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DULSE - GENERAL
Dulse is a seaweed which grows on the rocky shores of England and Ireland,
collected at low tide, dried and packed for sale. It is similar to kelp
in its uses, with the nice addition of being much tastier. One family,
whose two-year-old was allergic to milk, began to give the child Dulse
and, to their surprise, he stopped taking milk entirely, Dulse being an
excellent source of calcium. It is also a powerful source of potassium.
One family, in search of a natural source of potassium for their cancer-stricken
father, utilized large doses of Dulse which, despite its sodium content,
was an extremely rich source of natural, assimilable potassium. It can
be made into an infusion, dipped in vinegar, dipped in molasses, or simply
nibbled. It is a pleasant way for you to supply dietary iodine, which
is sometimes deficient in non-coastal diets.
KELP
FUCUS VESICULOSIS; FUCACEAE
DESCRIPTION
Fucus vesiculosis is found on submerged rocks on both coasts of North
America and in Europe north of the Mediterranean, where it drifts in from
time to time through the Strait of Gilbraltar.
The perennial front or thallus is coarse, light yellow or brownish-green
in color, erect, and from two to three feet in height. It attaches itself
to the rocks by branched, root-like, discoid, woody extremities developed
from the base of the stalk. The frond is almost fan-shaped, narrow and
strap shaped at the base, the rest flat and leaf-like in form, wavy, many
times divided into two, with erect divisions having a very strong, broad,
compressed midrib running to the apex. The margin is entire, the texture
tough and leathery, mainly olive brown in color, the younger portion yellower,
shining. Air vesicles developed in the substance of the frond, usually
in pairs, one on either side of the midrib and often one at the fork of
the divisions, broadly oval or spherical, attaining when fully grown half
an inch in diameter, are the characteristic of this species which have
suggested both the English and Latin names. The fructification is contained
in small globose conceptables with a firm wall lined with numerous jointed
hairs and sunk in the surface of large ovoid-oblong or narrower, pointed
or blunt, swollen receptacles, filled with a transparent mucus. These
attain an inch in length and are situated at the ends of the divisions
of the fronts.
GENERAL
Dr. Christopher mentioned the use of Kelp as a thyroid healer and as
a weight loss aid. However, other researchers have had dramatic results
with the use of Kelp. Dr. Eric F. W. Powell relates several cases. One
lady was suffering from severe headaches. Her nerves, digestive organs,
kidney and all other organs appeared to be healthy. She slept well generally,
except when her headaches were very severe. At times she was almost frantic
with the pain, which was located at the base of the skull and often extended
to the neck. The doctor recommended Kelp, which was given in a homeopathic
potency for two weeks. The pain vanished. The doctor said that crude Kelp
could also have been used, though the cure would have taken longer. A
young man came to this same doctor suffering from malnutrition and nightly
headaches which he said nearly drove him crazy. The pains were accompanied
by intense throbbing at the top of the head. The doctor noted that the
man was very debilitated, thin, nervous, and exhausted. He recommended
that the young man sprinkle a half a spoonful of powdered Kelp over two
of his meals, breakfast and lunch, every day. Additionally, the doctor
corrected his diet and had him take deep breathing exercises each morning
and to take a quick cold friction bath each day. Slowly the headaches
subsided and he was soon sleeping well. He also began to put on weight,
became less nervous and was conscious of more vitality. He became more
interested in his work and was a far more happy individual.
Dr. Powell also had a woman come to him with a severe case of dyspepsia
which would not respond to the usual treatment. Kelp proved to be an efficacious
remedy in this case. Another lady had suffered from digestive trouble
for many years, suffering pain from even the smallest meal, vomiting frequently.
She had spasm of the pylorus as soon as food entered her stomach. After
prolonged treatment and constant failure with various remedies, the doctor
tried Kelp. She experienced gradual relief and is now in a fair state
of health. A lady fifty years old came to Dr. Powell with pain in the
ascending colon. She was also constipated, was subject to sick headaches
and always felt very weary. The painful colon kept her awake at night.
Before the doctor placed her on his usual remedies, he decided to try
Kelp, taken three times daily for two weeks. There was no noticeable effect
for about ten days, and then, surprisingly, she began to experience much
less pain and was not so constipated. Her headaches were about the same,
due no doubt to the accumulated toxic state. Within a month, however,
the headaches had cleared and she required no further treatment. Dr. Powell
exclaimed what a simple treatment it was, yet so effective!
