If you are prone to snacking then you may be looking for a healthier alternative to your favorite chips.
Perhaps fruit doesn’t cut it for you as a snack, and you are craving something salty. Well, we’ve found the perfect solution for you, our 7 best seaweed snacks!
These tasty and convenient snacks are simple to pop in a lunch box or your bag for those in between meal times when you are tempted to indulge.
Now you can snack on a delicious salty treat without feeling any pangs of guilt as they are really healthy as well as tasty.
Product Reviews
We have found 7 of the best seaweed snacks for you to enjoy. We’ll look at what flavors are available from the different brands, what size bags they come in, as well as the nutritional benefits of seaweed snacks.
GimMe Organic Roasted Seaweed Sheets
GimMe is one of the most popular and trusted brands of seaweed snacks. They consistently rate highly for their products and currently offer 8 different flavors.
You can choose from plain sea salt, wasabi, toasted sesame, teriyaki, olive oil, avocado oil, chili lime, and white cheddar.
The snacks typically come in a 5-gram bag, and you can purchase multi-packs which are great for packed lunches.
The premium organic seaweed used in this snack is roasted with organic sunflower oil until it is perfectly crispy. Then depending on which flavor is being manufactured the flavoring is added.
GimMe is certified non-GMO, USDA Organic, Vegan, and Gluten Free. Each bag of roasted seaweed contains 30 calories per serving, 0g net carbs, and is suitable for a keto and paleo or plant-based diet.
Roasted seaweed is also an excellent source of vitamin B12 and of iodine which is necessary for thyroid health.
Kimnori Organic Seasoned Roasted Seaweed Snacks
Kimnori makes flavored seaweed snacks for adults and children in a variety of flavors, so there is something for everyone.
They offer mostly multi-packs ranging from 9, 12, 16, and 24, so you can stock up on lunch boxes for when you feel like a snack.
They offer standard sea salt, Korean BBQ, sweet and spicy, avocado oil, and olive oil. The snacks are made in the USA and use only high-quality seaweed and natural ingredients. For those following a gluten-free diet, these seaweed snacks are ideal.
With low calories and fat, they are also perfect for snacking when you are watching your weight. Kimnori is also certified organic and Non-GMO verified. There is no MSG or artificial color or flavorings in their snacks either.
For those with nut allergies, sesame oil products have an allergen warning as the protein in sesame seeds can trigger allergic reactions in nut allergy sufferers.
Ocean’s Halo Seaweed Snacks
Ocean’s Halo prides itself on its commitment to reducing the amount of plastic in the oceans.
To this end, they have packaged their products including their seaweed snacks in trayless packaging.
Not only does this respect the ocean that they harvest their seaweed, but it also reduces the amount of packaging they need by 4 times.
With more than 2 billion seaweed snacks sold worldwide, that’s a huge reduction in plastic which is beneficial for the oceans.
The flavoring of Ocean Halo’s seaweed snacks includes sea salt, wasabi, sriracha, Korean BBQ, chili lime, and Maui onion. These are some flavors that you may not find elsewhere, so they are worth checking out.
Their seaweed snacks have just 20 calories and 1 gram of fat per serving and are an excellent source of thyroid-friendly iodine.
They are also rich in vitamin B12. Ocean’s Halo’s snacks are gluten-free, have no MSG or preservatives, and are non-GMO.
Annie Chun’s Organic Seaweed Snacks
Annie Chun’s is committed to what goes into their food and more particularly, what doesn’t. Simple gourmet Asian foods are their goal, and they strive to provide top-quality products.
They offer non-GMO, gluten-free, and organic products and that includes their delicious seaweed snacks.
The snacks are just one part of their product range, but they offer six different flavors, sea salt, teriyaki, Korean BBQ, wasabi, sesame, and sea salt and vinegar.
Each pack of seaweed snacks is 10 grams and contains 25 calories per serving. There is zero saturated or trans fat and no cholesterol.
Each serving provides around 2% of your daily sodium intake, 4% of fiber, and 2% of both potassium and iron.
These are a great alternative to sugary snacks or fat-laden chips especially for children. They satisfy a salt craving without adding too much sodium to a diet and are beneficial for other nutrients including iodine.
