I’m kind of blown away by this article from Nature.com.
Some crazy scientists just discovered that Westerners who eat sushi and think they’re getting tons of protein from the seaweed are misinformed. Apparently, because Japanese people have been eating so much seaweed for so long (an average of 14 grams per person each day) they as a race have developed a bacterium in their guts that helps them digest the beloved algae treat known as ‘nori’, which is found in so much of their diet through stuff like soups, salads, and of course “makizushi”.
The Japanese people may be the only ones who actually get protein out of the nori seaweed…the stomach-dwelling bacterium Bacteroides Plebeiusin evolved within the Japanese digestive system to take on specific genes that help it break down proteins found in seaweed.
But I bet they don’t have our stomach-dwelling ‘Freedom Fries’ bacterium.