A man reported to Dr. Powell with much indigestion with bilious turns.
Almost every morning for some months he had risen from bed in the morning
with a sick headache. For a time he had taken purgatives, salts and aspirins,
which, although giving relief, failed to heal the man; indeed, these things
had made him worse. The doctor asked the man to fast and then put him
on a cleansing diet. He got somewhat better, though not completely. Eventually
he began to take Kelp and cell salts at every meal, and after some weeks
his troubles left him. In this case, the doctor noted, Kelp not only acted
on the liver, but also on the toxic colon, the gall bladder, kidneys,
and meninges. The latter are usually involved when the headaches are severe.
Another lady was extremely debilitated. Her doctor had tested her for
diabetes, anaemia, and all the debilitating disorders. Her endocrine glands
appeared to be in order and she had no worries. Dr. Powell found a sluggish
pancreas. Kelp with one other remedy effected a fairly rapid cure. She
did not have to go on a difficult, restricted diet to obtain the desired
results.
As a final, but very warming story there was a very thin and nervous
lady who was very much the odd one out in a family of jolly, stout people.
The mother and sister wished to reduce their weight, while the painfully
thin one wanted to be as buxom as the others. A little Kelp taken twice
daily resulted in the stout ones losing weight and the thin one putting
on several pounds of healthy tissue. She also became much more composed
and content (Powell:32+).
SEAWEED
Kelp has been around almost since the beginning of time and references
to it can be found in several books of ancient Chinese poetry, written
sometime between 800 and 600 B.C. In one particular poem, a housewife
is referred to as cooking seaweed and in later Chinese history it is mentioned
as a delicacy worth being offered to the gods as a sacrificial food. Several
kinds of seaweed were used in ancient China and this practice of eating
seaweed still continues strong in the Orient today.
The plants of the sea are almost exclusively algae. They form a group
that stands low in the scale of life. Their commoner name--seaweeds--is
a poor one unless we remember Emerson's definition, that a weed is a plant
whose use is not known. Even with our present scanty knowledge of sea
life, some valuable qualities are already credited to the algae, and the
science of oceanography is discovering many others (Smithsonian:167).
The conditions of the sea where the algae grow are remarkably uniform;
the salinity does not vary much, the temperature remains mostly the same,
and they must undergo only slight strain from winds and currents. To meet
these stresses we find superb engineering shown in the structure of such
land plants as our trees; the buttressed bases, the sturdiness of their
vertical trunks, the fine tapering and elasticity of their limbs and twigs.
But in the sea plants, we do not need such devices, where the plants have
almost the same specific gravity as the water, or in the case of some
algae, even less, by reason of air bladders distributed through their
tissues. Strength is the least thing needed in marine plant life and the
one least often met with, as our idea of the stormy rage of the ocean
is literally a superficial one. In the waters beneath the stormy sea one
may find calm and quiet, so that many a gale that wrecks a ship may not
dislodge the most delicate algae growing on rocks beneath the surface
(Ibid.).
Kelp is one of the brown algae. They have no roots, but instead cling
to stones, wharves or pilings with holdfasts (RodC:711). They do not have
stalks or branches, nor really any special parts of the plant for support
or for conducting nourishment from one part of the plant to another. The
leaf-like structures are not the same as we have in the land plants; they
do not manufacture food for the rest of the plant to eat. In seaweeds,
almost every part of the plant can make its own food. Seaweeds have nothing
that looks like flowers, fruit or seeds (Ibid.).
They grow tall, some of the largest Kelp stretching up for a hundred
feet or more from the floor of the ocean. Pillars of full-grown Kelp can
contain fifty or more densely packed fronds, all rising to a canopy at
the surface. Underwater, the Kelp beds look like shadowy forests, attracting
countless marine animals. The brown seaweeds, notably Kelp, are incorporated
into flour and are used in almost every household in Japan as noodles,
toasted and served with rice or in soup. Other kinds of seaweed are used
for sweetening and flavoring and relishes, beverages and cakes. In Ireland,
Wales, Denmark and Scotland, seaweeds are often eaten. The Irish eat Dulse,
which we will discuss below, called "sea lettuce" because it
is tender, crisp, with a taste comparable to land lettuce. Kelp is considered
to be the first form of life on our planet. The seaweeds of today have
developed considerably from primitive times, but even so they retain many
of their early characteristics. They are not nearly so complicated as
the land plants that came so much later (RodC:712).
