Radiation Poisoning is avoided with Seaweeds & Iodine

Seaweeds have been used for generations in the preparation of Japanese cuisine, a regular part of their traditional daily diet. The health benefits that obtained by eating ocean vegetables are reflected in the overall health & wellness of the Japanese & Korean populations. Most notably, they have the lowest rates of cancer, especially reproductive cancers like breast, ovarian & prostate cancer in the world. This is due in large part to the role that sea vegetables play to nourish & detoxify the body. The power of these ocean vegetables, have been recognized for centuries, especially in ancient medicines & remedies. After the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki & Hiroshima in 1945, the response from the Japanese medical community for those left alive was to eat seaweed to avoid radiation poisoning. Dr. Tatsuichiro Akizuki was director of the Department of Internal Medicine at St. Francis Hospital in Nagasaki during the bombing. Dr. Akisuki demanded a strict macrobiotic diet of brown rice, miso soup, wakame & other seaweeds, Hokkaido pumpkin and sea salt. He prohibited the consumption of sugar & sweets and as a result saved everyone in the hospital, while many other survivors in the city died from radiation sickness.
Dr. Akisuki recalls,“I gave the cooks and staff strict orders that they should make unpolished whole-grain rice balls, adding some salt to them, prepare strong miso soup for each meal, and never use sugar. When they didn’t follow my orders, I scolded them without mercy, ‘Never take sugar. Sugar will destroy your blood!’... “This dietary method made it possible for me to remain alive and go on working vigorously as a doctor. The radioactivity may not have been a fatal dose, but thanks to this method, Brother Iwanaga, Reverend Noguchi, Chief Nurse Miss Murai, other staff members and in-patients, as well as myself, all kept on living on the lethal ashes of the bombed ruins. It was thanks to this food that all of us could work for people day after day, overcoming fatigue or symptoms of atomic disease and survive the disaster free from severe symptoms of radioactivity.”
As Dr. Brownstein notes, 'The CDC recommends using iodine to prevent injury from radioactive iodine fallout. Dosages for adults and women who are breastfeeding should take 130mg of potassium iodide. For children who are between 3 and 18 years of age, they should take 65mg of potassium iodide. Children who are adult size should take the adult dose. Infants and children between 1 month and 3 years of age should take 32mg of potassium iodide. Newborns from birth to one month of age should be given 16mg of potassium iodide.'
Now please understand that these dosages are used in case of emergency of radioactive fallout or contamination, not everyday dosages. Dr. Abraham & Brownstein agree that between 13mg to 50mg are needed daily to prevent approximately 96% of radioactive iodine from binding to the thyroid gland. That is the approximate dosage of iodine ingested daily by the Japanese. This is over 100x the average daily dose ingested by North Americans due to the modern processed 'fast-food' diet, modern farming depleting minerals from the soils & competing halogens that are so affluent in our modern lives, like fluorine, chlorine & bromine.
As Dr. Brownstein points out, it's not just the thyroid gland at risk for exposure to radioactive iodine, it's every cell & every organ in the body. He states, 'For overall immune health & optimal cell functionality, iodine is stored in the brain, breasts, ovaries, uterus, prostate, our skin, muscles & fat'. Since exposure to radiation is cumulative, our bodies continue to accept & detoxify from exposure to all types of radiation, especially when given the tools like seaweeds to do this naturally. For if the body is sufficient in iodine, the health risks of radioactive iodine & radiation exposure are largely avoidable.

