Translations: Dutch
Iodine is critical to human health. It forms the basis of thyroid hormones and plays many other roles in human biochemistry. While the thyroid gland contains the body’s highest concentration of iodine, the salivary glands, brain, cerebrospinal fluid, gastric mucosea, breasts, ovaries and a part of the eye also concentrate iodine. In the brain, iodine is found in the choroid plexus, the area on the ventricles of the brain where cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is produced, and in the substantia nigra, an area associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Iodine is essential to normal growth and development. Iodine deficiency in utero and during growth can result in cretinism, a condition of severely stunted physical and mental growth due to prolonged nutritional deficiency of iodine or from untreated congenital deficiency of thyroid hormones (hypothyroidism). The condition is characterized by short stature, delayed bone maturation and puberty, infertility, neurological impairment and cognitive impairment ranging from mild to severe. Iodine deficiency also causes goiter, the gradual enlargement of the thyroid gland. Both conditions have led to public health campaigns of iodine administration in many countries. The addition of iodine compounds to table salt or water represents the first attempt to provide nutrient supplementation via “fortification” of common foods.
Iodine in Public Health Campaigns
In the past, endemic cretinism due to iodine deficiency was especially common in areas of southern Europe around the Alps. It was described by ancient Roman writers and often depicted by medieval artists. The earliest Alpine mountain climbers sometimes came upon whole villages of cretins. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, several travellers and physicians described alpine cretinism from a medical perspective, often attributing the cause to “stagnant air” in mountain valleys or “bad water.”
More mildly affected inland areas of Europe and North America in the nineteenth century were referred to as “goiter belts.” The degree of iodine deficiency was milder and manifested primarily as thyroid enlargement rather than severe mental and physical impairment. In Switzerland, where the soil is poor in iodine, cases of cretinism were abundant and even considered hereditary. As the variety of food sources dramatically increased in Europe and North America and the populations became less completely dependent on locally grown food, the prevalence of endemic goiter diminished.
Only in the early twentieth century did scientists discover the relationship of cretinism with lack of iodine and thyroid deficiency. The addition of iodine to salt or drinking water is credited with the reduction or elimination of cretinism and goiter, although cretinism still remains a serious problem in many rural sections of China.
In coastal areas, the action of ocean waves makes iodine gas. Once airborne, iodine combines with water or air and enters the soil. Plant and animal foods grown on soil containing iodine will take up iodine so that it becomes available in the food. It can also be absorbed through the skin from air in seacoast areas, which may explain why many report improved health after a visit to an oceanside resort, and why individuals with severe allergies to iodine risk a reaction if they venture too close to the sea.
Iodine and Breast Health
Japanese women have very low rates of breast cancer and consume high levels of iodine. This observation has led to the theory that high iodine levels in the Japanese diet, rich in seaweed and seafood, provide protection against breast cancer and other diseases of the breast. Proponents of this theory note that today one in seven American women (almost 15 percent) will develop breast cancer during her lifetime. Thirty years ago, when iodine consumption was twice as high as it is now (480 mcg per day) one in twenty women developed breast cancer. Thirty years ago, consumption of iodized salt was higher than it is today; in addition a form of iodine was used as a dough conditioner in making bread, and each slice of bread contained 0.14 mg of iodine. In 1980, bread makers started using bromide as a conditioner instead, which competes with iodine for absorption into the thyroid gland and other tissues in the body. Iodine was also more widely used in the dairy industry as a teat cleaner thirty years ago than it is now. According to this argument, 15 percent of the U.S. adult female population suffers from moderate to severe iodine deficiency.1
The correlation of iodine deficiency with breast cancer is strengthened by reports in the scientific literature. Women with a history of breast cancer are almost three times more likely to develop thyroid cancer than women with no such history, and there is a geographic correlation between the incidence of goiter and breast cancer.2 Demographic studies show that a high intake of iodine is associated with a low incidence of breast cancer, and a low intake with a high incidence of breast cancer.3
Animal studies show that iodine prevents breast cancer, arguing for a causal association in these epidemiological findings. The carcinogens nitrosomethylurea and DMBA cause breast cancer in more than 70 percent of female rats. Those given iodine, especially in its molecular form as I2, have a statistically significant decrease in the incidence of cancer.4 Other evidence adding biologic plausibility to the hypothesis that iodine prevents breast cancer includes the finding that the ductal cells in the breast, the ones most likely to become cancerous, are equipped with an iodine pump (the sodium iodine symporter, the same one that the thyroid gland has) to soak up this element.5
Similar findings apply to fibrocystic disease of the breast. In animal studies, female rats fed an iodine-free diet develop fibrocystic changes in their breasts, and iodine in its elemental form (I2) cures it.6
As far back as 1966, Russian researchers showed that iodine effectively relieves signs and symptoms of fibrocystic breast disease. Seventy-one percent of 167 women suffering from fibrocystic disease experienced a beneficial healing effect when treated with 50 mg potassium iodide during the intermenstrual period.7
A 1993 Canadian study likewise found that iodine relieves signs and symptoms of fibrocystic breast disease in 70 percent of patients. This report is a composite of three clinical studies, two case series done in Canada of 696 women treated with various types of iodine, and one in Seattle. The Seattle study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 56 women designed to compare 3-5 mg of elemental iodine (I2) to a placebo (an aqueous mixture of brown vegetable dye with quinine). Investigators followed the women for six months and tracked subjective and objective changes in their fibrocystic disease.8
An analysis of the Seattle study showed that iodine had a highly statistically significant beneficial effect on fibrocystic disease. Iodine reduced breat tenderness, nodularity, fibrosis, turgidity and number of macrocysts compared to controls. This 36-page report9 was submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1995, seeking the agency’s approval to carry out a larger randomized controlled clinical trial on iodine for treating fibrocystic breast disease. FDA declined to approve the study, because “iodine is a natural substance, not a drug.” But the FDA has now decided to approve a similar trial sponsored by Symbollon Pharmaceuticals.
Other Benefits
Iodine may be helpful in treating other cancers because it induces apoptosis, programmed cell death. Apoptosis is essential to growth and development (fingers form in the fetus by apoptosis of the tissue between them) and for destroying cells that represent a threat to the integrity of the organism, like cancer cells and cells infected with viruses. In one experiment, human lung cancer cells with genes spliced into them that enhance iodine uptake and utilization underwent apoptosis and shrank when given iodine, both when grown in vitro outside the body and implanted in mice.10 Some practitioners predict a wider use for iodine in treating cancer.
Iodine may have other benefits – for which more study is needed. Evidence indicates that increased iodine consumption replaces and therefore helps detox other halogens, such as fluoride and bromide, and even toxic metals like lead, aluminum and mercury.11 One theory is that liberal amounts of iodine in the diet can protect against the harmful effects of fluoridated water.12 Iodine supports the immune system and protects against abnormal growth of bacteria in the stomach.13
In addition to the thyroid and mammary glands, other tissues possess an iodine pump (the sodium-iodine symporter) which allows iodine concentration. Thus, it is logical to conclude that iodine plays an important role in these organs—the stomach mucosa, salivary glands, ovaries, thymus gland, skin, brain, joints, arteries and bone.
A History of Iodine Therapy
Iodine was discovered in 1811 and shortly thereafter entered the materia medica. It was used in large amounts until the mid-1900s for treating various dermatologic conditions, chronic lung disease, fungal infestations, tertiary syphilis and even arteriosclerosis.14 The Nobel laureate Dr. Albert Szent Györgi (1893-1986), the physician who discovered vitamin C, wrote: “When I was a medical student, iodine in the form of KI [potassium iodide] was the universal medicine. Nobody knew what it did, but it did something and did something good. We students used to sum up the situation in this little rhyme:
If ye don’t know where, what, and why Prescribe ye then K and I.”15
According to the 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, published in 1911, the pharmacological action of compounds containing potassium iodide, “is as obscure as their effects in certain diseased conditions are consistently brilliant. Our ignorance of their mode of action is cloaked by the term deobstruent, which implies that they possess the power of driving out impurities from the blood and tissues. Most notably is this the case with the poisonous products of syphilis. In its tertiary stage—and also earlier—this disease yields in the most rapid and unmistakable fashion to iodides, so much so that the administration of these salts is at present the best means of determining whether, for instance, a cranial tumor be syphilitic or not.” (Perhaps what the iodides did was remove toxic mercury from the bodies of syphilitics who had been treated with mercury-based medicines!)
Sarah Pope, our Tampa/St. Petersburg chapter leader, reports that her father, a pediatrician, routinely gave Lugol’s solution (a combination of iodine and potassium iodide) to treat congestion in the lungs and sinuses. The theory was that the iodide drops would thin the mucus and make coughing more productive. The dose was five drops in water, continued for several days. In his professional experience, the remedy cleared congestion and, in the case of asthmatics, dilated the bronchial tubes and assisted breathing. This author received the same remedy as a child—the taste of iodine brings back memories of being sick and in bed, and receiving the drops in orange juice.
The decline in the use of iodine in medicine began in 1948 when researchers Wolff and Chaikoff published a landmark paper on the thyroid effects of increasing amounts of potassium iodide, injected into rats. The authors stated: “Organic binding of iodine within the glands can be almost completely blocked by raising the level of plasma inorganic iodine (PII) above a certain critical level, which for the rat amounts to about 20 to 35 percent.”16 This effect became known as the Wolff-Chaikoff (W-C) effect. According to the conventional view, high levels of intracellular iodide suppress the transcription of thyroid peroxidase (TPO) enzyme, along with NADPH oxidase, leading to a reduction in the synthesis of thyroid hormone, thyroxin.17 As proof of the W-C effect, the textbooks point to the fact that large amounts of potassium iodide can remedy hyperthyroidism. Another apparent confirmation is the thyroid-suppressing effect of several iodine-containing drugs, of which the most famous is amiodarone, which can cause both under- and overactivity of the thyroid. In a trial that compared amiodarone with other medications for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, biochemical hypothyroidism (as defined by a TSH level of 4.5-10 mU/L) occurred in 25.8 percent of the amiodarone-treated group as opposed to 6.6 percent of the control group (taking placebo or sotalol). Overt hypothyroidism (defined as TSH greater than 10 mU/L) occurred at 5.0 percent compared to 0.3 percent.18
Over time, these observations led to a decline in the use of iodine in medicine. While health officials came to a general agreement that iodine deficiency caused, in increasing order of severity, goiter and hypothyroidism, mental retardation and cretinism, authorities in the U.S. and Europe agreed upon a low Reference Daily Intake (RDI), formerly called the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), of 100-150 mcg per day. This amount will prevent goiters and other overt signs of deficiency but may not be adequate to prevent other conditions of iodine deficiency, and is much lower that the amounts formerly given routinely to patients.
Critics of the W-C effect note that the standard dose of potassium iodide was 1 gram until the mid-1900s, which contains 770 mg of iodine, over five thousand times more than the RDI. For many years physicians used potassium iodide in doses starting at 1.5 to 3 gm and up to more than 10 grams a day, on and off, to treat bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, apparently with good results and few side effects. Even today, dermatologists treat certain skin conditions, including fungal eruptions, beginning with an iodine dose of 900 mg a day, followed by weekly increases up to 6 grams a day as tolerated.
But the general use of iodine and iodine compounds in medicine has waned, as has its use as an additive in the food supply. Today’s medical establishment is wary of iodine as are public health officials. Thyroidologists cite the W-C effect and warn that TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) blood levels can rise with an iodine intake of one milligram or more.
In a 2000 review paper on use of iodine as a water disinfectant, author Joe Hollowell notes that studies indicate marked individual sensitivity to iodine; the most vulnerable to adverse effects are those with underlying thyroid disease and previous low iodine intake. Problems from consumption of iodized water—including both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism—usually resolve after consumption is discontinued. A safe dose is 1-2 mg per day, and most can tolerate much higher amounts without problems.19
The Challenge
A challenge towards the reigning attitudes to iodine compounds came in 1997, when Dr. Guy Abraham, a former professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UCLA, mounted what he calls the Iodine Project. He had his company, Optimox Corporation, make Iodoral, the tablet form of Lugol’s solution (which combines iodine and potassium iodide), and he engaged two family practice physicians, Dr. Jorge Flechas (in 2000) in North Carolina and Dr. David Brownstein (in 2003) in Michigan to carry out clinical studies with high doses of the iodine compound.20 The project’s hypothesis is that maintaining whole body sufficiency of iodine requires 12.5 mg a day, an amount similar to what the Japanese consume and over eighty times the RDI of 150 mcg. The conventional view is that the body contains 25-50 mg of iodine, of which 70-80 percent resides in the thyroid gland. Dr. Abraham concluded that whole body sufficiency exists when a person excretes 90 percent of the iodine ingested. He devised an iodine-loading test where one takes 50 mg iodine/potassium iodide and measures the amount excreted in the urine over the next twenty-four hours. He found that the vast majority of people retain a substantial amount of the 50 mg dose. Many require 50 mg per day for several months before they will excrete 90 percent of it. His studies indicate that, given a sufficient amount, the body will retain much more iodine than originally thought, 1,500 mg, with only 3 percent of that amount held in the thyroid gland.
