Kelp

NEREOCUSTIS LUETKEANA; MACROCYSTIS PYRIFERA; LAMINARIA SPP.;SEA WEED

Kelp contains the complete spectrum of minerals needed by man, as they are contained in the ocean itself. Aside from the fact that sea water as such is a veritable treasure trove of minerals, land minerals are constantly washing into the sea, enriching it still further (Ibid.). Most plants are tested for mineral content by burning the plant and analyzing the ash. Dr. Black said that the ash of seaweed may be from ten percent to as high as fifty percent; that is to say that if you burn seaweed, you may have half the volume left as minerals (Ibid.)! Carrots, in contrast, leave an ash of one percent as minerals. Apples have a mineral ash of .3 percent, almost 3,0 percent, beets 1.1 percent. Even more important than the minerals needed in relatively large amounts, such as calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, and so forth, are the trace minerals--iodine, copper, manganese, boron, zinc, etc. These minerals appear in minute quantities in food. Our bodies need only microscopically small amounts of them. Yet if that tiny amount is not there, we can die from the lack. Floods and poor farming practices are causing our soil to be washed away, and with it goes the trace minerals. Applying commercial fertilizer to the soil does not improve the situation, for this does not and cannot contain the trace minerals (Ibid.). What happens to the trace minerals that wash away with the farmlands? They wash into the ocean and are taken up into seaweeds.

One of the most important trace elements in Kelp is iodine. This mineral is essential for the proper functioning of the thyroid which manufactures the hormone thyroxin. If an adequate amount of iodine is not provided in the diet, the thyroid gland is forced to work overtime and becomes enlarged in an effort to make up for the deficiency. This enlargement is known as goiter. In ancient times, the burned ashes of the sea sponge were given to drive out the “evil spirit” which caused the swelling of the neck--but the sponge itself contains iodine, as does Kelp (Luc:49). Kelp is a much better source of iodine than the much-touted iodized salt, which is chemically isolated sodium chloride to which potassium chloride has been added. Table salt is a drug, according to the Rodale researchers, to which another drug is added. Such a product has no relation to nature, and most of us should not take as much salt as might be needed to  supply the needed amount of iodine, anyway. Most of us should take much less salt! Kelp is the ideal source of iodine. To get the daily requirement of 100 micrograms of iodine estimated as the requirement for human beings: 10 pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits, or 8 pounds of cereals, grains and nuts, or 6 pounds of meat, fish, fowl, or 2 pounds of eggs, or 3 pounds of marine fish, or .2 pounds of shellfish. Used as a condiment, Kelp could supply easily the amount  required; it contains 10 times as much iodine as American iodized salt (RodC:7 16).

HISTORICAL USES

Used for the thyroid, for weight loss and gain, severe headaches, malnutrition, nervous conditions, dyspepsia, digestive problems, constipation, for a toxic colon, for liver, gall bladder, kidney and meninges, for a sluggish pancreas, for cold, torpid or clammy skin, for liver congestion, for gall bladder obstructions, for toxemia in pregnancy, for excess stomach acidity, as an antacids, to tone the kidney, for the prostate, for arterial cleansing, high blood pressure, nervous tension, arthritis and rheumatism, for colds, cough, cancer, goiter, female troubles, dry skin, and for strong nails and shiny hair.