MINERAL-LADEN CURE-ALL
Kelp contains the complete spectrum of minerals needed by man, as they
are contained in the ocean itself. Aside from the fact that sea water
as such is a veritable treasure trove of minerals, land minerals are constantly
washing into the sea, enriching it still further (Ibid.). Most plants
are tested for mineral content by burning the plant and analyzing the
ash. Dr. Black said that the ash of seaweed may be from ten percent to
as high as fifty percent; that is to say that if you burn seaweed, you
may have half the volume left as minerals (Ibid.)! Carrots, in contrast,
leave an ash of one percent as minerals. Apples have a mineral ash of
.3 percent, almost 3,0 percent, beets 1.1 percent. Even more important
than the minerals needed in relatively large amounts, such as calcium,
iron, phosphorus, potassium, and so forth, are the trace minerals--iodine,
copper, manganese, boron, zinc, etc. These minerals appear in minute quantities
in food. Our bodies need only microscopically small amounts of them. Yet
if that tiny amount is not there, we can die from the lack. Floods and
poor farming practices are causing our soil to be washed away, and with
it goes the trace minerals. Applying commercial fertilizer to the soil
does not improve the situation, for this does not and cannot contain the
trace minerals (Ibid.). What happens to the trace minerals that wash away
with the farmlands? They wash into the ocean and are taken up into seaweeds.
One of the most important trace elements in Kelp is iodine. This mineral
is essential for the proper functioning of the thyroid which manufactures
the hormone thyroxin. If an adequate amount of iodine is not provided
in the diet, the thyroid gland is forced to work overtime and becomes
enlarged in an effort to make up for the deficiency. This enlargement
is known as goiter. In ancient times, the burned ashes of the sea sponge
were given to drive out the "evil spirit" which caused the swelling
of the neck--but the sponge itself contains iodine, as does Kelp (Luc:
49). Kelp is a much better source of iodine than the much-touted iodized
salt, which is chemically isolated sodium chloride to which potassium
chloride has been added. Table salt is a drug, according to the Rodale
researchers, to which another drug is added. Such a product has no relation
to nature, and most of us should not take as much salt as might be needed
to supply the needed amount of iodine, anyway. Most of us should take
much less salt! Kelp is the ideal source of iodine. To get the daily requirement
of 100 micrograms of iodine estimated as the requirement for human beings:
10 pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits, or 8 pounds of cereals, grains
and nuts, or 6 pounds of meat, fish, fowl, or 2 pounds of eggs, or 3 pounds
of marine fish, or .2 pounds of shellfish. Used as a condiment, Kelp could
supply easily the amount required; it contains 10 times as much iodine
as American iodized salt (RodC: 716).
Kelp is credited for a number of interesting cures. In the standard
way of herbal thinking, Kelp is mainly used as an anti-fat remedy. With
a little common sense in dieting, Kelp alone can reduce fat people to
more normal proportions. The beauty of using the seaweed is that it can
only do good, and never harm. It does not deplete the energy of the body
as some reducing programs do; indeed, it strengthens the vital energy
by working in cooperating with the endocrine glands. It has been found
that there is a definite connection between the amount of energy available
and our iodine intake. In Kelp, as we mentioned before, we have a perfectly
natural source of all the iodine we require.
Obesity is rare among the Polynesians and other races who incorporate
seaweeds as a regular part of their daily diet. This plant influences
the mucous membranes and lymphatics. It is a slow, persistent agent, but
it will accomplish the desired weight loss results. It is stimulating
to the absorbents and especially influences the fatty globules. Its best
action is observed in individuals having a cold, torpid, clammy skin and
loose flabby rolls of fat. It is an agent that gives better results in
sick, overweight people than in cases of healthy, fat people (Luc:50).
Instead of being simply a weight loss agent, it is more a normalizer,
as thin people can put on weight while taking Kelp.
Kelp is said to be a specific remedy for liver congestion. If you get
up in the morning with a sick liver, you will probably feel depressed
and out of sorts. The liver is a great influencer of our moods; conversely,
however, a morbid state of mind will congest the liver! To be bright and
vital one must have an active liver. Kelp is an organ remedy for the liver.
It has an affinity for the organ and a direct action upon it. The action
of this remedy is to supply the liver with the salts it needs for normal
function, and it also has a sweetening and cleansing effect. Very obstinate
cases of liver congestion have yielded to treatment with Kelp, as long
as a good diet was followed (Powell:21-2).
