Kelp
Nourishment for the Glands

by Joyce D’Accardi

Identification

Kelp is a common seaweed and comes in many shapes and sizes. Some grow as much as 2 feet a day. The kelp sold in health food stores grows in the North Atlantic Ocean off Greenland, toward the British Isles, and in the Norwegian Sea. It can be obtained in capsule form in health food stores. Some stores may have the powdered form.

History

Kelp has been a staple of the Eskimos, Chinese, Japanese, and South Sea islanders. It is now being used as a salt substitute in powdered or granular form. Kelp contains sodium and potassium. It has been used to stop bleeding; powdered kelp can be sprinkled directly on the wound.

Soils can become deficient in minerals, and therefore produce vegetables lacking in minerals. The ocean is a reservoir of chemicals and minerals, which is why kelp contains so much that is helpful.

Medicinal Uses

Kelp has been shown to remedy many human ailments that result from mineral deficiencies. It has relieved glandular problems of goiter, rickets, anemia, low weight, constipation, stomach trouble, headache, kidney disorders, eczema, neuritis, asthma, and low vitality.

Nutrients

Kelp contains every vital mineral needed for sustaining body health. Kelp is rich in iodine, a mineral essential to thyroid health, Vitamin E utilization, metabolic efficiency, and resistance to bacterial infection. The iodine content of kelp exceeds that of land plants by 20,000%. In the thyroid, iodine is concentrated and helps to disinfect the body’s entire blood supply, which flows through this gland every 17 minutes. Depletion of iodine results in fatigue, susceptibility to illness, inability to metabolize foods efficiently, weight gain, goiter. It also helps balance estrogen levels in the human body. It is believed that iodine can thereby help protect against some cancers.

Among the helpful minerals found in kelp are:

Calcium, approximately 273 mg per ounce.
Vitamin C
Sodium alginate, which can absorb certain deadly radioactive isotopes.
Vitamins A, B-complex, E, D and K.
20 amino acids, which are valuable energy sources for mental, emotional, and physical activities.

Trace elements of chromium (for 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 the brain), silicon (crucial for skin elasticity), magnesium (for sound nerves), and manganese (which aids insulin secretion from the pancreas) are also found in kelp. Many of these elements are used by the glands in the endocrine system of the human body, three of which are located in the brain. Their function is to release hormones throughout the body. The Hypothalamus coordinates activities of the nervous system and endocrine system, the Pituitary regulates hormones, and the Pineal gland regulates sexual maturing of the body. Tests have shown that women taking kelp have a lower incidence of abnormal childbirths.

For Your Birds

Four capsules a day is the recommended amount of kelp for humans. Therefore, minute amounts would be helpful for our birds. Its use would promote healthy reproductive glands, reduce egg laying problems, and give better feathers. It would prevent much illness and provide energy. It additionally might ward off cancer.