Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Kelp
Protector from the Sea
Family: Fucaceae; (includes other Seaweeds)
Genus and Species: Fucus Vetsiculosus and species of three other genuses: Laminaria, Macrocystis, and Nereocystis
Also known as: Bladderwrack, Seawrack, Fucus, Bladder Fucus, Cutweed, and Sea Vegetables; in Japan, Wakame, Arame, Kombu, and Hijiki
Parts used: Stemlike and leaflike parts
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.
Fisherman’s Friend
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 l Sth-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.
Iodine: The Weight-loss Connection
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 enlargment 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.