In connection with the liver, the gall bladder can be cleared from obstructions
with Kelp. The highly evolved sodium content of the remedy may play a
large part in this action. So many of our illnesses result from constipation,
and such a large portion of our population suffers from this ailment!
Poisons accumulate in the large bowel and are absorbed back into the bloodstream,
causing a host of disorders which are not specific in themselves but stem
back to the toxic colon. Many people subscribe to enemas and colonics
to cleanse the colon, and Dr. Christopher agreed that these may have a
place in an emergency, but they should absolutely never be relied upon.
In addition to his formula for toning the colon, Kelp can take an important
place doing this job. Because of its high natural mineral salt content,
Kelp builds the walls of the colon and the iodine, being highly antiseptic,
deals with the toxic condition. For this reason, Kelp can be used in all
cases associated with auto toxemia, especially in pregnancy. All constipated
people should take Kelp daily, with the addition of blackstrap molasses
if needed. Few people are really free from constipation, so almost everyone
could benefit from the addition of Kelp to the daily diet (Powell:19).
Kelp is one of the best foods for a sluggish pancreas, as its salts
help tune up the whole. If the indigestion one suffers is not linked to
the pancreas, often the pyloric valve is not functioning up to par or
there may be duodenal ulcers or inflammation. This remedy, while it is
not recommended as a specific for such inflammation, is an aid to tone
the stomach, aid digestion, and deal with excess stomach acidity; such
helps are bound to have a healing effect upon the duodenum. In addition,
Kelp is an antacid and can greatly help with chronic indigestion.
In recent years, we have found that the kidneys are not only eliminative
organs, they also aid in assimilation and are partly responsible for adequate
nutrition (Ibid). Kelp cleanses and tones these organs, and can be especially
valuable in cases of irritable or painful kidneys. Dr. Powell cleared
up kidney cases that were very stubborn and had failed to respond to other
treatments, whether natural or medical.
Kelp is also recommended to tone the prostate gland. It improves the
nutrition of the organ and the circulation of the blood through the tissues.
It is necessary to take the remedy over a period of time to get the results,
however. A seventy year old man was saved having a prostate operation
through the persistent use of Kelp (Ibid).
Kelp is also recommended to tone the prostate gland. It improves the
nutrition of the organ and the circulation of the blood through the tissues.
It is necessary to take the remedy over a period of time to get the results,
however. A seventy year old man was saved having a prostate operation
through the persistent use of Kelp (Ibid).
Kelp, as might be expected, is also of use in the female organs. It
will tone up a weak uterus and help produce a more healthy baby, as the
balanced minerals will be supplied fully with the use of Kelp. Some women
who had lost babies in childbirth and others who had not been able to
carry babies were helped by the use of Kelp by Dr. Powell's prescription
of Kelp to carry healthy babies full term. Especially when toxemia threatens
during the last stages of the pregnancy, Kelp, being a carrier of important
minerals and a toner and an antiseptic, can help clear up an otherwise
dangerous condition.
Kelp has been used to help painful testicles and painful menstruation
and ovaries. The progress is slow but it is sure, as we are not just treating
symptoms but rebuilding the organs.
As mentioned above, Kelp has helped in many cases of headaches. Neck
pain and congestion comes from various causes, but whatever the case,
Dr. Powell found it unusual to locate a case in which Kelp could not be
helpful. This also applies in cases of migraine.
Kelp is an arterial cleansing agent and gives tone to the walls of the
blood vessels. It is helpful in some cases of arterial tension (high blood
pressure). Practitioners believe that it helps to remove deposits from
the walls of the arteries and restore their elasticity, thereby lengthening
life (Powell:17). Sufferers from low blood pressure can also have this
condition normalized with the use of Kelp. Most nervous disorders result
from a deficiency of certain cell salts, so we can correctly term nervous
disorders "deficiency diseases". Kelp can considerably help
balance the system and correct the problems. Dr. Powell helped a lady
who could not sleep because of "nerves". She responded to the
use of Kelp. An elderly gentlemen with a nervous heart and very frightened
about his condition responded to Kelp after many weeks on the remedy.
The older you are, Dr. Powell said, the longer you have to take Kelp for
remedial purposes. It has no drug action itself but helps rebuild the
weakened organs. One of the functions of iodine is to bring calmness to
the mind and body by relieving nervous tension. When nervous tension is
marked, there is excitability and irritation, sleeping becomes difficult,
and there is a drain on the vitality (Powell:14). Kelp reduces tension,
produces relaxation and enables the system to store up vitality and reserve
energy; concentration becomes easier owing to the freer flow of blood
through the brain and it is easier to think clearly (Ibid.).
