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Alan is a fully qualified Five Element Acupuncturist and has been practising this wonderful system of medicine at Napiers Clinic in the West End of Glasgow for the past 18 years.
Angela practices Herbal Medicine at Napiers Bathgate, Edinburgh & Glasgow, as well as with the Napiers CLAID Clinic.
Ania is a face massage therapist. I also work as a fitness instructor teaching yoga and other disciplines. I studied Public Health and Health Promotion in Poland and HND Sports Coaching course at Dundee College.
Audrey is a Medical Herbalist, graduating in 2007 with a BSc (Hons) in Herbal Medicine & Phytotherapy from Edinburgh’s Napier University and is a registered member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (MNIMH).
As a fully qualified, experienced Holistic Therapist, Bettina works with clients on a one-to-one basis to establish an optimal treatment plan or therapy to best support your skin health and well-being.
Cat offers a range of massage including holistic, deep tissue, trigger point therapy, advanced sports stretching and pregnancy massge.
Claire is an experienced Western Medical Herbalist (BSc), a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) and works at Napiers online clinic.
Clare is an experienced medical herbalist based in the West Highlands of Scotland, home to deer, livestock, ticks, and Lyme disease. She works for the Napier's CLAID clinic on a Thursday morning.
Clare began training at Edinburgh’s Napier University in 2005, gaining a Bachelor of Science Degree in Herbal Medicine in 2009. She joined the Napiers Clinic team shortly after her graduation, initially working in the dispensary before beginning her herbal practice in 2010. Since then she has been a key member of our clinical team, working alongside Dee Atkinson in running the general herbal clinics, as well as heading the Baby & Child Clinic.
Cybele is a passionate Sophrologist and founder of Chamapola, Healing Yourself - Healing Together.
Dean is a Naturopathic Practitioner experienced in Nutrition and Herbal Medicine. With interests in nerve problems, cardiovascular health, digestive disorders as well as male and female reproductive system wellbeing.
Dee is the senior herbal practitioner at Napiers the Herbalists in Edinburgh. She runs a general medicine clinic with a special interest in women’s health, managing hormonal health and ageing. More recently, Dee set up the Napiers Long Covid Clinic to facilitate an integrated approach between doctors, herbalists and nutritionist to this new disease.
Isabelle has over 20 years helping individuals and couples achieve their fertility goals through nutrition.
Jill is a fully qualified and insured Advanced Clinical Massage Therapist offering Outcome Based Treatments
John is a friendly and experienced counsellor offering 1-1 sessions on Fridays at Napiers Clinic in Edinburgh city centre and online via FaceTime/Skype. He has worked in private practice supporting people for over 18 years and brings a wealth of experience.
Kate is a BANT registered Nutritionist who owns and runs the Edinburgh Clinic of Nutrition. She trained for three and a half years at Patrick Holford's renowned Institute of Optimum Nutrition in London and is currently studying with The Institute of Functional Medicine in the US.
Kim is qualified in Aromatherapy Massage and Indian Head Massage. Working with the needs of her massage clients led to a deeper interest in their health and Kim studied the BSc (Hons) Herbal Medicine degree at Napier University, Edinburgh.
Kirstin is a fully qualified member of the Society of Homeopaths and holds an RSHom distinction in Classical Homeopathy. Kirstin qualified from the Northwest College of Homeopathy's four-year training course in Manchester.
Lynn is a registered osteopath and has been practicing osteopathy for nineteen years. She studied osteopathy and cranial sacral therapy at the European School of Osteopathy and graduated in 1991. Lynn has a background in physiotherapy and is trained in structural, craniosacral, functional, fascial and visceral osteopathy.
Malgorzata graduated from the College of Naturopathic Medicine where she studied Western Herbal Medicine and Naturopathic Nutrition /Diplomas in Herbal Medicine (2017), Naturopathy (2017), and Naturopathic Nutrition (2020). She is also qualified in KORE Therapy, Anmo-fu - 5 Element Abdominal Massage, Craniosacral Balance and Stress Release Therapy and Cupping. Her first degree is a PhD in History.
Margaret practices Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy at Napiers Edinburgh.
Mark runs the podiatry clinic, offering diagnosis and treatment of various disorders relating to the feet, ankles, legs and lower back. He offers podiatry, chiropody, orthotics and nail surgery.
Mary is a qualified therapist in Swedish, Indian and Thai Foot Massage.
Mary trained in Edinburgh, and has been working as a complementary therapist since 1999, holding diplomas in Clinical Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Therapeutic Massage and Hopi Ear Candling gained from the International Therapy Examinations Council (ITEC). She is a member of, and is fully insured to practice with, the Complementary Therapists Association (CThA).