According to Abraham, more than 4,000 patients in this project take iodine in daily doses ranging from 12.5 to 50 mg, and in those with diabetes, up to 100 mg a day. According to these physicians, iodine at these doses does indeed reverse fibrocystic disease; allows diabetic patients to use less insulin and hypothyroid patients to use less thyroid medication; resolves symptoms of fibromyalgia; and stops migraine headaches. They report that the side effects of iodine, including hypo- or hyperthyroidism, allergies, swelling of the salivary glands and thyroid, occur in less than 5 percent.21 Urine tests confirm that iodine at these doses removes the toxic halogens fluoride and bromide from the body.22
They believe that iodism, an unpleasant brassy taste, runny nose, and acne-like skin lesions, is caused by the bromide that iodine extracts from the tissues. Symptoms subside on a lower dose of iodine.
In 2005, Dr. Abraham published a long paper challenging the Wolff-Chaikoff effect. “The W-C effect is supposedly the inhibitory effect of peripheral inorganic iodide (PII) levels equal to or greater than 0.2 mg/L (10-6M) on the organification of iodide by the thyroid gland of rats, resulting supposedly in hypothyroidism and goiter. These rats never became hypothyroid and thyroid hormones were not measured in their plasma. Nevertheless, the W-C effect, which did not even occur in the rats, was extrapolated to humans. The correct interpretation of the results obtained in rats from the W-C experiments is: Iodide sufficiency of the thyroid gland was achieved when serum inorganic iodide levels reached 10-6M . . . . These law-abiding rats refused to become hypothyroid and instead followed their normal physiological response to the iodide load. They were unjustly accused of escaping from the W-C effect. Labeling these innocent rats as fugitives from the W-C effect was a great injustice against these rodents.
“To the disgrace and stupidity of the medical profession, U.S. physicians swallowed the W-C forgery uncritically, which resulted in a moratorium on the clinical use of inorganic, non-radioactive iodine in effective amounts. However, this moratorium did not include toxic organic iodine-containing drugs and radioiodide. The iodophobic mentality prevented further research on the requirement for inorganic, non-radioactive iodine by the whole human body, which turns out to be 100-400 times the very recently established RDA. . . Prior to World War II and the W-C publication, U.S. physicians used Lugol solution safely, effectively and extensively in both hypo- and hyperthyroidism.”23
Abraham cites a 1970 paper which evaluated the effect of Lugol’s solution, administered at five drops (30 mg iodine/iodide) three times a day in five thyrotoxic patients. Following a well-designed protocol, they reported, “It is concluded that the rapid decrease in T4 secretion induced by iodine is not the result of an acute sustained inhibition of T4 synthesis (the Wolff-Chaikoff effect), but rather results from an abrupt decrease in the fractional rate of thyroid T4 release.”24
Abraham thus argues that in hyperthyroidism, iodine/iodide in Lugol’s at a daily dose of 90 mg induced a physiological trend toward normalization of thyroid function, “a beneficial effect, not the fictitious W-C effect as proposed by Wolff and Chaikoff. It is amazing that the W-C effect, which is still mentioned in iodophobic publications, has never been confirmed in rats by other investigators and has never been demonstrated in any animal species.
“In 1948, there was already evidence that the W-C effect, if it was for real in rats (and it was not), did not occur in humans. The Lugol’s solution and saturated solution of potassium iodide (SSKI) were used extensively in medical practice for patients with asthma. The recommended daily amount was 1,000-2,000 mg. This amount was used in patients with asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema for several years. Hypothyroidism and goiter were not common in this group of patients. Those amounts of iodine would have resulted in serum inorganic iodine levels 100 times higher than the serum inorganic iodide levels of 10-6M claimed by Wolff and Chaikoff to result in the W-C effect.”
According to Abraham, iodine in amounts considered “excessive” by endocrinologists today represent only 3 percent of the average daily intake of iodide by 60 million mainland Japanese, a population with a very low incidence of cancer overall, and in particular of the female reproductive organs.
According to Abraham, “Medical iodophobia resulted in the thyroid hormone thyroxine replacing iodine in iodine deficiency-induced simple goiter and hypothyroidism. Thyroxine has been the most prescribed drug in the U.S. for several years. So, the manufacturers of thyroxine benefited tremendously from this deception. It also resulted in the destruction of the thyroid gland by means of radioiodide in patients with hyperthyroidism caused by iodine deficiency, although this condition had previously been treated successfully with Lugol solution. The radioablation of the thyroid gland with radioiodide resulted in 90 percent of these patients becoming hypothyroid within the first year and eventually joining the ever-increasing thyroxine-consuming population. “Supplying thyroid hormones to iodine-deprived individuals masks the iodine deficiency and can result in zombie-like effect. The patients are capable of performing physical work but are not able to think and reason at maximum capacity. An even greater negative effect is realized if iodine deprivation is combined with goitrogen saturation, using the potent goitrogens bromide, fluoride and perchlorate in the food and water supply.
“Iodine is involved in many vital mental and physical functions, and yet whole body sufficiency for iodine has never been determined. Why? Medical textbooks discuss inorganic, non-radioactive iodine only in relation to the most severe deficiencies of this essential element: cretinism, hypothyroidism and endemic goiter. Based on an iodine/iodide loading test developed by the author to assess whole body sufficiency for iodine, the amounts of iodine needed for whole body sufficiency and optimal physical and mental health are 250-1,000 times higher that the amount of iodine needed to control cretinism, hypothyroidism and endemic goiter.”
Thus, according to Abraham and his colleagues, the Wolff-Chaikoff effect is of no clinical significance. An elevated TSH, when it occurs during treatment with Lugol’s solution, is “subclinical.” This means that no signs or symptoms of hypothyroidism accompany its rise. Some people taking milligram doses of iodine, usually more than 50 mg a day, develop mild swelling of the thyroid gland without symptoms. Abraham believes that the vast majority of people, 98 to 99 percent, can take iodine in doses ranging from 10 to 200 mg a day without any clinically adverse effects on thyroid function.
The Debate
With Abraham’s work, and its popularization by physicians such as Jorge Flechas and Brownstein, many health-conscious individuals began taking Lugol’s solution regularly, even without medical supervision. A challenge to this practice came from Dr. Alan Gaby in an editorial published in the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, August/September 2005.25
“Recently, a growing number of doctors have been using iodine supplements in fairly large doses in their practices,” wrote Gaby. “The treatment typically consists of 12 to 50 mg per day of a combination of iodine and iodide, which is 80 to 333 times the RDA of 150 mcg (0.15 mg) per day. Case reports suggest that iodine therapy can improve energy levels, overall well-being, sleep, digestive problems and headaches. People with hypothyroidism who experienced only partial improvement with thyroid hormone therapy are said to do better when they start taking iodine. In addition, fibrocystic breast disease responds well to iodine therapy, an observation that has been documented previously. The reported beneficial effects of iodine suggest that some people have a higher-than-normal requirement for this mineral, or that it favorably influences certain types of metabolic dysfunction.
“While iodine therapy shows promise, I am concerned that two concepts being put forth could lead to overzealous prescribing of this potentially toxic mineral. First is the notion that the optimal dietary iodine intake for humans is around 13.8 mg per day, which is about 90 times the RDA and more than 13 times the ‘safe upper limit’ of 1 mg per day established by the World Health Organization. Second is the claim that a newly developed iodine-load test can be used as a reliable tool to identify iodine deficiency.”
Gaby takes issue with the argument that the optimal human requirement is 13.8 mg per day, by noting that “the idea that Japanese people consume 13.8 mg of iodine per day appears to have arisen from a misinterpretation of a 1967 paper. In that paper, the average intake of seaweed in Japan was listed as 4.6 g (4,600 mg) per day, and seaweed was said to contain 0.3 percent iodine. The figure of 13.8 mg comes from multiplying 4,600 mg by 0.003. However, the 4.6 g of seaweed consumed per day was expressed as wet weight, whereas the 0.3 percent-iodine figure was based on dry weight. Since many vegetables contain at least 90 percent water, 13.8 mg per day is a significant overestimate of iodine intake. In studies that have specifically looked at iodine intake among Japanese people, the mean dietary intake (estimated from urinary iodine excretion) was in the range of 330 to 500 mcg per day, which is at least 2.5-fold lower than 13.8 mg per day.”
Regarding the other argument in support of a high iodine requirement, namely that it takes somewhere between 6 and 14 mg of oral iodine per day to keep the thyroid gland fully saturated with iodine, “. . . it is not clear that loading the thyroid gland or other tissues with all the iodine they can hold is necessarily a good thing. . . Our thyroid glands have developed a powerful mechanism to concentrate iodine, and some thyroid glands (or other tissues) might not function as well after a sudden 90-fold increase in the intake of this mineral. . . relatively small increases in dietary iodine intake have been reported to cause hypothyroidism or other thyroid abnormalities in some people.”
As for the observation that iodine supplementation “promotes the urinary excretion of potentially toxic halogens such as bromide and fluoride. While that effect might be beneficial for some people, it is not clear to what extent it would shift the risk-benefit ratio of megadose iodine therapy for the general population.”
Abraham and colleagues promote the use of the iodine-load test, in which the patient ingests 50 mg of a combination of iodine and iodide and the urine is collected for the next twenty-four hours. The patient is considered to be iodine-deficient if less than 90 percent of the administered dose is excreted in the urine, on the premise that a deficient person will retain iodine in the tissues, rather than excrete it in the urine. According to the literature of a laboratory that offers it, 92-98 percent of patients who have taken the iodine-load test were found to be deficient in iodine.
According to Gaby, “the validity of the test depends on the assumption that the average person can absorb at least 90 percent of a 50-mg dose. It may be that people are failing to excrete 90 percent of the iodine in the urine not because their tissues are soaking it up, but because a lot of the iodine is coming out in the feces. There is no reason to assume that a 50-mg dose of iodine, which is at least 250 times the typical daily intake, can be almost completely absorbed by the average person. While this issue has not apparently been studied in humans, cows fed supraphysiological doses of iodine (72 to 161 mg per day) excreted approximately 50 percent of the administered dose in the feces.”
Gaby expressed concerns about iodine toxicity: “Fairly modest increases in iodine intake have been reported to cause thyroid dysfunction, particularly hypothyroidism. In a study of 33 Japanese patients with hypothyroidism, the median serum TSH level decreased from 21.9 mU/L to 5.3 mU/L (indicating an improvement in the hypothyroidism), and one-third became euthyroid, when the patients stopped eating seaweed and other high-iodine foods for 1-2 months. In a survey of 3,300 children aged 6-12 years from five continents, thyroid glands were twice as large in children with high dietary iodine intake (about 750 mcg per day), compared with children with more normal iodine intake. While the significance of that finding is not clear, it suggests the possibility of iodine-induced goiter. In addition, there is epidemiological evidence that populations with ‘sufficient’ or ‘high normal’ dietary iodine intake have a higher prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis, compared with populations with deficient iodine intake. In a study of children in a mountainous area of Greece with a high prevalence of goiter, public-health measures taken to eliminate iodine deficiency were followed by a three-fold increase in the prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis. In addition, modest increases in dietary iodine have been suspected to cause hyperthyroidism in some people, an effect that is known to occur with larger doses of iodine.
“Other well-known side effects of excessive iodine intake include acne, headaches, allergic reactions, metallic taste in the mouth and parotid gland swelling. While the doses of iodine reported to cause those side effects have often been higher than those currently being recommended, some people appear to be especially sensitive to the adverse effects of iodine.” Gaby concludes: “The possibility that high-dose iodine/iodide can relieve certain common conditions is intriguing. Considering the positive anecdotal reports, an empirical trial of iodine/iodide therapy, based on the clinical picture, seems reasonable. The case has not been made, however, that the average person should markedly increase his or her iodine intake in an attempt to saturate the tissues with iodine. Nor has the case been made that the iodine-load test can provide reliable guidance regarding the need for iodine therapy. Thyroid function should be monitored in patients receiving more than 1 mg of iodine per day.”
