Best Sea Moss

Chances are, you’ve unknowingly eaten sea moss at some point in your life; sea moss (a type of red algae) is used to make a thickening agent known as carrageenan. This sometimes controversial thickener is often found in milk products like ice cream, cottage cheese, pudding, and infant formula.1

Besides being useful as a thickener, sea moss has shown other potential benefits in research studies, such as better blood sugar management,2 a healthier gut microbiome,3 and improved immunity.4 It also contains many vitamins and minerals that could help with heart health, weight loss, and more.5

You can consume sea moss in its raw form, but supplements are also available in capsules, gummies, powders, and gels. We’ve picked our top three sea moss supplement brands and covered each applicable product’s cost, ingredients, effectiveness, and convenience in this guide.

If you don’t have time to read the whole guide, take a look at our recommendation summary below.

We’ve taken great care to provide you with the most accurate and current information on sea moss supplementation. To bring you unbiased recommendations, we’ve spent over 80 hours in our review process, which involved extensive research and evaluation of products across the competitive landscape and a thorough examination of over 30 scientific journals and studies.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make informed decisions about their health and well-being. We evaluate the products and services we review based on current health standards and medical research, continuously assessing our information to ensure it’s always up-to-date.

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy.

To provide a comprehensive picture of our top picks, we’ve assessed sea moss supplements based on four essential criteria: safety, effectiveness, cost, and convenience.

The safety of a sea moss supplement is our top priority, especially due to the possibility of heavy or toxic metal contamination.28 29 30 The supplement's effectiveness comes next; once you’re sure the product is safe, it needs to be worth your time and money. Cost is third on our list of criteria — many sea moss supplements are expensive, so finding a product that doesn’t break the bank while still being safe and potentially effective is ideal. And finally, we considered convenience. While convenience can be a subjective factor, research suggests that the less time and effort you need to put into taking a supplement or medication, the more likely you are to continue using it.31

Check out our winners in each category below.

Safety

Winners: Double Wood and Nutra Remedies

When shopping for a sea moss supplement, it’s a good idea to pay attention to how a company verifies product safety. This can include how and where the supplement is manufactured, tested, and formulated. You might want to look elsewhere if a company doesn’t mention its safety standards.

It’s important to note that each of the brands in our top recommendations report being lab-tested and produced in GMP-compliant facilities. (GMP stands for Good Manufacturing Practice.) What makes Double Wood and Nutra Remedies stand out is transparency. We appreciate Nutra’s extensive list of things it doesn’t include in its capsules, like GMOs (genetically modified organisms), fillers, binders, lactose, gluten, dairy, fish, nuts, sugar, and so on. And for Double Wood, it’s very valuable that the company provides its certificate of analysis and third-party test results (links to both can be found right on the product page). This easily allows you to confirm that it won’t harm you with an unwanted presence of toxic metals, for instance.

While Maju is third-party tested and packaged in a GMP-certified facility, we couldn’t locate information on whether or not Maju is actually produced in the United States. (The company’s customer service team only stated that its sea moss is harvested in Canada and “packaged” in the United States — we weren’t told where exactly the capsules are made.)

Effectiveness

Winners: Nutra Remedies (capsules) and Maju Superfoods (Wild Sea Moss capsules)

An effective sea moss supplement includes ingredients in amounts that can help it deliver on its promises.

Nutra and Maju’s sea moss capsules both contain BioPerine — a black pepper or piperine extract that acts as a bioavailability enhancer.6 Both of these supplements include this patented black pepper extract, which has shown evidence for potentially increasing the rate at which the body absorbs some vitamins and minerals. This means that your body might absorb the supplement’s components faster and boost the rate at which you see results.6 7

Cost

Winner: Double Wood

The costs of sea moss supplements vary widely; you can purchase some for less than $20, while others are almost $55 for a single bottle (Nutra Remedies’ sea moss gummies are $54.97). When choosing our recommendation for cost, we considered sea moss content, money-back guarantee, subscription options, and shipping.

