more from Kevin Gianni...
Many of you ask me to review new products as they come out...
In most cases, I take my time with reviews, mainly because I've talked to so many health experts who've seen hundreds of fads come and go in the last 30 years.
One product I hesitated to talk about for a very long time is Irish Moss.
Irish moss is a seaweed from the Irish coast. It grows in cold water and is used in raw food recipes for nutrition and its thickening properties. It also is a great source of minerals and (if the product is quality) contains antioxidants as well.
I had seen the quality of many Irish Moss products and I just wasn't pleased.
It was smelly, wet and sandy - it looked like it was pulled straight from the beach, which bothered me.
I'm sure you've seen clumps of seaweed on the beach with flies buzzing all around it. That's what I imagined when I took this smelly stuff out of the package. (I have no idea if this is the case or not, but that's where my mind went!)
I was also concerned of the source.
I'm a stickler for where my products are coming from.
I want them to be from good, clean sources - the best of the best.
And when I went asking around about Irish Moss no one could give me an answer as to where it's from.
So I wrote it off, I thought it was a fad.
Until...
We were in Florida last year and were introduced to a beautiful, dry, purplish seaweed by a friend.
I had never seen it before (at least I thought!) until she told me what it was...
Surprise! It was Irish Moss.
She had been using it for years in her smoothies and recipes.
I asked her if she was sure she was right and she told me, of course, it comes straight from Ireland, right off the coast.
I was shocked not only at how different it was from the Irish Moss I've tried before, but it also didn't have the same smell that the other nasty stuff had (and it was really clean too!)
I immediately asked her if she was willing to let me call the person who was harvesting it to ask some more questions about why this was so different.
I was curious, and I was excited too... I knew if this product was clean and harvested sustainably, we could bring it you so you would have a better option than the other stuff.
What I found out was that many of the Irish Moss products on the market are cousins of the true Irish Moss and can be harvested in Asia or elsewhere.
They also don't have the same amount of antioxidants as this particular strain.
I also found out that in order to maintain a healthy and freshproduct, the moss needs to be dried completely or else it can start to degrade and even cause some bacteria or mold growth.
Finally, I found out that even he did not do any sort of heavy metal testing on the seaweed, so I was still a little concerned about the quality - since heavy metals are things we can't see or smell (unless they're in very, very large quantities of course!)
So first things first, I asked him to send me a few samples so I could test them for heavy metals and in particular Arsenic.
Arsenic is known to be in seaweeds and other sea products, but the inorganic Arsenic is the biggest concern.
The results turned up clean. There was no heavy metal toxicity in the product.
After this, I asked him about his harvesting practices.
He explained that he harvests, dries and packages the seaweed to order. I was thrilled to hear this, since it means he's conscious of the environment and sustainability practices.
After some more back and forth, I was convinced that we had a winner... an Irish Moss product that was completely clean, dried and more nutrient dense than others on the market.
Irish Moss is a great addition to your smoothies because it doesn't have much taste and has some great nutrition...
- It has soothing properties for your gut and intestines.
- It contains antioxidants to help fight free-radicals.
- It has a large array of ionic minerals to help remineralize your body.
- Also, since it is a bulking agent, it can help you feel full quicker, which will help you lose weight!
Irish Moss is also a great additive to recipes to help thicken them..
This product can thicken your recipes and give a gel like texture that you would get from adding a bunch of fat and nuts.
So you really can make guilt free raw desserts and dressings!
Anyway, I really want you to try this great product, since I finally am confident we have a good source and I think it can help with your nutrition.
Just add it to your smoothies or use it for some awesome recipes and you can get some the great benefits of seaweeds without even knowing they're there.
Please Note: Because our product is dry, you can't compare it to the weight of other products on the market. :-)
Obviously a wet product is going to weigh a bunch more.
