What Is Sea Moss? A Plain Explanation
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Sea moss has had a loud few years. Most of what gets said about it is either breathless or dismissive, and very little of it explains what the stuff actually is.
It is a sea vegetable
Sea moss, most commonly Chondrus crispus or Eucheuma cottonii, is a red algae that grows on rocks along cool coastlines. It has been eaten in Ireland and across the Caribbean for centuries, long before it became an ingredient list fixture.
It is food, not an extract. People have historically simmered it into a gel and stirred it into drinks, soups and puddings.
What is in it
Sea moss carries trace minerals picked up from the seawater it grows in, iodine among them, along with a fiber called carrageenan that gives it its gelling texture.
Because it absorbs from its environment, the water it grows in matters. Wildcrafted sea moss from clean coastal water and pool-grown sea moss are different products.
Why it is in a protein powder
Zeotein Cacao carries organic sea moss as one of its six ingredients. It is in there as a whole food: dried and milled, the same material you would get from the gel, in a form that sits in a dry blend.
It is a nutrient-dense sea vegetable in a serving most people would otherwise fill with filler.
What it tastes like
On its own, sea moss has a mild oceanic note. In a cacao blend at the proportion used here, it disappears into the chocolate. You will not taste the sea.
The honest caveat
Sea moss is a meaningful source of iodine, and iodine is one of those nutrients where more is not automatically better. If you already take an iodine supplement, or your doctor keeps an eye on your iodine intake, that is a conversation to have with them rather than a question for a blog post.
Where it sits in the formula
Six ingredients in Zeotein Cacao: grass-fed bone broth protein, grass-fed collagen peptides, organic fermented cacao, organic MCT oil powder, organic sea moss, and zeolite mineral, a naturally occurring volcanic mineral.
Two scoops in 10 to 12 ounces of liquid. 23 grams of protein, 140 calories, zero sugar.
†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
