What are the benefits of eating kelp? What kind of kelp is good to choose?

Kelp is very nutritious and delicious when eaten in hot pot, but it should not be cooked for too long. High-quality kelp is tender, wide and long, dark brown or brown-green in color, and contains less sand and impurities. Sometimes we find that the kelp we buy is of different thicknesses. What if we choose fresh kelp? Please see the knowledge shared below.

Contents of this article

1. Benefits of eating kelp

2. What kind of kelp should I choose?

3. Taboos of eating kelp

Benefits of eating kelp

1. It can eliminate phlegm and soften hard masses. For patients with goiter and thyroid nodules, if they eat kelp regularly and appropriately, it can have a good effect of eliminating phlegm and softening hard masses by supplementing iodine.

2. It can promote diuresis and reduce swelling. For people with ascites and swelling caused by difficult urination, eating kelp properly can have the benefits of promoting diuresis and reducing swelling.

The disadvantage of eating kelp frequently is that from the perspective of Chinese medicine diet therapy, kelp is salty and cold in nature. For people with weak spleen and stomach, eating kelp frequently will make the cold worse and cause gastrointestinal discomfort such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal distension.

Which kind of kelp is good to choose

1. Choose brown-green or khaki based on the color

Brownish green or khaki kelp is normal. Looking at the color, brownish green or khaki kelp is a relatively normal color; dark green kelp is made by boiling fresh kelp and then cooling, salting, dehydrating and other processes, and is generally used as a cold dish; while emerald green kelp may be soaked with added pigments, so consumers should pay special attention when choosing.

Be careful when buying kelp with abnormal color:

The normal color of kelp is dark brown. After being salted or dried, kelp has a natural dark green or dark green color. Be cautious when buying kelp with too bright colors. Be careful with emerald green kelp. This color of kelp is not a new variety. It is soaked with additives. After soaking with food coloring, the water will turn green, while water with industrial coloring will not change color. Long-term consumption of bleached and dyed kelp is harmful to health.

Therefore, do not buy brightly colored kelp. If the water after washing the kelp has an abnormal color after buying it home, you should also stop eating it to avoid affecting your health.

2. It should feel sticky

Choose brown-green kelp with high viscosity, and dark green kelp will not have any viscosity after processing. However, chemically treated kelp will not feel tough.

3. Choose the one with white frost on it

The white powder on the kelp is called mannitol. After the kelp is taken out of the water and dried in the sun, mannitol will precipitate and adhere to the surface of the kelp, thus forming white frost. Mannitol has the effects of lowering blood pressure, diuresis, and reducing swelling. When buying kelp, you must buy kelp with white frost. Normal kelp is dark brown. After being pickled or dried, it has a natural dark green or dark green color. The kelp with wide and thick leaves, dark green or purple with yellow, and no withered and yellow leaves is the best. In addition to high iodine content, this kind of kelp also contains mannitol, that is, "white frost", which has high nutritional value.

If the dried kelp is partially red or partially yellow, don't choose it. Such kelp may be contaminated, and its quality and nutritional value will be lower. In addition, the dried kelp also has a strong seafood smell. If there is any other odor, it means that the quality of the kelp is also compromised.

4. Check whether the meat is fat and tender

The flesh of high-quality kelp is plump and tender, wide and long, dark brown or brown-green in color, and contains little sand and debris. The kelp of inferior quality is the opposite, with thin flesh, short and narrow leaves, yellow-green in color, and high sand and debris content.

5. Check whether the interior is complete

When buying, it is best to open the kelp and take a look. Intact kelp is better. If there are small pieces of kelp mixed in, it means the quality is poor. If there are holes or large areas of damage, it may have been eaten by insects or mold during storage.

6. Smell whether there is seafood smell

The kelp that has not been bleached and dyed has a stronger seafood flavor, while the kelp that has been bleached and dyed has a lesser seafood flavor.

Taboos of eating kelp

1. Kelp cannot be soaked for a long time

Do not soak kelp for a long time before eating. Generally speaking, soaking for about 6 hours is enough, because if the soaking time is too long, the nutrients in the kelp, such as water-soluble vitamins and inorganic salts, will also dissolve in water, and the nutritional value will be reduced. If the kelp is soaked in water and has no toughness, it means that it has deteriorated and cannot be eaten. According to traditional Chinese medicine, kelp is cold in nature and people with weak spleen and stomach should not eat it.

2. Don’t eat kelp as a staple food

You cannot take kelp as your staple food for a long time, as this will cause excessive intake of iodine, which will also affect your health. Moreover, kelp contains a certain amount of arsenic, and excessive intake of arsenic can cause poisoning. Therefore, before eating kelp, you should rinse it with water to dissolve the arsenic in water.

3. Special groups should be careful when eating kelp

Patients with hyperthyroidism should not eat kelp, because the iodine content in kelp is relatively high, which will aggravate the condition; pregnant women and nursing mothers should not eat too much kelp, because the iodine in kelp can enter the fetus and infant through blood circulation and cause thyroid dysfunction.