Nourishment for Glands!

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Kelp: Nourishment for Glands! Kelp comes in all shapes and sizes. There are species which grow asmuchas two feet a day under ideal conditions.For our purposes here, though, we are dealing with "ascophyllumnodosum"which grows in abundance in the North Atlantic just below Greenlandandbetween the Canadian Maritime Provinces(Newfoundland and NovaScotia)and the British Isles. The icy-cold waters here are ideal for this olive green plant toflourish, as well as in the Norwegian Sea. Norwegian kelp is especially rich in iodine, a mineral essential tothyroid health, vitamin E utilization, metabolic efficiency, andresistance to bacterial infection. The *amount* of iodine in sea kelp "exceeds" that found in landplantsby as much as *20,000* percent. The iodine from kelp has an affinity for the cells of the *thyroid*gland,where it concentrates and acts to disinfect the body's entire bloodvolume, which flows through this gland at the rate of about onceevery17 minutes. Depletion of iodine results in fatigue, susceptibility to illness,inability to metabolize foods efficiently, weight gain and goiter. This element is also essential in the formation of "thyroxin", ahormonewhich helps balance "estrogen"levels in the body.Besides causing weight gain, excessive estrogen is considered bymanyphysicians and nutritionists to be a factor in the development ofbreastand uterine cancers. Iodine from kelp is also very rich in calcium.Kelp has always been a mainstay of the traditional Eskimo diet.In fact, the native diet contains five times the calcium found intheaverage American diet. Just one ounce of their local kelp, for instance, contains 273 mgsofcalcium, which is over 25 percent of the RDA (Recommended DailyAllowance). That kelp also supplies 25 mgs of vitamin C when fresh, equivalenttothe amount found in one fresh lime –that's about half of the RDA. Another nutritional component of Norwegian kelp is sodium alginate. Studies conducted at McGill University in Montreal over a decadeago,and at the Harwell Research Unit in England, demonstrated thatsodiumalginate could absorb from 80-90 percent of the potentially deadly*radioactive isotopes* of Strontium 90 directly from the intestinaltract.Sodium alginate gradually chelates the remaining amount out of thebonestructure into which the isotopes tend to become incorporated. Nutritional Powerhouse. Norwegian kelp is an absolute nutritional powerhouse containing manyother essential trace elements.It has chromium, essential to *glucose* utilization;zinc for collagen strength and healthy skin,iron for tired blood, potassium for healthy kidneys and normal blood pressure, copper for normal nerve transmissions, sulphur for preventing cell mutation that could lead tocancer; silver and tin required by those portions of the brainresponsible for memory, silicon which is crucial to skin elasticity; magnesium for sound nerves, manganese for the sufficient "release" of insulin from the pancreas,and so on. These many different nutrients found in Norwegian kelp seem toconcentrate mainly in the glands of your endocrine system. They are scattered throughout the body and regulate many functions. Their chemical *messengers* or hormones, travel through thebloodstreamto all parts of the body. Three of these "endocrine" glands are located in the *brain*. Kelp feeds them essential hard-to-get elements. The first of these glands, the hypothalamus, coordinates the activities of the nervous and endocrine systems fromits control center stop atop the brain stem. A short stalk leads from the hypothalamus to the pituitary glandjustbelow it, which regulates how much hormone the other glands release. And the tiny pineal gland acts as the body's clock, signaling theonsetof maturation and regulating the menstrual cycle. The functions of the thyroid have already been mentioned. But embedded deep within this gland are four tiny parathyroids,in charge of removing calcium from the bones and adding it to theblood. The bilobed thymus glands stimulate the production of *white blood*cells. Perched atop each kidney are the adrenal glands.They influence metabolism, maintain normal blood pressure, and helpthebody adjust to stress. In between the kidneys is the pancreas which secretes insulin andglucagons to control the level of blood sugar within the body. The adrenals and pancreas, along with the liver, greatly contributetothe level of *energy* we have in our muscles at any given time.When our energy reservoirs are down and the body becomes fatigued,then *kelp* is called for. Certain rare trace minerals like boron, bromine and zirconium, foundininfinitesimal amounts in kelp,go to different receptor sites in each of these organs and help tochemically crank up the body's energy supplies. Finally, there are the reproductive organs which complete the lastofthe endocrine group. Male sex hormones are made in the testes of menandstimulate their sexual development. Women's ovaries secrete the hormones estrogen and progesterone,whichenable them to safely bear children. Women are thirty something andhavebeen taking kelp regularly seem to have far lower incidence ofabnormalchildbirths than do others who seldom or never use kelp. Besides the numerous minerals and vitamins A, B-complex, C, E, D andK,which it contains, Norwegian kelp is also abundantly rich in about20different amino acids. Some of these are essential: lysine, leucine, isoleucine,methionine,phenylalanine, threonine, valine and tryptophan. Without these amino acids on a daily basis, the body begins to die. The gut "flora" stomach bacteria provides low levels of them, butdaily kelp will *increase* these levels. Kelp likewise contains many conditionally essential amino acids.These may become important only under certain circumstances, such asinborn error of metabolism, infectious disease or excessive stress. For instance, one type of schizophrenic may have a recentlyexpressedinborn error of metabolism that calls for more or less serine, whileaburn victim might require an increase of amino acids. Certain cancers such as melanomas, create tremendous depleting ofphenylalanine and tyrosine. So kelp can meet all of these needs of non-essential amino acids. Amino acids are converted inside the body in two different ways—eitheras sugar called *glycogenic*or into fat called *ketogenic* . All amino acids, whether essential or not, are valuable energysourceswhich fuel our mental, emotional and physical activities. A lack of key amino acids is best evidenced in adrenal exhaustionandfatigues.But kelp (four capsules), licorice root – (four capsules) anddandelion root (two capsules) will keep our engines running nicely. Salt Substitute The use of powdered or granular kelp as a substitute for table salt,hasbeen gaining popularity within the last decade. Kelp has a pleasant taste and all of the necessary elements in anaturalbalance.I recommend that granulated kelp be used wherever refined table saltorblack pepper would otherwise be used.This is a much healthier choice for your body's sake. This type of seaweed also has a remarkable ability to stop bleeding.Simply sprinkle powdered kelp on the wound.