Subsequent counter arguments by Drs Abraham and Brownstein and rebuttals by Dr. Gaby focused on the amount of iodine in the Japanese diet and the safety of ingesting large amounts. An important point made by Abraham and Brownstein is that the requirement for iodine depends on the goitrogen load. Bromine, now very prevelant in the food supply, is a goitrogen, and may increase our need for iodine. They also claim that many of the toxic effects reported in the literature were due to radioactive forms of iodine. Finally, they dispute the assertion that the values of iodine in seaweed consumed by the Japanese were computed in dry weight. “The average daily intake of iodine by mainland Japanese in 1963 was 13.8 mg, based on information supplied by the Japanese Ministry of Health, which used only dry weight in their calculations, confirmed by a phone interview of one of us (GEA) on June 21, 2005, with officials of this organization.”26
Abrahams and Brownstein also defended the urine test for iodine loading, noting studies showing that organic iodine is not excreted in the feces. They also cited their own clinical experience. “Our experience at the Center for Holistic Medicine has shown that patients with the lowest urinary iodide levels on the loading tests are often the most ill. Many of these patients with very low urine iodide levels following the loading test have severe illnesses such as breast cancer, thyroid cancer or autoimmune thyroid disorders. All of these conditions have been shown in the literature to be associated with iodine deficiency. Positive clinical results were seen in most of these patients after supplementation of orthoiodosupplementation within the range of 6.25-50 mg of iodine/iodide (1/2 to 4 tablets of Lugol in tablet form).”27
In response, Gaby noted that “all but one of the references I cited discussed the adverse effects of inorganic iodine” and that while Dr. Lugol did use high doses of his combination iodine/potassium iodide compound, “they were recommended primarily to treat infections (iodine is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent) and hyperthyroidism, not as routine nutritional support for the average person.” Finally, he notes a review article, published in 2000, in which the authors state that in the 1920s and 1930s, when potassium iodide (KI) was widely used, many patients died of KI-induced side effects, particularly pulmonary edema and associated heart failure.28
Conclusions
It is axiomatic that there are no uncomplicated issues in the field of diet and health – and the subject of iodine is no exception. What conclusions can we draw from these conflicting assertions about iodine, especially supplementation containing iodide?
Let’s start by looking at the RDI of 100-150 mcg iodine per day. Most would argue that this intake is too low. Yet it is in line with what Weston Price reports in primitive diets. In preliminary analyses, he found a range of 24-32 mcg daily for the northern American Indians and 131-175 daily for the Inuit.29 Apparently the Inuit of the far north do not eat seaweed.30 Unfortunately, Price did not carry out more extensive measurements, especially among those he reported to eat seaweed—the Gaelic peoples of the Outer Hebrides and the Andean Indians of Peru.
It appears to be very difficult to estimate the iodine intake in diets that contain seaweed. Based on the reported values in seaweed, some have claimed levels of 12 mg (12,000 mcg) in Japanese diets,31 leading Abraham and Brownstein to propose that “only mainland Japanese consume adequate amounts of iodine and that 99 percent of the world population are deficient in inorganic, non-radioactive iodine; that is, they have not reached whole body sufficiency for that essential element.”32
However, a published analysis of iodine intake in Japan found a range of 45-1921 mcg per day,33 and Weston Price found healthy peoples consuming iodine amounts in the lower end of this range. Furthermore, without seaweed, it would be very difficult to exceed 1,000 mcg per day, based on values found in typical traditional foods (see chart, page 47). For example, one meal of cod, one meal of shellfish including the 20 grams of the hepatopancreas, and one meal of mussels, plus additional meat, vegetables and legumes would supply about 1,000 mcg iodine; diets based on meat, even organ meats, would supply considerably less.
The late distinguished researcher Emmanual Cheraskin and his colleagues conducted a survey of reported total number of clinical symptoms and signs (as judged from the Cornell Medical Index Health Questionnaire) and correlated the findings with average iodine consumption. An intake of approximately 1,000 mcg per day correlated with the lowest number of reported symptoms, that is, the highest level of health.34
Abraham and Brownstein argue that the human iodine requirement is 1,500 mcg per day (1.5 mg) which is difficult to achieve without using seaweed, iodized salt or supplementation. They argue that because of widespread bromide and fluoride toxicity, most people today require between 5 and 50 mg per day, amounts only possible with supplementation; they do note that such supplementation should only be taken under the supervision of a physician to monitor iodine status.35
We cannot ignore the many reports of improved health using various types of iodine supplementation—whether through tincture of iodine on the skin, the atomidine protocol recommended by Edgar Cayce or use of iodine/potassium iodide compounds as proposed by Drs. Abraham and Brownstein. Increased exposure to goitrogenic mercury, bromides and fluoride compounds, and soy products ubiquitous in the food supply, coupled with declining levels of thyroid-supporting nutrients such as selenium and vitamin A in modern diets, may explain why some people need much higher levels of iodine than those found in traditional diets. Dr. Brownstein is to be credited with alerting the public to the dangers of bromides increasingly used in processed foods, sodas, vegetable oils, breads and even replacing iodine in teat washes for dairy cows, as well as in thousands of consumer products.
The Abraham protocol does carry a risk of adverse reactions and should be carried out under the supervision of a physician with experience in using it. As these physicians point out, consuming iodine in milligram doses should be coupled with a complete nutritional program that includes adequate amounts of selenium and magnesium, and, they claim, omega-3 fatty acids, and with careful supervision of detoxing reactions. According to Dr. Brownstein, chloride increases renal clearance of bromide and the use of salt or ammonium chloride shortens the time required for bromide detoxification. He recommends oral administration of sodium chloride (6-10 gm per day) or intravenous sodium chloride for increasing the renal clearance of bromide.31
Dr. Gaby’s call for a careful study should not be ignored. Not every physician reports the sterling results described by doctors using the Abraham protocol, and some individuals—including this author—have experienced adverse reactions to Lugol’s solution. The study should include a control group and groups using other iodine therapies, such as tincture of iodine on the skin, the atomidine protocol or even oral supplementation with elemental iodine rather than the iodine/potassium iodine combination. Comparison of the iodine-load urine test with the blood test for iodine status in relation to various symptoms of thyroid deficiency is another area begging for further research. Studies involving even a small number of individuals would be helpful in providing further answers to the great iodine debate.
SIDEBARS
Food Sources of Iodine
PLANT FOODS: Any food grown near the sea is likely to contain iodine, but especially rich sources include asparagus, garlic, lima beans, mushrooms, strawberries, spinach, pineapple and leafy greens. Coconut products, which always grow near the ocean, are good sources of iodine. Blackstrap molasses also provides iodine.
SEAFOOD: Iodine levels vary widely in fish and shellfish, but all seafoods contain some iodine. In published reports, cod, haddock, whiting, oysters and mussels test high. The hepatopancreas (yellow “butter” or “mustard”) in lobster tested as an extremely rich source and it is likely that the hepatopancreas of other saltwater shellfish would contain high levels of iodine as well.
BUTTER: Butter from cows pastured on iodine-rich soil will contain iodine. Look for butter from farms located near the ocean, or that have used seaweed or fish meal as a soil amendment. The cows should also be fed sea salt. The combination of iodine with selenium and vitamin A in butter make this traditional fat an ideal food for the thyroid gland.
SEAWEED: Levels of iodine in seaweed vary widely according to species and how the seaweed is dried. One study found a huge range of 2-817 mcg iodine per 100 grams. Iodine content is reduced when seaweed is dried in the sun, and iodine may vaporize during cooking and humid storage conditions. Some Asian seaweed dishes contain in excess of 1,100 mcg iodine (Thyroid Oct 2004, 14(10):836-841). Seaweed contains lignans, phytoestrogens that can depress thyroid function. This may explain why thyroid problems (except for goiter) are common among the Japanese, even though they eat a lot of seaweed.
SALT: Five grams (one teaspoon) of unrefined sea salt, a conservative estimate of the amount typically consumed in a day, provides only about 3 mcg iodine; iodized salt provides over 1,500 mcg iodine per five grams. The FDA’s Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for adults is 1,100 mcg per day; thus, it is possible to greatly exceed the UL by using iodized salt.
Mysteries of the Goiter Belts
The use of iodine supplementation in the goiter belts of the world—and these areas of endemic goiter and associated problems exist in a great many countries—represents one of the first public health initiatives involving treatment of the general population through the addition of a nutrient (in this case iodine) to water or food. “Mass prophylaxis” with iodine was pioneered by two countries, the U.S. and Switzerland. The first controlled experiment took place in the early 1920s in Akron, Ohio, where 5000 school girls took 0.2 g of sodium iodide daily in their drinking water for a period of ten days in the spring and autumn while an equal number of controls drank untreated water. Of those taking the iodide who began the experiment with a normal thyroid, none developed goiter, whereas 50 percent of the controls developed goiter. Following this study, several cities in the Great Lakes region started to add iodide to central water supplies and iodized salt entered the food supply. In Switzerland, many cantons introduced iodized salt, and those districts where it was used experienced a decline almost to zero in the incidence of goiter (http://whqlibdoc.who.int/monograph/WHO_MONO_44_(p443).pdf).
In spite of these successes, mass iodine supplementation programs met with much resistance, especially as side effects emerged. While the programs almost completely eliminated goiter, the prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis increased in areas with iodated water or in those using iodized salt. For example, a threefold increase in autoimmune thyroiditis was noted once iodine deficiency was eliminated in an area of endemic goiter in northwestern Greece, an association confirmed in clinical settings. In one study, dietary restriction of iodine reversed hypothyroidism in twelve of twenty-two patients; seven of the patients with reversed hypothyroidism were re-fed iodine and became hypothyroid again (Anthony P Weetman, Autoimmune Diseases in Endocrinology, pp 50-51).
In addition, further epidemiological studies have cast doubt on the simple association of goiter with iodine deficiency. Recently British researchers compared the distribution of endemic goiter in England and Wales with the distribution of environmental iodine. Despite a very clear goiter belt through the west of England and Wales, they found no patterning in the environmental iodine distribution and concluded that the presence of endemic goiter is no indicator of how iodine is distributed in the environment or vice versa (Stewart AG and others. The Illusion of Environmental Iodine Deficiency. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 25:165-170, 2003). Early observations of goiter belts in Switzerland recorded strange distribution patterns, with villages completely free of goiter next to villages where goiter and cretinism affected many people, and even the promoters of mass iodine supplementation have noted that iodine supplementation works best in conjunction with an improvement of general nutrition.
Like all things in nature, the relationship of iodine status to thyroid health is resistant to simplified explanations. Many other nutrients contribute to thyroid health besides iodine, and numerous environmental and industrial toxins can depress thyroid function. And the body’s ability to use iodine almost certainly has a genetic component. The moral: be wary of one-size-fits-all solutions and if you choose to supplement with iodine, be carefully observant of any side effects.
Forms of Iodine
IODINE (I2): Elemental iodine is available in a formulation called Thyactin by TriMedica, described as a “stabilized colloidal iodine preparation.”
IODIDE (I-): Elemental iodine is unstable so it usually combines with another element, such as potassium or sodium. Salt is iodized using potassium or sodium iodide. Potassium iodide (KI) is available in tablet form in doses ranging from 0.23 to 130 mg. Lugol’s solution contains 6.3 mg of molecular iodine/iodide per drop; Iodoral tablets contain 12.5 mg iodine/iodide each. Both Lugol’s solution and Iodoral are one-third molecular iodine (5%) and two-thirds potassium iodide (10%). Most formulations of tincture of iodine are a combination of iodine and sodium iodide. Supersaturated potassium iodide (SSKI) contains 19–50 mg of iodide per drop. SSKI tablets are recommended in case of nuclear accident, to protect the thyroid gland from radioactive iodine, but otherwise should be avoided.
IODATE: Iodine in combination with oxygen, such as potassium iodate (KIO3), is considered inferior to potassium iodide in terms of protection against radioactive iodine.
ENDOGENOUS ORGANIC IODINE COMPOUNDS: In food and in the body, iodine is usually bound with protein compounds. The main iodine-containing compounds in the body are the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4, four iodine atoms joined to tyrosine) and triiodothyronine (T3, three iodine atoms joined to tyrosine).
SYNTHETIC ORGANIC IODINE COMPOUNDS: Drugs such as Amiodarone (an antiarrhythmic medication) contain iodine. The simplest organoiodine compound is iodomethane, used as a soil fumigant. More complex iodate compounds include nonylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol-iodine (C17H28I2O2) or Byacin, used as a germicide, as in teat washes.
DETOXIFIED IODINE: Sold as Atomidine, the manufacturing method is called a “modified detoxification process” which involves a stage in which electricity is run through the iodine in saline solution to produce a solution containing free iodine (see sidebar on Atomidine, page 43).
NASCENT IODINE: Similar to Atomidine, although requiring more electricity and a longer time to produce. The diatomic bond of the iodine molecule is broken and retains a high amount of electromagnetic energy. According to the manufacturer, “once in contact with fluids of the body, the charged atom of iodine starts a process of relaxation where it gradually loses energy over two to three hours.“
Iodine on the Skin
The application of iodine to the skin as a way of iodine supplementation has been a common practice for over one hundred years. In 1932, researchers from the College of Pharmacy at Rutgers University carried out experiments on dogs and rabbits. They determined that, in fact, free iodine does penetrate through unbroken skin, although about 88 percent of the iodine applied evaporates from the surface within three days. Colloidal iodine (I2 in aqueous solution) was found to evaporate more quickly than tincture of iodine (I2 in alcoholic solution), and tincture of iodine evaporated more rapidly than Lugol’s solution (iodine plus potassium iodide). The authors concluded: “. . . iodine which penetrates through the skin is removed only slowly from within this area into the body, thus forming an iodine depot in the skin for several days. In this prolonged retention of iodine within the skin, we see a favorable condition for a possible local prophylactic and therapeutic action.” More recent studies, these involving humans, indicate that application of iodine to the skin is not effective in preventing the uptake of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland; however, it is a slow but effective way to provide iodine supplementation, increasing serum levels at about 10-40 percent compared to oral ingestion (Abrahams, GE. The bioavailability of iodine applied to the skin. www.optimox.com).
