Sea moss or Irish moss is a type of red algae and an excellent source of nutrients. Sea moss abundantly grows on the Atlantic coastlines of Europe, Africa, Caribbean Islands, and North America. Irish moss is full of minerals and vitamins that our body needs. Therefore, it has been widely used as a food and medicine since 1800s. But nowadays, fake sea moss or pool harvested sea moss is also quite common. So, how to tell your sea moss is fake or real? And, what are the differences between real sea moss and fake sea moss. Or, real sea moss vs fake sea moss.
So, I am here with a solution to your problem. Here, I will tell how can you differentiate between real and fake sea moss? There are plenty of differences that you can consider to know whether your sea moss is real or fake. Here are 12 ways to tell your sea is fake. In addition, I will also explain what is actually real and fake sea moss are? And, how can you buy real sea moss? So, let’s move on and reveal the real facts about real sea moss vs fake.
What Is The Difference Between Real And Fake Sea Moss?
There are lot more differences between real and fake sea moss. So, consider them to know whether your moss is real or not. The most apparent difference that you can notice at a glance is moss color and texture.
Real sea moss is usually darker in color, varying from dark golden shades to dark brown or purple. Moreover, its extensions are super thin, delicate, and stringy that one can break with a slight touch. And, tiny sea salt grains cover sea moss, making it salty but not extremely salty.
On the other hand, fake sea moss is lighter in color usually yellowish or off white with lighter shades. In addition, it has thicker, gummy, or rubbery extensions with a slippery feel. And, a lot of synthetic or table salt covers its stems making Irish moss extremely salty.
Another difference of worth noticing is the amount of visible salt grains on the moss. As fake sea moss has a lot of large visible salt grains, while authentic sea moss has no much visible sea salt grains.
Real Sea Moss Vs Fake Sea Moss
As we all know, Irish moss is a super food full of essential nutrients. More precisely, it offers 92 essential nutrients to the human body, including minerals, salts, and vitamins. However nowadays, pool harvested moss is quite common but not healthy as much as real sea moss.
So, learn about the authenticity of sea moss and become more conscious about your routine diet. Beside the difference of stem structure and appearance, there are plenty of other differences ranging from the soaking process to its usage.
Fake or pool grown sea moss is not as nutritious as real moss, and thus provides you with a little energy. Natural or ocean growing moss gets its nutrition from the natural sea environment. And, direct sunlight, sea salt, ocean currents, rocks, and other living creatures directly influence the growth of Irish moss. So, it offers a whole package of nutrients and energy to the body.
However, pools or large tanks also mimic the flow of the ocean with added synthetic salt, but it cannot replicate the whole sea environment. Therefore, fake sea moss may be harmful or bad choice for you. So, it is quite essential to know how to tell real sea moss from fake.
Here, I will discuss some ways of identifying real sea moss from fake. So, let’s read.
How To Tell Real Sea Moss From Fake
Getting real sea moss is not a tricky task if you have enough knowledge about Irish moss authenticity. Broad your research and know what is the difference between real and fake sea moss or real sea moss vs fake.
Below are some ways of telling whether your moss is authentic or not.
Real Sea Moss Is Alkaline In Nature
pH of real sea moss is 7.5 thus it is alkaline in nature. Moreover, its electrical conductance is also less than fake moss. Real moss has a higher content of ions of sea salts.
On the other hand, fake Irish moss is slightly acidic in nature with 6.8 pH. And, its electrical conductance is higher due to its salt composition.
Real Sea Moss Is Slightly Salty
The slight salty taste of authentic sea moss is due to the absorption of sea salt. Even it is hard to notice tiny salt grains on the extensions of moss.
However, pool grown moss is extremely salty to taste. It is because of added synthetic or table salt to pools in order to replicate the ocean properties. Consequently, this synthetic salt makes moss saltier. Moreover, salt grains of fake moss are much more visible and larger in size.
Real Sea Moss Is Stringy Or Chunky
One can easily consider the delicate yet chunky appearance of real sea moss. It feels stringy, crispy, or chunky to touch and breaks easily.
However, fake moss feels slippery and rubbery to touch. And, when you try to break its stems, they bend easily instead of breaking.
Real Sea Moss Expands After Soaking
As we all know, real moss is super thin with delicate stems, so it expands on soaking. More precisely, it expands 3 times than its actual size when you allow it to soak in water.
In contrast, fake moss is much thicker in size, so it does not expand on soaking. Thus, it is a major and noticeable difference between real and fake sea moss.
Real Sea Moss Is Darker In Color
Real Irish moss comes in various species and varieties, but all are darker in color. Usually, they have a darker tone of golden, brown, or purple.
While fake moss comes in lighter shades, mostly white, yellowish, or other lighter tones. So, one can easily notice this difference to know a difference between real and fake sea moss.
Real Sea Moss Is Dry
Real moss is completely dry or a little flaky to feel with no moisture at all. While on the other side, fake moss feels moistened and wet. Moreover, it has a wet and slippery appearance.