Double Wood stands out for cost because you can purchase a 45-day supply of 1,200mg capsules for only $19.95. While this isn’t the lowest price per bottle we found during our research (the capsules from competitors NutriVein and Wixar Naturals are tied for that title at $18.99 a bottle, albeit with less or unknown “proprietary” amounts of sea moss), Double Wood offers other cost-effective benefits, including a free shipping option for all orders, a subscription program that saves you 15%, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The company’s other sea moss offerings are relatively inexpensive, too. For instance, Double Wood’s gummies have the same supplement count and amounts of Irish sea moss, bladderwrack, and burdock root as Nutra’s, but for $19.95 instead of nearly $55. You could buy Double Wood’s 3-pack of gummies ($49.95) for less than one bottle of Nutra’s.

Convenience

Winner: Maju Superfoods (Wild Sea Moss capsules)

Maju’s Wild Sea Moss capsules are the only sea moss supplement in our guide that has a single-item serving size — most competitors require you to take at least two supplements. And with the addition of bladderwrack, burdock root, and BioPerine as a bioavailability booster, you may find yourself seeing the benefits of these ingredients from only one capsule.

Like all supplements, consistency is key when taking a sea moss supplement — you’re more likely to reap long-term health benefits over time. So, finding a product that’s easy to take helps ensure continued use.

If capsules, in general, aren’t a convenient option for you, there are also gummies available from Double Wood and Nutra Remedies. Both options boast high sea moss content with bladderwrack and burdock root.

Sea moss is known by a few names, including “Irish moss” and its scientific name Chondrus crispus. This sea vegetable is a type of red algae that grows primarily in the Atlantic Ocean — mostly along the coasts of North America and Europe.8 Sea moss contains carrageenan, which is a polysaccharide used as a food additive to thicken milk products like ice cream or yogurt.1

You can purchase raw sea moss, but it is also available as a dietary supplement, generally in capsules, gummies, powders, and topical or edible gel. Sea moss and other types of seaweed are high in many vitamins and nutrients, including:5 9 10

• Vitamin B2
• Vitamin B12
• Calcium
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Zinc
• Iodine
• Polyphenols (antioxidants)

Because it’s high in vitamins and minerals while low in calories and fat, sea moss is used by many as a dietary supplement to benefit overall health.10 Some supplement companies even claim that consuming sea moss can help with the following:

Research about the usefulness of sea moss in some of these areas is quite promising, but more evidence is needed to verify these health claims. While some studies have demonstrated the potential health benefits of sea moss on animals, very few have examined the effects on humans — whether good or bad. This means that any purported benefits should be taken with a grain of salt until further research is conducted. Many of the benefits that brands list appear to be based on the vitamin and mineral content of sea moss rather than sea moss itself.

How to prepare sea moss

If you’re interested in or prefer to use raw sea moss, like Maju’s Raw Purple Sea Moss, you can prepare it for use in cooking through the following steps:

1. Rinse the sea moss thoroughly in cold water to remove salt and debris.
2. Soak it in cold water overnight or for up to 24 hours; the sea moss will expand and might turn white.
3. Preserve the water from the soak and rinse the soaked sea moss again.
4. Blend the sea moss and one cup of the water from the soak. You can add more water until it becomes the consistency you prefer.
5. Store it in your refrigerator for up to three weeks.

The resulting gel is sometimes referred to as a “vegan gelatin substitute” and can be used in:

• Smoothies
• Jams and jellies
• Soups and stews
• Sauces
• Ice cream

Be aware that sea moss gel does have a fishy, earthy smell and flavor; this is why some premade sea moss gels come flavored (the one from Double Wood is peach and mango). It also has a thick texture that may be unpleasant to some when consumed on its own instead of mixed in something else, like a smoothie. Besides eating the gel, you can also use it as a topical gel or make it into a rejuvenating face mask — some cosmetics include it as an ingredient due to its possible anti-aging effects.11

Sea moss is said to have a variety of potential health-boosting qualities, but it’s important to know how this ingredient could impact your body. Keep in mind that many of these health claims aren’t yet proven by clinical research studies and are mostly based on anecdotal evidence, animal studies, or conclusions drawn from sea moss's vitamin and mineral content.

