Organic Kelp Powder - Iodine Supplement

Organic Kelp Powder is the best source of vitamins and iodine for a healthy living. Traditional Foods Market offers kelp powder that supports healthy thyroid function. Seaweed has been used as a traditional food in Asia for thousands of years. Kelp is a traditional food used by the Maori from New Zealand, Eskimos from remote parts of Alaska, and traditional people living in the Andes in South America. 


Our certified organic laminaria digitata kelp is naturally high in iodine and is more nutrient dense than other seaweeds. Traditional Foods Market organic kelp comes from cold, clean waters off the north coast of Iceland. The kelp is naturally mineral rich from glacial melt water and geothermal vents supplying minerals from deep in the earth. The kelp is dried immediately after harvesting in a geothermal powered dryer. Our sustainably harvested kelp is low temperature dried to ensure that minerals, vitamins, and beneficial phytonutrients are locked in.



Kelp Benefits

Kelp is well known to be an excellent all-around mineral supplement, which doesn't lose its potency due to its higher salt content. Dr. Melvin Page found that without trace minerals, our glandular system falls out of balance. When our glands become imbalanced, so does our calcium and phosphorous ratios. By replacing trace minerals, in many instances the assimilation of and utilization of calcium and phosphorus significantly increases.

Kelp contains nearly thirty minerals which nourish the glands (especially the thyroid and pituitary). Besides the well-known trace elements such as copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, and more, kelp supplies many of the ultra-trace minerals such as germanium, iridium, rubidium, and others we have yet to fully understand. However, they may be very important for human health, especially in modern times when our soil, and the food that is grown in it, has become seriously depleted. Kelp grows in the rich ocean beds, far below surface pollution levels.
 

Kelp is Rich in Vitamins

Kelp is also considered to be an excellent overall nutritional supplement. Kelp is particularly rich in folic acid. It also contains many other phytonutrients found in plants, along with soluble fiber. It even contains some fatty acids, including a little of the omega-3 fatty acids and others. Kelp has also been cited as a source of a special form of readily available calcium.

Kelp is An Excellent Source of Bioavailable Iodine

Iodine is kelp’s best known advantage. It provides a large amount of iodine, a mineral that many of us need more of today due to the prevalence of iodine adversaries—bromine, chlorine, and fluoride. These elements interfere with our iodine uptake and utilization, causing widespread thyroid issues and many other health problems as well. 


The thyroid depends upon minerals, especially iodine, to function properly and to secrete adequate amounts of thyroxine and triiodothyronine. These hormones influence metabolic rate and body temperature, as well as regulate protein, fat, and carbohydrate utilization in cells. They are also responsible for maintaining growth hormone secretion, the growth of bones, heart rate force and output, central nervous system health, and helping muscles stay toned and strong.

A Note about Iodine Dosage

Our suggested dosage of kelp is 3/64 of a teaspoon and contains about 300mcg of naturally occuring iodine. Each bottle contains 1448 doses at that size.

There is quite a debate on how much iodine is healthy to take. A recent literature review shows that in the seaweed rich diet of Japan, the average person consumes 1,000 to 3,000 mcg (1-3 mg) of iodine per day. Kelp seems to be by far the most iodine rich source of seaweed. The U.S. Government RDI for iodine is 150 mcg (0.15mg). We legally cannot recommend taking more kelp than the U.S. government upper limit dose of 1,100 mcg (1.1 mg). One half teaspoon of Traditional Foods Market kelp powder is about 2 grams, and contains around 12 mg of iodine.

Important notes: Kelp contains trace elements and metals naturally occurring in the ocean in small amounts. Some people may need to take smaller doses of kelp. As always, use your best judgment and seek professional help when necessary.

Coast of Iceland Where Kelp is Harvested

Kelp as a Natural Source of Salts Needed by the Body



Contrary to what you may have heard, we do need good salt. The question is, what kind?

Kelp powder offers us a full spectrum of salts as they are found in nature, in contrast with industrially produced table salt, which has been separated from other salts. Common salt is generally comprised of only isolated sodium chloride or possibly sodium chloride with a little sodium iodide added to it if the box says iodized salt.



Here is a bit more background: Our body fluids normally contain several different kinds of salts in solution. Those in the blood are mostly salts of sodium, and those within the cell walls are mostly salts of potassium. These salts serve to keep the density of the body fluids up to a certain level; a very important function. The exchange of fluids containing nourishment from the blood stream to the cells is affected by any change in density of the fluids. If we have too little salt in the blood stream, the body cells tend to swell and become engorged. If we have too much salt in the blood, the tissue cells tend to shrink.

Fortunately our taste for salt serves as a regulatory apparatus so that we don’t have too much or too little salt in our food. When we need salt, food tastes like it needs it, so we add some. At other times when our food is salty enough, we leave it alone. Our sense of taste for salt had served us well for thousands of years, until we began to supply our craving for salt with just one salt, instead of many kinds of salt.



As was mentioned, the kind of salt many of us use to fill up our salt shakers is known to chemists as sodium chloride. However, in nature, salts are seldom found alone in isolation. Beyond sodium chloride, there are salts of magnesium, manganese, iodine, iron, aluminum, potassium, and many others.

Kelp, a sea vegetable, offers a greater variety of salts than sodium chloride alone. It also offers a greater variety of salts than land grown vegetables do. 


Trace Metals In Kelp

All sea weeds and all seafoods contain naturally occurring trace metals. It is impossible to eat foods from the sea and avoid these naturally occurring metals entirely. Our kelp comes from a pristine source and the source of these minerals is naturally occurring underwater volcanic vents. Our organic kelp contains less than 3 parts per million arsenic, less than 3 parts per million lead, less than 1.5 parts per million cadmium, and less than 0.07 parts per million mercury.

*Product Disclaimer

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. These products are intended to provide whole food nutrition to the body which may result in the benifit of tissue building, repair and enhancement of the normal structure and function of the body.