Real Sea Moss Has Thinner Extensions
Another prominent difference is the thickness of moss stems or extensions. Real moss has thinner and fragile stems, usually about 2mm in diameter.
However, fake moss has thicker and strong stems, usually double or triple the actual size of real moss.
Read Also: What Are Sea Moss Detox Symptoms?
Other Attributes Real Sea Moss Vs Fake
Besides the above attributes, there are various other differences between real and fake sea moss. So, let’s broad your understandings and concepts and know further about real sea moss vs fake sea moss.
Appearance
Real moss is much like a sea sponge with a rough, irregular, and mesh-like structure. The extensions of real moss look tangled and twisted with each other making a haphazard structure.
In contrast, fake sea moss has regularly arranged stems in a precise alignment. Usually, its extensions look noodle-like that are arranged in a defined manner.
Smell
Real moss has a fish or sea like smell. However, this smell could be light or strong depending on a particular moss specie or type.
While fake sea moss has somewhat synthetic or artificial chemical like smell. But several producers introduce sea weeds in pool tanks to produce sea moss with a sea like smell. So, be careful in the selection of real moss.
Taste
Just like smell, real moss has a fishy taste telling you that it comes from sea or oceans.
While fake moss has a synthetic or chemical taste leaving unpleasant flavor notes on your taste buds.
Price
Real moss is more expensive as compared to fake one. And the fact is in the import of sea moss from the coastal Caribbean islands. As it involves a lot of work to get moss from ocean and its supply to the markets, so it costs almost double or three times as much as fake moss.
Harvested Area
Real moss usually grows in the oceans of Central America and Caribbean coastal islands. While fake moss is grown in East China, India, and Vietnam.
So, be sure to check the suppliers that supply real moss in order to get most fresh and nutritious sea moss.
Ocean Sand Or Other Weeds
As real moss grows in sea or ocean, so there are chances that moss often has ocean sand or other attached weeds telling you it comes from ocean. So, it would be best to soak it in warm water and rinse it completely before use.
In contrast, fake moss hardly contains other sea weeds or sand particles as it grows in clean pools or tanks.
Does Fake Sea Moss Nutritious
As fake sea moss grows in large water pools or tanks rather than sea, it is not as much nutritious as real moss. However, we can’t say fake moss is not nutritious at all but it doesn’t offer same nutrition and energy as real sea moss.
By the way, it could be better than nothing. So, it would be beneficial for someone who are unable to access real moss. But I really recommend to buy sea moss from trusted suppliers to get expected health benefits.
Does Fake Sea Moss Bad For You
If you have mistakenly bought fake sea moss, you may think does it goes bad? Fake moss isn’t bad for you under normal health conditions but give you less nutrition and energy as compared to real moss.
But if you are suffering from high blood pressure or any other related health condition, fake sea moss may harm you. Because of added synthetic salt, fake or pool harvested sea moss can increase the risk of high blood pressure rather than lowering it.
However, it may also harm you if you take it in a high quantity. Its too much salt content can cause various health disorders. So, stay away from fake moss until you know the real sea moss vs fake sea moss facts.
Read Also: What Are Sea Moss Side Effects?
Benefits of Real Sea Moss
As real sea moss is a super healthy food, it provides you with all essential minerals, vitamins, and salts. Besides good nutrition and energy, there are plenty of other health benefits of real sea moss. So, let’s take a look.
- Sea moss improves body metabolism by regulating thyroid hormones and blood circulation.
- Sea moss boosts immunity by filtering out germs and harmful bacteria from the blood circulation. As it is rich in antiviral, antimicrobial, anticoagulant, and antibacterial properties.
- Sea moss is responsible for good digestion as it improves the functionality of the digestive tract. Moreover, it also reduces appetite thus helps in losing weight.
- Sea moss meets the daily nutrient requirement of the body and thus helpful in the recovery of wounds or cut.
- It lowers bad cholesterol thus lowers the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
How To Buy Real Sea Moss
Knowing real sea moss vs fake or how to tell real sea moss from fake is not enough. You should consider other attributes before buying real sea moss to avoid any health risk.
So, consider the environmental conditions of the area from where sea moss come from. Similarly, the quality of sea water also matters in such a situation.
Also consider the quality of a real sea moss as a final product and its price. All these factors are also worth considering before buying sea moss.
However, you can also order it online from trusted suppliers. For instance, it’s best to order sea moss online from Amazon, Jamaica, The Bahamas, and other Caribbean nations.
End Note About Real Sea Moss Vs Fake
Knowing how to tell real sea moss from fake is essential to avoid health risks causing by fake sea moss. So, consider what is difference between real and fake sea moss to buy always fresh and authentic moss. You can use sea moss in your routine smoothies, shakes, food recipes, and tea. Enjoy yourself and keep exploring new food facts.
You May Also Like:
Can You Eat Cereal With Water?