Guest guest Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 Kelp: Nourishment for Glands! JoAnn Guest Jul 29, 2003 09:45 PDT Kelp comes in all shapes and sizes. There are species which grow as muchas two feet a day under ideal conditions.For our purposes here, though, we are dealing with " ascophyllum nodosum " which grows in abundance in the North Atlantic just below Greenland andbetween the Canadian Maritime Provinces(Newfoundland and Nova Scotia)and the British Isles. The icy-cold waters here are ideal for this olive green plant to flourish, as well as in the Norwegian Sea. Norwegian kelp is especially rich in iodine, a mineral essential to thyroid health, vitamin E utilization, metabolic efficiency, and resistance to bacterial infection. The *amount* of iodine in sea kelp " exceeds " that found in land plantsby 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 once every17 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 " , a hormonewhich helps balance " estrogen " levels in the body. Besides causing weight gain, excessive estrogen is considered by manyphysicians and nutritionists to be a factor in the development of breastand 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 in theaverage American diet. Just one ounce of their local kelp, for instance, contains 273 mgs ofcalcium, which is over 25 percent of the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance). That kelp also supplies 25 mgs of vitamin C when fresh, equivalent tothe 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 decade ago,and at the Harwell Research Unit in England, demonstrated that sodium alginate could absorb from 80-90 percent of the potentially deadly *radioactive isotopes* of Strontium 90 directly from the intestinal tract. Sodium alginate gradually chelates the remaining amount out of the bonestructure into which the isotopes tend to become incorporated. Nutritional Powerhouse. Norwegian kelp is an absolute nutritional powerhouse containing many other 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 to cancer; silver and tin required by those portions of the brain responsible 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 to concentrate 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 the bloodstreamto 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 from its control center stop atop the brain stem. A short stalk leads from the hypothalamus to the pituitary gland justbelow it, which regulates how much hormone the other glands release. And the tiny pineal gland acts as the body's clock, signaling the onsetof 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 the blood. 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 help thebody adjust to stress. In between the kidneys is the pancreas which secretes insulin and glucagons to control the level of blood sugar within the body. The adrenals and pancreas, along with the liver, greatly contribute tothe 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, found ininfinitesimal amounts in kelp, go to different receptor sites in each of these organs and help to chemically crank up the body's energy supplies. Finally, there are the reproductive organs which complete the last ofthe 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 of abnormal childbirths than do others who seldom or never use kelp. Besides the numerous minerals and vitamins A, B-complex, C, E, D and K,which it contains, Norwegian kelp is also abundantly rich in about 20different 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, but daily kelp will *increase* these levels. Kelp likewise contains many conditionally essential amino acids. These may become important only under certain circumstances, such as inborn error of metabolism, infectious disease or excessive stress. For instance, one type of schizophrenic may have a recently expressedinborn error of metabolism that calls for more or less serine, while aburn victim might require an increase of amino acids. Certain cancers such as melanomas, create tremendous depleting of phenylalanine 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 energy sourceswhich fuel our mental, emotional and physical activities. A lack of key amino acids is best evidenced in adrenal exhaustion andfatigues. But kelp (four capsules), licorice root – (four capsules) and dandelion 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 a naturalbalance.I recommend that granulated kelp be used wherever refined table salt orblack 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. JoAnn Guest mrsj- http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Botanicals.html http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/AIM.html *theaimcompanies* -Wisdom of the past,Food of the future- " Health is not a Medical Issue " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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