Holistic practitioners have also applied iodine to the skin as a way to assess whole body iodine status—the so-called skin iodine patch test. The published data throws doubt on the effectiveness of the iodine patch test as a diagnostic aid. Many factors play a role in the disappearance of the yellow color of iodine from the surface of the skin including ambient temperatures and atmospheric pressure—the iodine will disappear faster in Denver than it will in Los Angeles. And in some people the iodine is reduced to iodide by the skin, which will result in the disappearance of the yellow color because iodide is white. Nevertheless, many have reported that the iodine applied to the skin remains longer after following the practice for several weeks, indicating a kind of saturation effect.
Unfortunately, we have no clinical trials on the use of iodine on the skin, but holistic practitioners have reported good results. For example, from Geoffrey Morell, ND: “A female patient with nodules on the thyroid gland and scheduled to have it removed applied tincture of iodine to the skin for over sixty days, at which point the stain remained for twenty-four hours. Upon reporting to the hospital for the operation, she was told that the nodules had disappeared and the operation was no longer necessary. In another case, a woman saw her visible goiter disappear after many weeks using tincture of iodine on the skin.”
The inefficient uptake of iodine from the skin and slow release can be seen as an advantage for those wishing to safely improve their iodine status without medical supervision. This treatment does not seem to provoke a detoxification reaction that often occurs with oral ingestion of Lugol’s.
Iodine applied to the skin is an excellent treatment for pre-malignant lesions, dark moles, keloid scars and other oddities of the skin. According to Dr. David Derry, “. . . iodine’s ability to trigger natural cell death (apoptosis) makes it effective against all pre-cancerous skin lesions and likely many cancerous lesions. The local site is replaced with normal skin.” He recommends topical iodine for insect bites as well (iodine4health.com/special/measurement/derry_measurement.htm).
For skin application, use mild tincture of iodine or Lugol’s solution, both available on the Internet.
Atomidine
Atomidine is a stable compound of iodine in a saline solution “that liberates the element in an atomic or nascent state on contact with an excess of solvent, such as the fluids of the body.” The use of Atomidine was popularized by Edgar Cayce, the so-called Sleeping Prophet, who gave medical diagnoses and suggested treatments in a trance. He often recommended the use of Atomidine, produced by Schieffelin & Company in New York, which he referred to as “iodine with the poisons taken out,” for a variety of conditions including thyroid and other glandular problems, sore throat, gum problems and infection (www.iodinesource.com/Excerpts.asp). A typical treatment consisted of “one drop in half a glass of water each morning for five days before the morning meal, leave off ten days, and then take again” or “three to five drops in water morning and evening.” He also recommended Atomidine for use as a gargle, as a douche and in topical preparations. (One intriguing ointment recipe called for adding 10 drops tincture of Benzoin, 5 drops Atomidine and 3 drams powdered snuff to 1 ounce ‘Oil of Butterfat’.”)
A theme running through Cayce’s writings was the use of Atomidine as a gentle way of “cleansing or purifying the body,” alternating with days when Atomidine was not used. He issued the same precautions for foods containing iodine, especially seafood, which he said should be consumed occasionally but not everyday. In one reading he indicated that seaweed could be toxic because of its high iodine content.
A paper published in the 1930s to promote Atomidine, written by the Schieffelin & Company, is posted on the internet (www.mnwelldir.org/docs/history/atomidine.htm). According to the report, Atomidine should be diluted when taken “and never given after a starchy meal.” The paper cites many cases of improvement when Atomidine is given for gum problems, as an antiseptic after surgery, gastrointestinal problems, urinary tract infections, high blood pressure, goiter, malaria and tropical fevers, venereal disease, infections of eye, ear, nose and throat, bronchitis and asthma.
Iodine Loading Protocol
Developed by Drs. Guy Abraham and David Brownstein, the protocol involves giving 50 mg iodine/iodide per day as Iodorol® and monitoring the excretion of iodine in the urine. The high levels of iodine/iodide are necessary to replace bromine and fluorine (and also chlorine) that have built up in the tissues, due to years of toxic exposure.
The iodine/iodide loading test is based on the concept that the normally functioning human body has a mechanism to retain ingested iodine until whole body sufficiency for iodine is achieved. During supplementation with iodine, the body progressively adjusts the excretion of iodine to balance the intake. As the iodine content in the body increases, the percentage of the iodine retained decreases, showing up as an increased amount of iodide excreted in the 24-hour urine collection. When whole body sufficiency for iodine is achieved, the absorbed iodine/iodide is excreted as iodide in the urine.
In the U.S. population, the percent of iodine load excreted in the 24-hour urine collection prior to supplementation with iodorol averages 40 percent. After three months of supplementation with 50 mg iodine/iodide per day, (four tablets of Iodoral ) most non-obese subjects not exposed to excess goitrogens achieve whole body iodine sufficiency, arbitrarily defined as 90 percent or more of the iodine load excreted in the 24-hour urine collections.
In addition to monitoring iodine excretion, Brownstein and colleagues also monitor urinary excretion of bromide and fluoride, goitrogenic halogens that the iodide gradually replaces over the course of supplementation. To facilitate the excretion of bromine, Dr. Brownstein recommends a combination of vitamin C, unrefined salt and magnesium, including baths of Epsom salts and sea salt. The patient is advised to avoid all sources of bromine, including fire retardant in carpet, clothing and mattresses, and bromide-treated breads, baked goods and grains. Bromine and chlorine are used extensively in materials in automobiles of recent vintage—in the seats, armrests, door trim, shift knobs—so avoidance of riding in cars with the windows closed is important.
Dr. Brownstein reports numerous benefits from the protocol including reduced need for thyroid medications, reduced allergies, increased energy, reduced fibromyalgia, weight loss, clearing of ovarian cysts and reduction of hypothyroid symptoms such as brain fog. In his experience, side effects including metallic taste in mouth, sneezing, excess saliva and frontal sinus pressure occur in less than 5 percent of patients.
For ongoing thyroid protection, it is important to avoid sources of bromide, fluoride and chloride (including environmental perchlorates, often found in drinking water). That means drinking purified or filtered water instead of tap water, consuming organic food (conventional produce and grains are treated with bromide-, chloride- or fluoride-containing pesticides and fumigants), avoiding bromated breads and consuming plenty of unrefined sea salt along with an iodine-rich diet.
Sources: http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/loadTest.htm#6; http://iodine4health.com; http://iodine4health.com/ortho/brownstein_ortho.htm.
Report from Germany
“Here in Germany we are suffering from an epidemic of autoimmune thyroid disease due to the government’s huge campaign to iodize our salt and water. The food industry uses iodized salt for all products. Animal feed and milk is iodized. The German government claims that the earth has no iodine and that natural foods do not contain enough iodine. Even food for fresh water fish is iodized.
“The German thyroid league admits that iodization has caused a rise in autoimmune diseases of the thyroid. About ten million Germans are affected. Doctors tell us about studies showing that these patients should not eat iodized food as it makes their disease worse. Thyroid illnesses are painful and hard to heal. The thyroid gland controls our body’s metabolism. Also, the eyes can be destroyed. The standard therapy is to remove or radiate the sick gland. Then the patient needs thyroid hormones to survive.
“The sad thing is that most people don’t even know that what they eat is iodized. In Germany iodized salt in packaged food has to be declared but iodine in salt in restaurants or in bread is not labeled.
“The German iodization program is not popular with the public at all. We had it during the Third Reich and it took quite a lot of government campaigning to bring back mass iodization, a public relations campaign to convince people that iodine is healthy and has no dangers at all. Government officials say that people can choose iodized or noniodized salt but no one mentions the hidden salt. In the Third Reich they called it “silent iodization,” to avoid any resistance.
“I have run a self help group for thyroid patients for years now and it is a very difficult situation for patients to not have enough food! It is even difficult to get all the information we need.
“We hear a lot of discussion about fluoride in the water but I am surprised that there is none about iodine. In Germany they sell salt with iodine and fluorine—both affect the metabolism and can damage the thyroid gland. Natural salt has the advantage of giving us minerals we need and in a way that our body can handle instead of the low quality chemistry added to food or water. I know that the healthy thyroid gland needs more than iodine. It also needs vitamins A and C, and many other minerals. A natural diet can offer more benefit for our heatlh and fewer dangers and side effects. The tragedy is that the WHO has started to ban natural foods. In India, Himalayan salt was banned and iodized salt then sold five times as much as natural salt. Poor people can’t afford the natural salt and so many didn’t have any salt at all anymore. The German media reported on protests in India and I don’t know whether natural salt is allowed again.
“Here in Germany, thousands of thyroid patients are signing a petition asking the Bundestag to change the law, and to require iodization labels on packages.”
-Ute Aurin
Reaction to Iodoral
“Three articles appeared recently in The Original Internist concerning clinical research with the use of iodine/iodide in megadoses. Our medical group, consisting of three MDs and one ND/Acupuncturist decided that we should try to find out whether any one of us was iodine-deficient. Our practice is in the Great Lakes region that was described as the ‘Goiter Belt’ by David Brownstein. We therefore followed Brownstein’s recommendation for the iodine/iodide loading test. Five individuals within our office took the test and, by the criteria outlined, we were all iodine-deficient.
“Three of us, two MDs and our Laboratory Director, then proceeded to take the 50 mg of Iodoral a day with the intention of repeating the iodine/iodide loading test after three months of treatment. After about six weeks of continuous treatment, I experienced dysphagia [difficulty swallowing], resulting in lower chest pain on swallowing both food and fluids. This was particularly marked with hot fluids, a totally new experience for me. I told the Laboratory Director that I was going to discontinue taking the Iodoral since I had concluded that it was the potential cause. To my surprise, she told me that she had experienced exactly the same symptom and had also discontinued the treatment. The other two MDs who took the treatment did not experience this symptom. Some four weeks after discontinuation of the Iodoral, we both continue to experience the same kind of dysphagia, although it is much milder. We can only conclude that we experienced some esophagitis though this has not been proved by further study.
“If this is indeed a toxic effect of the Iodoral, we concluded that it needed to be drawn to the attention of the CAM medical community. If the conclusions are correct, we should expect to hear that other ‘guinea pigs’ have experienced something similar. The question remains in our minds as to whether the test outlined by Brownstein is an accurate determination of chronic iodine deficiency. It may well be that iodine has a sensitive dose relationship like that which is so well known with selenium, for example, and with other minerals. The question, put so eloquently recently by Alan Gaby is whether we are embarking on a strategy that can be toxic for some while beneficial for those sick individuals reported by Brownstein and his co-author, Guy Abraham. Indeed, as Gaby questioned later, of the 4,000 patients treated by the Michigan Clinic, how many were carefully monitored in detail for potential side effects? Since gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is mentioned in a drug commercial as a common affliction, it might be that some patients who are being treated with high-dose iodine would never conclude that GER might be related to the iodine consumption. It might not be recognized as a side effect even by a physician, since it is so remote from any expected or predicted symptom.”
-Derrick Lonsdale MD, FAAP, FACN, Westlake, Ohio The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, April 2006
Iodine Content of Foods
SOURCE | IODINE CONTENT mcg/100 g |
IODINE CONTENT per typical serving |
Dried Kelp | 62,400 | 31202 |
Iodized Salt | 7,600 | 15203 |
Saltwater fish1 | 330 | 330 |
Blackstrap Molasses | 158 | 24 |
Catfish | 118 | 118 |
Beans, dried | 115 | 58 |
Seafoods | 66 | 66 |
Spinach | 56 | 28 |
Vegetables | 30 | 15 |
Milk and Milk Products | 14 | 14 |
Eggs4 | 13 | 13 |
Seal Meat | 3 | 3 |
Seal Blubber | 12 | 12 |
Seal Kidney | 5 | 5 |
Seal Liver | 10 | 10 |
Whale Meat | 1 | 1 |
Whale Blubber | 15 | 8 |
Cod Flesh | 74 | 74 |
Cod Liver | 32 | 32 |
Wild Fowl | 5 | 5 |
Caribou5 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Oysters | 46 | 46 |
Mussels | 107 | 107 |
Lobster Hepatopancreas6 | 2,250 | 450 |
Uniodized sea salt7 | 50 | 33 |
- Haddock, whiting, herring
- Assumed serving of 5 g dried kelp (Nutrition in Japan, 1964. Nutrition Section, Bureau of Public Health, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan, March 1965).
