Supplements
offer help in the department of meeting nutritional needs that aren’t currently
being met through dietary means. Depending on the supplement, it may also offer
impressive weight loss benefits. Kelp is one popular supplement that both helps
to fill gaps in our nutritional profiles as well as assist with weight loss to
a reasonable extent.
What Is
Kelp?
Kelp is
a vegetable that grows in the sea. It's more popular in coastal cultures and
areas, such as Japan, but has gained quite a bit of popularity in all areas due
to promising health findings. This sea vegetable is full of helpful nutrients,
such as potassium, calcium and iodine. Some experts even say that it has more
valuable minerals than any other food source in the world.
Kelp
For Weight Loss
There
are some precautions to be considered if you're thinking of taking kelp
supplements for weight loss purposes. You should check with a physician, of
course, before starting anything new with your diet to make sure that
potentially resulting complications don't cause a bigger problem. Although
iodine is a good trace element in normal amounts, too much could potentially
cause thyroid problems. Likewise, too much potassium can cause problems with
your heart. Too much of any good thing quickly turns it into a bad thing.
Don’t
let yourself end up in the hospital for the sake of losing weight. Check with
your doctor and they’ll be able to advise you on the best way to go about kelp
supplementation, or warn you if it’s not the right choice for you.
How It
Works
Kelp
helps with weight control in large part due to the aforementioned iodine.
Adequate amounts of iodine are required for your thyroid gland to function
correctly. Kelp is a natural source of iodine and therefore, taken in small
amounts, can help normalize your thyroid’s function. When the thyroid doesn’t
function correctly, many health problems can arise, including problems with
weight. Iodine supplements are actually suggested for people who have trouble
losing weight due to hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).
In
truth, kelp supplements have been showing up in stores for a long time now,
whether it's it’s marketed as being used for weight loss or not. In fact, kelp
can even help people gain weight if their thyroids are overactive as it merely
normalizes the thyroid's activity.
Whenever
you start a kelp weight loss program, you should also supplement with vitamin A
so that the iodine do its work. Without sufficient amounts of vitamin A, the
thyroid gland can't effectively absorb the iodine you're putting into your
system. Again, it cannot be stressed enough that you should check with a
professional before going to town with any type of supplement at all, so ask
your physician if Vitamin A supplementation is safe for you, too.
Should
You Use Kelp For Weight Loss?
Weight
control is largely a matter of getting your will power to work for you. Kelp
can be a great help, but it’s just that – help. There is real work required
when it comes to substantial and/or lasting weight loss. There’s real work
involved in just about anything that’s worth achieving. Kelp can be a good tool
to help you reach the body you want, but your own will power and determination
is what will make the biggest difference.