Mike is a body worker and NLP Practitioner who is passionate about working with the person as a whole; offering treatments that integrate body and mind.
Monica has a Masters degree in herbal medicine from the University of Central Lancashire. She is the research herbalist heading up the Napiers Lyme Clinic. The Lyme Clinic specialism is Lyme disease Borrelia burgdorferi and co-infections - crypto-infections Bartonella, Babesia, Rickettsia, Erlichia, Anaplasma, Mycoplasma, etc. A research herbalist is not the same as a medical herbalist and Monica does not run a general clinical practice. This allows her to focus on Lyme disease and bacterial and viral infections.
Natasha is an experienced and qualified medical herbalist in Western herbal medicine, a forager and mycotherapist.
Nikki was awarded a first class honours degree in Herbal Medicine from the University of East London and trained at clinics in Glasgow and London. She was also awarded the Arthur Barker prize for her final examination grades. Nikki also has ITEC Diplomas in Holistic Massage and Aromatherapy. She is a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists which is the UK’s leading professional body representing herbal practitioners. NIMH members follow a strict code of conduct and are committed to ongoing and continual practitioner development and training.
Pearlyn is a licensed acupuncturist and a registered member of the Acupuncture Society, and is fully insured to practice acupuncture, tuina, cupping and moxibustion.
Rebecca is an Associate Nutritionist, specialising in gut health and women's health, from hormone imbalance to fertility, pregnancy and beyond.
Sara is qualified Medical Herbalist, Ayurvedic Therapist and Yoga teacher, holding an MSc. in Western Herbal Medicine from Middlesex University.
Sheila is a Holistic Therapist who qualified in KCR in 2019 with the KCR Academy. After a long career in retail, an ankle injury led her to seek an alternative approach to healing.
Shona has worked at Napiers Clinic for 30 years where she has picked up a wealth of knowledge about various complementary therapies. She trained as a Food Sensitivity tester with The Health Partnership Company, where she was taught how to use the 3 point marker system.
Thanos is an experienced Medical Herbalist and practises as a Herbalist and Orthopaedic Acupuncturist at Napiers in Edinburgh and at Napiers Bathgate.
Wendy qualified in 2002 with a BSc(Hons) in Phytotherapy. Since then she has practiced in Fife, Angus and the Lothians. She is a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists.
The mineral iodine is critical to healthy thyroid function. A lack of it can cause low energy, weight gain, depression, muscle pain, coldness, constipation, heart disease, cognitive decline, and a variety of cancers. And for unborn babies, a lack ...
The mineral iodine is critical to healthy thyroid function. A lack of it can cause low energy, weight gain, depression, muscle pain, coldness, constipation, heart disease, cognitive decline, and a variety of cancers. And for unborn babies, a lack of iodine in their mothers can lead to poor mental abilities, cretinism and autism.
Did you know that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that the UK has a national problem of iodine insufficiency? We are just not getting enough iodine into our bodies to remain healthy.
The thyroid gland is situated in the neck just below the Adam’s apple. It is part of the endocrine system and it has several critical functions:
The thyroid gland uses iodine from your diet and produces three hormones responsible for controlling metabolic rate and promoting healthy growth and development.
Hypothyroidism is the condition where the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormones. This causes the body’s metabolism to run too slowly and imbalances in your body’s functions, such as homeostasis, occur.
Classic early symptoms of hypothyroidism include
If you do not have sufficient iodine in your diet, over time you can develop an underactive thyroid. If this is not corrected it can lead to problems such as:
There is also conclusive evidence that even mild iodine deficiency during pregnancy can have long-term negative impacts on the cognitive development of babies that is not improved by iodine correction during childhood (Hynes et al., 2013).
Autism in children is also four times more likely if the mother had a weakened thyroid gland while pregnant (Román et al., 2013).
Iodine is a mineral needed by our bodies to make our thyroid gland function properly. It can be found naturally (chelated iodine) in seaweeds, ocean fish and in milk. It can also be manufactured (potassium iodide) and added to salt or iodine supplements.
Prevention is better than cure! Ensure that you have sufficient iodine in your diet to prevent your thyroid becoming undernourished and run down.
If you leave it too late to correct your iodine deficiency, or your underactive thyroid is caused by a disease or mechanical malfunction, you may need to take the drug levothyroxine sodium everyday for the rest of your life. This is currently the only treatment recommended by the Royal College of Physicians (2011). Your doctor can give you tests to find out whether your thyroid is underactive and help you determine the correct cause of treatment.
If your thyroid is borderline, or you have the symptoms and your tests are in the ‘normal’ range, you may find that increasing your consumption of iodine makes a big difference.
Iodine is not often found in the soil so not found in many vegetables. It is chiefly found in the sea and produced in milk by mammals, as it is vital to the growth and healthy development of their young.