- Daily intake if 5 g iodized salt consumed.
- These 11 values from Ensminger AH and others. The Concise Encyclopedia of Foods and Nutrition. CRC Press, 1995, p 587.
- These 10 values from Anderson S and others. Iodine Content of Traditional Greenlandic Food Items and Tap Water in East and West Greenland. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2002 61:332-340.
- These 3 values from Dermelj M and others. Iodine in different food articles and standard reference materials. Fresenius’ Journal of Analytical Chemistry 1990 338:559-561.
- Aquaron R. Iodine content of non iodized salts and iodized salts obtained from teh retail markets worldwide. http://www.webiodine.com/dl/engl/pdf/lit/4.1.14.pdf.
How Much Iodine?
FDA: The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) is set at 150 mcg per day for men and women with a Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) of 1,100 mcg per day. This amount would be greatly exceeded by those using even modest amounts of iodized salt.
TRADITIONAL DIETS: Iodine levels in traditional diets varied widely. Weston Price reports 131-175 mcg for the Inuit (about the level of the DRI) and 25-34 mcg for Canadian Indians (considered very low, although they did not exhibit thyroid problems). Based on the reported values in seaweed, some have claimed levels of 12 mg (12,000 mcg) in Japanese diets, although a published analysis of iodine intake in Japan found a range of 45-1921 mcg per day (J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 1988 Oct;32(5):487-95). Without seaweed, it would be very difficult to exceed 1,000 mcg per day, based on values found in typical traditional foods (see chart, page 47).
CHERASKIN RECOMMENDATIONS: In a study of reported daily iodine intake versus reported total number of clinical symptoms and signs (as judged from the Cornell Medical Index Health Questionnaire), an intake of approximately 1,000 mcg per day correlated with the lowest number of reported symptoms, that is, the highest level of health.
ABRAHAM/BROWNSTEIN RECOMMENDATIONS: Abraham and Brownstein argue that the iodine requirement is 1,500 mcg per day (1.5 mg), which is difficult to achieve without using a species of seaweed high in iodine, iodized salt or supplementation. They believe that because of widespread bromide and fluoride toxicity, most people today actually require between 5 and 50 mg per day, amounts only possible with supplementation, which should only be taken under the supervision of a physician to monitor iodine status.
Commercial Vegetable Oils and the Thyroid Gland
Although Dr. Weston Price found healthy populations groups that consumed fairly low levels of iodine, studies indicate that in modern times, most people do best at the upper end of the scale, taking in around 1,000 mcg per day. Often overlooked in this discussion are the many factors in the modern diet that depress thyroid function and increase our need for iodine—not only exposure to halogens like fluroide, chloride and bromide, but also deficiencies in vitamin A, vitamin B6, selenium and magnesium. Reduced exposure to halogens and abundant intake of these key nutrients probably reduces our requirements for iodine.
Another modern dietary factor that interferes with thyroid function is the consumption of omega-6 fatty acids from commercial vegetable oils—by some estimates these omega-6 fatty acids contribute 20 percent of calories in “civilized” diets. As pointed out by Stephen Guyenet in his Whole Health Source blog, omega-6 fatty acids may suppress thyroid signaling. He cites studies showing that corn oil greatly suppresses the liver’s response to T4 when compared to lard, safflower oil suppresses the liver’s response to T3 when compared to beef tallow, and linoleic acid suppresses the response of brown fat and the liver to T3. The liver is one of the main sites of thyroid hormone-responsive heat production. In fact, in the 1970s researchers were considering omega-6 lineleic acid as a treatment for hyperthyroidism.
Thus it is likely that those who avoid commercial vegetable oils and minimize omega-6 consumption, while emphasizing intake of nutrient-dense animal fats like butter and cod liver oil, would have iodine requirements much lower than 1,000 mcg per day, and would be able to meet their iodine requirements with a diet of whole foods, especially one containing sea food.
Source: Omega-6 Linoleic Acid Suppresses Thyroid Signaling, December 19, 2008. http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/12/omega-6-linoleic-acid-suppresses.html.
REFERENCES
- Miller, DW. Iodine for Health. http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller20.html.
- McTiernan A and others. Incidence of Thyroid Cancerin Women in Relation to Known or Suspected Risk Factors for Breast Cancer. Cancer Research 47, 292-295, January 1, 1987.
- Finley JW, Bogardus, GM. Breast Cancer and Thyroid Disease Quart. Review Surg Obstet Gyn 17:139-147, 1960
- Garcia-Solis Pand others. Inhibition of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced mammary carcinogenesis by molecular iodine ([I.sub.2]) but not by iodide (I) treatment: evidence that [I.sub.2] prevents cancer promotion. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2005;236:49-57.
- Russo J and Russo I. Differentiation and breast cancer Medicina (Buenos Aires) 1997;57(Suppl2):81-91.
- Eskin BA and others. Different tissue responses for iodine an diodide in rat thyroid and mammary glands. Biol Trace Elem Res 1995;49:9-19.
- Vishniakova YY, Murav’eva NI. [On the treatment of dushormonal hyperplasia of mammary glands.] Vestn Akad Med Nuak (USSR) [Russian] 1966;21(9):19-22.
- Ghent WR and others. Iodine replacement in fibrocystic disease of the breast. Can J Surg 1993;36:453-460.
- http://www.donaldmiller.com/Iodine_For_Fibrocystic_Disease_MX04.pdf.
- Zhang L and others. Nonradioactive iodide effectively induces apoptosis in genetically modified lung cancer cells. Cancer Res 2003;63:5065-5072.
- http://iodine4health.com/special/halogens/halogens.htm
- Nan Kathryn Fuchs, PhD. The Health Dedective’s 465 Most Powerful Healing Secrets. Basic Health Publications, 2006, p.14
- http://iodine4health.com/body/immune/immune.htm.
- Miller, DW. Iodine for Health, http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller20.html.
- Miller, DW. Extrathyroidal Benefits of Iodine. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. Volume 11, Number 4, Winter 2006.
- Wolff J, Chaikoff IL. Plasma Inorganic Iodide as a Homeostatic Regulator of Thyroid Function. The Journal of Biological Chemistry February 16, 1948, pp5555-564.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolff-Chaikoff_effect
- Batcher EL and others. Thyroid function abnormalities during amiodarone therapy for persistent atrial fibrillation. American Journal of Medicine 2007 Oct;120(10):880-5.
- Hollowell J. Use of Iodine for Water Disinfection: Iodine Toxicity and Maximum Recommended Dose. Environmental Healthy Perspectives, Aug 1, 2000.
- Miller, DW. Iodine for Health, http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller20.html.
- Brownstein D. Clinical Experience with Inorganic Non-radioactive Iodine/Iodide. The Original Internist. 12(3):105-108, 2005
- http://iodine4health.com/special/supplementation/abraham_supplementation.htm.
- Abraham G. The Original Internist. Sept. 2005, http://findarticles.com/particles/mi_m0FDL/is_3_12/ai_n17211116/.
- Wartofsky L and others. Inhibition by iodine of the release of thyroxine from the thyroid glands of patients with thyrotoxicosis. J Clin Invest 1970; 49:78-86.
- Gaby A. Iodine: A Lotto Swallow. Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, August-September 2005. http://www.townsendletter.com/AugSept2005/gabyiodine0805.htm.
- http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/IOD-12/IOD_12.htm.
- http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/pdfs/IOD12.pdf.
- Sterling JB, Heymann WR. Potassium iodide in dermatology: a 19th century drug for the 21st century – uses, pharmacology, adverse effects, and contraindications. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2000;43:691-697.
- Price, WA. Why Dental Caries With Modern Civilization? XI. New Light on Loss of Immunity to Some Degenerative Process Including Dental Caries. Dental Digest, 1934, pp 240-245.
- Personal communication, Anore Jones, author of The Fish We Eat.
- Miller, JD. http://iodine4health.com/overview/audiovisual/miller_audiovisual.htm.
- http://iodine4health.com/ortho/debate_ortho.htm.
- Katamine S and others. Iodine content of various meals currently consumed by urban Japanese. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 1988 Oct;32(5):487-95.
- Ringsdorf WM, Chraskin E and Medfbird FH. The “Ideal” Daily Human Iodine Requirement. http://www.orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1980/pdf/1980-v09n02-p105.pdf.
- http://iodine4health.com/special/halogens/brownstein_halogens.htm.
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Summer 2009.
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Caroline Chin says
I totally crash on iodine….
I was doing fine on 1 grain of Erfa thyroid last Dec. Then in May my TSH was up again. So instead of increasing my meds I decided that maybe I just needed to support my thyroid gland with iodine. Based on an article on this website I started taking Standard Process Cataplex F which is 95 mcg of iodine. I took 60 tablets before I stopped in July. I could tell you that taking iodine was disasterous. As it turned out I discovered I have Hashimoto’s illness after I demanded the TPO test which is normally not done. I don’t know if the iodine created my Hashimoto’s or that I’ve always had it and iodine made it worst. So, please be careful when taking iodine supplements. Once I stopped taking iodine my health improved within days. Also, if you are hypothyroid demand to be tested for TPOab and TgAb. These tests will tell you if you have Hashimoto’s.
Cheryl says
I started out at 12.5mg and worked my way up to 200mg as they say the ideal range is 50-200, some say 12.5. My TSH was 2 before starting and it raised to 4. By the time I got tested I was taking anywhere from 12.5-50. (I can’t quite remember).
So be careful if you already have hypothyroidism, it could make it worse. Taking iodine is still controversial and there’s not enough proof of how much we need. How much the Inuit and Canadian Indians take is proof. They took small amounts through their diet and didn’t have any thyroid problems.
ava says
they also had no environmental causal factors or goitrogens…
natasha says
I have been a patient of tinnitus ringing ears since 5 years. I had tried a lot of anti viral meds prescribed to me by doctors over the years but I could not see any improvements in my symptoms. One day while going through the internet, i got to know about American tinnitus treatment where they cure people suffering from tinnitus with powerful drugs made from Africa roots and herbs, quickly i contacted them and they prepared the drugs for me which i received and used as instructed. After few weeks the improvement were very visible. Outbreaks has stopped and the sores started to heal. I would recommend this to all my friends,families,around the globe suffering from tinnitus ringing ears.you can contact them through their email on americatinnitusclinic@gmail.com Best regards..
Marie says
Thanks for the information. I have contacted them.
Nichalus Michael says
If you decide to take iodine, start with the smallest dose and work your way up to 50mg slowly over a matter of at least 3 months. Listen to your body and try to feel what is right for you. When the body gets very toxic from years of exposure to fluorides, bromide, mercury ect., it takes time for it to detox and if you take try to go too quick, yes the effects could be quite abrupt and a shock to your system.
Taryn DeCicco says
I have had problematic results with skin iodine. After a few days I experienced very severe detox symptoms. I stopped for a few days and then tried 1 drop. Same result although the detox symptoms cleared up quickly. I decided to start with a 30 C homeopathic version at just one pellet. I have taken one dose and it seemed OK but will wait another day or two before taking another dose. I always experience high energy and improves mood initially which quickly becomes extreme agitation, skin rashes, heart palpitations headaches and extreme irritability. Has anyone gotten through this? If so please help. Thank you.
Kano says
Read up some more
Hashi’s needs way more Iodine to cure and has been, otherwise s small amount will aggravate Hashi’s. Read this Thyroid cancer survivor/Naturopathic doctor’s account of what she did and many others like her that have cured it. Not one mention of her in all of this. http://www.naturalthyroidchoices.com/MyStory.html
This is just old rehashed stuff that has been around for years Sally. smilies/shocked.gif “Dr. Brownstein – Iodine Deficiency: An Under Recognized Epidemic
By Dr. David Brownstein, MD
Excerpt from the article:
However, 50 mg/day of iodine in an individual ill with a serious illness such as cancer or an autoimmune disorder may be insufficient to meet their needs. My clinical and laboratory experience has shown that ill individuals generally need more iodine as compared to healthy individuals. At 25-50 mg/day of iodine, it may take years for an ill individual to become iodine sufficient. In these cases, I sometimes recommend increased dosages of iodine.”
angela sbrizzi says
mrs
I was diagnosed with underactive thyroid 35 years ago, I began thyroxine 50mg increased toe 100mg and onto 150mg. when I had some side effects I gave the oroxyine away for 3 weeks then began it again on 100mg. -finally I went onto thyroid complex by PURITANS now all my joints are screeming out in pain. the initial thing for me to do is to discard all of it until I feel much like my old self again -am I doing the right thing here? PLEASE ADVISE
Simone says
Re: Iodine Content of Foods. According to the table, a typical serving of salt is 20 grams. Surely this is a mistake?
Jane says
@angela sbrizzi
This is an excellent site http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/. T4 only thyroid therapy does not work.
Kelly says
I’d avoid ‘stopthethyroidmadness’ like the plague. It’s run by zealots who yell and scream when you don’t follow their advice, much of which (like taking CORTISONE DAILY) is dangerous advice.
