Kelp, Radiation And Panic In North America
Today’s message is short and sweet: You folks in North America who are freaking out over potential nuclear fallout from Japan have nothing to worry about. Nothing. Zip. Nil. Nada.
Please, stop worrying over how much kelp to take or to give your kids. If you give your kids significant amounts of iodine over the course of just a couple of weeks, you could do irreparable damage. Don’t let your fear of the unknown cause you to knee-jerk your way away from an imaginary problem only to create a very real one: the harm or even death of somebody you love.
The human body is a marvel of “evolutionary engineering”. It is an unimaginably complex array of systems that coordinate metabolism, immune function, DNA repair, cellular communication, and even thought. Instead of a single “thing”, a human body is a community of trillions of cells. Depending on where these cells reside, they require different environments to maintain optimal health and operation.
In the case of megadosing elements such as stable iodine, the body reacts very strongly to a very little change. Iodine is such a harmless-sounding word, isn’t it? We’ve grown up our entire lives hearing it, and many of us suffered cuts and sutures that were cleaned with iodine. The last sentence, however, is very telling. Iodine isn’t harmless. If it can be used as a disinfecting agent, it has some pretty significant clout going for it.
Iodine is highly oxidative. That means that significant exposure will eventually cause the very DNA damage that you’re looking to avoid by taking in stable iodine to protect yourself from unstable isotopes during a radiation emergency. Damage at all costs is to be avoided. As such, you need to strongly weigh the risks.
For folks in North America, your risks are mostly from obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Risk from radiation emanating from Fukushima’s reactors is as close to zero as you can get. Even for those of us in Tokyo, the risks from a radiation plume are minimal. Be clear on this. You have about as much risk of getting hit by lightning as you do suffering health effects from radiation emitted from Japan. Worry more about drunk drivers and texting while driving. Those are real threats.
If you’re in North America, you do not need prophylactic kelp to protect from radiation!
Honest. Cross my heart. Scout’s honour.
I’ve read that people as far away as Florida are buying up KI tablets at a ridiculous pace. I have to wonder, what are they ever going to do with them? Unless you’re pretty much at ground zero, you wouldn’t need more than a single KI tablet to deal with a plume passing by. A month supply of KI tablets only makes sense for those who are facing severe radiation and have no chance of avoiding it.
That just isn’t the case for anybody outside of approximately an 80 km/50 mi radius of the reactors. And given the state of affairs on Sunday here in Japan, things at the reactors seem to be stabilizing. The chances of a meltdown are greatly diminishing and they’ve actually managed to lower the water temperature of the spent fuel storage pool in at least one of the reactors.
As I’m here in Tokyo, you might be consoled to know that I didn’t eat kelp today. Or yesterday, for that matter. I went walking with my wife and daughter in the warm evening air and I didn’t bother with a mask. I choose to forgo fear. Sure, I’ll whip up one of my kelp soups to munch on over the next few days. I’m just not panicking about radiation exposure.
And neither should you.
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December 9, 2013 at 12:57 pm
The Flamingo Kid
WOW! You are really unintelligent. When the cancer rates start skyrocketing in a few years (which they have already started to do in the U.S. right after the Fukushima disaster) and the entire Pacific Ocean is radiated (which will be in less than 6 year) maybe you will panic then. You are a typical ignorant sheep and know really nothing about the seriousness of the Fukushima situation. Please educate yourself.
December 9, 2013 at 2:29 pm
Trane Francks
Hiya, TFK.
Thanks for the comment. Have you got some links to credible sources that have indicated such ‘skyrocketing’ cancer rates in the US? I’m unaware of any surges beyond the expected 30% cancer incidence during a lifetime.
In the meantime, you might want to cut back on the angst a bit and note that the article was based on the best information available at the time, which was over 2.5 years ago. In 2013, things look far more dire for the Fukushima cleanup, which is now expected to take at least 40 years. While I doubt the veracity of your claim of skyrocketing cancer rates, there is no doubt whatsoever that things with regard to Fukushima have got a whole bucket load of opportunities to get much, much worse than anything we’ve seen to date.
