“Everyone Knows Someone Who Needs This Information!” (TM)
If you are having trouble losing weight, and keeping it off, then keep reading! If you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, keep reading! The newest nutritional research is showing there’s about a 90% chance that this problem is being caused by a deficiency in an essential nutrient (because there’s not enough coming from your dietary choices or you are eating antagonists which deplete it).
Often, knowledgeable clinicians find that up to 90% of their overweight clients (especially women) are lacking in iodine and iodide (our body needs both forms), and when the problem is corrected properly, the people lose weight and often keep it off, usually permanently.
Your thyroid gland, which orchestrates your metabolism, needs Iodine to function. Period. If you do not get enough good Iodine through safe food, then you will start absorbing the toxic, radioactive forms of iodine from the nuclear industry, which is rampant in our environment. Most of us are already absorbing this bad form (Isotope 131) because we don’t get enough of the safe form (Isotope 127).
Read the other parts of this series which are available in the Archive, (accessed on the upper Navigation Bar). They are listed on page 3. Get caught up now. I will move forward in this lesson, which is just a very brief summary of the last 8 and a little new information, before I add more next week.
It’s imperative to understand Iodine, as its proper use helps all diabetics and corrects MANY other critical, chronic dis-eases, in all people.
Every cell in your body, and every organ-system, needs its quota of Iodine, not just your thyroid gland. Most of us are severely Iodine depleted, even if we are not showing up with goiters. I say that, because many scientists think that the daily requirement is set too low to begin with.
Paleo-anthropologists studying ancient humankind have long since known that their diet was very rich in seafood — which is a prime source of iodine. Ancients tribes definitely clung to the coast and lived from ocean food for millions of years. Those countries whose peoples still eat copious amounts of seafood — fish, crustaceans or seaweed — in their diets are usually the healthiest peoples on our planet and are the slimmest, like the long-lived Okinawans.
Dr. Guy Abraham, MD’s research shows that we need 50 mg a day for proper metabolic efficiency instead of only the .15mg RDA! He’s the world’s expert on Iodine.
He uses a safe, consistent, non-radioactive, inorganic, stable form of Iodine as well as a new iodide identical with Lugol solution (which has been used for 180 years, but is foul-tasting). His better-tasting Iodine supplement is called Iodoral. BUT, before starting any supplementation program, you must get a baseline reading of your Iodine status and be followed by your doctor.
Eating Iodine-rich foods is a less problematical approach, but if you are on Warfarin or Coumadin, even food sources need to be monitored until you consistently balance iodine-rich foods (amount and frequency) with your medication.
Be patient; it takes a long time (usually many. many months) to come up to optimal levels. In the proper amounts, Iodine becomes “an adaptogen” — a substance which balances your biochemistry, intuitively, knowing just what it needs.
Bromine, another member of the same chemical family as Iodine (the Halogen Family of elements) takes over your vital receptors meant for Iodine. This means you cannot absorb enough Iodine if the receptors are being used by harmful Bromine (which is found in Gatorade, flours and bakery goods – those using using brominated, “enriched” flours). Other halogens, Chlorine and Fluorine (fluoride, most often from tap-water and dental treatments) cause the same problems! Read more about this in Part 2.
This thyroid epidemic is actually much worse, as mainstream medicine’s blood “tests” do NOT truly show the problem. Even so, some endocrinologists say 1 in 4 women have over-active or under-active thyroids. Women are much more at risk because female thyroids are automatically twice as large as males’, so women need much more Iodine in their diet! And, diabetic women can have a double-whammy, so are likely to need Iodine, for sure.
And, stress, for anyone, also creates the need for yet more dietary Iodine.
Seaweeds are a very potent source of Iodine in food. Seaweed’s good Iodine isotope 127 is also protective, to prevent you absorbing the toxic Iodine isotope 131. Seventy years ago, the average American ate 500 – 800 micrograms of Iodine a day in their usual diet. In 1995, the average American only ate 135 micrograms!
Use only Organic Seaweeds, and eat none at all from Chinese sources. Get your seaweed only from reliable sources, from people who harvest them in the cleanest waters possible. Learn more in Part 2.
Parts 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 contain recipes to start understanding ways to use sea vegetables which are filled with healing polysaccharides.
I believe that Seaweed is really the Foundational Food of Life.
Sea vegetables are low glycemic, high nutrition foods which have no calories and have lots of fiber; they have wonderful mineral content, along with great, clean taste. But they must be harvested from pristine, pure waters, and only a few places on our planet qualify. None are in Chinese waters; so do not use their products; assays show levels of arsenic from pollution and their use of the term “Organic” is suspicious at best. If it is labeled Organic, from other countries like Japan and the United States, then trust it.
Introduce your children to this pH alkaline, life-giving food, too. Start them on better habits than you had. There are lots of ready-made Japanese snacks which incorporate seaweed.
Don’t overdo it; if you are using powdered Japanese seaweed (kombu, is the most likely seaweed you’ll find this way), then one teaspoon of a powdered seaweed is equivalent to eating a whole plate of seaweed. It takes about 40 pounds of seaweed to make one pound of powdered product. So, a serving of 1/4t every few days is a good way to start, in my opinion. It is important not to overdose, for a variety of reasons explained in the longer lessons.