Seaweed for a Strong Immune System

If you consider your healthy immune system to be a large cushion that protects you from discomfort & disease around your body. With a big cushion, ie strong immune system, conditions that we experience in life such as, stress or bacterial or viral infections will bounce off us if our cushion is big enough. A weakened immune system, with a small cushion, which catches everything that goes by, is constantly battling the next cold or flu bug, this small cushion will not be enough to absorb the impact of the cold, flu or stress that we've all experienced in daily life. Since the therapeutic response from the body is built into it's programming, in that we are self healing, we don't need to learn how to join cells to fix a cut, form a scab or grow skin, this comes pre-programmed into our genetic makeup. Our bodies know exactly what to do, when given the tools they need to do it with. In other words, if the body is getting the vitamins & minerals that it needs to rebuild & strengthen cells & the immune system, it will do just that, strengthen cells and rebuild the immune system. The best way to intake these essential nutrients is through trans-dermal absorption, through the skin and directly into the bloodstream thereby bypassing the GI tract. What's really amazing with thalassotherapy is that since the body's chemistry is so similar to the ocean, the balancing of nutrients occurs very easily with the body and in correct proportions to what our bodies can assimilate & require. Afterall, our vitamins & minerals work best in the body in conjunction with the availability of each other for support and a strengthened synergy experienced. During a thalassotherapy body wrap or bath, the mind/body balancing that is experienced is a result of the correct balance of nature's vitamins & minerals brought into the bloodstream through trans-dermal absorption and moving the body into balance, otherwise known as homeostasis. This physiologically response by the body is physically felt for a few days to a week afterwards with less aches & pains, reduced inflammation, a strengthened immune system & increasing the natural detoxification of the body.
So what is missing from those with a weakened immune system or small cushion as compared to those with a larger cushion of immunity? This seems to be the question from many people when it comes to auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, heart disease, eczema, psoriasis, cancer & more. So how do you build your cushion of immunity? It all starts with mineral sufficiency in the body & specifically Iodine sufficiency. If we look to the East we see Japanese & Korean people eating indigenous diets that are high in ocean-vegetables & living long healthy lives with some of the lowest rates of cancer in the world. Since brown kelps are the mildest tasting, having 10X-100Xthe iodine, calcium, magnesium, potassium and over 50 other minerals as compared to land vegetables, our best source for immune health comes from the ocean. As Hippocrates said, 'Go to the ocean to heal', these words of wisdom still hold truth today thousands of years later.

Replenishing vital nutrients prevents dis-ease including Osteoporosis

Eighty-three (83) elements in the periodic table that are biologically absorbable & contained in the body, are found in sea water.  Over sixty (60) of these, including many important trace minerals are concentrated in seaweed, specifically in the brown kelps.  These trace elements are minerals which our body cannot produce for itself, but are to be absorbed through our food daily, to help with the many chemical & physiological reactions that take place in the body. Fifteen (15) are classified as “essential” because they act as catalysts and a deficiency of any one can lead to problems & dis-ease, since they work synergistically to balance our metabolism, immune system & cellular functionality.   Iodine was the 1st trace mineral classified as ‘essential for life’.  These minerals can be transdermally absorbed through the skin directly into the bloodstream in a seaweed bath or wrap.  Minerals are the driving force behind all cellular mechanisms, and as such, are vital for our body.  Since most of the vegetables & fruits these days we consume are grown in soils that are minerally deficient, the majority of the population is not getting optimal amounts & hence the chronic conditions many in North America are experiencing.   The action of all these vitamin & mineral ions naturally restores optimum performance to each cell.  In Korea, women learn the connection between the amniotic fluid that surrounds the growing baby and ocean water.  After child-birth it is tradition for the mother-in-law to prepare seaweed soup, known as 'Mi-yuk Gook' for the new mother who eats this 3X day for 100 days to replenish the nutrients lost during gestation.  Normally prepared with a mild tasting brown kelp known as Alaria or Wakame, it's delicious. 

OSTEOPOROSIS - De-calcification & de-mineralization of the bones is not a problem in primitive cultures who eat a largely indigenous unprocessed diet.  Osteoporosis is a disease of western civilization due to the imbalance of bone minerals not included in our foods.  As minerals are leached out for other body usages, the stability of bony tissue is eroded resulting in easy fracture.  Crumbling limestone is a good example of osteoporosis in the environment and all too common in North America. Doctors around the world who practice in countries near the ocean, like France, Portugal, Spain or Italy, regularly prescribe ocean therapy or walking on the ocean to combat this condition. As it is recognized for what it is, a mineral deficiency of one or more vital minerals.