Kelp can be of great help in arthritis and rheumatism. These are due
to an excess of certain acids in the system, and are usually associated
with faulty kidney function plus a deficiency of the sodium salts. Orthodox
medicine treats this problem with massive doses of sodium compounds to
counteract acidity. Unfortunately this overdosing ruins the digestion
and the kidney functions; arterial disease may also result. Sufferers
from these conditions should limit their intake of acid forming foods,
such as sugar, white flour products, and overcooked foods. They should
eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables--and Kelp--which will help de-acidify
the system and provide the necessary salts as well.
There has never been found a cure for the common cold, but Kelp is known
to be a help in overcoming colds and coughs. Those who suffer from these
have a cell salt deficiency, and they also lack sufficient iodine; this
is not to say that a dose of Kelp will get rid of a cold, but the constant
use of Kelp should help increase resistance to these maladies and in time
the system should become free of them.
Kelp contains alginic acid, which combines with metallic elements in
the intestines to form insoluble salts which can then be excreted from
the body. Lead enters our bodies from the polluted environment (water,
air, food) in which we live. For instance children are known to eat lead
based paint. If you regularly eat Kelp, the lead can combine with the
alginic acid to form lead alginate which can then be excreted. Oriental
peoples who eat large amounts of sea vegetables are known to have more
immunity to certain diseases that are prevalent in the western world (Rose:Herbal:80).
We often hear about test findings that residues of strontium 90 fallout
are close to the maximum permissible level in milk, or that sometimes
it has been exceeded and the milk condemned. This fallout often enters
the bones and causes leukemia. It also unfortunately possesses a strong
affinity to some of the most nutritious foods we have. Green salad vegetables,
for instance, can accumulate a large amount of strontium 90 under certain
weather conditions. In fact, any food that is high in calcium will have
a tendency to store this radioactivity. Many people saturate their systems
with calcium in order to bind the strongtium 90 and to excrete some of
it. Yet Kelp has a definite protective effect and will significantly reduce
the amount of strontium 90 absorbed in our bones (RodC:708).
This knowledge came from the Gastrointestinal Research Laboratories of
McGill University in Montreal and was published Medical World News in
July 3, 1964. Three doctors, after conducting a laboratory investigation
on rats as test animals, found that completely nontoxic Kelp contains
a chemical substance--sodium alginate--that reduces absorption of strontium
90 from the intestines by as much as 50 to 80 percent (Ibid.).
In another experiment, strontium 90 and sodium alginate were given to
rats in their drinking water. They found that these animals showed a sixty
percent drop in the blood levels of strontium 90 and a seventy-five percent
decrease in bone absorption! This is such significant news in our world
which is absolutely polluted with the radioactive fallout that was released
on the world in bomb tests several years ago, not to mention the fallout
that could occur should nuclear war become a reality. Kelp is able to
discriminate between strontium 90 and calcium, even though the two chemicals
are so similar chemically, and the Kelp does not interfere with the body's
absorption of calcium while it effectively removes the radioactive element
(Ibid.).
Max Gerson, in his very effective treatment of cancer, found that almost
all seriously ill persons were very deficient in potassium. He supplemented
his cancer patients' diets with significant amounts of potassium, usually
in a liquid concentrate. A cancer patient we know learned that both the
seaweeds Kelp and Dulse are the highest in potassium among all foods and
herbs. He mixed a brew of Kelp, apple cider vinegar and honey and took
a large amount of it in his daily cancer regime, which also utilized raw
juices, fruits and vegetables, and herbs. He found that this was a potent--albeit
somewhat unpleasant tasting!--source of potassium and other trace minerals.
Gerson also employed iodine in his cancer treatment and Kelp is high in
this element. We cannot, of course, claim that Kelp is a cancer cure.
But it is a powerful source of necessary elements for healing. Gerson
found that the seriously ill person might take many months, even a year
or two, to balance his potassium level. If the blood samples show a great
deal of potassium in the blood, this is misleading, for the body is not
assimilating the mineral and it is passing out of the system. If the levels
are low, this might actually be a good thing, as the potassium is being
absorbed in the body and not being eliminated. At any rate, there seems
to be a correlation between illness, stress and potassium levels; during
menstruation and pregnancy, for example, the need for potassium skyrockets.