September 10, 2013 at 8:04 pm
Brian
Actually North America is getting more contamination than I can be comfortable with. From a scientist that’s been there… 2 hours
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frp6sU4MrxI
September 10, 2013 at 8:42 pm
Trane Francks
Hi, Brian.
I’m 20 min. into this talk of hers and I have to say that there are a number of factual discrepancies. The fact that she says the top 1/3rd of the main island of Honshu is uninhabitable will come as quite a shock to the many, many people who live there. She gives the wrong time of the earthquake and the wrong height of the tsunami. These might seem to be quibbles, but they’re important markers with regard to credibility. I’m disinclined to take her very seriously. When she stated that four reactors exploded, I choked a bit. Seriously? None of the reactors exploded. The #4 reactor spent-fuel pool caught fire, yes, but there were no Chernobyl-like explosions.
This scientist who has been here doesn’t really seem to have her facts straight. Even her description of “indigenous technology” and how the houses are built here is a giggle. The old wood construction is done that way because it’s incredibly cheap to wipe away and rebuild after the total devastation that major earthquakes and tsunami impart on a region. No Edo-period farm houses exist in this day and age, despite her message that the old ways are better. Major earthquakes cause widespread fires in cities that feature wood structures. There are Edo-period reconstructions, but none of the original buildings have survived.
That said, a lot has changed since I wrote this article in the first couple of weeks after the Fukushima event. Things are worse than we were led to believe and there is every reason to expect it to get worse before it gets better. One or more of the reactors are leaking radioactive contaminants into the ocean at levels that are disturbingly high. The spent-fuel pools are still in danger of fire/collapse in the event of another serious temblor.
In a best case scenario, it will be 30-40 years before the reactor site is fully contained. In the meantime, it remains a bomb waiting to go off at the slightest provocation. I wish I could be more cheerful about it, but things are worse 2 years later than they were in 2011.
January 7, 2013 at 2:27 pm
Rebecca C
There’s nothing wrong with being prepared. I don’t see how you can personally guarantee any of those things. Obviously the threat has passed at this time, but you are quite condescending to people who just want to be prepared. Anyway, kelp is considered a superfood and many people take it for general health. There is no recommended amount set, there is only a suggested amount of 150 mcg. There is nothing wrong with taking or buying kelp in tablet or any other form.
January 7, 2013 at 6:31 pm
Trane Francks
Hi, Rebecca.
I completely agree that being prepared is the cornerstone of success in any situation. That said, there’s a difference between mindful preparation and fearful reaction. A lot of people were responding inappropriately to a risk that was blown way out of proportion by a lot of sites on the ‘net. People were swimming in misinformation, on both pro-nuclear and anti-nuclear sides.
As for the threat having passed, I’m afraid that we’ll have to agree to disagree on that. The prognosis for cleanup at Fukushima is ~40 years and a lot can go wrong in that time, including more earthquakes and tsunamis. If it decides to go pop, things in Japan could get very, very ugly.
That really doesn’t change much for folks across the pond, though. The risk should be minimal for folks in N.A. in all but the most extreme situations. The grim reality is that a nightmare scenario could happen, but the odds of it being truly dangerous in North America are slight.
We’re also in agreement that kelp is wonderful. I eat it regularly and I’m a huge fan of its nutrient qualities. That said, the article does not warn against supplementation, it warns against prophylactic use of kelp powder in amounts considered to be “therapeutic”, something over 1100mcg/day. That can be dangerous, especially when one is dealing with powdered kelp, which has wildly varying iodine content depending on the type and region from which it was cultivated.
With the body’s upper tolerable limit of iodine ~1100mcg/day, it’s important for people to not overdo it. Iodine is toxic in long-term, high doses.
