Hydrotherapy
Sea Vegetable
Bladderwrack



Kelp
fucus versiculosis L.
macrosytic pyrifere L.
Laminariaceae
Algae Family

AKA
Black tany
Bladder fucus
Cutweed
Hai-ts'ao (Chinese name)
Kelpware
Seaweed
Sea oak
Seawrack

PARTS USUALLY USED
Whole plant

Bladder-wrack is a sea-weed so called because
of the floating vesicles in its fronds.
It is common on English beaches.

WARNING
Generally contraindicated for patients
with weak or deficient spleen or stomach.
Like many sea creatures, kelp is at risk from heavy metal pollution.
Do no collect kelp where levels of cadmium and/or mercury
are known to be high.

Much of seawrack's saline taste may be minimized by taking
the powdered botanical in capsule or tablet form and following
with a little red wine or flavorsome herb tea such as made
with lemon grass, lemon verbena or sassafras.

Soothes irritated throat and mucous membranes,
soothes cough, dissolves firm masses such as tumors,
treats enlarged thyroid, scrofula, lymph node enlargements,
normalizes a weak or enlarged prostate gland,
swollen and painful testes, and reduces edema.

Reported to be very beneficial to the sensory nerves,
membranes surrounding the brain, spinal cord, and brain tissue.

Use for hair loss, goiter, ulcers, and obesity.
Good for arteries, rheumatism, and nails.
Protects from effects of radiation, and softens stools.
Good for those with mineral deficiency.

Obesity (overweight) is seldom seenamong
the Polynesians and other races who use seaweeds
as a regular part of their daily diet.

FORMULAS AND DOSAGES
Infusion
Steep 1 heaping teaspoon in 1 cup of boiling water for 30 minutes.
Drink 3-4 cups a day an hour before meals, and one hot upon retiring.

NUTRIENT CONTENT
iodine
zinc

VITAMINS
A, Carotene, Beta Carotene, C, E

Chemical solutions of iodine or iodide enter the circulation
almost instantaneously and larger amounts may cause
allergic reactions unless used under close medical supervision.

Plant iodine is absorbed slowly with other
elements and rarely (if at all) causes sensitizing
reactions when taken in reasonable amounts.

As far as known, kelp has no long range accumulative disadvantages;
the body takes what it needs and discharges the rest.

Minerals are not stored in the body.

None of kelp's natural store of elements are removed or lost
from the time it is harvested to the time it is compressed
into a tablet.

Kelp tablets are worthy of a trial.

Legends, Myths and Stories
Several varieties of the seaweed have been therapeutically used.

In the 18th century, iodine was isolated by distilling
the long ribbons, or thalli, and kelp
was the main source of iodine for more than 50 years.

The herb was used extensively to treat goiter,
a swelling of the thyroid related to lack of iodine.
In the 1860s it was claimed that kelp, as a thyroid stimulant,
could counter obesity by increasing the metabolic rate.
Since then, it has been featured in numerous slimming remedies.

In China, Shen-ung wrote in 3000 BC about the value of kelp.
During the time of Confucius, a poem about a housewife
cooking seaweed appeared in The Chinese Book of Poetry,
written between 800 and 600 BC.

In that time, kelp was regarded as such an exquisite delicacy
that it was offered as a sacrificial food for the gods.
In the Pen Tsao Kang Mu, published in China in the 16th century,
kelp is recommended for goiter.

Harvesting marine crops in Japan is a thriving industry today;
a practice since the ancient empire of Japan.
The Japanese people refer to seaweed as "Heaven Grass,"
highly regarded for its nutritional and medicinal value.
Diving girls (ama) of coastal villages in Japan probe marine
gardens of offshore lagoons in harvesting seaweed.
These young women are graceful, hardy divers with superb
figures and have become a proud tradition in Japan.

HISTORY
The Dutch use kelp for covering or packing lobsters and crabs,
that are to be conveyed to a considerable distance;
because it keeps them alive much longer than any other species
of this plant; nor does it easily ferment,or become putrid.

Kelp is excellent fertilizer; it is asserted, that the land will continue
unexhausted for 7-8 years; an advantage which dung does not possess,
as it requires to be renewed every second or third year.

In the Hebrides islands, kelp serves as a winter food for cattle,
which regularly frequent the shores for it, after the tide has ebbed.

The inhabitants of these isles dry their cheese without using any salt,
by covering it with the ashes of this plant.



ACTIONS
CULINARY
MAGICAL PROPERTIES OF HERBS
NUTRIENT CONTENT
VITAMINS



SOURCE(S)
HerbalWitchcraft@yahoogroups.com
From: Daturachylde@aol.com
Wed, 18 Jun 2003
Culpeper's Apprentice

Naturally Green
Herbs4Her

02142002

Draconian

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