Why doesn't every doctor know about 'The Universal Medicine'?

The simple answer to this question was answered by Dr. Brownstein in his book, 'Iodine, why you need it, why you can't live without it'. In it, he stated that in medical school, what medical students are taught about Iodine was specific to iodine deficiency & that is, 'table salt is iodized which is sufficient enough for the population as a whole and that additional supplementation was not needed & in fact could induce endemic goitre'. In his book, he goes on to prove that both of these statements are so completely wrong and in fact, without sufficiency in Iodine for the body, many chronic debilitating conditions, including hypo & hyperthyroidism are caused & or worsened. He has successfully treated both hypothyroidism & hyperthyroidism (goiter) with Iodine supplementation.

Having moved from BC to Ontario in 2007, I was so blown away with all the thyroidism & chronic conditions like; arthritis, fibromyalgia, eczema, psoriasis, cancer & more that so many people suffered with here in Ontario. Every doctor in North America used to learn about & use Lugol's solution, potassium-iodide or one of the 1700 pharmacopeia options available to doctors in their practice available until the 1950's. After that, pharmaceutical drugs were marketed as the best choice for a doctors prescriptions and Iodine was left out of their teaching curriculum, except in very small references. It was known as the 'Universal Medicine' or universal nutrient and a well known panacea, 'for all the ails the human condition' from the early 1800's through to the 1950's. Nobel Laureate Albert Szent Gyorgyi, the physician who discovered Vitamin C in 1928, commented, "When I was a medical student, iodine in the form of KI was the universal medicine. Nobody knew what it did, but it did something and did something good. We students used to sum up the situation in this little rhyme:

'If ye don't know where, what, and why, prescribe ye then K and I'

The medical community had great enthusiasm for Iodine, which started just few short years after Iodine's discovery in 1811. In Switzerland, a physician named JF Coindet had been using Sea Sponge very successfully to treat goiter. He thought that the active ingredient in Sea Sponge might just be Iodine, so in 1819, he tested tincture of iodine at 250 mg/day, in 150 goiter patients with great success. He found he could reduce significantly the size of goiter within a week in his patients and published his results in 1820. Currently the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for iodine is 150 micrograms over 1000 times less than Dr. Coindet used in his day.
Physicians & surgeons in the early 1800's would use it for everything that didn't respond to regular treatment, it's documented history, treating everything from: croup, lupus, chorea(a genetic neurological disease0 (Folk singer Woody Guthrie died from this), scrofula (a tuberculous infection of the lymph nodes in the neck), hip-joint disease, syphilis, acute inflammation, gout, gangrene, dropsy, whitlow(infection of the finger or thumb caused by herpes simplex virus), burns, catarrh (inflammation of the mucous membranes in the nose), asthma, ulcers and bronchitis.

We've had clients & friends reverse their rheumatoid arthritis of 17 years, help their eczema, cancer, anaemia & more with seaweed & iodine. Doctors around the world regularly prescribe going to the ocean to treat the symptoms of arthritis as it's recognized as known mineral deficiency. Since all minerals work synergistically in the body, having them all together in a bio-available from in seaweed does the body good!

Seaweed Soup for Post Natal Care

This is a delicious way to enjoy the healing benefits of eating seaweed. Japan & Korea have the lowest rates of reproductive organ cancers in the world, due to their high intake of brown kelps. This soup is served traditionally to new mothers in Korea, made by the mother-in-law for the new mother. She then eats the soup with every meal 3X/day for 100 days, to replenish the nutrients lost during childbirth. More women in North America would benefit from this ancient practice and avoid health complications after childbirth like thyroidism, anemia, fatigue, baby brain & more, by eating this healing soup full of nutritious & delicious brown kelp known as wakame or alaria. Enjoy!

