Weed & Wonderful

Over the last couple of months I’ve been trying out a few Dr Seaweed products. The Scottish seaweed based range (made from sustainable harvests) is predominantly valued for its iodine content. I wanted to take it in pregnancy because it is good for healthy brain development in the baby, but there are other benefits of this essential mineral if you are not pregnant. It’s good for the thyroid, for example, and something that the WHO has paid particular notice to, with regard to access to iodised salts.

Seaweed Supplements

I have been taking the Weed and Wonderful organic Scottish seaweed supplements for about 6 weeks now. Naturally, before starting to take a new supplement in pregnancy I checked them out with my midwife and made sure that I had her blessing, which I did. I always think testing supplements is pretty probelmatic because it’s hard to know what, if any, difference they made. It was no hassle to take them and I now have a healthy and happy baby. So I can’t tangibly point to any effect they had, but I was pleased to be able to add something to the reportoire that could potentially benefit my baby.

Seaweed Infused Oil

Along with the supplements, Dr Seaweed also sent me a range of their seaweed oils which are much more fun to write about!! I tried the Weed and Wonderful oils – a regular seaweed infused oil, a smoked version and a more intense smoked version. They all use rapeseed oil, a neutral oil, as their base. As such, they can reach decent temperatures when cooked and therefore be used for a range of cooking tasks. The seaweed infusion adds a delicate saline umami flavour to your food – subtle but detectable. And you know what smoking products adds!

I really liked the smoked oil for cooking my daily omelettes while I was pregnant and following a gestational diabetes friendly diet. I found it gave just the merest hint of the Welsh breakfast to the meal, especially when the omelette was a black pudding one. However, all of the oils worked really nicely in salad dressings too – it was fun to experiment with ingredients and levels of smokiness. I liked the oils with fish, naturally, but I think Mediterranean style vegetables were a good pairing for them as well. The most intense oil obviously suits cold dishes the best, and the plainest oil the best for cooking, but experimenting with them all is fun. If I just bought one I would get the regular smoked as it has the most flexibility.

All in all a really unique ingredient and one that has been great for all the good weather of lockdown so far, because it is an easy way to add a lot of interesting flavour to salads and grilled or BBQ dishes. Have you tried seaweed?

These products were sent to me by Dr Seaweed for the purposes of review, my opinion of them is solely based upon my experience.