Madness…oh the irony.
Jane says
Bromide detox?
I’d encourage people who are interested in healing with iodine to go to the Iodine Yahoo Group run by Stephanie Buist, ND for excellent information.
Also, Sally Fallon Morell – I’m wondering if your reactions to iodine was bromide detox, which is most common, and indicates your increased need for it. I’m disappointed you didn’t pursue this issue further with Dr. Brownstein.
donald says
Jane,
I can’t find the Yahoo Group run by Stephanie Buist, ND.
could you please provide the link?
Kelly says
It’s a facebook group now (simply called ‘Iodine’, since Yahoo has disintegrated since the six, now eight years since that suggestion was made.
kev1 says
dangers of lugol’s iodine
I took high doages of lugol’s iodine for a while after reading some stuff on alternative health sites. I’ve had some bad health problems since then (tinnitus, hot flashes, acne for 6 months now). I stopped taking the iodine after a week, but all these symptoms are not gone. Some of them got worse.
High dosage iodine can apparently worsen your symptoms when you have an underlying thyroid problem.
Also, if you decide to take lugol’s iodine, I’d advise that you just put it on your skin. You don’t absorb that much that fast.
Be careful with alternative health advice. It can be quite dangerous. I learned that. I guess I should finally get my thyroid hormones checked. I should have never taken that stuff in the first place wtihout supervision…
bruco says
Your a Big Pharma troll, go peddle crazy somewhere else.
b says
got to love those trolls…go back to where you came from
Wyandotte says
But standard-issue, orthodox medical advice is always trustworthy and will make you well. LOL LOL LOL
bugs says
that is typical detox of halides your describing, do the research.
C. W. says
Did you mother hold your hand throughout puberty? Unless you enjoy unsightly discoloration, do not rub Lugol’s on skin. This isn’t epsom salt we are talking about.
Without going into detail on all the supplementary micronutrients to take to support an iodine loading protocol (google and ye shall find), 300-800 mcg selenium glycinate has allowed me to cruse on 6-50mg/day of Lugol’s or Iodoral for years without incident. Without it I’ll readily admit my heart rate goes through the roof.
Zinc glycinate will prevent acne, individual B vitamins can be used to target specific mechanisms to lower or increase methylation/neurotransmitter production when experiencing mood alterations, 3-4 teaspoons of table salt will keep blood pressure high, lower prolactin, and preserve magnesium, one or two liters of fresh orange juice will balance out excess sodium with 2000-4000 mg potassium, and cold thermogenesis will mediate insomnia due to high body temperature at night.
Etta Jean says
Iodine on your skin will be absorbed in hours if your body needs it and it will not leave a stain. If you are iodine sufficient, the stain may remain for a period of time. Put it on your sternum. Simple. If your nose “gets wet”… back off. Done this for years.
Nathan says
What do you mean by, “If your nose gets wet”? Do you mean getting a runny nose? Ive gone up to about 5mg the last two days and have noticed my nose starts to run shortly after my dose.
Zsuzsa says
I am wondering if you perpared for taking Lugol and did the complete othoiodosupplementation protocol including cofactors. If done with caution, it can only bring healh benefits – just as it did for me (great hydrated skin, increased fertility, better energy).
Gina says
Has anyone considered that the goiter belts and adverse reactions some people have to iodine might be the symbiotic relation it has to Selenium? As I understand if you are selenium deficient adding Iodine to your diet with throw you for a serious loop. I would really like to see some research done showing if selenium and Iodine levels were monitored simultaneously if the people who did have adverse reactions had abnormal selenium levels as well?
Anita says
Thank you! I did the iodine fulfillment, and it was the best thing I ever did. I am going to do it again as I needed a bit more. Yes! You must also supplement with Selenium!
I have Hashimoto’s, have had it my whole life, but wasn’t diagnosed until I was 48. AFib set in, and it was never under control. I was an invalid for 5 years. Unable to do much of anything. I slept and napped 15 hours a day or more. I was gasping for breath whenever I had to move. I can now walk, stay up all day, swallow without choking, see my throat.
Never will regret doing this Iodine treatment!
Linda says
Exactly! People who randomly take iodine, without following the protocol, which includes Selenium and other support nutrients only have themselves to blame when they have a negative reaction. ALL minerals work in synergy with each other. Taking only one element can put the body out of balance. People need to be aware of all the ins and outs of iodine before haphazardly jumping into iodine therapy.
Sam says
Great Write Up! I too had an initially bad reaction to Iodine(alergic skin reaction, heartburn feeling). It did seem to help my initial hypothyroidism, my TSH went from .6 to 1.5(my TSH indicated hyperthyroidism which I obviously was not with a waking heart rate in the 40’s) and my T4 increased about 20%, but as I’ve taken Dessicated thyroid and supplemented other things the negative reactions arent there when I’ve gone back to doses in the 13 mg range. It sure feels like something has been corrected. I think what was missed in this article is that supplementing iodine in a population that is selenium deficient causes hypothyroidism as does supplementing selenium in an iodine deficient area (There was on study in Africa where most of the children became more hypothyroid with a dose of selenium but 100% of children with cretenism,a sure sign of low iodine, had a reduction in T4 after being given a dose of selenium.
debbie says
I guess that I have hyperparathyroidism and do have some more blood test s to go. She did mention stuff about salt and water intake. I do not want the surgery to take out my parathyroid glands. Gosh thought maybe I could find some sort of alternative. The fatigue and aching has gotten so bad.
Jerry Segers says
Debbie –
Run – Do not walk to http://www.parathyroid.com and follow the instructions.
You only need to remove the bad one or two glands. Do not let them remove them all!!!
I battled high calcium with high PTH for years. The doctors noted my high calcium and gave me all kinds of scans looking for a rogue parathyroid gland, but never found anything. Meanwhile I got more fatigued, I could not walk from the basement to the first floor without stopping to rest at the top. My memory went away. I could not remember my childhood, nor could I remember what I ate yesterday. I was in fact ready to die. My doctor referred me to two surgeons in Atlanta. Both of them told me If they could see it on a scan, they could operate, but otherwise there was nothing they could do.
By accident I discovered Dr Norman at the parathyroid center in Tampa General Hospital, TampaFlorida. The web site above explains that the Parathyroid glands, If properly positioned are attached to the back of the thyroid and there is no scan that will show the problem if that is the case. It also notes there is NO other treatment. If you have high calcium (10.1 or higher) and high PTH you MUST have and operation there is no question.
You have 4 parathyroid glands and any one will be enough for you to live wonderfully, and one rogue gland will make you want to die. The operation at the Norman Center takes about 12 minutes and leaves about a one inch scar under your adams apple that disappears after about 3 months. I have to look hard to even see traces 6 months later. The operation gave me my life back.
I felt the results in less than 48 hours with continud improvement over the next 2 months. Some people take a little longer to feel the results I am told. My memory returned. I can ride my bicycle 16 miles and then fix supper with no problems.
If you or anyone else has High Calcium and High PTH, get the operation at The Norman Parathyroid center. They worked a miracle on me and they will on you as well.
Disclaimer: I have no connection with the center or Dr Norman except as a delighted customer. I paid the sir-charge over my Medicare and Secondary insurance. Paid for the travel and lodging and would gladly pay the cost of the entire operation and mortgage my house if I needed to get the operation there. The difference was that great.
The reason I am so high on the Norman Parathyroid center is the method of operation they use. They inject you with a tiny amount of radioactive iodine then scan for a picture of the neck. In my case this scan came back negative as did all my other scans, but that negative scan told the doctor the parathyroid glands are located behind the thyroid where they belong. They make a small incision just below the thyroid gland then use a pencil shaped geiger counter to follow the radiation to the rogue gland. (The good glands are shut down and do not absorb the iodine.) No extra cuts, no blood, no problem. You are in and out of the building in a few hours. The majority of the time is waiting for the anesthesia to wear off and the people there are amazing. Polite efficient, kind, progressional, and funny. Starting with the nice man that parked the car, to the check in people to the doctors, nurses, scanner operator, and even the lady that pushed me around in the wheel chair, I have never been treated better in all my 70 years.
I have frequently complained that hospitals charge 5 star hotel prices and give you worse than Motel 6 service. Not here – I felt like royalty starting from the initial call from the doctor to discuss what was to be done till I talked to the doctor on his cell phone after the procedure (Yes he gave me the number and I made the call)
Phil says
Hi Jerry,
You were boron deficient. What iodine is to the thyroid gland, boron is to the parathyroid gland. Unfortunately you didn’t have anyone knowledgable enough around you to realise this. We now live in a world where if something in our bodies isn’t working properly, it is poisoned, burned or cut out. Cures are not economically enough.
As the Good Book says: my people perish for lack of knowledge.
rich says
Hi Phil,
Just curious where you learned that boron is needed by the parathyroid glands?
Margaret says
Magnesium Advocacy Group on Facebook discusses boron, however I do not know if you will fond the answer to your question there.
Mary says
Very interesting about boron. I was admitted for a week with high calcium, but it made my kidneys fail. My gfr was so low that I contacted hospice. My parathyroid was okay, but no help from the doctors. This is the reason I do my own research. I have learned so much and now not dying
I also read about boron for another issue and taking it. I pray that Jesus will use me to help others.
Mary says
I would take Vitamin K2, MK7, 45-200 mcg if I had high calcium before agreeing to any additional drugs or surgery.
Mary says
I found out that we also need magnesium to balance the calcium
Lino says
Hello!
This math?: “was in the range of 330 to 500 mcg per day, which is at least 2.5-fold lower than 13.8 mg per day.”
Should that be “25 times”? [“fold”, commonly lacks clarity].
Thank You! Lino
p.s. A spectacular article! Congratulations!
Vince says
Serious problems arise with mega dosing single nutrients. The body works with many nutrients and they have to be in tight ranges. Compound this with the fact that one mineral will compete with many others and we have the making of a disaster with prolonged high doses of anything. High dose iodine will impact manganese levels, most noticeably, but not exclusively, and will cause deficiency symptoms that are euphemistically referred to as a “healing crisis”. I would think someone would be better served taking a bit of iodine to see if any symptoms respond to it. If so then try blackstrap molasses for a month or two. It comes with many minerals and may be a safer route.
Eperbab says
Iodine really helped me. After 15+ years of brain fog, 450 ug (0.45 mg) iodine + 300 ug selenium per day has lifted it.
I may try 600 ug later, but I don’t think anyone would need more, than 3 mg a day.. except in case of breast cancer or something similar.
Anne says
Hi Eperbab
I too suffer from brain fog. Would you care to tell me the name of the supplement you are using?
Elie Klein ND says
Hello
in reference to this article on iodine (I appreciate how comprehensive it is) http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-diseases/the-great-iodine-debate/
Is the author or anyone else associated with the foundation aware of advantage or disadvantage to using potassium iodide versus kelp providing approx 1000mcg iodine?
James Monk says
intuitively joining the dots with what I.ve read concerning nascent iodine, I am trying to reverse lung tissue damage empthysema and Copd by nebulizing nascent iodine in a solution of colloidal silver. This is an adjunct with a protocol of homeopathic, Indian and Chinese medicines. I hope to reawaken cells in order to rebuild tissue as well as destroy pathogens that I believe continue the destruction of tissue in the lungs long after a smoker has stopped. It is still early days but so far so good.
Betty says
Hey James, did you nebulize nascent with colloidal silver?
Did you have any improvements?which doses did you take?
Betty
James K Graul says
I had terrible chronic bronchitis for five years. Read Brownstein’s book and did 25 to 50 milligrams and it helped for a while but I think I got over my deficiency and then it did not help me feel good but bad. It helped with bronchitis but when I figured out that my immune system was screwed up I watched some videos on the Coimbra protocol and started taking 30000 to 40000IU of D. In three days my wheezing stopped and in less than a month I was free. Took high dose K2, boron and magnesium with it. also black seed oil, red sockeye salmon with the omega three and astaxanthan, big organic salad with virgin olive oil. Also took N-A-C. And get out in the sun and get incandescent bulbs cause they know that near infrared light reduces inflammation and also stimulates the mitochondria in the cell to make melotonin that cleans up oxidative waste. Light as medicine…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YV_iKnzDRg&t=390s
joy says
I’ve had nothing but GOOD results with Iosol Iodine. Been using it for maybe 6 yrs or so and also take 2 grains NP thyroid (generic for Armour). Most days I take 2-5 drops and 1 drop is 1.83mg so I don’t ever take more than about 10mg daily.
When I have missed Iodine for whatever reason I would get breast pain/tenderness.
I have had 2 mammograms in my early 50’s and none since. I’m 77 and plan on no more.
Why so much fear about Iodine, it is so essential. Go slowly. No need to mega dose and eat more CLEAN sea foods if one can.
A Japanese says
>>As pointed out by Stephen Guyenet in his Whole Health Source blog, omega-6 fatty acids may suppress thyroid signaling.