I confess that I’m surprised that you found the article condescending. It was intended to reduce the fear, anxiety and doubt about risk from radioactive plumes. While a plume could happen at any time, the average person faces far more danger from diet and lifestyle. That’s no joke: 20-25% of a population is expected to experience cancer at some point in their life, caused mostly by a mix of diet, lifestyle and environmental stress. The increased risk of cancer due to Fukushima is so low as to be off the radar except for the very few who spent significant time within a 20km radius from the reactors.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Much appreciated!
trane
January 7, 2013 at 7:03 pm
Trane Francks
BTW, in case there was any doubt about the tablets discussed in the article, the KI tablets are potassium iodide that is given in massive dosages (130mg for an adult) during nuclear emergencies. It was these tablets that were reportedly sold out throughout much of North America in the weeks following the disaster here.
Peace,
trane
August 27, 2011 at 5:48 am
Elton
Trane I appreciate all your feedback on this. Can you watch this video and tell me if what this person is saying is true?
http://youtu.be/E_ofRNQ2gX0
Your feedback is greatly appreciated. I would also like to know what is the best thing to do in a situation like this…
August 27, 2011 at 8:55 am
Trane Francks
Hi, Elton. Thanks for taking the time to write.
In the video, Dr. Caldicott makes some valid points, but distorts the severity of the nuclear events that have played out in Japan. Thepotential for a greater disaster than Chernobyl still exists here due to the complications of keeping things under control in the early stages of recovery and containment. That said, for her to categorically state that the events here are many times worse than the world has ever seen is a gross misrepresentation of the facts and outright fear mongering. It’s disappointing to see a medical professional making such statements.
Obviously, our understanding of events has changed since the original article here was written, and things are a little bit worse than I had hoped. Specifically, we had strongly hoped for only partial meltdowns in any of the reactors, but we have since learned that several experienced complete meltdowns. This greatly complicates long-term clean-up and containment goals. That is not good news.
Better news, however, is that Dr. Caldicott’s assessment of the radiation dangers are exaggerated by her lack of understanding of physics. While she is absolutely correct about dispersal of various radioactive isotopes, her claim that vast quantities of plutonium will travel from Japan to North America and, indeed, spread out across the Northern Hemisphere, is dramatically incorrect. Plutonium is an extremely heavy isotope and, as such, tends to remain mostly a ground-level, localized contaminant. The bottom line is that the heavier the isotope, the more localized it will remain.
Lighter isotopes, such as strontium and iodine, will travel greater distances. As Caldicott correctly stated, these isotopes will fall with rain due to their tendency to bind to dust particles or water molecules. Due to the vast expanse of ocean between Japan and North America, much or even most of any isotopes released from the Fukushima plants will fall into the ocean.
Obviously, none of this is good news for the food chain. Unfortunately, much of the seafood is already tremendously contaminated by heavy metals, such as mercury, and is already a health risk. Adding radioactive isotopes to the mix takes a bad thing and makes it worse.
So, with all the doom and gloom, it’s time to put things into perspective. This is an unpopular view, but a look at health statistics over the last 40 years bears it out as fact: Modern lifestyle and food choices present many-fold greater risks than any risks we possibly face from radioisotopes. In North America, the #1 source of calories in the diet comes from high-fructose corn syrup, which has NO redeeming nutritional value whatsoever. We undersleep, we overeat, we disrupt our circadian rhythm so as to confuse our mammalian brain as to when it’s day and night … I could go on and on and on (and, indeed, many articles on the site here do just that in bite-sized chunks).
The bottom line is that the best thing to do in this situation is, first and foremost, DON’T PANIC. Worrying doesn’t help a bit; it only serves to suppress immune function, and immune function is precisely what gets hit the hardest by exposure to radioactive isotopes. You want to take care to optimize your diet and lifestyle such to get your immune function to 100%. That means restricting your caloric intake to the right values, and ensuring that those are GOOD calories, not junk calories. Exercising and fasting regularly will help you optimize your dead-cell clean-up and protein scavenging processes, which will in turn slow down aging processes and encourage optimal immune function.
There’s much you can do. Worrying isn’t going to help and neither is avoiding food and water for 600 years, as Caldicott stated several times. I don’t know about you, but I sure can’t do without a good meal for more than a few days before I start feeling rather peckish. 😉
For lots of good information on how to improve your physical and emotional health, feel free to peruse the site and read the articles here. I like to think that it’s becoming a valuable resource for those looking to really improve their quality of life.
