I don't have anything against it - I just don't think most of us are drawn to the flavor without additives, it's toxic in many cases, it's salty, ugly, dried. I'm drawn to beautiful fresh foods.


I have read on more than one link on goiter information that it is caused by both too much iodine and too little, maybe try Google if you need help.

I was told by someone in the seaweed community that alginates in seaweed get rid of the toxic elements present.

As seaweeds are one of the best tools for chelating heavy metals, ill try find more.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2010 04:08PM by powerlifer.

Utopian Life Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I have read on more than one link on goiter
> information that it is caused by both too much
> iodine and too little, maybe try Google if you
> need help.

Hyperthyroidism can be caused by too much iodine. There was a case where someone with a goiter then overdosed on kelp tea, a case of overcorrecting in the iodine department --

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

-Of course I wouldn't want to turn anyone off of iodized salt, sometimes a life saver.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2010 12:05PM by loeve.

I am concerned that I don't get any ioding except for a trace here and there. I haven't liked any of the seaweed I've ever tried. Also I am a bit concerned about it being contaminated.

What are dulse flakes like? (they were mentioned a few posts back) and how do you incorporate them into a meal. what quantity would you need and how often - daily, weekly?

dulse flakes are small dark red colored that can be added to salads and smoothies or fruit. I have some about every other day. Great source of iodine.

Ive spoken more to my friend and he says dont worry about the possibility of metals in seaweed as the alginates render them useless. He also said seaweeds alginates aswell as chlorella are some of the best tools for heavy metal detox.

I like dulse a lot, but it's kind of salty. You can wash it or soak it to get the salt out, or as much salt as you like. It becomes very tender as soon as it's exposed to moisture - even the moisture of your salad. Sometimes I just shred some of it and add it to my salad without soaking. As long as I don't add too much, it's very good. If you're OK with eating something salty, I think there are also dulse flakes available to use as a condiment.

Much of the dried seaweed eaten so often in Japan is washed or soaked first.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2010 07:38PM by suncloud.

Yeah as you say most are meant to be pre-soaked before eaten.

powerlifer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ive spoken more to my friend and he says dont
> worry about the possibility of metals in seaweed
> as the alginates render them useless. He also said
> seaweeds alginates aswell as chlorella are some of
> the best tools for heavy metal detox.


It would be very helpful to have a link to a study or report on this. No offense to you or your friend but anyone can say anything, I like to see some proof myself...

Seaweeds are filters of the oceans, and as such they pick up heavy metals. I can't see why anyone would want to put heavy metals into their body.

Ive been eating what i found out is sea lettuce lately, fresh, harvested myself, I actually find it tasty and actually really pretty when its fresh, one of only two types ive harvested I find palatable... good stuff... have to say though, Iodine deficiency does NOT cause ADHD, Ive had ADHD my entire life, and Ive never had an Iodine deficiency till I stopped using salt nearly as often... Not to mention its thought of as more of a naturally occurring physiological difference by many current experts on it instead of a disease that needs to be cured, those with ADHD tend to have a higher than average I.Q., and with mental training are far better at mental multi-tasking than the average person,something that has helped me immensely in life once I learned how to order my thoughts.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Prana Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> .........I can't see why anyone
> would want to put heavy metals into their body.
Certainly not knowingly.
P.S. Maine Coast tests their seaweed for heavy metals.

What do they say Yogi? Do you trust their reports, are they backed up with impartial data? Just curious,I do like the taste of some sea veg, not all mind, I'm not a fan of "fishy" foods.

Curator, my little bro was diagnosed quite young with ADHD, I'm sure he wasn't iodine deficient at that age!

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What do they say Yogi? Do you trust their reports,
> are they backed up with impartial data? I would
think so, but their results are probably not made public.
> ......I do like the taste of some sea veg, not
> all mind, I'm not a fan of "fishy" foods. I used to
like Dulse and Sea Lettuce, but I've quit eating both of them.
If we could eat it as it comes from the Oceans, Seaweed would
be a powerful food. As it is, we can do much better with Fresh foods.
Some of those here might use Seaweed as a condiment for main Dishes.