Ingredients (enough for 3-4 servings, ready in 15 – 20 minutes)

* 35g dried brown seaweed (Alaria/Wakame)~half a package
* 70g sliced organic beef/venison shank/chicken (optional)
* 2 cloves minced garlic
* 3 tbsp soy sauce
* 1 tbsp Korean sesame oil (or extra-virgin coconut oil)
* 1 tsp of Organic Miso (optional)
* 4-6 cups water
* 1/2 tbsp sesame oil (or extra-virgin coconut oil) and ground black pepper & sea salt to season the meat

Prep

1. Soak the dried brown seaweed in cold water for 15 minutes. (Use excess water on plants for an amazing fertilizer)
2. Drain the water. Cut the seaweed with scissors thinly to little finger lengths(bite size pieces).
3. Season the beef with 1/2 tbsp sesame oil or extra-virgin coconut oil and sprinkles of ground black pepper & sea salt.

Steps

1. Pre heat the sauce pan (or pot) for about 30 seconds.
2. Add 1 tbsp of sesame oil or extra-virgin coconut oil, the brown seaweed, and brown the sliced beef for 2 – 3 minutes.
3. Add the water then boil it on medium heat until the seaweed and the meat cook (about 5- 10 minutes).
4. Add the soy sauce and garlic, simmer for 15 minutes then serve. (You can adjust the taste with some unprocessed sea-salt)
5. Additionally rice or noodles, carrots, celery, onions & other vegetables can also be added.

Ocean-Therapy benefits for a DRY treatment room

Incorporating a new treatment modality like Ocean-Therapy into your clinic or spa usually means renovations and soaker tubs installations & cost of training therapists. What is a new concept to many owners & therapists is utilizing indigenous and ancient treatments like Ocean-Therapy in a DRY treatment room setting & how cost effective & income generating it can be. Learning about the benefits that have been experienced & recorded for thousands of years and how to bring those benefits into your practice & share them with your appreciative clientele. Understanding the difference between whole & raw vs. extract means everything when it comes to maintaining the therapeutic value of seaweeds. And since not all seaweeds are created equal, it's important to understand which are best & which to avoid in treatments. Since ocean water is mostly Sodium Chloride we learn why there is good salt in the sea and how this benefits the body physiologically. Seaweeds transform, collect & store over 60 minerals into a bio-available form our bodies recognize and transdermally absorb. Available in a whole, raw form these minerals act as catalysts, the driving force behind every cellular mechanism in the body, naturally restoring optimum performance to each cell. Since these minerals are not produced by our bodies, we need to intake them somehow. This is done mainly through our food, but since the soils are so minerally deficient, vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, lettuce or apples don't taste like they used to because of a lack of minerals in the soil. So as therapists you can look to the ocean to restore the balance of minerals in the body while alleviating many common concerns of client inflammation, psoriasis, eczema, arthritis, edemas and lymphomas. Ocean-Therapy is very effective in detoxification and so increases circulation & lymphatic drainage, a natural response to moving toxins from the body.

For athletes, the absorption through our skin of potassium & sodium found in seaweed is 10-100X the concentrations found in green-leafy land vegetables. And this is the good sodium needed to balance the internal & external cellular pH balance of the cells. Magnesium along with sodium balances the Acetylcholine production in the brain & effects muscle contraction, spasms, myocardial functioning, peristalsis & all communication with cells including the faster removal of lactic acid in the muscle fibres. Hence decreasing recovery time for athletes.

Acetylcholine was the first neurotransmitter to be identified in the year 1914 by Henry Hallett Dale for its actions on heart tissue. Later confirmed as a neurotransmitter by Otto Loewi, who initially gave it the name Vagusstoff because it was released from the vagus nerve. Both received the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work.

Iodine is essential for a strong immune system

A strong and complete immune system includes the essential mineral iodine. Iodine is a fat soluble mineral and not very water soluble, the water soluble version of iodine is commonly found in potassium-iodide. Since vitamin C is water soluble many people regularly consume portions in the 2000mg – 6000mg range regularly to combat colds, flu's, infections etc.. Since iodine is fat soluble it's able to stay in the body longer and hence to do it's work as an anti-bacterial, anti-pathogenic extraordinaire. It spends much of it's time absorbed into some of our most important organs including our skin, liver, kidneys, lung tissue, heart, thyroid gland, breasts, ovaries, prostate & brain. These are the more commonly known storehouses for iodine in the body and it's water soluble mate iodide.