April 25, 2011 at 8:41 pm
lakeqi
The writer of this article seems quite insane.
April 25, 2011 at 10:08 pm
Trane Francks
🙂 Care to elucidate?
April 10, 2011 at 2:36 am
LP
Expert testimony-is this not enough to encourage caution?
Arne Gundersen Chief Nuclear Engineer of Fairwinds Associates Inc.
http://www.fairwinds.com
Reports on the situation in Japan and the many discrepancies in reports coming from TEPCO and AREVA as well as the so – called Nuclear Authorities.
The situation is very serious and most definitely critical.
Reports out of Japan are being pulled and called inaccurate constantly. Can anything they say ve taken at face value? Or are they lying to save their own skin? One would wonder hat they hope to gain considering most experts consider this a lost cause and there is no saving these plants. So what the hell are they doing and why????? Why is the Governments not doing anything? Why are the surrounding Countries not calling for action??? Many many questions and no answers to be found……………..
April 10, 2011 at 2:37 am
LP
Sorry this is the video for the LP comment above
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaebUYo6FRc
April 10, 2011 at 7:31 am
Trane Francks
Hi, LP.
Caution is certainly warranted. Arne Gundersen is correct in the nuclear facts he presents. Alas, I’m frustrated by the insistence that this information isn’t being told to the public. Here in Japan, we hear about partial meltdowns and the fact that TEPCO is being unclear/contradictory with their information on pretty much a daily basis. The government has slapped TEPCO’s wrist several times over the matter, and people here are extremely wary about both the serious nature of the situation and the fact that the information we’re receiving isn’t as complete as it should be.
You need to be clear that this about reports out of TEPCO rather than reports out of Japan. The IAEA and Greenpeace are but two of the independent groups measuring radiation in outlying areas, so we can be very much assured that there is no grand conspiracy to keep people in the dark here. With third-parties watching the situation closely, TEPCO will get caught with their knickers down.
The critical nature of the situation is not being denied here. I’m confident that pretty much everybody is painfully aware that no nuclear operator has ever had to deal with partial meltdowns in three reactors and compromised cooling capability of spent fuel pools in six reactor buildings. That said, on the International Nuclear Event Scale, this situation is absolutely and undeniably still a 5 on a scale of 7.
To put that into perspective, the Three Mile Island incident was a five on the scale. Personally, I consider the situation in Fukushima to be somewhat worse than Three Mile Island, but the INES is a logarithmic disaster scale, so things need to get significantly worse before it’ll be rated a six. Chernobyl, you probably already know, was a seven.
I’m unsure as to why you mention saving the plants. TEPCO, the government and the Japanese nuclear regulatory watchdog have all already discussed the assured decommissioning of Daichi reactors one through four. It’s obvious to everybody in Japan why TEPCO is not being forthcoming with information: They’ve got egg on their face and they are trying to prevent further embarrassment. It’s a very Japanese cultural phenomenon. Don’t think the Japanese people are going to let TEPCO get away with it, mind you. The government has already warned TEPCO about transparency and information correctness. I doubt there will be much tolerance of misinformation. The government has already begun discussing the possibility of taking over operation of the company.
There’s always a bottom line. In this situation, the bottom line still remains: As long as events in Fukushima continue to remain relatively stable and the INES rating stays at five, the health risk to people in North America shall remain insignificant.
April 9, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Johnny Blaise
@Chatwic be careful about quoting Alex Jones and citing infowars.com. I’m not saying the government or the media is telling the truth, but Jones is a fear monger pure and simple. Do some research on Bill Cooper vs. Alex Jones after the Y2K fiasco. Cooper exposes Jones as a fear mongering gatekeeper, pure and simple.
Jones can help wake people up, I will admit that. But he’s like a clock radio. Once you’re awake, you have to silence him, get up, and get going. Otherwise, you risk drifting back to sleep with him as the narrator to a new nightmare.
