Cucumber Seaweed Salad - 11.2g Carbs, 2.8g Fiber, 2.22g Sugar
From: The George Mateljan Foundation
If you are having difficulty adding seaweed (sea vegetables) into
your Healthiest Way of Eating, try this easy-to-prepare salad and
enjoy all of the extra minerals the sea vegetables have to offer.
Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes
1 Tbsp dried arame or hijiki sea vegetables
3 cups cucumber, peeled, seeds scooped out, sliced
1 medium tomato, seeds and excess pulp removed, sliced
1 Tbsp minced scallions
--> Dressing
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp tamari (soy sauce)
1/2 Tbsp finely minced fresh ginger
1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Extra virgin olive oil to taste
Salt and white pepper to taste
*For more on the safety of sea vegetables such as hijiki:
(See Article Below)
1. Rinse and soak arame or hijiki in warm water while preparing
rest of ingredients.
2. Peel cucumber and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds with
a small spoon and slice thin.
3. Cut tomato in half crosswise and squeeze out seeds. Quarter and
cut out excess pulp. Cut into slices about 1/4-inch wide.
4. Whisk rest of ingredients together. Squeeze out excess water from
seaweed. Chop if necessary. You don't want seaweed pieces to be too
large. Toss everything together and serve immediately. Serves 2
Healthy Cooking Tips:
This salad is best salted right before serving. The salt will draw
out the water from the cucumbers and dilute the flavor.
Total weight: 309.44g
Nutrition per Serving:
59.03 Calories, 5.55 Calories from Fat, 1.17 Calories from Saturated FaT,
3.82g Protein, 11.2g Carbs, 2.8g Dietary Fiber, 0.16g Soluble Fiber,
0.52g Insoluble Fiber, 2.22g Total Sugar, 0g Monosaccharides,
0g Disaccharides, 0.46g Other Carbs, 0.62g Total Fat, 0.13g Saturated Fat,
0.06g Mono Fat, 0.24g Poly Fat, 0g Trans Fatty Acids, 0g Cholesterol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Should I be concerned about sea vegetables being contaminated?
Sea vegetables have been a topic of ongoing debate and research
concerning their potential to be contaminated by heavy metals
found in the waters in which they grow.
In the world of marine biology and marine ecology, sea vegetables
are widely recognized as plants with an excellent ability to take
up minerals from the water and hold onto these minerals in their
cells. This ability makes sea vegetables a rich source of many
wonderful minerals, including magnesium, calcium, iron, and iodine.
However, in waters that have become polluted with heavy metal
elements—including arsenic, lead, and cadmium—sea vegetables can
also act like a sponge in absorbing these unwanted contaminants.
Some marine ecologists actually use sea vegetables as a kind of
"biomonitor" to determine levels of heavy metal pollution in bodies
of water.
Among all of the heavy metals, arsenic appears to be most problematic
when it comes to sea vegetable toxicity risk. Virtually all types of
sea vegetables have been determined to contain traces of arsenic. These
types include arame, hijiki, kombu, nori, and wakame. Among all types
of sea vegetable, however, hijiki stands out as being particularly
high-risk when it comes to arsenic exposure. During the period
2000-2005, government-related agencies in England, New Zealand, and
Canada issued public health recommendations advising against consumption
of hijiki sea vegetable unless verified as containing very low levels
of inorganic arsenic. Based on these reports, we recommend avoidance
of hijiki as a sea vegetable unless available in the form of certified
organic hijiki.
The levels of arsenic found in other types of sea vegetable have been
relatively small. For example, after preparation using water soaking,
a British study found wakame to contain an average of 3 milligrams
arsenic per kilogram of sea vegetable. In practical terms, this
amount represents about 43 micrograms per half ounce of wakame.
However, even in this case of relatively small exposure, health
risks appear possible.
Our reason for discussing information about these possible risks
involves a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) in 1993 to set an oral Reference Dose (RfD) level of
.0003 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day for inorganic
arsenic. In practical terms, this maximum safe dose level would
allow an adult weighing 150 lbs. to consume about 20 micrograms
of inorganic arsenic every day and stay beneath the RfD level.
While a person might be unlikely to eat sea vegetables on a daily
basis, you can see from this example how an arsenic-related health
risk might be possible with routine consumption of an arsenic-containing
sea vegetable. It's important to note here that scientists continue
to debate the health risks associated with inorganic (versus organic)
forms of arsenic, and that the arsenic found in sea vegetables exists
primarily in an inorganic form. It is also important to note that
methods of preparing sea vegetables can make a difference in the
amount of arsenic found in edible portions.
We continue to include sea vegetables among the World's Healthiest
Foods because of their incredibly rich mineral content and other
unique health benefits and because the toxicity risks described
above can be prevented through the purchase of certified organic
sea vegetables! Because most certified organic sea vegetables can
be purchased in dried form and reconstituted at home, they can often
be ordered from outside of your local area and shipped to you at
a relatively low cost.
This article from: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dbid=264
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