We have been seeing sea moss gel everywhere, but what even is it? We’ve heard the rumors that it has some potential skin, gut, and even thyroid benefits, but let’s dig a little deeper into the basics of sea moss.
To be honest, we love learning about new plant-based ways to help boost your inner health, including our skin health! Even though we have our trusty vegan collagen support blends, we still have been interested in sea moss and how it might benefit our health. But… let’s get into what this new internet trend is and how you might be able to benefit from it.
What is Irish Sea Moss?
To be honest, it’s seaweed! Seaweed although looks like the weeds of the ocean is actually a type of algae. There are over 10,000 species of seaweed and all sea mosses (yes there are different types!) all of them are from red seaweed which is also known as rhodophytes. Rhodophytes is a species of seaweed, one of the largest actually. There are actually three major types of groups of algae, brown algae, phaeophyceae, green algae, chlorophyta, and red algae, rhodophyta.
Similar to plants on land, seaweed, and sea moss also use sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to create their food. This is why seaweed is often seen at the ocean’s surface (to get their needed sunlight!) and overall there needs to be an abundance of carbon dioxide in the water. Seaweed will absorb the water and nutrients via its tissues which are coming from its direct surrounding water. Unlike land plants, they do not carry a system of roots, which is why they get their nutrients and hydration from their leaf and stem-like body surface. Due to this, seaweed has to be constantly submerged either wholly or partially.
Okay okay… but what is Irish sea moss? Irish sea moss is its most common name, but it is actually called chondrus crispus! It grows in cooler waters, mainly near Great Britain, the coast of Ireland, Maine, Canada, and other places that have cooler waters. You can find it in gel form or in a dried form that you can use to make it into a gel form (either for eating or as a face mask!)
Types at the Market
Overall, there are three main types of sea moss that you might see at the market for consumption.
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Chondrus Crispus
It grows in cooler waters, mainly near Great Britain, the coast of Ireland, Maine, Canada, and other places that have cooler waters. You can find it in gel form or in a dried form that you can use to make it into a gel form (either for eating or as a face mask!). Most commonly called Irish Sea Moss.
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Eucheuma Cottonii
Commonly called Sea Moss and it grows in much warmer waters like the Java Sea, Celebes Sea, Solomon Sea, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans.
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Genus Gracilaria
Commonly called Sea Moss and it grows in much warmer waters like the Java Sea, Celebes Sea, Solomon Sea, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans.
How is Irish Sea Moss Grown?
Irish Sea Moss is commonly grown by attaching itself to rocks in order to be able to still provide nutrients in the ocean. Its root system overall does not have the ability to be organically grown in open-ocean farming. It can be abundantly found along the rockier parts of the Atlantic coast of Europe and North America.
How to Prepare Irish Sea Moss
If you bought your sea moss dried (see the above picture), then you’ll probably want to prepare it into a gel to either put in smoothies, eat raw, or use as a face mask. Find the steps below to create it into a gel!
- Remove sea moss from container
- Rinse thoroughly until all salt, sand, or dirt is removed.
- Soak your sea moss overnight in a bowl of warm water, some even soak it for 24 hours. Make sure all sea moss is covered with water when soaking.
- Drain and rinse again
- You can either eat it as is, or you can blend it in your blender with water to create the gel. Blend with water.
Potential Irish Sea Moss Skin Benefits
Sea moss can be an important source of plant-based collagen support. It is rich in sulfur, which helps it produce a serious beauty boost. You can either consume sea moss gel orally or apply it directly to your face. If you apply it directly to your face it can have the potential to decrease the excessive production of sebum (aka oil) in the skin. If you are also seeking out some plant-based collagen support, you can try one of the many flavors of our vegan collagen support blends. We have matcha, original, vanilla, and our cacao calm vegan collagen support blend.
Other amazing possible benefits of Irish Sea Moss include gut or digestive health and thyroid support. Sea moss can potentially help with gut health because it has a prebiotic mucilage which is a type of fiber that contains beneficial gut microbes. This can support your gut health.* Sea moss can also provide thyroid support because it has iodine in it. In order for the thyroid to function properly, it needs iodine in order to keep up with creating and using hormones throughout the body. Supporting these two parts of your body’s functions are important to your overall health.*
Sea moss can also have an antibacterial effect which could have the potential to help reduce severe acne in people because of how it interacts with the skin’s bacteria. Some even say if you apply sea moss under your eyes that it can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and diminish dark circles! The nutrient-dense sea plant also is very effective at aiding dehydrated skin.
You can even see the benefits of sea moss as a conditioner as there are claims that it helps nourish and strengthen the hair. Sea moss also as has grown in popularity and has become even more popular as an ingredient in natural skin care products.
If you want to read more about the skin benefits of sea moss gel, check out our blog post dedicated to the beauty-boosting qualities of sea moss.
What does Irish Sea Moss taste like?
Some say that sea moss gel has no flavor, and some even have a little bit of flavor added to them, but we think the gel tastes like muted salty seaweed. Some gels that have gone through more of a cleansing process have less of a salty, seaweed taste.
How to Add Irish Sea Moss to Your Diet
Sea moss can be a really easy add-in for your smoothies, which is the way we normally add the gel to our diet. You can also eat it raw, eating a spoonful a day to get in the many minerals and vitamins that are in sea moss gel.
If you want to try adding it to a smoothie, you can try our Hailey Bieber’s Strawberry Skin Glaze (vegan of course). You can also add it easily to any of our favorite skin-centered smoothie recipes!
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