April 3, 2011 at 5:05 am
Chatwic
Big Pharma is really gonna make some money off of the major rises in cancers and sickness over the next 100 years. Thanks to this disaster. Get prepared and don’t listen to people who say don’t prepare.
April 3, 2011 at 8:10 am
Trane Francks
Big Pharma is already making big money off of cancers. In North America, it is predicted that 20% of the population will die from some type of cancer. Twenty percent! The issue of radiation is but a minor blip in the grand scheme of things compared to the pervasive problems of diet and lifestyle that are killing people in numbers so high as to be difficult to imagine.
Are you a heavy cola drinker? Strike one, mate. How about processed foods? Strike two. Significantly overweight? Definitely an indicator that things are amiss. How about Type II diabetes? Carefully monitoring your blood sugar now, are we?
People such as yourself are confused by the news spectacular that is a nuclear emergency. This IS a huge problem, but it very literally pales in comparison to the fact that 1 out of every 5 people you know will die of cancer due to the food they choose to eat, the sleep they choose to forgo, and the lifestyle choices they make that turn off the body’s ability to maintain its healthful equilibrium.
As serious as this is, we constantly prove ourselves to be numb to the bigger emergency that is around us daily and has been for ages.
April 3, 2011 at 5:01 am
Chatwic
http://www.infowars.com/analysis-of-new-photos-of-fukushima-reactors/
April 3, 2011 at 8:00 am
Trane Francks
You know, I read this “briefing” and it’s just a load of bunk. How the writer could possibly think it’s a logical conclusion that the entire containment vessel was what blew up (being therefore destroyed) displays an amazing amount of ignorance. If that really were the case, the amount of radiation present would have been significantly higher. And since the IAEA and Greenpeace are both independently monitoring radiation levels, we can be fairly assured that this situation has not taken place.
The other thing I’d like to comment on is the author’s stance of “poor preparation” on the part of TEPCO due to the lack of available suits and dosimeters. I wonder whether the author is aware that the east coast got hit with tsunamis confirmed to be higher than 20 metres in some places (with indications that some spots may have even reached 30 metres). Most of the stored materials were carried off in the tsunami.
April 3, 2011 at 4:53 am
Chatwic
Wow! So reactor 2 is in full meltdown!? http://www.infowars.com The real truth is here. If you want it. This site will probaly not let this comment be posted. If so. Then great! But it’s the truth. http://www.infowars.com
Goodluck to you all,
Chatwic
April 3, 2011 at 7:51 am
Trane Francks
I highly doubt that any of the reactors is suffering from complete meltdown. Your version of the truth is probably not the same as mine.
June 28, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Trane Francks
Just to put this into perspective some months later, it has now become obvious and apparent that all three of the operating reactors experienced complete meltdowns. It’s still not a Chernobyl situation, but things at the site are ugly, indeed.
March 26, 2011 at 3:17 am
ezekiel
radiation has been detected as far as Iceland. The japanese are lying, the us gov is not to be trusted. Governments do not care about the health and well being of their people. They do not want to induce panic or hurt economies so if the truth would do so, they will not tell us. You are in denial saying people living within 100 miles of the reactors are safe. You are part of the flock of sheeple that just thinks everything will be fine as long as the government says so. Food and water throughout japan is allready contaminated.
http://www.infowars.com/japanese-authorities-admit-deadly-mox-plutonium-reactor-is-leaking/
March 26, 2011 at 9:12 am
Trane Francks
Ezekial,
I can appreciate your fear and concern of the situation. Unfortunately, you are being gravely misled if you take that article to be factual. It has at least one glaring error in it: The radiation burns sustained by the workers in the plant was caused by human error: They were only wearing regular street footwear, and when the exposure alarm went off, they casually dismissed it as being in error. Because of that, they received significant exposure in their feet, which required treatment. The water did NOT “burn right through their boots”. That’s just ridiculous.