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> powerlifer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Ive spoken more to my friend and he says dont
> > worry about the possibility of metals in
> seaweed
> > as the alginates render them useless. He also
> said
> > seaweeds alginates aswell as chlorella are some
> of
> > the best tools for heavy metal detox.
>
>
> It would be very helpful to have a link to a study
> or report on this. No offense to you or your
> friend but anyone can say anything, I like to see
> some proof myself...


There are quite a few studys i believe on alginates chelating heavy metals, but what he is saying in particular how they bind the traces of metals present and render them useless im not sure ive came across any data.

Seaweeds are so diverse in their characteristics. Alginates are found in brown seaweed according to this study, and might chelate heavy metals --

"Algae also synthesize a number of different polysaccharides and lipids that, in addition to serving as carbon storage compounds, perform biological functions and have commercial value. Some of the polysaccharides are anionic and bind metal ions, chelate heavy metals, and help maintain a hydration shell around the alga. The commercially valuable polysaccharides are agar, carrageenans, alginates, and fucoids (Berteau and Mulloy, 2003; Feizi and Mulloy, 2003; Drury et al., 2004; Matsubara, 2004)."

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

I've read that certain species are good for filtering polution. I've also heard certain fruiting plants are good for filtering polution from land.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2010 09:12AM by loeve.

what do guys think about the hole orthorexia issue??
by my understanding that's what flipperjan was kind of hinting at with her first topic!

Yes, I also thought that.

There is a tendency to believe the entire planet is toxic and so we should distill our water to rid it of toxins, go organic to minimize toxins, and so on.

We can believe all is toxic. We can believe all is pure. Or whatever.

loeve Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We can believe all is toxic. We can believe all
> is pure. Or whatever.
How true!! It depends on the individual to find
their own Level. I like to think I'm at a good place. But,
there's always room for improvement.....WY
P.S. Yep, I like that one....."all is Pure".

loeve Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I've read that certain species are good for
> filtering polution. I've also heard certain
> fruiting plants are good for filtering polution
> from land.

These are things that I would be less likely to eat. If they are filtering out polution, chelating heavy metals, etc, they would be FULL OF THOSE THINGS, right? I don't know how you render mercury harmless, I've never heard of that being done.



Orthorexia to me is when you obsesse about diet to the point that it's teh main focus of your life, when you become afraid to eat onions or garlic because they are "too stimulating", when you fret over the calories in your fruit when you're already skinny, when it overwhelms your life as a similar food obsession does for anorexics or bulemics.

I don't agree that seaweed is the only good source of iodine. I've got nothing against inorganic mineral sources or finding it in land plants or ignoring it altogether for those who live by faith in their choices.

several hundred years ago before pollution of modern times and before the soils were demineralised people died at even younger ages , many people did not even live beyond 40.

I guess we are all going to die sometime, no matter how pure we are.

I've also seen some studies that someone posted on another forum that said iodine toxicity was causing thyroid problems, so I guess it is good to be cautious, it is about balance, how do you know whether you are deficient or not.

Anything in excess can cause problems, iodine, vitamin D, etc.

Wheatgrass Yogi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Prana Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > .........I can't see why anyone
> > would want to put heavy metals into their body.
> Certainly not knowingly.
> P.S. Maine Coast tests their seaweed for heavy
> metals.

Davis and Melina reviewed the literature on seaweeds and did find Hijiki high in arsenic. So Prana's point has some basis Arsenic is a nasty carcinogen. It cause bladder cancer and other effects and for those of you with treated decks (wood), you have another source of arsenic to think about (cca, copper chromium arsenate). Pretty rarely used on new decks.

There is an idiom about throwing the baby out with the bathwater though that rings through. Hijiki ain't all sea vegetables!!! Nori rolls (can be raw, but God help me if I can find a raw nori roll in the store) And I buy dulse flakes (no evidence of any contamination whatsoever), and kelp noodles from Sea Tangles and Sea Spaghetti from Sirova. Recently Sirova had added sea lettuce and laver. I would like to try it.

