A 38-year-old woman from Wuhan trying to get pregnant for the second time is suffering from hyperthyroidism. The cause of her ailment is excessive intake of kelp, a seaweed.
The woman, Liu, was trying to have a male child since her first is a daughter. She read in an internet forum that alkalescent food – which includes kelp and marine algae – when eaten one month before conception, would guarantee that her baby would be a boy.
One such advice is from Shannon Courtney, whose website Planbabygender.com, advises women who want to conceive a male child to consume more food with alkaline such as cauliflowers, eggplants, bananas and apples. According to Courtney, the Y male sperm is weak and would die off easily under acidic conditions which requires providing a more alkaline environment in the vagina for the Y sperm to survive. She also recommended deep penetration during the sexual intercourse.
After eating kelp for two weeks, Liu suffered from excessive sweating, discomfort and palpitations, reported Gizmodo. Her husband brought her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism.
The doctor at New River Hospital in Hubei explained that because kelp is rich in iodine, eating too much of it could result in autoimmune inflammation of the thyroid gland, which, in turn could affect Liu’s chances of becoming pregnant.
But because her medical condition was diagnosed early, Liu got treatment and would not suffer from long-term effects of her excessive kelp intake. The incident only show how dangerous it is to believe everything on the internet, even YouTube videos which even endorse kelp as a superfood with good benefits allegedly for hyperthyroidism patients.