With a strong immune system, that is complete in iodine, things like stress or exposure to the sun don't completely break the body down into disease. The strong immune system works like a large cushion to absorb any stresses that are experienced while living life. A strong immune system works like a flexible shield to protect you from harm, in whatever form it shows, bacterial or viral to muscle repair or UV exposure. A strong immune system keeps a body protected & is not complete without the essential mineral iodine.

Iodine's strong pathogenic expertise is apparent in the lymph nodes, where the lymph is collected with all the mutated cells, virus's, bacteria and whatever other garbage it collects to dispose. Without sufficiency in iodine and more particular the iodide needed in the lymph nodes, a reduced immune system response is commonly the result. Which can attribute to lymphedemas, inflammation, longer recovery times, susceptibility to colds & flu's etc. Since the main function of the lymphatic system is detoxification, it also plays a large role in a strong immune system. As the toxins are moved out of our body through our lymphatic system; bacteria, viruses & damaged cells are collected & destroyed by iodide stored in the lymph node. Iodide combines with Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) to form elemental iodine, which has broad spectrum anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-septic & anti-cancer functionality in the lymph nodes.

When utilizing ocean components like raw seaweeds into a dry treatment room setting, it's quite amazing results that are obtained in regards to inflammation, edemas, detoxification, lymphatics, circulation & more! Since seaweed has 100,000 X the concentrations of over 60 minerals when compared to ocean water, they are a treasure storehouse of goodness. Most brown seaweeds are high in healing iodine & contain every vitamin, many polysaccharides and glucosides, all our essential amino-acids with many non-essential as well, that are absorbed directly into our bloodstream through our skin. And since our skin absorbs up to 70% or more of what we put next to it, it's important to understand why this works so well with seaweed. In 1905 Dr. Rene Quinton of France proved the chemistry similarities of our blood to that of ocean water. And in his day successfully treated alopecia, eczema, psoriasis, dyspepsia and even cholera very successfully. Most of the therapists & physicians of that day understood the importance & long history of Ocean-Therapy as it was Hippocrates who said, 'Go to the ocean to heal'. It was coined Thalassotherapy during the mid 1860's when the Royal families along with the rich & famous of the day would travel to France to 'take to the water's' as it became known and is still practiced today around the world. Many physicians in Spain, France or Portugal still today recommend Thalassotherapy for conditions like arthritis, as it's recognized as a mineral deficiency and what better source for minerals than the ocean.

Lymphatic Drainage & Detoxification

Manual acceleration of lymph drainage is utilized by many massage therapists to reduce the size of lymphedemas that seem to be occurring so commonly in people these days. With the heavy load of toxins our body's respond to these days from our comprised air, water & food, it's not surprising to see more people with lymphedemas. As toxins are stored in our bodies organs & excess fat cells, when there's too much toxin to dispose of, more than our systems can handle, a kind of a lymphatic system overload occurs. In many cases fatigue, low energy, mood swings & depression often accompany the results. Lymph drainage's should be offered as part of a complete detoxification program, especially for those with lymphedemas. Regular massage clients, who receive full body massage, should incorporate a lymphatic drainage treatment every 4-6 weeks to help improve overall functionality & strengthen the immune system. The main function of the lymphatic system is detoxification and it also plays a role in a strong immunity. As the toxins are moved out of our body through our lymphatic system; bacteria, viruses & damaged cells are collected & destroyed by iodide stored in the lymph node. Iodide combines with Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2 to form elemental iodine, which has broad spectrum anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-septic & anti-cancer functionality. People living with low levels of iodine storage in the body, most in North America are deficient to some level since it's flushed from the body with excess Fluorine, Chlorine & Bromine use, have higher risk of lymphedemas occurring. With brown kelp seaweed so high in iodine, iodides & many other essential minerals, it's use in the treatment room offers the healing capability needed to overcome lymphedemas and increase the functionality of any lymphatic drainage treatment or detoxification program. Many massage therapists when utilizing thalasso or ocean-therapy when treating lymphedemas or as part of a regular detoxification program, often comment on client improved functionality, ease of use in treatment & outstanding results even with one treatment.

