
Recently, I’ve been using the services at Parsley Health here in Los Angeles. The founder, Robin Berzin, is a friend and old co-worker of mine. It’s been really cool seeing her go from a volunteer at Health 2.0, to helping her launch an event called Health Interactive under the guidance of Health 2.0, to her following her true calling in creating Parsley Health, an affordable Functional Medicine subscription company which now has locations in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Check out what they do over at their website. I HIGHLY recommend their services.
I love my Naturopathic Doctor, Dr. Abercrombie, whom I’ve mentioned a few times throughout this blog already, and didn’t want to trade in her services because she’s worked wonders on my digestion and skin, but I did want to give Functional Medicine a try. As a Health Coach, I find it important to really give every form of medicinal services a shot so I can appropriately relate to my own clients and/or refer them out appropriately for their own needs and beliefs.
Dr. Egler, the physician in Parsley's Los Angeles office, ordered an array of functional tests to see if we could figure out what’s been going on with my skin. If you didn’t know, I’ve struggled with acne off and on since I were a teenager. It’s frustrating for me because I feel I do everything correct. My diet is practically perfect and tailored to my body’s needs, I work out, meditate… you name it. It goes in cycles, and there hasn’t been much of a correlation. I just can’t shake it 100%!
We’re still working on unraveling the exact root cause of the acne I’ve been experiencing. It’s most likely a combination of stress and hormone imbalances — both of which we are treating, and slowly, but surely, are providing the results I’ve been seeking.
Most likely unrelated to the acne, throughout the testing we noticed I’m deficient in iodine. Now, for most people this may not be as alarming of a mineral deficiency, however, I have a deep rooted family history in thyroid problems. Every woman on my mom’s side of the family has either Hypo or Hyperthyroidism, with my mom battling Hashimoto Thyroiditis for years. Iodine deficiency can have a direct correlation to thyroid health. Symptoms of such include an enlarged thyroid gland, lethargy and tiredness, feeling cold, poor memory, unusual weight gain, constipation, puffy skin… and more. You can read through a list of symptoms over at The Thyroid Foundation.
A big part of my health journey is preventative. Between cancer taking every single one of my family’s loved ones and persistent thyroid issues in most of the women in my family — I have a deep family history of diseases I’ve been taking steps to avoid. Seeing an iodine deficiency isn’t too alarming for me, but it’s alarming enough where I recognize I should be adding a bit more of it to my diet to prevent a thyroid condition in the future. Better to nip any chance of something happening now before it’s too late.
Sea salt and sea vegetables are wonderful, natural sources of iodine. I like ordering sea vegetables out at restaurants, but I’m not a huge fan of preparing them myself. It’s a bit stinky and, honestly, I haven’t experimented with them enough!


One sneaky way I do add sea vegetables — and in turn a significant amount of iodine — into my diet at home is by adding a bit of Marine Coast Sea Vegetables Dulse to my quinoa as it cooks. When it’s finished, you really can’t taste the seaweed at all. The seaweed is mainly broken up during the cooking process, leaving the quinoa practically untouched in terms of color and taste.
One serving of Marine Coast Sea Vegetables Dulse contains 780% of your daily Iodine intake. This meaning, all you have to do is rip off a little chunk of the sea weed to add to your quinoa. Cook your quinoa as you normally would with a 2:1 ratio of water to seed, covering and simmering for 15 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed.
Bam! Delicious quinoa with an iodine packed kick.
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