Self Help

Kelp, as a source of iodine, used to be the treatment of choice for goiter - a thyroid enlargement caused by iodine deficiency. A few modern herbals still recommend kelp for the thyroid. But today kelp is more known as a protector from radiation, heart disease, and toxic
heavy metals.

Kelp is a type of seaweed, specifically long-frond brown algae, which grows to lengths of 200 feet off Japan, Europe, and North America. Ancient seafarers were well acquainted with the kelp beds off England and France. Early fishermen burned the plant for fuel and wrapped, baked, and ate fish in it. Unlike the Japanese, who eat a great deal of seaweed, Europeans never developed much taste for kelp. But 18th-century physicians noticed that people who lived along the Atlantic coast rarely developed goiters - the large growths in the neck that were later shown to be enlarged thyroid glands.

In 1750 a British physician introduced a cure for goiter - charred kelp in a vegetable-oil base. It worked, but no one knew why until 1812, when chemists identified iodine in the plant and physicians learned goiters were caused by iodine deficiency. For several decades, Europeans and North Americans harvested kelp for its iodine. The fronds were cut off exposed rocks at low tide, hence one popular name, cut weed. Eventually other iodine sources replaced kelp, and the harvesting ceased.

During the 1860s, British and French physicians observed that people taking iodine for other reasons seemed to lose weight more easily. The iodine stimulated their thyroid, which boosted their metabolism, and they burned calories faster. Kelp gained a reputation as a treatment for obesity, which it retains to this day.

America’s 19th-century Eclectics had no use for kelp, but they prized its iodine. They used iodine as an antiseptic for treating wounds and prescribed tincture of iodine internally for tuberculosis, liver and spleen disorders, syphilis, vaginal discharge, menstrual cramps, menstruation promotion, ovarian tumors, and enlargement of the testicles and uterus.

The Eclectics were also well aware that iodine overdose caused poisoning (iodism) involving fever, vomiting, thirst, diarrhea, abdominal pain, heart rhythm disturbances (arrhythmias), and “violent priapism” (painful, persistent penile erection unrelated to sexual desire). Only a few contemporary herbalists still mention kelp for goiter, other thyroid disorders, arthritis, and
obesity.

Kelp is definitely high in iodine. Back in the days before iodized salt, when iodine deficiency was a real problem, kelp was a real blessing. But today, iodine deficiency is virtually unheard of in developed countries. To function normally, the body needs only a tiny amount of iodine (150 micrograms a day) - an amount more than supplied by iodized salt. Additional iodine has no significant effect - until you consume enough to cause iodism, which is almost impossible just from eating kelp.