If a person is taking an adequate amount of Kelp in his diet, this amount
of potassium might help him stand the strains of the stresses or illnesses
he might have.
We have mentioned the iodine in Kelp as being necessary to treat thyroid
gland trouble, but we might explain the function a bit more. The Greeks
ate sea plants to cure goiter, but it was not until 1849 that Chatin established
a connection between iodine deficiency and goiter. Later, iodine was discovered
in the thyroid and it was found that in people suffering from goiter there
was an iodine deficiency. Goiter has been produced in animals by feeding
them on foods lacking in iodine, and females fed on iodine-free foods
have produced offspring with goiters. By administering iodine, the animals
were cured (Powell:29).
Too much iodine may produce overactivity of the thyroid which leads
to mental excitement and emotionalism, so small doses of iodine products
are best. However, Kelp is not known to have produced hyperthyroidism,
which may be due to the fact that the iodine in Kelp is only a part of
a highly organized arrangement of salts. The thyroid performs many vital
functions in the body. It secretes thyroxin, controls and regulates metabolism,
vitalizes every cell of the body and enables the cells to respond to sympathetic
stimulation, assists in the control of tissue differentiation, increases
the power and rate of heart function, controls coagulation time, increases
urea and fluid secretion, stimulates and brightens the mind, controls
and regulates body fat, controls intestinal activity, aids the function
of the pancreas, helps to harmonize the activity of the suprarenal glands,
has a regulating influence on the ovaries and testicles, works in cooperation
with the parathyroids, thereby regulating the action of mineral salts
in the system, especially of calcium, acts in conjunction with the pituitary
gland, thereby exerting a profound influence on metabolism in general--a
large order! This gland influences nearly the entire body (Powell:31).
Hypofunction of the thyroid produces lassitude of mind and body, cretinism
in children, slow growth in children, delayed maturity, obesity, female
troubles, dry skin, dry lusterless hair and kidney disorders. Hyperfunction
of the gland produces a completely opposite picture: oversensitivity,
mental alertness, emotionalism and overactivity (Ibid.). People who find
they suffer from any of these ailments related to the thyroid get relief
from Kelp, which supplies iodine and other trace minerals which will balance
the thyroid and the entire system.
The late Dr. Guyon Richards, a great proponent of Kelp, discussed "reversed
polarity" in the automatic nervous system, saying that when such
a condition exists it is hell for the sufferer. For such a condition he
advised Kelp. When neurasthenias and other nerve sufferers are miserable,
they are advised to take small doses of "this humble weed from the
sea" (Powell:37).
Jeanne Rose seems to sum it up: "Kelp, used internally, cleanses
the body through the external openings such as the sweat glands, seems
to have beneficial effects on the reproductive organs, and gives tone
to the walls of the blood vessels. It is used for goiter, for smooth skin,
sturdy fingernails, and shiny hair, and as a diuretic in obesity. It seems
to restore the healthy functioning of the body...I have used it extensively
and in small doses it seems to work; however, when I used it like salt,
in larger quantities, it caused me to break an incredible amount of Kelp-smelling
wind" (Rose:Herbs:73).
FERTILIZING FOOD
Kelp is most used around the world as a food and as a wonderful land-building
fertilizer. Along with the other brown seaweeds, Kelp is used as food
for many peoples around the world. In Japan, it comprises as much as one-fourth
of the everyday diet, used in broths and as garnishes and ingredients
in traditional foods. As the Japanese prepare the seaweeds, they are extremely
delicious; our children often beg for the Nori preparation, which is thin
sheets of the brown seaweed. Dr. Black said there may be present in the
intestinal tracts of the Japanese people a specialized bacterial flora,
giving the seaweeds a greater nutritional value. The bacterial flora are
the beneficial bacteria which live in the intestines and manufacture certain
vitamins there, as well as helping in the digestion of food. Dr. Black
says that in digestibility tests with cattle it has been found that when
seaweed is first introduced into the diet, it is completely undigested
and appears unaltered in the feces. After a few days, however, no seaweed
is found in the feces. So it seems that the bacteria in the intestines
have an important part in the digestion of seaweed. In Japan it appears
that children develop the proper intestinal bacteria since they are fed
seaweed products since infancy (RodC:710).
