Book: Marine Herbalism *PREORDER* Available Spring 2029
*SHIPPING SPRING 2029*
Marine Herbalism is a book currently being written by Kristy Bredin to be published by Aeon Books.
The ocean is an elemental body that connects continents and people throughout the world; we experience this interconnectedness when we step into the ocean and sense how the same water that is touching us has also touched far-away lands and far-away people. The ocean is the source and origin of all life, yet a place that holds many mysteries for us land dwellers. Seaweeds link us back to these origins, connect us to other places in the world, and open the doorway to this underwater world that is so familiar and yet so unknown.
Though gaining popularity in Western cultures, seaweeds are still unfamiliar to many herbalists, land plant foragers, foodies, seaside explorers, and other folks with related interests who might be inclined to connect with seaweeds as food, medicine, or part of their home environment. Seaweeds are amazing, unique food sources, unlike any of the land plants that we know. They offer us an exceptional palette of flavors and nutrients and polysaccharides that are well studied for their antiviral properties and uses in tissue engineering, amongst many other potential medicinal uses.
Marine Herbalism will be a resource for folks looking to navigate the world seaweeds as food or medicines in support of their own well being or guiding others in practice. It is a practical evaluation of the breadth of ways seaweeds can be used to support various imbalances in the body and bring diversity and inspiration to the home kitchen or home apothecary. Simply working with seaweeds as food or understanding how they live and grow in our coastal environments can open a doorway for learning and connection: engaging with and starting to understand seaweeds in the field and in the context of their uses as food and medicine can teach us a lot about ocean ecosystems as well as about our origins and the primal resources that we still rely on to thrive. Whether purchasing from small harvesters or harvesting your own for food, seaweeds provides a unique opportunity for folks to re-engage with ocean environments in a deeply invested way, supporting ocean stewardship and sustainable, healthy ocean food resources for all creatures for whom the ocean is life.
Among the topics being researched for inclusion in Marine Herbalism are:
types of seaweeds
healing properties
nutrient content
mucopolysaccharides: seaweeds’ unique, medicinal gels
iodine, seaweeds, and thyroid health
external uses of seaweeds
pollution issues (in depth discussion of seaweeds’ relationship with various ocean pollutants and the question of their bioavailability).
common seaweeds of the world as food and medicine
how to select, source, and work with seaweeds
herbal seaweed recipes and medicinal preparations, including fermented seaweed beverages
case studies
seaweed harvesting appendix
Marine Herbalism will be an incredible volume for navigating the times in which we live—where alternative food resources will be pivotol in creating worldwide ecosystem balance, and the profound and unique healing abilities and superlative nutrient density of seaweeds might be critical in sustaining human health and supporting detoxification at a time when we are most vulnerable to nutrient deficiencies and toxicity in our foodstream and environment. Marine Herbalism will bring seaweeds alive for the reader in several different ways and support them in finding their own unique ways of engaging with these magical macroalgae in their everyday lives.
Your preorder supports the innumerable hours and resources that go into making this amazing book. Thank you for your investment!