SeaSnax Organic Roasted Seaweed Snacks
SeaSnax is particularly packaged to appeal to children with its bright colors and cartoon-type pictures. However, they are an award-winning brand that makes seaweed snacks for the whole family.
They use sustainably grown organic seaweed which is roasted with organic extra virgin olive oil and some sea salt.
Each serving has 15–25 calories depending on the flavor and provides a healthy alternative snack for between meals while adding sea vegetables to a diet.
You won’t find any artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives in SeaSnax products or any GMO ingredients. Instead, you get a cholesterol-free, sugar-free, and low-fat snack for adults and kids alike.
Flavors on offer include sea salt, chipotle, wasabi, and onion. They also produce a seaweed snack that has no flavoring at all and is presented in its raw form.
Single packs are available as 15-gram bags, and you can buy larger multi-packs to keep you stocked up.
Seaweed Love All Natural Roasted Seaweed
Seaweed Love is a family business that grew from an age-old tradition of roasting and flavoring seaweed to be enjoyed in the home.
The company’s founder would watch his grandmother do this with love, hence the name of the brand.
Today the seaweed is carefully selected from only the best harvests in South Korea before being roasted and flavored at the company’s own facility.
Focusing on quality ingredients the brand only offers three flavors of seaweed snacks, original, olive oil, and coconut.
Each 5-gram pack of roasted seaweed is vegetarian and gluten-free. It is also made without any MSG and has no sugar added. The products are also non-GMO verified.
For those who are watching their weight and health, this snack has no trans fats and zero cholesterol. It is a great source of vitamins and minerals including thyroid-friendly iodine and provides daily iron and potassium.
Simple Truth Organic Seaweed Snacks
Simple Truth Organic seaweed snacks are available exclusively at the Kroger Company family of stores. The company produces organic, natural, and free-from foods that are tasty and affordable including seaweed snacks.
Sea salt and wasabi flavors of seaweed are available and come in either handy individual packaging or multipacks for convenience. They are non-GMO as well as being USDA organic and provide 30 calories per 5-gram serving.
Each individual bag contains 2% of the daily value of iron and potassium as well as 4% of the daily recommended dietary fiber.
You will get 2% of your daily sodium intake and 4% of total fat for the day from one serving of Simple Truth Organic roasted seaweed.
The only ingredients included are organic seaweed, organic sunflower oil, and sea salt. Some flavors use organic pressed canola oil which contains omega 3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated that can help to reduce high triglycerides.
Buyer’s Guide
Thyroid Function
One of the most notable benefits of eating roasted seaweed is that it is high in iodine. Many people may not realize how important iodine is in a diet, but it is vital for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland which itself is extremely important.
The thyroid gland releases hormones that affect many of the biochemical processes in our bodies.
This includes metabolism, energy production, growth, and the repair of damaged cells. Your thyroid gland relies on iodine in order to be able to carry hormones.
Seaweed has the ability to absorb iodine in concentrated amounts from the ocean. The amount of iodine varies according to the type of seaweed, where it’s grown, and how it is processed.
Nori contains 25% of the daily recommended intake of iodine. Other varieties such as wakame provide 93% of iodine RDI while kombu gives a whopping 1,682%.
As well as iodine seaweed contains an amino acid which is called tyrosine. This is used along with iodine in the body to make two important hormones in the body that allow the thyroid to function properly.
Nutritional Health Benefits
On top of being a great source of iodine, seaweed also contains numerous other nutrients which are beneficial to us.
Seaweed is basically a vegetable, albeit a sea vegetable and so it should be of no surprise to us that it contains lots of vitamins and minerals just like land vegetables.
And just like vegetables that grow in soil, there are lots of varieties of seaweed growing in the oceans.
Each type of seaweed has a unique set of nutrients. The seven most commonly eaten seaweeds are wakame, kombu, nori, dulse, hijiki, Irish moss, and sea lettuce. Kelp, chlorella, agar, and carrageenan are also commonly used in cooking.
The nutrients most commonly found in seaweed are:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin B2
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Potassium
- Calcium
- Iron
- Folate
- Copper
- Manganese
Some types of seaweed such as chlorella and spirulina contain all of the essential amino acids which your body needs in order to function.
Seaweed also contains a wide variety of compounds that have antioxidant properties and effects.
