Irish sea moss (scientific name Chondrus crispus) is a red seaweed that grows on rocky North Atlantic coasts. It's been used as a food and traditional remedy in Ireland for centuries, particularly during the great famine when it was harvested as an emergency source of nutrition. The Caribbean equivalent (often called Jamaican sea moss) is a closely related species (Eucheuma cottonii) and is used in the same ways.
What makes sea moss interesting nutritionally is its natural mineral density. It accumulates iodine, magnesium, potassium, calcium and a range of trace minerals from seawater. Iodine in particular is meaningful because UK dietary intake has dropped over the last few decades (we don't iodise our salt the way many other countries do). The thyroid needs iodine to make hormones that regulate metabolism, body temperature and energy.
You'll see sea moss marketed everywhere as containing 92 of the 102 minerals your body needs. That figure is folk wisdom, not a scientifically established analysis. What sea moss does contain is genuinely useful, just not quite as miraculous as some marketing suggests.
Sea moss also contains carrageenan (a natural polysaccharide), which is what gives it its gelling property and is partly why it's been used traditionally for sore throats and digestive complaints. The carrageenan in whole sea moss is different from the highly processed food additive of the same name, which has had some negative press over the years.
We use a 50:1 concentrated extract of wild Atlantic Chondrus crispus, encapsulated in the Sea Moss gummy. One gummy a day, alongside the other five in your daily mini pouch.