There are many different types and colors of sea moss. Today we will be taking an extra close look at the Jamaican purple sea moss and the golden sea moss. There are just two of the many sea moss species.
Table of Contents
- Differences In Sea Moss Color
- The Main Differences Between Purple Sea Moss And Gold Sea Moss (And Also Green Sea Moss)
- FAQs On Purple Sea Moss vs Gold Sea Moss
Differences In Sea Moss Color
Sea moss is known as a nutrient-dense superfood that is full of minerals and nutrients that are essential for your body to function properly. As with all superfoods, people just cannot get enough and are finding more and more ways to incorporate this into their diets to take advantage of all the health benefits that it contains. While the method of consumption can vary from a gel to a powder, and all the way to a supplement pill, the actual moss that you consume can vary as well.
There are a lot of differences in sea moss colors but the differences are not exclusive to how the moss looks, but also how it acts and how it was made.
A lot of sea moss species will differ in color because of their environment. Different nutrients in the water will result in different colors for the sea mosses.
However, despite these various colors, they are still all very similar.
The colors are not all exclusively naturally occurring as there are a lot of pool-grown sea moss varieties out there that can be manipulated into changing color by simply altering their environment.
What Sea Moss Colors Are There?
Naturally, there are 3 main colors of sea moss that are available on the market. These are gold, purple, and green. Purple sea moss can sometimes be identified as red, but that is just a nickname if anything as the purple color is mostly very vibrant.
There is a fourth color that is known as the ‘full spectrum’ and is a mix of all three colors. This is not naturally occurring but is still available to buy online for anyone wanting a mix of all three types of moss.
The Main Differences Between Purple Sea Moss And Gold Sea Moss (And Also Green Sea Moss)
There is not too much of a difference between gold sea moss, purple sea moss, and green sea moss. The main difference is that the chemicals and nutrients in each type of moss will vary which results in the unique color for each type and is also the reason behind them all having different colors.
Gold Sea Moss
The gold variety of sea moss gets its unique color from the phytonutrients that it is rich in. They are a really important compound as they aid the sea moss in cellular communication. Without boring you with the science and biology behind this, there is more of this cellular communicative phytonutrient in this golden variety than there is in the other two types of moss.
Other than the golden color, this sea moss is also quite different in structure. It will regularly appear stringier than the others while also being thinner. Golden sea moss also grows all year round. This makes it readily available to a lot of farmers. This is why it is also the cheapest out of all the sea moss varieties.
Golden sea moss will also have a much more tolerable/less-pungent smell and flavor than the other types. It can safely be sun-dried without losing any of its nutrients. This milder smell makes it a great choice for people who are not a big fan of how the other varieties smell.
Purple Sea Moss
Purple sea moss is very commonly also called Irish sea moss.
The reason for its color is thanks to the abundance of antioxidants within the plant. They are so much that they have changed the color. These antioxidants are essential for aiding the plant in eliminating any free radicals that may become present.
Unlike gold sea moss, the purple variety is not available for all of the year. It is instead more available during the summer months. This can lead to the plant being more difficult to find. Not only is it time-limited – yet also prefers to grow on rocks.
Furthering the rarity of the purple plant, the growing process is a lot harder to imitate. This means it can be quite difficult to duplicate at home. This type of moss that is farmed and cultivated in a makeshift environment is called pool-grown. It is almost always a cheaper price than authentic sea moss.
Because it is almost impossible to properly duplicate – people do not have to worry about paying for an authentic shipment of purple sea moss. Thye end up getting scammed into buying pool-grown sea moss instead.
Green Sea Moss
Green sea moss is the smelliest of the bunch and is abundant in flavonoids such as anthocyanins and chlorophyll. These flavonoids help our bodies with liver functions, and detoxifications. They also help to increase the amount of hemoglobin in our blood.
Green sea moss is Wildcrafted and can be harvested mostly along the coasts of the Caribbean and nearby areas. Because of where it is grown, it smells and tastes a lot stronger as it is closer to the sea. The other types of sea moss can grow in connected lakes and bodies of water.
Furthering the strong taste, it is also suspected that it remains bold as it initially is because green moss undergoes less cleaning and drying in order to try and retain the bold green color.
FAQs On Purple Sea Moss vs Gold Sea Moss
Which sea moss is better gold or purple?
Neither type of sea moss is better, yet they are better suited to different purposes. Because they have a different mixture of chemicals and compounds, each type of moss ends up having different health benefits and specialties. Gold moss has all of the typical benefits with nothing too out of the ordinary whereas purple moss has an abundance of antioxidants that help fight off free radicals.
What is the difference between purple sea moss and Irish Sea Moss?
There is no difference between these two types as they are the same. Irish sea moss is another name for purple sea moss. While neither name is the scientific titling, both names refer to the same plant and are just different names for it.
Why is sea moss gold?
Sea moss is gold because it has a higher quantity of a certain phytonutrient that helps with its cellular communication. Other than this, gold sea moss is very easy to deal with and can be sun-dried. This process will eliminate the bold color while also suppressing the pungent smell and flavor.
Why is sea moss purple?
Similar to most all-natural ingredients, color is heavily dependent on the chemicals and compounds that it is made up from. In this instance, purple sea moss is very abundant in antioxidants which leads to the plant being a very purple color. This is similar to how a lot of natural plants are green due to their abundance of chlorophyll.
