The ingredient is seaweed, and the energy argument comes down to a few key minerals. Breakfast advice usually revolves around the same handful of foods: oats, eggs, yogurt, fruit. Amal Clooney’s morning staple is not on that list, and it has made a lot of people curious about whether it actually works.
The food is seaweed. The lawyer reportedly starts most days with a bowl of seaweed soup, a habit described by Heat magazine, Woman & Home and HOLA! USA, and identified by The Korea Times as miyeokguk, the Korean soup made with brown seaweed, sesame oil and garlic. So what does a bowl of seaweed actually do for your energy?
The Minerals That Matter
Seaweed is one of the most mineral-dense foods you can eat. Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health lists iodine, potassium, iron and magnesium among the minerals it absorbs from seawater. Several of them are directly linked to how energetic you feel.
Iodine is essential for making thyroid hormones, which help regulate metabolism. Iron is needed to carry oxygen through the blood, and low iron is a common cause of fatigue, particularly in women. Magnesium supports hundreds of processes in the body, including energy production in cells. Integrative health and nutrition coach Karen Cummings-Palmer, quoted by Vogue via Woman & Home, also links seaweed’s magnesium to stress reduction.
Fiber for Steadier Mornings
The second part of the story is fiber. According to Harvard, seaweed fibers may slow digestion, which can help with fullness and blood sugar. That matters at breakfast: a meal that releases energy slowly is less likely to leave you hungry and sluggish by mid-morning than a sugary pastry.
Those fibers may also act as prebiotics, feeding beneficial gut bacteria, although Harvard notes that much of the research is still early and based on lab, animal and small human studies.
The Caveat You Need to Know
More is not better. Some seaweeds, especially kombu, contain very high levels of iodine. Harvard points out that the adult recommended intake is 150 micrograms a day, with an upper limit of 1,100 micrograms, and that regular high intake has been linked to changes in thyroid function. The Korea Times estimates that one bowl of miyeokguk can contain at least 700 micrograms and recommends no more than one bowl a day.
People with thyroid conditions should talk to their doctor before eating seaweed regularly. Harvard also advises avoiding hijiki, a variety that can contain high levels of arsenic.
How to Add It Without Overdoing It
You do not need a daily bowl of soup to benefit. A few sheets of nori with lunch, a sprinkle of seaweed flakes on eggs or rice, or a small wakame salad a couple of times a week are easy ways to start. If you want to try the soup, add an egg or tofu for protein and keep the broth on the lighter side to limit salt.
Amal Clooney, 48, may have made seaweed look glamorous, but the reasoning behind it is practical: minerals that support energy, fiber that keeps you full and a warm meal that is easy on the stomach. Eaten in moderation, it is one celebrity habit with real nutrition behind it.