Other sources of iodine include:
But not everyone eats enough fish or likes the taste of seaweed. So seaweed can be taken as a supplement. You can add the powder to foods or take a capsule.
Too much iodine can over stimulate the thyroid leading to an overactive thyroid. In some people this can trigger damage to the thyroid. However, different types of iodine behave differently in the body. It is important to choose the right type of iodine and take the right amount.
Importantly, there are two main types of iodine. Potassium iodide (found in salt and supplements like Iodoral) and chelated iodine found naturally in seaweeds like kelps and wracks.
Practitioners at Napiers the Herbalists recommend chelated iodine because it is more consistent, stable and safer in the body avoiding the spikes associated with iodide supplements. And potassium iodide in salt is not good as too much salt in your diet can lead to high blood pressure.
Napiers Seagreens Organic Hebridean Kelp Capsules contain a Soil Association certified organic, low temperature dried seaweed called Ascophyllum nodosum. Organic is important here because the sea can sometimes be a source of pollution from sewage or heavy metals. It also ensures that the seaweed is sustainably harvested and no damage done to the seabed or to marine life. Napiers is a member of the Seaweed Health Foundation and conducts research into this essential plant.
One 500 g capsule of certified Napiers Seagreens Organic Hebridean Kelp Capsules contains 350 mcg of chelated iodine. It also contains a host of other vitamins, minerals, amino acids, nutrients including magnesium that the body needs to successfully utilise the iodine. Kelp is a complete food.
In the research (Combet, 2014), volunteers were asked to take one capsule of Napiers Seagreens Organic Hebridean Kelp a day. The researchers measured their urine, blood and iodine levels. At the beginning they found that 52% of the group (average age 25 years old) were iodine insufficient. By the end of the study period they found that:
From this, we at Napiers concluded that:
The recommended daily dose in the UK is 140 mcg a day. (Micrograms are also sometimes expressed as ug.)
This is a low intake compared to countries such as Japan, where seaweed is a regular part of the diet. The average Japanese person consumes iodine in ranges from 5,280 to 13,800 mcg of iodine, with no harmful effects and a host of benefits.
WHO and UNICEF both recommend that pregnant women take a minimum of 250mcg of iodine a day (Azizi & Smyth, 2009).
One Napiers Seagreens Organic Hebridean Kelp capsule delivers 350 mcg of chelated iodine. You can take up to 3 capsules a day (equivalent to 1050 mcg iodine) and still be within the World Health Organisation recommended safe upper limit of 1100 mcg. And remember, that seaweed iodine is far gentler than potassium iodide supplements.
As 37% is excreted within 24 hours, three capsules will give an overall dosage after 24 hours of 662 mcg. This is why we have heard reports of people taking large doses, such as 6 capsules a day, and experiencing radical improvements to health conditions such as arthritis or skin problems without any ill effects.
The chances are that even if you have a good diet, unless you eat a lot of sea fish and seaweed, that you can still be iodine deficient. Other chemicals near iodine in the periodic table, such as chlorine and fluoride, displace iodine, so fluoride toothpaste and oral products and chlorinated water can interfere with the absorption of iodine from your diet.
A Danish study also found that women taking just iodised salt were not protected as well as those who took an iodine supplement (Andersen et al., 2013) nor if they took a multivitamin with only 150mcg iodine (Vandevijvere et al., 2013) which is the current British recommended daily allowance (RDA). Napiers Seagreens Organic Hebridean Kelp contains 350mcg per capsule.
The following claims have been approved in the EU Supplements Directive:
Many 'man made' vitamins and minerals are not easily absorbed by the body so it is important to get them from natural sources that our body can digest. Seaweed is a whole, complete food that mankind has eaten since the dawn of time and perfectly suited to our bodies.
Napiers Seagreens Organic Hebridean Kelp contains the following phytonutrients:
For exact amounts visit the Napiers Seagreens Organic Hebridean Kelp page.
With busy lifestyles we don't always get the nutrition we need from our diet. Under-nourishing the body, without all the nutrients it needs, can be at the bottom of a lot of health conditions from fatigue, to digestive problems and even joint pain.
Many cheap commercial kelps are heated so high in the drying process, that little goodness remains. Our Napiers Seagreens Organic Hebridean Kelp is over 60% higher in all tested vitamins and minerals and contains over 60% less silica (sand!) than comparative industrially produced kelps. It is certified by the Soil Association and is free of environmental contaminants, toxic metals and microbial pathogens, to HACCP and GMP manufacturing standards and EU and USA Biodynamic® standards.
Our pure wild organic seaweed is sustainably harvested from the clear waters off the remote conservation islands of the Outer Hebrides. This method of harvesting and drying is essential in:
With Napiers Seagreens Organic Hebridean Kelp capsules you know exactly what you are getting.
