When puberty hit, it knocked me out. I couldn’t get enough sleep. Sometime around the fifth grade my parents took me to a pediatrician, who found a low-functioning thyroid and prescribed a pill she said I’d need for the rest of my life. I took it faithfully, and missing even one day brought back the brain fog and the urge to sleep the day away. It began to bother me that I was only me when I took my pill.
Years later, as a single parent and full-time student, a trusted friend suggested kelp for natural energy. I began taking four or five kelp pills a couple of times a day and right away had more energy, without the crash that always followed caffeine. After a little over a year, I had heart palpitations one morning after my usual thyroid pill. The emergency room doctor checked my blood and found my thyroid working in the normal range. I was twenty-five, and I never took another thyroid pill. Kelp has been part of my daily food ever since.
Why Kelp Works
Our bodies need only the tiniest amounts of the trace minerals, such as iodine, copper, manganese, boron and zinc, yet without them we cannot live. Kelp is one of the richest sources of these, and above all of iodine.
The thyroid needs iodine to make its hormone. Without enough, it has to work overtime and can swell into a goiter. And the thyroid touches nearly everything: it regulates metabolism and body fat, steadies the heart, brightens the mind, keeps the bowels moving, and works with the pancreas, the adrenals, the ovaries and testes, and the pituitary. Kelp is a far better source of iodine than iodized salt, and used as a seasoning it easily supplies what the body needs.
More Than the Thyroid
- Weight: Kelp has long been used as a slow, steady aid to weight loss. It acts more as a normalizer than a fat burner; thin people can put on weight while taking it.
- The liver: Kelp has an affinity for the liver, supplying the salts it needs and helping clear congestion. A sluggish liver brings low moods, and a bright, vital person has an active liver.
- Blood vessels: It tones the walls of the blood vessels and helps normalize both high and low blood pressure.
- Minerals: It is one of the highest sources of potassium among foods and herbs, and a good source of vitamin B12 for those who eat no animal foods.
A Good Kelp Blend
Kelp works even better alongside its sea cousins. A good kelp blend might combine three sea plants, powdered and put into capsules:
- Atlantic Kelp, 2 parts.
- Irish Moss, 1 part.
- Dulse, 1 part.
Each brings its own mix of ocean minerals, so together they cover more ground than kelp alone.
How Much and How Often
- Dr. Christopher’s suggestion: 5 capsules of the kelp blend three times a day.
- What I do: 10 capsules in the morning, and another 5 later in the day when I remember.
Kelp is a food, so it can also be used freely as a seasoning, sprinkled on your meals in place of salt.
This is shared for educational purposes, from my own study and experience. It is not medical advice.