Here are some of the purported benefits of sea moss supplements:12

• Weight loss: Some seaweeds contain alginate (a polysaccharide or carbohydrate), which can provide a sense of satiety (the feeling of fullness), potentially due to alginate acting as an indigestible dietary fiber.32
• Thyroid health: Sea moss is high in iodine, an essential trace mineral that your thyroid needs to function properly.
• Digestion: The dietary fiber in marine algae might ferment to some degree in the large intestine, nourishing the microbiome and leading to prebiotic effects.
• Immunity: Sea moss is rich in iron and antioxidants, but there are no studies examining the bioavailability and efficacy of the latter in humans.
• Skin issues: Some seaweed contains the polysaccharide fucoidan, which showed anti-aging effects in double-blind clinical trials.11

A few scientific studies on sea moss show how it could improve various health issues. The following studies have been conducted on animals, but they show interesting results:

• Red sea moss was shown to slow the progress of Parkinson’s disease in worms.13
• Another worm study showed that sea moss supplementation boosted immunity.14
• Sea moss was shown to boost gut health in both hens and rats.15 16
• A separate study on rats showed that sea moss boosted the fertility of male subjects.17

In addition to sea moss, the supplements offered online or in stores typically include other ingredients that are said to complement its effectiveness. Some of the most common ones you’ll find are:

In general, sea moss supplements are thought to be safe for most people in moderation. The downside of taking sea moss is that scientific research on its benefits to humans is still lacking, and the algae can contain some potentially dangerous components.

Sea moss is high in iodine;12 too much iodine can cause health problems in otherwise healthy people, so taking only one serving of sea moss per day is essential.21

Sea moss (and seaweed in general) absorbs heavy metals from its environment.5 Consuming toxic levels of heavy metals can cause serious health complications. This is one good reason to choose a supplement that has been thoroughly third-party tested and offers transparency with its certificate of analysis.

Because sea moss is a product of its environment, it’s challenging to know just how much of each nutrient and vitamin you may get from each batch. Some locations or harvests of sea moss may be more potent than others.

We recommend consulting with your doctor before beginning sea moss supplementation (or any new supplement regimen). This is especially important if you take blood thinners or live with:22 23

• High blood pressure
• A bleeding disorder, such as hemophilia or von Willebrand disease
• Thyroid concerns, like hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

If you experience any adverse effects from taking a sea moss supplement, discontinue use.

Are sea moss supplements a good choice for you?

Sea moss supplements are a good choice for people who want to consume a product that may deliver a large number of vitamins and nutrients that could help with various health issues. There are delivery methods to suit a variety of preferences — you can choose from raw sea moss, capsules, gummies, powders, and gels.

Data on acceptable dosing amounts of sea moss are almost nonexistent, with one of the only studies on the topic noting that 4g (about ¼ of a tablespoon) of pure dehydrated Irish sea moss per day was unlikely to cause adverse effects, but 286g (over 19 tablespoons) would exceed the daily upper limit for iodine consumption in adults.26

It’s difficult to translate this data into the ideal sea moss dosage, but we did the math using the information from the study, and 4g (4,000mg) of pure Irish sea moss gives you about 16μg (micrograms) of iodine. The recommended daily amount of iodine for adults is 150μg, and the upper limit is 1,100μg per day, so it’s likely safe to assume that most commercial sea moss supplements are fine for daily use for most people (especially since they all contain less pure sea moss than the study).21 But always be sure to follow the dosing instructions on the product you purchase and to consult a qualified healthcare provider to reduce the risk of adverse effects.

It’s also important to remember that taking a sea moss supplement does not replace a healthy diet or lifestyle. Even though a supplement includes many of the vitamins and minerals your body needs, it’s considered best, when possible, to get those nutrients from food.24

Who should avoid sea moss supplements?