Antioxidants help to make free radicals, which are unstable substances, less reactive. This has the effect of reducing the likelihood of damage to your cells.
Other Health Benefits
It may not surprise you to learn that seaweed provides fiber to your diet as it is a vegetable. Fiber makes up between 25% and 75% of the dry weight of seaweed, this is more than the fiber content of land vegetables and fruit.
The fiber in seaweed can be useful as a food source for the bacteria in your gut as it resists digestion. In addition, the sugars found in seaweed, known as sulfated polysaccharides are known to increase the growth of good bacteria in the gut.
Being high in fiber seaweed is low in calories as fiber does not contain any calories. Its fiber content also helps with slowing down stomach emptying. This helps you to feel fuller for longer and delays any feelings of hunger.
Having seaweed snacks instead of chips or other unhealthy snacks can help reduce the risk of heart disease. This is because seaweed may aid in the reduction of blood cholesterol levels.
In tests in labs, it was found that feeding rats with high cholesterol a diet supplemented with freeze-dried seaweed lowered the levels of cholesterol significantly.
Excessive blood clotting is another risk factor for heart disease. Seaweed contains fucans, which are carbohydrates that prevent blood from clotting. Fucans have been proven to be as effective at preventing blood clots as an anti-clotting drug.
The effect of seaweed on blood sugar has been studied in Japan. A substance in brown seaweed, called fucoxanthin, was used in tests and showed improved blood sugar levels in those patients who received it compared to a control group.
Another substance found in seaweed, alginate, seems to prevent blood sugar spikes following a high-sugar meal. It is thought to reduce how much sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream.
Flavors
There are many different flavors of seaweed snacks depending on the brand that produces them. But have you ever wondered how seaweed is processed from floating in the ocean to becoming a nutritious and flavorful snack?
Hundreds of pounds of fresh seaweed is harvested from the ocean when it reaches its peak flavor in the winter. The seaweed is transported to a facility where it is washed, sheeted and then dried.
It actually goes through two rounds of roasting, once after being dried and once again after it has been seasoned. The large sheets get cut into smaller more manageable pieces and sorted into trays. It’s then packaged and sent around the world.
Seaweed is the most nutrition-dense vegetable on the planet but to make it appealing to more people flavors are added.
The most common is sea salt, but there are other popular flavors such as wasabi, sriracha, olive oil, avocado oil, coconut, chili, and Korean BBQ.
Where To Buy Seaweed Snacks?
If you like the sound of seaweed snacks, their flavors, and their health benefits you might want to try them for yourself or for your family.
Many larger retailers such as Walmart will have an Asian food section and this is a good place to start while you are out grocery shopping.
Of course, you can also buy them online at Amazon or other online retailers and in specialty Asian cuisine stores. Not all brands make different flavors, so you may need to shop around for your favorite flavor.
When selecting seaweed snacks it is advisable to choose those with the minimum amount of ingredients, the fewer the ingredients the healthier it should be. It should really only contain seaweed, oil, and flavoring. Any other ingredients added may reduce its health benefits.
Another consideration when buying roasted seaweed is to choose darker-colored and less transparent sheets. These will typically be higher quality than those that are more see-through.
Occasionally, with some packaging you may not be able to see the product so instead check the list of ingredients, this should be minimal as stated above. Check for sesame oil in the list of ingredients if anyone in your family has a nut allergy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Seaweed Snacks Actual Seaweed?
Seaweed snacks are made from real seaweed with around seven different types used to make different types of snacks. The most common is nori which is roasted and packaged like chips.
What Do Seaweed Snacks Taste Of?
Seaweed snacks are roasted and then flavored with various ingredients such as sea salt, wasabi, chili, sriracha, and onion. The added flavoring determines the final taste of the roasted seaweed.
Are Seaweed Snacks Good For You?
Seaweed snacks can provide lots of vitamins and minerals. They are also a great source of iodine and can contribute antioxidants to a diet.
They are a good weight loss snack as they are very low in calories but high in fiber which makes you feel fuller for longer.
Can You Eat Too Much Seaweed?
Any food should be eaten in moderation even one as nutrient-dense and low-calorie as seaweed.
As it contains high amounts of iodine, depending on the type of seaweed, eating it every day may mean you are consuming too much iodine which can affect your thyroid.