Kelp is a valuable manure for potatoes and other crops and is gathered
all along the British coast. It is largely used in the Channel Islands,
where it is called Vraic, the early potatoes from Jersey being grown by
seaweed manure. Fresh seaweed contains 20 to 40 pounds of potash to the
ton, and dried seaweed 60 to 230 pounds, so that its collection and use
were strongly recommended to farmers during World War II when there was
such a shortage of commercial fertilizers (Gri:112). It may be spread
on the land and left for some time before plowing in, but should not be
left in heaps, as rotting liberates the potash, which might then go to
waste. Organic gardeners who live close to oceans might well utilize Kelp
in their gardens for a marvelous source of all the trace elements. It
is somewhat expensive for inland farmers, yet a small sprinkling added
to the garden might go a long way in balancing the nutritional contents
of foods. Indeed, added to the compost heap it might interact with other
ingredients to make a potent addition to the garden soil.
The early broccoli from Cornwall in Britain is fertilized with Kelp,
and on the west coast of Ireland, driftweed is almost the only manure
used for raising potatoes. In the Channel Islands it is used for producing
the smoke for drying bacon and fish, while in the Hebrides, cheeses are
covered with the salty ashes of the seaweed, and horses, cattle and sheep
have been fed with it. Back in 1920, a man named Philip Park was startled
to see cattle passing over rich, lush grass so that they could feed on
Kelp. He investigated the food content of this seaweed and went into business
to produce it for animal food and human consumption. At his nonprofit
research organization, experiments are carried on to find out more uses
for this plant (RodC:711).
During World War II, the French Ministry of War experimented with regard
to the value of seaweed as food for horses. A herd of twenty fed on the
usual ration of oats and fodder gained eleven kilograms less in two months
than a similar number fed on the same weight of seaweed. Another trial
resulted in the cure of some sick horses fed on seaweed, while others
fed on oats remained out of health (Gri:112).
In Denmark, the possibility of making paper from seaweed was tried,
but the cost of collecting proved too serious an obstacle. It is possible
that considerable quantities of alcohol might be obtained from various
species. Tests on Kelp show that anaerobic bacteria--that is, bacteria
free of oxygen--will react with harvested Kelp in airtight conditions
to produce methane. Methane is the principle component of natural gas.
In other words, Kelp from the sea could come in quite handy in days of
energy shortages.
Now researchers want to find out whether Kelp can be grown artificially
in the deeper waters of the sea, far from shore, where there would be
plenty of room to establish Kelp farms. An experiment is underway off
the California coast near Newport Beach, wherein there's been a Kelp planting
about 50 feet below the ocean's surface, and about 100 feet in diameter.
The Kelp plants are anchored to stainless steel and nylon rope which is
strung around the steel ribs of something which looks like a huge upended
umbrella. A pipe, two feet in diameter, plunges fifteen hundred feet into
the sea beneath the Kelp farm. It brings up nutrients such as nitrates
and phosphates from the rich ocean bed to fertilize the Kelp and maintain
growth. If the results are promising, the next step will be a bigger Kelp
farm, possibly as large as ten acres. Kelp was chosen among seaweeds because
it is prolific and its roots can be easily anchored. Kelp grows as much
as two feet in a single day. The nutrients it uses come from sea water
and the energy for growth comes from the sun. It manufactures its food
in the same way as land plants, in the manufacture of chlorophyll, although
the green color is usually hidden under some thin overlying pigment, brown
in the case of Kelp. If these experiments continue successful, Kelp might
provide a viable source of methane to help people become independent from
petroleum and natural gas. As one scientist said, "The sea's the
limit" (Associated Press, Phoenix, Arizona, 1979).
Kelp used to be the source of commercial iodine, and there were Kelp-burning
plants to produce it. It is now a dead industry, as there is a cheaper
process of obtaining it from the mother-liquors obtained in the purification
of Chile saltpetre. The use of Kelp as a source of alkalies for soap and
glass manufacture has been rendered obsolete by the modern process of
obtaining carbonate of soda cheaply from common salt. It might be well
to remember these processes, however, if the time should come that the
other substances are not easily handled.
HISTORICAL USES
Used for the thyroid, for weight loss and gain, severe headaches, malnutrition,
nervous conditions, dyspepsia, digestive problems, constipation, for a
toxic colon, for liver, gall bladder, kidney and meninges, for a sluggish
pancreas, for cold, torpid or clammy skin, for liver congestion, for gall
bladder obstructions, for toxemia in pregnancy, for excess stomach acidity,
as an antiacid, to tone the kidney, for the prostate, for arterial cleansing,
high blood pressure, nervous tension, arthritis and rheumatism, for colds,
cough, cancer, goiter, female troubles, dry skin, and for strong nails
and shiny hair.
