If you’ve ever found yourself wandering the supplement aisles of Erewhon in wonder, you’ve probably seen the high-end health grocer’s mesmerizing rainbow of jarred sea moss gel. But a quick browse around the store today would reveal just how trendy the so-called superfood has become. It’s in Hailey Bieber’s popular Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie, and all over the beverage aisle, including as the hero ingredient in the functional beverage brand MOSS.
Beyond health food stores, you may have also come across wellness influencers talking about how sea moss can support your gut, thyroid, and skin. Is what they claim about sea moss benefits true or is this a trend that should stay in LA? We talked to five registered dietitians to find out.
What is sea moss?
“Sea moss is a type of edible red seaweed,” says Gage Blottenberger, a registered dietitian with the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center.“It can be either harvested or farm-raised, and it’s typically dried and then processed into gels, powders, or capsules,” he says.
The sea moss you see sold in most stores is primarily sourced from islands in the Caribbean (especially St. Lucia and Jamaica) and the North Atlantic coastline (including Ireland, Canada, and Maine), says registered dietitian Xavier Toledo, LDN. It’s most commonly consumed as a gel, which is made by soaking the seaweed for roughly a day until it expands, rinsing it, blending it with water, and then allowing it to refrigerate for a couple of hours to thicken. You can either go through this process yourself using dried sea moss, or you can buy it in prepared gel form (as seen on the aforementioned Erewhon shelves).
Though it can be eaten as-is with a spoon, it has become especially popular as an additive to smoothies, oatmeal, or soups. As you might imagine, it tastes a bit ocean-y, which is why some brands blend it with fruit to balance the taste.
Sea moss benefits: fact or fiction?
Wellness influencers swear by sea moss for everything from healing their leaky gut to regulating their thyroid. We took all the claims to qualified registered dietitians to separate the health facts from pure hype.
The claim: It’s good for your gut.
True or false: True.
Of all the health claims being made about sea moss, Health Loft registered dietitian Heather Ritter, RDN, says this one is the most plausible. “Sea moss is a source of fiber, which acts as a prebiotic and supports beneficial bacteria in the gut,” Ritter says. Registered dietitian Gillean Barkyoumb, adds that it’s specifically a source of soluble fiber. (That’s the type of fiber that helps slow digestion and encourages the growth of more good gut bacteria.)
While sea moss does have fiber, Toledo points out that every plant-based food has fiber and there are plenty of foods that have way more of it than sea moss. If you look at the label of most sea moss supplements, the fiber content is often less than a gram. His opinion: If you want to integrate sea moss into your diet as a way to get more fiber, that’s fine, but there are more effective ways to do it.
As for any claims about sea moss being used to fix “leaky gut,” that’s when all five dietitians say the research is more murky. Despite what you may hear anecdotally on social media, there is no scientific proof backing this up.
The claim: It has 92 of the 102 trace minerals your body needs.
True or false: False.
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