Sea Vegetables are [...]]]> Sea Vegetables have long been associated with good health because of their mineral content. They are rich in essential vitamins, iodine, iron, protein, potassium, and a bio available source of calcium and magnesium. Sea vegetables are, indeed, one of the richest sources of nutrients essential to maintain a healthy life.

Sea Vegetables are also popularly known as "seaweeds." The giant seaweed kelp can grow as much as 200 feet tall and is capable of growing up to a foot a day.

You can crush, chop, or crumble a sea vegetable in order to get the most satisfying dish with it. It is superb in salads, soups and sauces, pizzas and focaccias, casseroles and rice. Among raw foodists, the Wakame "seaweed" or sea vegetable is a favorite. It has a soft texture, with a mild taste and a slightly crispy midrib, perfect for raw salads and raw food smoothies.

My Top 3 Favorite Sea Treasures

Sea Vegetables add an amazing color and wonder to the sea. Shades of green from the Nori, hues of brown and golden brown from the Wakame and Kelp, different shades of red seaweeds and the blue-green algae provide a unique burst of color. They are like edible gems among the vast expanse of delightful sea treasures!

1. Wakame. Is a high-calcium, high-protein seaweed, widely used for hair growth and luster, and to have good skin tone. It has a soft texture, mild taste and a slightly crispy midrib, making it a favorite among raw food eaters. Wakame has dark brown fronds, 12 to 16 inches wide and around 2 to 4 feet long, It is the traditional sea vegetable in the widely-known miso soup. In Japan and Europe, wakame is distributed dried or salted, and used in soups, salads or simply as a side dish to tofu and other salad vegetable.

2. Nori. Is a rich source of calcium, zinc and iodine, with a protein content similar to soybeans. Furthermore, the protein content is considered of very good quality, and is easy to digest. Nori is normally sold in dried sheets, and is used to wrap those yummy rice balls we call sushi. Among sea vegetables, Nori is considered the easiest to eat raw. High in protein and low in cholesterol, Nori is a part of the “beauty diet.”

3. Kelp. Contains Vitamins A, B, E, D and K, and is a source of Vitamin C and minerals. Kelp can also be used as a substitute for salt and as flavorings in an assortment of drinks and other dishes. It is so healthy that it’s used to support heart function, control body weight, and aid in poor digestion and elimination. Kelp also boosts the immune system, increases energy, improves liver function, and reduces arthritic pain. It is great roasted, marinated, pickled, boiled, and sauteed. In the case of the raw food eater, Kelp with sprouted mung bean sprouts, lentil sprouts, bound together with raw almond butter is a pure delight!

Everyday Food

In our house, we rarely eat a salad of 99% sea vegetables, although many people enjoy such dishes. Instead, we consume them essentially every day, in smaller quantities. They are a regular ingredient in our Raw Food Energy Soup and other raw soups and salads. We are grateful for these treasures from the sea.

The Botanical Name of Avocado is Persea Americana, P. gratissima, specifically classified from the flowering plant, Lauraceae (Laurel) family. Avocado grows in a [...]]]> There are so many benefits of avocado eating that my family and I eat this wonderful fruit nearly every day, alone or in combination with other foods.

Introduction to Avocado

The Botanical Name of Avocado is Persea Americana, P. gratissima, specifically classified from the flowering plant, Lauraceae (Laurel) family. Avocado grows in a variety of locations, but it is native to the Mesoamerican Region. It is an evergreen plant, which can live in diverse environmental conditions, making it easy to cultivate and grow in various places.

A Mayan princess was once believed to have eaten the first avocado, which was also believed to hold magical and mystical powers. Even in those early times, the benefits of avocado eating had already been linked to wellness, nutrition, and mysticism.

Alligator pear, midshipman’s butter, vegetable butter, and butter pear are some of the various names associated with avocados. In web searches, Avocado is often misspelled as "avocadoe" or "avocadoes," which more often than not, re-directs the query to the correctly spelled variant of the word.

There are more than 80 varieties of avocado. A single mature avocado tree can yield up to 120-400 fruit annually. The avocado fruit comes in a variety of colors: green, dark green, purple, and black. As the avocado ripens, it changes color, though the extent of the color change depends on the variety. Some avocado varieties retain their color regardless of maturity.

The health benefits of avocado eating had been so widely spread that it is cultivated in most parts of the world. It is California — my home state — that claims the title "Avocado Capital of the World."

Benefits of Avocado Eating

Avocado is considered by many as a nutritionally dense fruit. It is considered to have a cooling energy. Avocados are a rich source of good fats, vitamin E, B-complex vitamins, potassium (two to three times that of bananas), fluorine, copper, and lecithin.

A single avocado fruit has about 300 hundred calories in it, 20 percent of which is monounsaturated fat. This type of fat is beneficial in maintaining levels of good cholesterol (HDL).

Avocado aids in blood function, lung and large intestines lubrication, neutralizes liver functioning, and in cases of urinary adverse health conditions, it soothes the bladder. It is also widely known to counteract erectile dysfunction, promote bowel movement, ease nervousness and promote better sleep.

While we usually think of eating as something we do with our mouths, in fact, we also "eat" and consume nutrients through our skin and hair. Mashed ripened avocado applied to the face or scalp promote better moisturizing and conditioning, and is especially recommended for dry skin and hair. Clearly, the health benefits of avocado eating are not limited to internal wellness of the body, but to external beauty as well.

Eating Avocado

Whenn purchasing, it is best to choose firm avocados if you plan to use them later in the week. Otherwise, select an avocado that yields to gentle pressure when pressed. In our family, we have a preference for watching them ripen under our own eyes. If they are ripened on the store shelf, we cannot always tell how how ripe they actually are.

Generally, we leave them in the open air to ripen naturally. In order to speed up the ripening process, we sometimes place the avocado in a paper bag, either alone or with an apple. We keep the paper bag at store at room temperature for one to five days, checking regularly until ready to eat.

Because of the high oil content, avocados can deteriorate rapidly after ripening. As soon as they are ripe, place your avocados in the refrigerator to retard or avoid rancidity. Do not eat rancid or overripe fruits.

The benefits of eating avocado are endless. It is no wonder most health conscious people had a liking to this made-in-nature superfood! Nutritionally dense, and with a high amount of good fat, even people who have difficulty digesting fats, will usually find avocado easy to assimilate.

In any fruit or vegetable salads, avocado is an excellent addition or garnish. Avocado can also be used as a sandwich filler or dip, especially guacamole. It can also be eaten alone, with no other foods combined.

Avocado Cultivation

Due to the avocado’s subtropical nature, it needs a climate without frost or too much wind. In the event of frost, the immature fruit drops from the tree, thus, seriously reducing the yield.

It takes 4-6 years for an avocado tree propagated by seed to bear fruit. Because of this long growth, commercial avocado orchards often use grafted trees and rootstocks.

The avocado fruit does not ripen on the tree. Instead, it will fall off or be picked, once it has reached a mature size. Avocado tastes vary, depending on the oil content and variety.

Of all avocado varieties cultivated in California, 80% are the "Hass" (often misspelled or marketed as "haas") variety. This variety has dark rippled skin and rich, creamy flesh. The cultivar "Florida" on the other hand, is larger and rounder with a smooth medium-green skin. With firmer, fibrous flesh, and less-fatty, oftentimes marketed as the low-calorie avocado.

I’ll be writing more about avocado in the future, including more about nutrition and beauty and special health benefits. And, of course, some recipes.