Paul

Wheatgrass Yogi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> coco Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What do they say Yogi? Do you trust their
> reports,
> > are they backed up with impartial data? I would
>
> think so, but their results are probably not made
> public.
> > ......I do like the taste of some sea veg, not
> > all mind, I'm not a fan of "fishy" foods. I used
> to
> like Dulse and Sea Lettuce, but I've quit eating
> both of them.
> If we could eat it as it comes from the Oceans,
> Seaweed would
> be a powerful food. As it is, we can do much
> better with Fresh foods.
> Some of those here might use Seaweed as a
> condiment for main Dishes.

Sirova has a wealth of sea vegetables. [www.sirova.com]

Im enjoying sea lettuce quite a bit myself Paul, Ive only had it fresh though, so if its dehydrated I have no idea what its like... Also, id like to point out, if getting to much iodine from seaweed is so dangerous for your thyroid...how come japan doesn't have major thyroid issues in their population? youd think their problems would be higher than in countries where seaweed isnt a normal part of ones diet? right?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

I don't find either arsenic or iodine from seaweed particularly worrisome. I'd think you'd have a better chance of being struck by lightning or of a shark attack than coming down with seaweed poisoning if going by reported cases on the web.

It takes time for some people to adapt to greatly increased iodine. People with a history of ample dietary iodine and healthy thyroid function can process lots of iodine. People from a background of iodine deficiency and hypothyroidism might want to keep in mind the Tolerable Upper Limit of 1,100mcg/day.

It's like watching standard western dieters go from a sodium intake of 3,000mg to sometimes less than 200mg overnight without warning them it takes time for the body to adapt to chemical (mineral) changes, and that those low levels are benieth the recommendations of some countries. "That's detox"?.

"Dietary Levels of Iodine: The Japanese Phenomenon
"Japanese populations have historically consumed
significant amounts of dietary iodine from seaweed
intake, possibly consuming a minimum of 7,000
mcg iodine daily from kombu alone.24 Estimates of the
average daily Japanese iodine consumption vary from
5,280 mcg to 13,800 mcg;25,26 by comparison the average
U.S. daily consumption is 167 mcg. The Japanese,
therefore, consume dietary iodine approximately 5-14
times above the upper safety limit of 1 mg by U.S. standards.
Mean urinary iodine levels in Japanese populations
are approximately twice the levels found in the
U.S. NHANES 2001-2002 data.27 These higher levels,
however, appear to have no suppressive effect on
thyroid function as indicated by thyroid volume measurements,
the accepted standard for assessing thyroid
enlargement. A study comparing urine iodine and thyroid
volume in Japanese children showed 16 percent
of those tested excreted over 1,000 mcg/L.24 Elevated
levels of urinary iodine did not predict increased thyroid
gland volume, as might be expected from data in
studies of Chinese populations associating excess levels
of iodine with autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism.
28"

[www.thorne.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2010 09:45AM by loeve.

Curator Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Im enjoying sea lettuce quite a bit myself Paul,
> Ive only had it fresh though, so if its dehydrated
> I have no idea what its like... Also, id like to
> point out, if getting to much iodine from seaweed
> is so dangerous for your thyroid...how come japan
> doesn't have major thyroid issues in their
> population? youd think their problems would be
> higher than in countries where seaweed isnt a
> normal part of ones diet? right?


Exactly, i believe i read the average japanese intake of iodine is 12mg daily and has been linked to there lower rates of breast cancer etc.

You have to take into account the rest of diet and lifestyle when you look at things like that though. It's far to simplistic to say lower rates of breast cancer are linked to seaweed consumption.

coco,

Iodine deficiency has been linked to breast cancer because the second greatest site for receptors of iodine is the breast tissues(in mammals). As the cells cannot properly bear oxygen without iodine, it stands to reason that a deficiency in iodine would be a correlative factor in oxygen sensitive disorders. That the Japanese eat unprocessed soy is certainly another factor in their low incidence of estrogen dependent breast cancers.

A radiologist and I were once discussing how it was likely that the high iodine diet of Japan limited the cases of thyroid cancer across the board after the atomic bombings at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. He said it would be much worse in this country, with our low iodine intake from soil. Enlightening chat, that.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2010 06:48PM by Tamukha.