While sea moss itself is generally considered safe for those pregnant or breastfeeding (as iodine is particularly important during pregnancy and infancy), burdock root should be avoided. Commonly combined with sea moss in supplements, burdock may cause damage to the fetus.18 The same applies to bladderwrack, as it may contain heavy metals.33 If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, it’s best to err on the side of caution and speak with your doctor before taking any new supplements.

Because sea moss contains high levels of iodine, it can help with thyroid health, but it can also lead to thyroid issues.12 For example, one clinical study showed that taking sea moss supplements could worsen the impacts of Graves’ disease.25 People with hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, or any other thyroid concerns should consult a doctor before starting a sea moss supplement.

Consuming too much iodine is also dangerous for anyone, regardless of health status. Doing so can cause your thyroid to enlarge, which can develop into a goiter.21

Sea moss is also known to have mild anticoagulant properties.23 If you take blood thinners, have high blood pressure, or live with a bleeding disorder, it’s also best to avoid this supplement.

Ultimately, it’s important to follow the instructions on the package of your sea moss supplement, consult a healthcare provider, and not overdo it.

Best for most people; Highest potency capsule; Best option if pregnant; Best budget pick; Best gummy; Best premade gel

Double Wood Irish Moss Extract capsules provide a total of 1,200mg of sea moss in every serving and don’t include any other ingredients. While some of the other ingredients in sea moss supplements can provide potential health benefits, Double Wood is an excellent choice if you’re only interested in ingesting pure sea moss.

If you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or allergic to certain plants (like daisies, chrysanthemums, or ragweed), avoiding burdock root and bladderwrack is highly recommended. These two ingredients have the potential to cause dermatitis from allergies, contain heavy metals, or harm a fetus.18 Sea moss on its own is generally considered safe for pregnant individuals, but it’s always best to speak with your doctor first. If you’re given the all-clear, then Double Wood’s sea moss supplement would be our recommendation.

The instructions on the Irish Moss Extract bottle note the serving size as two capsules. Double Wood states that some people can take up to six capsules daily, but we recommend speaking with a physician before taking such a high dose, as too much iodine can adversely affect your thyroid.

If you’re looking to combine sea moss with the commonly seen additions of burdock root and bladderwrack, then the company’s gummies could be a good choice. Besides having the highest amount of sea moss we’ve found (1,750mg), Double Wood’s gummies are also tied with Nutra’s for the most bladderwrack (1,000mg). However, the highest levels of burdock root were found in Nutra’s sea moss capsules (750mg).

Some people would prefer not to take a pill or chew a gummy, and for them, Double Wood’s Irish Sea Moss Gel could be an ideal solution. The peach and mango flavored raw sea moss gel comes in an 8oz squeezable tube of 31 servings. Most other sea moss gels on the market are sold in jars, which is why the convenience of Double Wood’s sea moss gel stood out from the competition. And, even though the sea moss content of the gel is undisclosed, this is typical of other sea moss gels on the market, too.

No matter the form of sea moss you take, Double Wood takes safety and purity seriously. The company offers a certificate of analysis for each supplement it produces and provides easy access to third-party test results. Double Wood’s sea moss offerings are vegan, gluten-free, and manufactured in a cGMP-certified facility.

The company points out that its sea moss includes calcium, iodine, potassium, and sulfur, along with high levels of vitamins A, E, F, and K. But, this is true of Irish sea moss in general, so Muja and Nutra’s sea moss also contains the same vitamins and minerals.

Price

Double Wood provides a fairly standard 30-day money-back guarantee. The company explicitly points out that it does “not provide paid return labels for product returns” and “products must be returned at the customer's expense.” While this is a bit disappointing, it’s not uncommon; and the company does, at least, accept opened bottles. (This is in contrast to Nutra Remedies, which will pay for your return, but only if the product is unopened, and Muja, which will only take back an opened product once).

Overall, Double Wood’s prices are very affordable compared to its competitors — especially considering the ingredients and their amounts. A bottle of Double Wood’s sea moss gummies is nearly three times less expensive than Nutra’s (with the exact same ingredients and amounts).