I am very interested in the blog or the research regarding the suppression of thyroid hormone signalling pathway by iodine and omega-6. Because I am having the experience when taking iodine and grape seed oil, which contains lots of omega-6 linoleic acids, at the same time and my sleeping is improved, shorter sleep duration and sleep phase go forward a few hours and I can sleep at 11-12pm and get up before at 8-9am.
jimmy pittacus says
Be cautious about iodine and dont take it at your own peril! it’s LD50 is less likely than table salt…dont be scared, or be put off by the posts here from the trolls that dont want you to have iodine, but want to have lots and lots of fluoride and bromide!
V says
When I take 150 mcg of iodine in a glass of water I do not have heavy sweating around my neck at night, which wakes me up. Whether it is hot flashes again, which I don’t get anymore since I was 52, now 59 or something else, I don’t know, I do know if don’t take the iodine – it happens, if I take the iodine – it doesn’t.
Same as my zinc supplement, I get pains in one foot or the other in various places and pains in one knee or the other, different places also, pains in my hands. I take 30 mg of zinc with .3 mg copper and after a couple days – pain free
David Weiner says
Wow, this article really provides a lot of excellent information and food for thought.
I suppose it is not surprising to see that the WAPF has taken a tempered view here, in light of the concerns that have come through the research, and the foundation’s general skepticism toward heavy reliance upon supplementation.
That said, it seems to me that this protocol is really more of a detoxification program (from the ubiquitous competing environmental halogens) than anything else. And from that standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. In a better world, we would not be bombarded by all of these toxins and could get all (or at least most) of the iodine we need from a traditional diet alone. In the current world, at least some of us may need large amounts of supplemental iodine in order to clean house.
Thomas Faulkner says
Good perspective. There is a general fear of iodine both in the medical profession and public which stems from years of Big Pharma propaganda. Those wishing to learn more about the uses and quite remarkable benefits of higher dose iodine should have a read of Dr David Brownstein’s book ” Iodine – Why you need it”.
becky says
I came down with a serious life-threatening mold infection in my lungs (Aspergillosis) which then resulted in aflatoxin-triggered cancer (aflatoxin is the byproduct of aspergillus), as well as severe asthma and packed sinuses.
I had to throw out an inhaler given my by a lung doctor for the asthma that said right on it that two side effects were fungal infections and death. I could not even lie down to sleep due to breathing problems. The only thing I found that might help all of these conditions simultaneously was high dose iodine. So I began taking 300 mg (not mcg) of iodine at 4 am each morning (empty stomach). I did not titrate up because I was so sick I did not care if I had bromine/etc detox symptoms too. It took less than 2 months for my asthma to disappear, but almost 5 months to kill and cough out and blow out all the mold gunk in my lungs and sinuses. I had to have surgery for the endometrial cancer, but did no chemo (which makes the body susceptible to systemic fungal infections). After 5 months, I reduced but continued high dose iodine (200 mg per day, Iodoral), for two more years, monitoring my thyroid and numerous other blood tests. After 3 years I am both cancer free and mold/aspergillus-free and feel great, confirmed by a full body PET/MRI scan and blood marker tests. Also, my skin is much better than initially, soft and smooth. Now I only take a maintenance dose of iodine unless I feel sickish, then I up my dose again for short periods of time. I have also started to take 24,000 mg of Vit C per day, spread out over 12 hours.
Paul says
Becky, That is a great story, I am so glad it worked for you. You had the courage to go for it with a high dose and stick with it as long as it takes and was working.
Mary says
I also take alot of vitamin c. I love your testimony!
LeMeow says
Do not take iodine without companion nutrients as mentioned in Dr. David Brownstein’s Iodine book and also mentioned by Stephanie Buist’s Iodine Supplementing Guide:
http://steppingstonesliving.com/theguide/
Red says
Just tried to go to Stepping Stones… “Page cannot be found”. Just thought I’d let you know.
Edward Ertl says
Try this link; worked 1 minute ago
https://www.docdroid.net/82HEn6I/the-guide-to-supplementing-with-iodine-stephanie-burst-nd.pdf
Lauren Ayers says
That Docdroid link above didn’t work but I found this URL from my earlier study of iodine and it still works:
https://jeffreydachmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/The-Guide-to-Supplementing-with-Iodine-Stephanie-Burst-ND.pdf
Dariusz says
Does atomic ( I , not I2) iodine as supplement is hoax? What is true? Does exist at all atomic iodine for oral intake? Are the scientific publications about its impact on human health, side effects, toxicity? Some links will be appreciated.
Dariusz
Beth says
I’m not a proponent of Big Pharma, but I too experienced problems with taking iodine.
I started slowly with Iosal II from 1 drop to 3 drops per day — from about 2 mg to 6 mg for 4 months. My new bloodwork indicates “subclinical hypothryoidism” with TSH of 6.8 which is accompanied by swollen neck, lump in throat, pain when swallowing, and gastroesophageal reflux. (I never had these issue prior to taking iodine.)
While it definitely helped eliminate hot flashes and fibrcystic breast pain, at what cost?
Just be careful with iodine supplements because they can and do cause problems for some people.
Trudy says
This video by Dr. Brownstein explains what happens when iodine deficient people take small increased doses of iodine (in the range up to 15 mg). The body is so deficient it can’t produce the lipids needed to complete the cycle that taking more iodine initiates. If the iodine dose is increases (above 15 mg), the body can then complete the cycle. If the person is not severely deficient, a smaller dose would not cause the same reaction.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=dr+brownstein+iodine+lipids&&view=detail&mid=1E69D917269E0A3153F21E69D917269E0A3153F2&&FORM=VRDGAR
Kelly says
Were you taking selenium as well Beth? If not, that’s probably the reason your TSH went up. The thyroid needs iodine, selenium, tyrosine, zinc, etc., etc.
Lisa Harris says
I worked on my family dairy growing up. After the cows were milked, and before they left the barn we would use “teat dip” on them… this was 2x per day. When I read about dairy products containing iodine I was curious, and suspected the teat dip must be the reason why. I can tell you, it’s not added into their diet, and it’s rare for cows to graze on pasture these days, so it’s not from the soil. I still remember the smell of iodine in the barn, and on the cows as they left the barn. Now I’m wondering if the health of the cows has declined (if) they’ve switched to non-iodine teat dip… I’m especially curious about their mammary health.
J. says
“A safe dose is 1-2 grams per day, and most can tolerate much higher amounts without problems” [19] – referenced article says 1-2 mg, 1000x smaller dose. I would really like to see long-term studies with slowly reached doses of the order of 1-2 grams, but there seem to be none. Please correct.
Regards,
J.
Mel says
What happens if you are allergic to iodine? I went into anaphylactic shock because of iodine. From an MRI I ended up in ER. Awhile back I had started taking supplements and hadnt noticed it had a small dose of iodine and my tongue and throat started to itch severly.. Another trip to ER. Even seaweed and iodized salt will cause a mild reaction. What do I do then?
Keenan says
Your math is wrong on the table regarding iodine content in a daily serving of iodized salt. If it contains 7,600 mcg of iodine per 100 g of salt, then the daily recommended dose of 5 g of salt would contain 380 mcg of iodine. This is very close to the recommended dose. Your are incorrect in stating that the daily dose of iodized table salt far exceeds the RDA of iodine.
Yuri says
Furthermore, iodine quickly evaporates from iodised take salt. In a few weeks there is no iodine left in the table salt.
Joe Salaman says
So far this is the most comprehensive and unbiased article on iodine I have found on the internet.
Thank you Sally.
Angel Pan says
Thank you for this amazingly detailed and informative article, I’ve been looking all over for information on what’s an acceptable amount of iodine to take, either from dietary or supplement sources, now I have my answers.
I wish to comment and clarify one simple thing based on my own personal experience, how much iodine did or does the japanese consume without adverse effects. Also to serve as a direct counter to the rather uninformed and limited argument this dr. Gaby makes.
I am chinese, born in northeastern part of china, by local culture people from this part of china is used to seafood and seaweed and jap style seaweed snacks, I can tell you for a fact that as a whole, we dont consume as much as the japs do.
Take a popular seaweed snack for example, dried seaweed, pressed into these super thin sheets, lightly salted, sometimes loaded with oil and sometimes not. The dry weight of a typical uncut sheet is roughly 3.5 grams without loading it with oil. By the equation provided here that dried seaweed contain roughly 0.3 percent of iodine by weight, this translates to 10.5mg iodine per sheet give or take.
How many of these sheets do we normally eat? As kids, I remember drowning anywhere between 5-10 sheet of the stuff in a single day, occasionally more, now granted we dont do this every day since they are both delicious and somewhat expansive, but a couple times a week is not uncommon when we had the extra allowances to spend. No one I know of ever had any issues that would be traced by to eating the stuff.
As adults, here in us, the cost of this wonderful snack is quite a bit more than they are in east Asia, so sadly we dont take as much. knowing people and relatives back in china however, i can tell you for another fact, that eating multiple sheets of the stuff during karaoke parties is the norm, especially when you are drunk, over 10 sheets in a single party would not be out of the question.
Now I dont know as much jap culture as the natives, but when it comes to consumption of seaweed snacks, I’m pretty certain we are behind.
So how much iodine we routinely take in as a result from multiple sources of seaweed? Go figure! A few to several grams a week is my guess.
Oh yeah, dont even get me started on soy, the amount of soy we eat back home would be considered ungodly over here, both fermented and unfermented. Again, never even heard of anyone having issues, until I’m transplanted over here….
O's knows says
Started taking Iodine 7 years ago, but just learned so much within the past month. “The Universal medicine” That says it all right there. Nonetheless If this makes any sense the Hoxsey cure for cancer has been using Iodine since the 1920’s to cure cancer. Iodine is the best and cheapest way of keeping the body balanced and healthy.
Deb says
Thanks to Dr. Gaby for his thoughtful paper challenging the premise of Brownstein and Abraham. Not enough real research is out there and real harm can result. Brownstein says to follow my doctor’s advise and my doctor does not agree with this protocol. I am coming off iodine supplements because my results have been poor.
Carlos Benita says
I found that none of the current medications worked effective for me.I got tired of using those medication so I decided to apply natural herbs formula that was prescribed to me by my second P.T, i purchase the herbal formula from totalcureherbsfoundation. com, There has been huge progression ever since I start the treatment plan which will last for 15 weeks usage.all the symptoms and sign has begin to disappear .
Kelly says
I’m really shocked that Derrick Lonsdale — a very smart man and M.D. — took high-dose iodine for three months without monitoring his selenium — or other mineral levels.
No WONDER they had side effects. They clearly ignored Abraham and Brownstein’s advice.
Walter Sorochan says
This is a wonderful article about iodine. I am a PhD with a MPH and an emeritus professor in health education and public health. This does not make me an expert on iodine; instead I am a 91 year old student of nutrition, lifestyle, eating and surviving in the coronavirus pandemic.
All the comments and the text article deal with the medical approach to health. That is, performing medical-drug research trials where only one drug or nutrient is tested. Herein lies the problem: this is not how food and the body work. The nutrients do not work separately in isolation, yet that is what most persons did when they ingested iodine supplements or therapy. They were hoping for a miracle.
The body works on a whole food complex basis. In nutrition there is such a thing as co-factors or nutrient helpers. Nutrients work best when they have other helpers. These include minerals, vitamins, amino acids, other chemicals and natural plant enzymes. For example, minerals need to be in exact ratios, but today mineral ratios are pure guesses. For example, what should be the precise ratio for Ca:Mg? One mineral contracts while the other relaxes. The human body has an in-house mineral balance that if one mineral is out of ratio balance, then it puts all other minerals out of balance, and the whole body becomes silently dysfunctional.
So just taking iodine by itself really does very little to the human body, as the body is programmed to work on the basis of balanced nutrients as a whole package.
This article and the comments at the end almost make no mention about food and dietary choices. Most Americans are eating a diet that makes them sick, a standard American diet high in calories but low in nutrient density; hence chronic diseases like obesity.
The best way to ingest an essential nutrient is to eat a healthy diet. … get nutrients from food. This may not be totally possible in some instances. Food is what ancient man ate and the human body was programmed nutrients over thousands of years to work together as one and not in isolation. Mother nature has programmed the body to survive.
With new research since 2000, we have new information about food and how the human body works. We need to change our sick Standard American Diet to fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts. None of the respondents mentioned their diet …. What do they eat?
To do a better job of researching on iodine and human body related nutrients, research scientists need to use a health research paradigm instead of a medical research model. Drugs may work alone but not nutrients in the human body.
My feedback has a lot of abstract information due to space limitations. But my comments allude to what is missing in the article and why so many responders had difficulty with iodine and even health issues without iodine.
I have been a vegetarian for almost 50 years and do use plant sourced supplements, Lugol’s iodine and spirulina SuperFood.
Iam Yoe says
You are awesome keep it up!
May you stay 90+ more years with us!