Iodine is critical for pregnant women, lactating women, babies in utero and babies and children under 4 years old (the 1/4t is too much for small children — they need some most days, just a tiny pinch or so, after they stop getting breast milk). Or, a little second-water soup (see instructions 5 paragraphs below).
Thyroid hormone and your thyroid gland, together with iodine, are the most important factors by far for completion of a normal pregnancy and delivering a normal baby.
The science on all of this is very clear, and you need to read it in the series, and Part 4 lists the labs to contact for your Iodine level assessment.
Unless your food happens to be organically-farmed where seaweed actually has been applied as fertilizer, almost no land plants provide iodine.
SECOND-WATER SOUP STOCK:
People who have sea vegetables most days, like the Japanese and Okinawans, and other Asians who eat much more seaweed than the rest of the world does, apparently soak their Kombu and other Kelp seaweeds in freshwater for 10-30 minutes prior to using in miso broth (dashi) and other cooking. This effectively removes about 60% of the iodine (called “Hazutosi” in Japanese). This second-water soup will still provide lots of Iodine, and it is important not to use too much seaweed daily per person, as it is possible to overdose. This is the way the Asians protect themselves from overdose, or they use Nori, a seaweed which contains much less Iodine as their more frequent daily source.
Nori is the seaweed used for sushi wraps. A few cuts of nori added as a garnish to their rice also does the trick. The Welsh know this seaweed as “Laver” and they have used it for generations. Nori is actually a general word which describes a group of marine oceanic plants which were once gathered from the wild, centuries ago, and are now “cultivated” in the sea. The origin of Nori cultivation can be traced back to ancient China and Japan around the 8th century.
Kelp, wakame ans kombu all have very high Iodine counts and so are used in the second-water technique, or in tiny amounts or just weekly or so.
Use Japanese and Okinawan food patterns and portions as your guide. Dr. Tunis Hunt, DC suggests: For an adult, the dose is about 5 grams a day or about one ounce per week, so a pound of dry seaweed would last about two months.
Reaching correct Iodine levels in your body may result in cure or vast improvement or lessened need for medication for many chronic diseases, so do this under your doctor’s supervision.
Sea vegetables have been harvested for food and medicine for thousands of years; in fact, early records show the Chinese used aquatic plants for medicinal purposes as early as 3,000 B.C.
Kombu can help regulate blood sugar.
Wakame has long been an important source of high-quality protein, lipids, minerals (such as calcium), and vitamins A, B1, B2 and C in many Asian food cultures, especially as most Asians have severe lactose intolerance, so dairy calcium sources were never used by them.
The amount of Iodine put in “iodized” salt or which is in my favorite whole sea salts is NOT enough. The naturally-occurring Iodine in sea water is concentrated within the seaweeds and sea veggies, so they become a nutritious source for us and for ocean fish (which also help us get Iodine when we eat them).
Packets of Eden Foods AGAR-AGAR // KANTEN are easy to find in health stores. This product is made from tegusa seaweed and it is tasteless and is not eaten in its own right. Instead, it is boiled and its extract is used as a gelling agent for vegetarian “Jello” instead of animal-based gelatin.
Kanten is rich in fiber, but has zero calories. It is also believed to help lower cholesterol and blood pressure. You will find many recipes for its use in Macrobiotic cookbooks, and the food industry uses agar-agar and carrageenan (another seaweed product) in many foods. Read the labels and you’ll be surprised at how often you have already been eating seaweed!
There are some new seaweed sources. Personally, I am interested in Seagreens® which are harvested during the short Arctic summer, in an archipelago of remote conservation islands (which stretches more than 100 miles (180 kms) off the coast of Norway). This habitat produces dense shallow-water Wrack seaweeds with an outstanding nutritional profile.
It is very important to have a pH alkaline body. Each cell needs to be pH alkaline to work optimally. Seaweed is one of the most alkaline foods on the planet, but the typical Western diet is very acid-provoking.
Now, here’s another recipe to help introduce seaweeds to your family. This one uses Eden Foods agar-agar flakes.
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From veganlunchbox.blogspot.com
VEGAN FRUIT JELL – KANTEN
Using agar alone makes a rubbery jell. If you add some starch it makes a more delicate jell.
4C sweet fruit juice of choice
OPTIONAL: a small amount of agave nectar if juice isn’t sweet enough
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla or other flavoring , if desired
2 tsp. agar powder (OR 1/4C agar flakes) – Eden Foods
1 T cornstarch dissolved in 1 T. water
OPTIONAL: fresh fruit to add to jell
Sprinkle the agar over the juice (with sweetener, salt and any flavoring). Let soak a few minutes. Then cook over medium heat until boiling. Agar powder just needs to simmer for a minute; flakes should simmer at least 5 minutes. Add dissolved starch and stir in. Boil for 30 seconds.
Pour into a bowl or small bowls. Place in refrigerator. When half-jelled, you can stir in fruit. Let set until firm and cold.
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Enjoy!
Best to all — Em
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(c)2010 Em at https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
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