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For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard that kelp is the one supplement that can help improve a failing thyroid. Though I never actually tried it until this year…
Bad move.
Once I started this process of trying to discover what was going on with my health 6 weeks ago, I stopped taking the kelp so that I could start anew with the doctor. Fast forward to today when I was in my new endocrinologist’s office. He was almost done with me when I was asking him if there was anything natural I could do to help my newly diagnosed Hashimoto’s disease. He recommended Selenium, but also cautioned me to stay away from kelp.
That’s when my husband said the doctor literally jumped out of his chair.
“Why didn’t you tell me that before?” He asked, astonished.
“You only asked what I was currently taking; I stopped taking it 6 weeks ago,” I tried to explain.
He explained that the onset of my symptoms that led me on this journey in the first place was most likely the result of Basedow Disease. While it’s true that kelp/iodine can help thyroid function if a person has a healthy thyroid or an iodine deficiency (which most people in the US do not), but it has the exact OPPOSITE effect on people who’s thyroid is failing!
When your thyroid is in failure and you start taking kelp supplements, you literally shut down your thyroid. So let my lesson be a caution to you all:
Consult a physician or a nutrition expert before trying to diagnose yourself, much less treat yourself! What may be helpful to others can be very harmful to you!