COLLECTION, CULTIVATION, PREPARATION
Kelp is harvested by special boats equipped with a great hook which
pulls the plant up out of the sea. Special cutters then mow off the tops
of the Kelp plants which are carried back to the boat on a conveyor belt
arrangement. The Kelp commonly sold for health food consumption is gathered
far off the coast from pure, deep waters to reduce as much as possible
the contamination by pollution. At the processing plant ashore, the Kelp
is chopped fine, dried, sterilized, and shredded. There is no boiling
or draining off of water. Everything in the way of minerals remains in
the original plant. Kelp plants are so vigorous in growth that plants
cut to a depth of four feet will reach the surface of the sea again within
forty-eight to sixty hours (RodC:711).
Kelp can be used in many ways in the diet and as a supplement. By far
the easiest use of Kelp is in tablets, which one can buy and take with
a glass of water. Since the taste of Kelp is not pleasant to everyone
at first, Kelp as a condiment should be added gradually to the diet. It
is good sprinkled on buttered popcorn in place of salt. It can be added
to soups and broths without a great change in flavor. It can be added
to salads or salad dressings, especially herb dressings. It can be sprinkled
on cottage cheese or on baked potatoes. You can mix it half-and-half with
your salt or, if your family is suspicious of the color, with your pepper
for table use. You can add it to bread or cookies, especially to rye products,
as it blends very well with the flavor. You can add it to the Green Drink
although it changes the flavor somewhat.
If you make a blend of various culinary herbs as a salt substitute,
Kelp can be added without too much effect on the flavor. We find that
adding Kelp slowly but surely into the diet gives the medicinal effects
without raising too much complaining from the family!
In Britain, special preparations of Kelp are sometimes made. Sea-pod
liniment is the expressed juice and decoction of the fresh seaweed as
dispensed by seaside pharmacists for rheumatism and as an anti-fat aid.
Sea-pod essence is rubbed onto sprains and bruises. A wine made from grapes
and Kelp is praised as a remedy for diseases of the hips and other joints,
and bones in children (Gri:114). Kelp can be made into infusion, decoction,
or liquid extract, although the taste is somewhat strong.
In discussing the problems related to the uses of Kelp, one author recognizes
that Kelp products vary widely in their iodine content and that it is
not a reliable source of the mineral. Since precise doses are not available,
it is not recommended by this author, who claims that in addition to the
problems of dosage, Kelp tastes bad (Tyler:488). It certainly is an acquired
taste, but used judiciously, Kelp can be a tolerable addition to the diet.
The alginates in Kelp are used as thickening and smoothing elements in
the food and manufacturing industries.
RELATED PLANTS
Fucus nodosus, the Knobbed Wrack, has a narrower thallus, without a
midrib and single vesicles.
F. serratus, the Black Wrack, has a veined and serrate front, without
vesicles. Both contain the same constituents as Kelp.
F. serratus has much been used in Norway as cattle feed, being there
called cow-weed. Linnaeus stated that in Gothland the inhabitants boiled
it with water, mixed with a little coarse meal or flour, and fed their
hogs with it, for which reason they called the plant "Swine-tang".
In Sweden the poor people covered their cottages with it and sometimes
used it for fuel.
F. amylaceus, or Ceylon Moss, abounding in starch and vegetable jelly,
is used like Irish Moss.
F. Helminthocorton, or Corsican Moss, is regarded in Europe as an anthelmintic
and febrifuge.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
As we have mentioned, Kelp has an extremely high mineral content. It is also a rich source of Vitamin B-12, which is often difficult for the pure vegetarian to obtain. Two or three ounces of the seaweed daily might be sufficient to provide the daily requirement for someone who eats no foods of animal origin.
Even the most avid opponents of herbs can find no toxicity in the chemicals contained in Kelp. It can be used with utmost safety and confidence!
[Dulse is an ingredient highly featured in the product Vital Nutrition Plus. Also found in the formula are spirulina, Blue Green Algae, Chlorella Broken-cell Algae, Alfalfa grass, Barley grass, Wheet grass, Beet root, Spinach leaf, Rose hips, Orange peel, Lemon peel, all in a base of non-fermentable Saccharomyces Cervisiae Yeast.]
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