and in complement kind — together with as drugs, powders and gummies — it’s most frequently eaten as a gel, made by soaking the dried plant in water, mixing it and letting it coalesce within the fridge. Some declare {that a} scoop or extra per day can heal their intestine, clear their pores and skin, regulate their menstrual cycle, strengthen their immune system or assist them shed kilos. However is that this hype based mostly on science?
Right here’s what to know earlier than slurping down a spoonful.
What’s sea moss?
Sea moss is a spiky, frilly sea vegetable that considerably resembles frisée lettuce when it’s within the ocean. It thrives alongside the Atlantic coasts, primarily between North America and Europe, and within the heat waters of Asia, South America, Africa and elements of the Caribbean. When dried and packaged, the plant seems to be like cooked ramen noodles, with tangled tendrils that clump collectively. Meals producers harvest it for its carrageenan, an ingredient that acts as a thickening agent for meals like ice cream, chocolate milk and creamers.
However as a result of it’s so nutrient-rich, folks typically eat it in hopes of enhancing their well being — swirling the gel into smoothies, mixing it into puddings or consuming it straight from a jar.
The gel typically tastes fishy and has a slick, slimy texture. Uncooked sea moss may have an earthy, ocean-like style, not in contrast to an oyster or a clam — which will be off-putting to some, mentioned Brooke Levine, a dietitian nutritionist at NYU Langone Well being.
When did sea moss change into so common?
Sea moss has obtained quite a lot of superstar endorsements on social media lately. In 2020, Kim Kardashian shared on Twitter that she drank sea moss smoothies as a part of her food regimen; final summer time, Erewhon Market, a grocery chain based mostly in Los Angeles, launched “Hailey Bieber’s Strawberry Glaze Pores and skin Smoothie” — full with sea moss gel. Rapper Meek Mill mused on-line in 2019 that perhaps sea moss made him smarter, and in 2021, former Disney Channel actress Skai Jackson mentioned she ate sea moss “each single day.”
Sea moss additionally gained consideration final fall when a flurry of panicky social media posts from followers of the plant claimed that the Meals and Drug Administration was going to ban all sea moss merchandise, probably due to sure unproven well being claims. Whereas the FDA has issued warning letters to makers of sea moss-containing merchandise up to now (together with to an organization that claimed its product may stop or deal with COVID-19), the posts concerning the ban turned out to be based mostly on misinformation. However the passionate reactions of some customers confirmed simply how fervent a following the plant had gained.
Is sea moss truly good for you?
Sea moss, in gel or different kinds, generally is a comparatively low-calorie conduit to including extra vitamins to your food regimen, mentioned Dr. Melinda Ring, the chief director of the Osher Middle for Integrative Well being at Northwestern College Feinberg College of Drugs. The plant is wealthy in antioxidants, which may break down free radicals that harm our cells, she mentioned. And sea moss gel incorporates giant quantities of potassium, a vital mineral that helps muscle contraction and blood stress management.
However whereas vitamin specialists say that the vitamins in sea moss may provide some well being advantages, the hype might be overblown, Ring mentioned. “Like the entire superfoods which have come and gone, there’s some fact to it,” she mentioned. “It’s simply not a magical factor that everybody must be taking.”
No medical trials have investigated whether or not sea moss is helpful for people, Levine mentioned, although seaweed on the whole has been nicely researched: It’s filled with nutritional vitamins and minerals much like these present in sea moss, and a few research recommend that sure fatty acids and nutritional vitamins in some sorts of seaweed, like omega-3 fatty acids and nutritional vitamins D and B12, will help strengthen the immune system.
However with out exhausting and quick information on sea moss itself, Ring mentioned, its well being results aren’t completely clear.
Apart from, Levine mentioned, you’re most definitely already getting the identical vitamins present in sea moss when you comply with a well-balanced food regimen. And when you don’t, she mentioned, consuming sea moss received’t counteract poor vitamin decisions. “It received’t assist to eat sea moss gel when you’re getting a Massive Mac,” Levine mentioned.
As a substitute of turning to sea moss for a dietary enhance, she mentioned, just a few rolls of sushi containing seaweed will help provide comparable quantities of B nutritional vitamins and zinc. You too can get lots of the vitamins in sea moss from leafy greens like kale, arugula or Swiss chard, mentioned Mary Ellen DiPaola, a senior outpatient dietitian on the College of California, San Francisco.
Kristin Kirkpatrick, a dietitian on the Cleveland Clinic, agreed. “When a affected person involves me and says, ‘I noticed this on TikTok, I’m eager about taking it,’ I’m like, ‘That’s nice, how about having extra broccoli?’ ” she mentioned.
Can sea moss enable you to drop pounds?
Regardless of what some persons are saying on-line, sea moss received’t abruptly pace up your metabolism, Kirkpatrick mentioned. It does, nonetheless, comprise loads of prebiotic fiber, a meals supply for the nice micro organism in your intestine, which will help regulate your digestive system, she mentioned.
Theoretically, sea moss gel may contribute to weight reduction as a result of its goopy consistency makes it gradual to depart our stomachs, retaining us fuller for longer, Ring mentioned, but it surely’s not assured.
Can sea moss preserve you from getting sick?
The person vitamins present in sea moss — like B nutritional vitamins and zinc — point out that, theoretically, the gel may assist assist your immune system, Ring mentioned. However with out information or medical trials, there’s no proof that sea moss can stop or treatment any illness.
Are there dangers related to consuming sea moss?
Sea moss incorporates excessive ranges of iodine, which may harm your thyroid if consumed in giant portions, Ring mentioned. If you wish to strive it, she really helpful taking not more than two tablespoons of the gel at a time and utilizing it each different day, somewhat than every single day.
Like seaweed, sea moss could comprise hint quantities of heavy metals like aluminum or cadmium, relying on the place it’s grown. So you ought to be cautious to not overdo it, Ring mentioned.
For those who’re taking sea moss in complement kind, understand that the FDA doesn’t strictly regulate dietary supplements, so you possibly can by no means be 100% certain that what’s said on-line or on a package deal is what’s within the product.
Is sea moss price shelling out for?
A bag of the dried plant, which you should utilize to make sea moss gel at house, will be costly. Some sellers on Amazon listing it for round $20 per pound, others for round $80 per pound. A 16-ounce jug of premade gel can run round $15 on the decrease finish, or $60 on the upper finish.
For those who determine the expense is price it, swallowing a spoonful of sea moss isn’t prone to hurt you, specialists mentioned. Nevertheless it received’t rework your well being or physique, both.
“After we’re having a dialog about food regimen, there’s by no means been a scenario the place we’ve discovered one meals is the salvation we had been trying to find,” Kirkpatrick mentioned. “It’s all the time a mixture of things.”