Replenishing vital nutrients transdermally lost during pregnancy

Women in Korea are taught at a very young age their biological connection to the ocean - that the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby in mommy's tummy is the same as ocean water.  So during their pregnancy they put seaweed across their bellies to absorb the nutrients that are so important for fetal development.  As the fetal brain requires twice as much iodine for proper brain development as a healthy woman and here in North America most women are 100 to 1000 times deficient in this essential mineral and don't even know it. A baby or person with lower levels of iodine in their body/brain develop a condition called 'Cretinism', which is associated with a lower level of intelligence or IQ. After childbirth it's tradition, even today in Korea, that the mother-in-law makes the new mother seaweed soup called Miyeok Guk. This soup is eaten by the new mother at every meal, 3X day for 100 days to replenish the nutrients lost to the baby during gestation. In North America, most women don't know to replenish nutrients lost during childbirth and therefore develop conditions like thyroidism, eczema, anemia & baby brain. We're lucky to have the best seaweeds in the world here in Canada & the US to use and it's a tradition we're yet to start practicing.

Iodine was the 1st mineral classified as 'essential for life' and yet most health journals, periodicals or books don't even mention it's existence. Especially since iodine was used to treat Goitre (hyperthyroidism) since the 11th century in Traditional Chinese Medicine and by MD's prior to the advent of prescription drugs in medicine in the 50's. Living here in Ontario, known as the Goitre Belt since the 1920's, it's a good place to know this!

Lugols Solution for prevention & treatment of colds & flu

This time of year it's important to stay healthy by making good food choices. A busy schedule doesn't necessarily equate with eating fast food. Choose to eat raw, whole & nutritiously complete foods all year round which helps to keep your immune system strong & protect you against colds & flu.

If you do find yourself with a cold or flu bug this winter season, a great source of healing remedy is found in 5% Lugol's solution. Utilized by doctors since the mid 1800's to treat infections including staphylococcal, colds & flu along with worse conditions such as thyroidism (both hypo & hyper known as goitre), cystic conditions of the breast & ovaries as well as prostatitis in men, PMS, anxiety, mood disorder, sub-optimal hormonal response, alopecia, candida, bladder infections, acne, dermatitis, brittle hair & nails & cold extremities to name a few... There are very few side effects with use, as any excess is excreted in your urine. It's safe for kids too, just use a smaller dosage is all that is required; it will break a fever & allow healing to rapidly increase. You can dispense up to 4X per day when feeling ill.

Treatment dosage is usually doubled when fighting a bug or infection. The doctors from the Iodine Group in the US recommend regular dosages of 12.5mg to 50mg of 5% Lugol's solution. Since each drop of Lugol's at 5% concentration contains about 6.25 mg of iodine, so 8 drops gets you to 50mg. Since Lugol's is caustic by nature, please dissipate on when used directly on the skin as it can burn. Use it

Chicken Soup 'Seaweed style'

Since seaweed is known to be a strong immune booster, scientists feed fucoidan to AIDS patients in Africa as it contains many polysaccharide sugars, including fucose, that is also found in breast milk. Traditional seaweed soup is served post-natally in Korea & is called Miyeok Guk and utilizes brown kelp known as Wakame or Alaria. It is very mild to taste so you can use this as your soup base and add chicken or beef, rice and all your regular vegetables.....mmmmm.

It's also great prevention & very effective for treatment of cancer too. As the iodine induces apoptosis into deformed or cancerous cells in the body, they die just like a normal cell, without the propagation as is seen with untreated cancer cells. Visit www.breastcancerchoices.org for more information.