At Napiers, our experience is that:
Our experience in many cases, is that treating iodine deficiency by taking a seaweed dietary supplement, restores low TSH production to normal making medication unnecessary.
If the nation had a calcium deficiency of this magnitude, affecting over half the population, would we be advising people to drink more milk and eat more dairy products, or would we keep quiet and let their health deteriorate until they needed medication?
One a day, Napiers Seagreens Organic Hebridean Kelp Capsules are the answer to ensuring you have enough daily iodine to keep your thyroid healthy!
About the Author: Monica Wilde is a director of Napiers (Rickard Lane’s) with both a commercial interest in this subject and a personal interest - coming from a family with several generations of underactive thyroid. The iodine bioavailability study was funded by the Technology Strategy Board and implemented for Napiers by the University of Glasgow.
References:
Andersen, S.L., Sørensen, L.K., Krejbjerg, A., Møller, M., & Laurberg, P. (2013). Iodine deficiency in Danish pregnant women. Danish Medical Journal, 60(7), A4657.
Bath, S.C., Steer, C.D., Golding, J., Emmett, P., Rayman, M.P. (2013). Effect of inadequate iodine status in UK pregnant women on cognitive outcomes in their children: results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Lancet, 382(9889), 331-7. Bolton, S. (2005). Bioequivalence studies for levothyroxine. AAPS J, 7(1), 47-53.
Combet E, Ma ZF, Cousins F, Thompson B, Lean ME. (2014). Low-level seaweed supplementation improves iodine status in iodine-insufficient women. Br J Nutr. 1-9. PubMed PMID: 25006699.
de Benoist B., McLean, E., Andersson, M., & Rogers, L. (2008). Iodine deficiency in 2007: Global progress since 1993. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 29(3), 195-202.
Gow, S, Caldwell, G., Toft, A, et al. (1987). Relationship between pituitary and other target organ responsiveness in hypothyroid patients receiving thyroxine replacement. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 64, 364-370.
Hynes, K.L., Otahal, P., Hay, I., & Burgess, J.R. (2013). Mild iodine deficiency during pregnancy is associated with reduced educational outcomes in the offspring: 9-year follow-up of the gestational iodine cohort. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 98(5), 1954-62.
John-Kalarickal, J., Pearlman, G., & Carlson, H.E. (2007). New medications which decrease levothyroxine absorption. Thyroid, 17(8), 763-5.
Román, G.C., Ghassabian, A., Bongers-Schokking, J.J., Jaddoe, V.W., Hofman, A., de Rijke, Y.B., Verhulst, F.C., & Tiemeier, H. (2013). Association of gestational maternal hypothyroxinemia and increased autism risk. Ann Neurol, Aug 13. doi: 10.1002/ana.23976.
Saranac, L., Zivanovic, S., Bjelakovic, B., Stamenkovic, H., Novak, M., & Kamenov, B. (2011). "Why is the Thyroid So Prone to Autoimmune Disease?" Hormone Research in Paediatrics, 75 (3), 157–65.
Singh, N., Singh, P.N., & Hershman, J.M. (2000). Effect of calcium carbonate on the absorption of levothyroxine. JAMA, 283(21), 2822-5.
Teng, X., Shan, Z., Chen, Y., Lai, Y., Yu, J., Shan, L., Bai, X., Li, Y., Li, N., Li, Z., Wang, S., Xing, Q., Xue, H., Zhu, L., Hou, X., Fan, C., & Teng, W. (2011). More than adequate iodine intake may increase subclinical hypothyroidism and autoimmune thyroiditis: a cross-sectional study based on two Chinese communities with different iodine intake levels. Eur J Endocrinol. 164(6):943-50.
Vaidya, B. and Pearce, S. (2008). Management of hypothyroidism in adults. British Medical Journal 337(a801).
Vanderpump, M.P., Lazarus, J.H., Smyth, P.P., Laurberg, P., Holder, R.L., Boelaert, K., & Franklyn, J.A; British Thyroid Association UK Iodine Survey Group. (2011). Iodine status of UK schoolgirls: a cross-sectional survey. Lancet. 377(9782), 2007-12.
Vanderpump, M., Tunbridge, W., French, J. et al. (1995). The incidence of thyroid disorders in the community; a twenty-year follow up of the Whickham survey. Clin Endocrinol. 43, 55-68.
Vandevijvere, S., Amsalkhir, S., Mourri, A.B., Van Oyen, H., & Moreno-Reyes, R. (2013). Iodine deficiency among Belgian pregnant women not fully corrected by iodine-containing multivitamins: a national cross-sectional survey. Br J Nutr. 109(12), 2276-84.