While it makes for great headlines to say that fallout from Fukushima is nearing levels seen at Chernobyl, to suggest that there is a similarity between the two accidents is ignorant and fear-mongering. Chernobyl was an operating reactor that exploded in dramatic fashion and then subsequently burned, uncontrolled, for 10 days. Fukushima was shut down and has had some leakage of volatile elements. Due to this, the greatest effect will be at ground zero and an 80 km/50 mi radius from the plants, with smaller effects further out than that. Currently, we’re seeing moderately low levels of cesium and iodine in Tokyo. It’s disconcerting, to be sure, but it’s not life-threatening for people.
Your quoted article is correct that MOX fuel is used in the #3 reactor, but this is not new information. You haven’t provided any proof that the government is lying about the situation. I don’t think they are necessarily being forthcoming with every shred of information – no government ever is – but it’s unlikely that significant untruths would succeed for any length of time. You see, unlike some people, I recognize the impossibility of grand-scale conspiracies.
It’s fine to discuss food and water being contaminated. It’s true. Are you aware that Iodine 131 has a half-life of only ~8 days? Are you, therefore, able to come to the reasonable and logical determination that as long as no new significant plumes emanate from the reactor that even significant amounts of iodine will drop within a two-week period? That has nothing to do with government. That’s physics.
Your insults are amusing. This entire blog is about self-empowerment. It is about taking control of one’s own well-being because Big Pharma profits from a population that is sick enough to need services and medicine. The whole idea of Living Intentionally is about clearing up the misinformation and getting to the truth of the matter.
These articles about the nuclear situation here are to stop the ridiculous FUD that people such as yourself are spreading and give people here a chance to protect themselves in the face of a real situation. While you’re busy encouraging fear in the face of misinformed ignorance, I’m telling the story as it is and giving people tools with which to deal with the situation.
March 21, 2011 at 12:54 am
Stephen Brown
I hear you guys in Tokyo are short of toilet paper. I’ll bring you 20 rolls if you promise to make me some of your famous kelp soup. 🙂
March 21, 2011 at 8:47 am
Trane Francks
🙂
Thanks for the kind offer, mate, but we got a couple of care packages from Okinawa. We’re swimming in the stuff. That said, you’re welcome to come up here for that soup. With the kids off at the grandparents’ place, there’s no shortage of room for you.
March 20, 2011 at 7:59 pm
lynpeel
It’s difficult for people not to over react because of news coverage. There is the big suspicion that, based on past history of inaccurate information, the present Japanese government is not giving out the right information on radiation levels.
I noticed reports saying that food in Japan has tested positive for radiation levels – whatever that means! It flashed on the tv screen under the news coverage.
I would worry if I lived in Japan but not in the US or Australia. Perhaps a bit of a worry in parts of China and Taiwan .. I don’t think the true story will be available to the general public for quite some time to come. DISTANCE would be good Trane .. I’m sorry you can’t leave.
Lyn
March 20, 2011 at 9:52 pm
Trane Francks
Hi, Lyn.
It’s a harsh reality that news is more about entertainment and selling sponsor ads than it is representing facts and truth. Journalists have an obligation to ensure that what they present is real. Many, it seems, do not take that course.
All anybody needs to do with regard to recognizing radiation levels is to watch the news clips. Any time you have people on-site at the reactors, you simply have to know that the radiation levels are within reasonable limits. The government would never survive untruths at this time, and they are very aware of this. The whole world is watching. Conspiracy wouldn’t stand a chance.
You are correct that milk and spinach from Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures have tested positive for radiation levels greater than that allowed by law. Things are going to get interesting here as agriculture struggles to keep up with the changes that will be necessary to safely feed the country. Ultimately, it’s going to cost jobs in northeastern Japan, and cost all of us here additional money to feed ourselves. More will need to be imported.
Due to the Prevailing Westerlies, there is no risk in China or any other country in Asia. Of course, we’re not necessarily out of the woods yet. As they work to get the reactors under control, we’re still experiencing aftershocks. Moreover, Tokyo sits at the joint of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates. Some experts in seismology are concerned that the Kanto Plain (where Tokyo is located) is at risk of a significant earthquake now.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
March 21, 2011 at 8:46 am
Trane Francks
Oh! I forgot to add something very important: All food has naturally occurring radiation. A banana, for example, has on average 0.52 mcSv/150 grams. So, it’s not unusual for us to find radiation in our food supply. It’s always there. What’s important is how much.