Check out the price breakdown below. Note that the price chart only includes single-item offerings — Double Wood does offer two and three packs of its sea moss products. And if you choose to subscribe, you can save 10-15% and opt for auto-delivery every 30, 60, or 90 days.

Runner-up; Quickest results

We consider Nutra Remedies a good option because of the supplement’s ingredients, the company’s transparent commitment to safety, and its flexible subscription options.

Nutra’s sea moss capsules contain sea moss, bladderwrack, burdock root, and BioPerine — a combination of ingredients that may promote overall well-being. But, it’s important to remember the lack of human studies on the benefits of sea moss when considering any claims made by companies.

In addition to the potential benefits of sea moss in general (like thyroid health or weight loss) that you might get from Nutra’s offerings, both the capsules and gummies are vegan and don’t contain gelatin, gluten, or other allergens like dairy, nuts, and fish.

Nutra’s sea moss capsules earned the “quickest results” title due to having the highest amount of BioPerine (four times the amount in Maju’s). While there haven’t been any studies specifically on BioPerine’s effects on sea moss, this extract is frequently used in supplements because it increases the bioavailability of ingredients and has its own health benefits, like providing antioxidants and potentially inhibiting free radicals.6 7

Additionally, like Maju and Double Wood, the products are manufactured in a GMP-certified facility in the U.S., further demonstrating Nutra Remedies’ commitment to product safety and quality.

Price

When you purchase sea moss from Nutra Remedies, you can take advantage of a 60-day refund policy as long as the bottles are sealed and unopened. This is a bit disappointing to us, as other companies offer much more generous return and refund windows. In comparison, Double Wood’s money-back guarantee, while shorter (30 days), includes opened items. However, after contacting Nutra to start your return, the company will at least send you a paid return label for those unopened, still-sealed bottles.

When purchasing from Nutra Remedies, you can make a one-time purchase or opt for a 4- 6- or 8-week subscription, which offers 20% off each order. Like Double Wood, Nutra does offer multi-packs of its capsules (up to a 6-pack), but to provide a succinct overview, we’ll only showcase the cost of single-item purchases rather than all available multi-packs. Here’s the price breakdown:

Most convenient option; Best raw sea moss

Maju Superfoods’ Wild Sea Moss capsules only require you to take one capsule per serving, while most sea moss supplements have a dosage of at least two (or, in Nutra’s case, three). The convenience of a supplement or medication plays a big role in how likely you are to stick with using it, which is why Maju stood out to us for convenience.31 Sea moss gel, for instance, can be time-consuming to make, and while taking pills might not sound like a problem for some people, a 2015 study found that nearly 1 in 3 people would rather have a shorter life than take a daily pill.34 So, ultimately, the fewer the pills, the more likely a supplement or medication is to be considered convenient and usable by a larger population.

Sustainably harvested in Canada, Maju’s Raw Purple Sea Moss is relatively inexpensive in comparison to how many servings you get ($37 for 120 servings). We also liked the fact that Maju offers the option to subscribe and save 20% on its raw sea moss — this isn’t an option you often see for most other raw sea moss products on the market.

Like those from Double Wood and Nutra, Maju’s sea moss options are gluten-free, vegan-friendly, third-party lab-tested for heavy metals, and produced in a GMP-compliant facility.

Price

Your purchase from Maju only qualifies for free, two-day shipping if you spend over $75. And even though the company offers a full, no-questions-asked 60-day money-back guarantee, this only applies to one purchase per customer. Maju also doesn’t offer refunds for accidental subscription reorders and will not provide pre-paid return labels, similar to Double Wood. The company does, however, accept opened products for that one purchase included in the guarantee.

When buying sea moss from Maju Superfoods, you can choose a one-time purchase or subscribe and save 20% (delivered every 30 or 60 days). The company doesn’t appear to offer subscriptions for bulk purchases, though. View the price breakdown of single-item purchases below:

Considering that a lot of the purported benefits of sea moss don’t have much human-based research, it may be beneficial to consider some more thoroughly studied alternatives. The following table shows a few options offering some of the same health benefits sea moss potentially brings.