Our bodies evolved in a radioactive environment. The sun is a massive fusion reactor and space weather brings hot particles our way on a regular basis. Our whole universe is awash in radiation and exothermic chemical reactions. Despite that, we have evolved complex repair mechanisms in the body that, when we’re healthy, can undo an awful lot of damage.
People should focus on optimizing their health and well-being to ensure these healing mechanisms are able to work in top form and are not encumbered by constant levels of rampant inflammation. A lot of the foods we consider safe actually cause significant damage in the body. That’s why we have obesity, cancer, diabetes and the like; all of which are not normal conditions for the body to experience.
I know you know these things already, Lyn. I’m just writing it out because it’s important that people have as many opportunities to find it as they can. 🙂
April 9, 2011 at 9:29 am
Bob Briant
I would not say the USA is totally safe from the fallout. What would be a good supplemental amount of powdered Kelp to take daily for an adult? I just got some organic Starwest Botanicals Kelp in one pound bags. I’m thinking that three level baking teaspoons a day might be Ok? I’ve taken two teaspoons of Chlorella daily for the past ten years. Since Chlorella is loaded with iron, I know one has to watch that as well. A person can always give blood regularly as that takes their level of iron down. So again, how many grams of powdered kelp = approximately how many grams of iodine per teaspoon? And how many teaspoons daily would be just under the safe limit for an adult? Thanks…………….Bob
April 9, 2011 at 9:30 am
Bob Briant
http://vimeo.com/22003021
April 9, 2011 at 9:41 am
Trane Francks
Bob, the adult upper tolerable limit of iodine amounts to ~1100 mcg/day. Twenty grams of kelp contains ~415 mcg of iodine, so you’re looking at ~50 grams of kelp/day to reach UTL. You’ll want to use a microscale to measure out the appropriate amounts. Be aware that taking amounts of iodine at or near upper-tolerable limits for longer than two weeks at a time presents a risk to thyroid health. As such, you are advised to work with licensed medical professionals to monitor your intake and protect your health.
Your video link presents paranoid pseudoscience as fact. The presenters are misinformed and ignorant of reality. There are radiation maps in Japan that indicate radiation values for Tokyo, for example, that are below the normal average. Some of these maps have data that is complemented by individual readings, which negates the assumption of governmental conspiracy.
The US and Canada are under virtually no threat of significant radiation fallout. Currently, the situation here in Japan is worse than that experienced in Three Mile Island, but not as bad as Chernobyl. The US and Canada did not receive significant fallout from Chernobyl.
April 11, 2011 at 2:29 am
Bob Briant
I’m not wanting to take the Kelp to protect myself from high radiation. Just to add to my health regimen of healthy whole foods. So I take it that three teaspoons a day everyday would not be anywhere near enough to cause me harm? That would have only like roughly twelve grams of Iodine correct? I just got an order of Organic Kelp Powder from Starwest Botanicals, that was harvested from Canada. I have to say that it is about the worst tasting thing I have ever tasted. Tastes like dead fish in rotten seaweed, and that is being kind in my taste review! (HA)! I have read that a mixture in water is also great to pour on a garden as a natural fertilizer.
April 11, 2011 at 7:32 am
Trane Francks
Hi, Bob. Thanks for the clarification.
As a supplement, I’d be inclined to keep your kelp dosage around 1 tablespoon/day. Using an “average” grind, I assume that one tablespoon of kelp powder represends ~10 grams of kelp. That would mean you’re taking in ~208 mcg of iodine. The RDA for iodine is currently 150 mcg/day in the US, as far as I can remember.
Some RDA values are barely sufficient to stave off serious disease while other values are enough for well being. I have not looked fully into this to determine whether the RDA for iodine is sufficient for good health. One tablespoon of kelp powder/day should be plenty safe for long term intake.
To make it more palatable, try using it as a base for broth. The natural saltiness and seaweed flavour lends itself well to this usage.
Cheers.