Alan says
I2pure is the product that is going to change every ones opinion on Molecular Iodine. We are in the process of being approved by the FDA. Has shown 99.99% effective against Fungus, Bacteria and Viruses.
Michelle says
Thank you for your input. Your views on whole body, co-factors, and nutrient helpers resonates with me.
Michelle says
I appreciate all the views shared by the commenters and it’s inspired me to share mine. I’m a 38 year old woman American woman and had been experiencing SEVERE allergies to all fragrance natural and synthetic. I have a natural curiosity and lockdowns encouraged increased reading and book purchasing (thank you ebay and thriftbooks). I found Dr. Brownstein’s book and after reading it decided it would be interesting to start supplementing with Lugol’s (I used Heiltropfan) to see if it improved my overall general health as I was constantly fatigued from allergies. I started low and increased quite quickly. I was taking approx. 35 mg (32 drops) daily at my peak usage. After a couple of months my allergies to fragrance became less noticeable. This continued over the course of 2 years and I can now use essential oils again. I avoid most fragrance but I can go in public without issue anymore whereas before I felt so overwhelmed with sneezing, watering eyes and itching face that I could barely function in a department or grocery store. I also noticed that a breast cyst that had developed several years earlier had diminished in size and pain (I’ve noticed with the consumption of coffee or chocolate this pain will increase).
I do feel as though at this point I’ve detoxed. I would say that doing natural medicine on your own is risky but no where near as risky as modern medicine. One mistake I feel I made was not not adding selenium (other than when I was remembering to take a multivitamin) when mega dosing with iodine.
I’ve recently decided to decrease my iodine intake to only 8 drops a day. I feel that I’ve received all the benefits I needed from high dose iodine and now it’s time to take it down to maintenance levels and see how that does.
I recommend always research, trust your gut and don’t make decisions based in fear or manipulation. I wish you all the best!
eyeman says
The Physicians Desk Reference taught me that a dosage of 120 milligrams of iodide to a child is ok, by virtue of PIMA(TM) syrup having been sold for decades. I know many ppl who have taken gram-dosages of KI with no problems.
On the other hand, some ppl have a problem with it. We know that iodide can be used to cause liberation of heavy metals from the body to be voided in urine in large amounts not long after ingesting iodide. Since ppl come from diff. backgrounds of exposure to many detriments in diet, a person having more heavy metals in them should probably be xpected to react differently than a person who has fewer metals in their body. Or bromide. Do not forget even chicken still has As in it and there are many sources of “bad” stuff in our bodies and not all ppl have the same levels of the same bad actors.
So, it is no surprise different ppl react differently to the same stimulus, frequently. I don’t think it is too far of a jump, to say that if a person reacts negatively to a little iodine, that their problem resides elsewhere and should be identified and fixed before doing any further iodid(n)e. Fats and oils are closely related to thyroid and iodine, so sometimes the issue might be the wrong fats, to the exclusion of the right ones, affects thyroid. Definitely.
I don’t think the author of the article meant to write “Jorgas”, but probably rather was thinking of Jorge Flechas, MD of N. Carolina (ret.)
I always remember, iodine was the first mineral to be used to cure a disease condition, goiter, for several decades with high success. Nowadays, some are claiming it causes goiter. What has changed ? Is it the fats ?
Tim Boyd says
we have changed the name to Jorge Flechas
Reply from Sally:
We have so many goitrogens in the western diet, that perhaps just giving iodine is not enough.
Bethany says
I did the urine test and was labeled iodine deficient but with normal thyroid numbers and severe hair thinning. Dr put me on 12.5 Iodoral and I continued that for about 4 years with no real changes. Then suddenly my heart rate was 130 resting, I lost 20 lbs, my hair was growing and my lower legs were swelling. Dr checked TSH and it was 0. He said to stop all iodine. Over the next 6 months the symptoms went away. During this time my hair grew like i was a teenager (im 49). Then very suddenly, I gained 20lbs and hair loss returned. That was almost a year ago. My hair loss is increasing and I can’t lose the weight. My dr retired so I’m sort of on my own until I find a new one. I’m not sure if I should start iodine again or not. It took 4 years to get hyperthyroid so maybe I need some-i just got too much? Any insight is appreciated.
Jill says
Bethany, take your iodine… Hope you feel better soon! Clearly you need it.
Bee Winfield says
Bethany you could try following Stephanie Buist’s advice which she has arrived at after recovering from cansser herself under the care of Dr Brownsteine and his iodine supplementation. Stephanie did a whole lot of research and fed her findings to the Iodine doctors Fletchoff, Abraham and Brownsteine, and worked on an iodine project with Dr Wentz also ( not sure of the spelling of his surname there). Not only did she collaborate with those doctors but she was Admin on a couple of large social media forums on Iodine, so party to many conversations on iodine over 13 years. I am quite disappointed that she is not mentioned in Sally’s article.I hope there is some kind of update to include her findings which seem to have been confirmed over many years involvement with the iodine groups with in excess of 70, 000 members . In the Great Iodine Debate , she and Lynn Farrow are key, because sadly our world is a whole lot more toxic than it was in 1920, Weston Price
‘s day. I think of her protocol as a de tox from bromine. She explains why small amounts of Lugols can have negative effects because they begin, but cannot complete ( as doses over 50 mg iodine can) the oxidation cycle. I have done her salt and Selenium bromine/fluoride de tox thing for 2 weeks prior to resuming iodine , along with the companion nutrients of Vitamin C , B2 and B3 and magnesium, (although I get my B’s from liver.) I built up slowly to 50 mg and hope to experience the benefits of bromine ousting so that iodine can get into the thyroid for once and enable production of thyroid hormones which are sent all over the body. I join Sally in wishing the great debate could finally be settled by more research. I am a GAPS coach in Western Australia and can be reached at merribeefarmacy@gmail.com
Jolene Henman says
I just put kelp granules in with my Real Redmond salt. Someone told me the bromine in the kelp blocks the absorption of iodine but I can’t be overthinking these things so much. It can’t block it that much or I would be dead from an iodine deficit. Lol.
BC says
Approx 13 yrs ago at age 42 i started with central sleep apnea fairly suddenly having 20-30 even 40 episodes a night. It was unrelenting and lasted about 3 yrs. I swore i would never wear a CPAP. I resolved that i would find the deficiency i was suffering if it killed me. I was miserable every day and having scary angina attacks. Also during this time my normally straight hair began grow course, i was in a mental fog and cranky all day, i supposed, from not sleeping. My diet was very healthy, I exercised, my weight was 10 lbs above normal and my stress was under control. After weeks of researching, I finally read (cant remember where) about a guy who got “some relief” with Lugol’s Iodine. I decided to try it even though i found zero studies or even other anecdotes to back it up. Desperate, I ordered a bottle of 2% in april 2014, put ONE DROP (2.5mg) in my tea with dinner. I woke the next morning feeling fantastic and asked my wife if I had any episodes to which she replied “you slept like a baby all night”! I was astounded and thought How can this be? I continued with the daily drop and had ZERO episodes until thinking there’s NO WAY it could be this easy. this is surely a placebo. I stopped the drops and within 2 days the apnea came back. I got right back on the drop a day which (quickly stopped the apnea) and then started reading books. Namely Farrow’s The Iodine Crisis, and Brownstein’s Iodine book and became a disciple of Drs Abraham and Flechas. During this time my wife at age 40 is going thru perimenopause. She was losing hair rapidly, dealing with 3 periods a month, severe acne on chest and back. I suggested she take the lugols as well. Within weeks of a drop a day, her hair began to grow back, her acne cleared and the following month she had 1 period!! At this time, our you-know-what drive began to skyrocket so we began to, well, you-know-what a lot more, which was quite nice! Early on, we did begin supplementing selenium by eating 4-5 quality brazil nuts per day and using magnesium chloride spray topically which improved our sleep and stress management even more. We experienced so many improvements I cant list them all. But the best side effect of all? the profound feeling of well being that to this day i still appreciate and enjoy. Lugols supplementation literally and unequivocally saved my life. She and I, 10 yrs later, still take it regularly, at a rate of approx 50mg a week. I am almost 56, 175lbs and in the best shape of my life and my apnea is still GONE.
My sister in law got her out of control blood pressure under control with Lugol’s 2%. Enough to stop taking BP meds. She also had 3 mammogram-detected masses disappear by her follow-up mammogram 3 months later. Her MD was amazed, telling her she has never seen that happen before.
I think the key to iodine supplementation is to start very slowly to avoid an abrupt detox and to read books and inform yourself of the pros and cons until your eyeballs fall out- before you ingest the first drop. and DO NOT risk taking BP meds while on iodine.
Adriana Sanchez says
Hello all, my circumstance is related to having allergies. While I was a child i seem to always have a cold and did not know why. While in college in the west coast suffered from colds and bronchitis. then move to the East coast and no Bronchitis, but seem to have developed sensitivities to fragrances (both natural and artificial), frequent sinus inflammations, sometimes infections, ear problems, throught, coughing, colds and related cycling on-and off.
A year ago I moved to Alabama, and much of that subsided, for which i was very happy, until 8 months later when i decided that i wanted to learn how to make at home sourdough bread. It seems i had an intolerance to the commercial yeast as i started to cough while preparing, and it would subside as i walked away from kitchen; back when bread was baking or worse while i was eating. At first i did not associate it. I had commercial sourdough bread before without incident, that i can recall. Second day I had another slice of bread and my coughing attack returned. Then i realized i was fine as long as i was not near the bread; but my house smelled of yeast. Had a hard time sleeping for some time until it all aired out; Tried natural yeast starter to see if it would be better a few weeks later, and same reaction tho not as strong. The thing is until then I was feeling sooo well. and since , my lungs are constantly sore, have sinus infections, post nasal dripping, something stuck in my throat – etc. (3 months since first exposure to baking yeast)
I had read in one of my many searches long ago something about an old times cure for strengthening lungs with Milk+iodine; so I finally decided to try it. Had a strong sinus infection, ear issues and lung soreness, so I had all to gain. The 1st night/1st does was 2drop in milk w a multi-vitamin that contained the supplemental minerals that go w/ iodine… And i slept well, woke up without finger /hand swelling ( that started after my exposure to yeast) and my sinus infection was gooone and sinus tissue swelling as well! Lungs felt better; still have some post nasal drip and throught discomfort; but feel great improvement. So have continued so far about a week with AM/PM doses of same; last 2-3 days i upped dose to 3-4 drops each time. So, there is hope. Just need to find the right dose to clear all my symptoms. Feeling much better.
hope this helps
53yo Female, 5.4, 145lbs. No other health issues.
Casting Out Nines says
While I don’t necessarily subscribe to neo-Darwinism, it’s worth noting that the late Dr. Guy Abraham believed that the Great Flood of the Book of Genesis washed away Earth’s abundant iodine supply and that humanity has been deficient ever since. I wonder how many of those in the megadosing camp are aware that the recommendation to take upwards of 12 mg of iodine/iodide a day is based more on creation myths than sound science.
I’m skeptical of the claim that the Japanese consume 12 mg of iodine a day from their regular diet, and that the RDA for iodine should therefore be at least that. I’d be willing to accept that the typical Japanese diet is high in iodine, maybe as much as 3 mg a day, due to the seaweed, fish, and just being an island nation in general, but it also should be taken into account that the Japanese diet contains goitrogens such as soy, radishes, and tea, so the iodine may be needed to balance those out. Nori, used for wrapping sushi, is probably the most common seaweed in the Japanese diet, and it’s remarkably low in iodine; one sheet of nori contains half as much iodine as an egg yolk. It’s also debatable whether the Japanese are the healthiest people in the world; they’re certainly healthier than today’s average American, but then, who isn’t? Make America Healthy Again!
I’ll leave aside the issue that Dr. Brownstein’s book promoting the megadosing of iodine reads like an infomercial for Dr. Abraham’s proprietary and rather pricey Iodoral supplement. Grifting is endemic to the natural health scene.
On the other hand, when the WHO tells us that the optimal range for iodine is between 150-300 mcg a day, am I supposed to take that recommendation seriously? The WHO is the same organization that brought us Covid-1984, that panicked more than half the world’s population into taking Pfizer’s and Moderna’s clotshots to avoid the sniffles. My breakfast today included a couple of eggs, a large mackerel fillet, a bowl of kefir, some cheese and butter, and iodized salt. I estimate that meal alone contained nearly 3 times the RDA for iodine, and my body tingled with wellness after eating it. It’s practically impossible to stay beneath 200 mcg a day without restricting such nutrient-dense foods as eggs, seafood, dairy, and blackstrap molasses. I think the RDA of 150 mcg is too low, at least for people who don’t have thyroid issues. I bet the WHO’s iodine guideline is intended to force westerners onto a nutritionally-inferior diet to go along with the UN’s carbon-tax agenda.
I was fluoride poisoned by a dental hygienist close to a quarter century ago, and a lot of the chronic health problems I have today can be traced back to that. I’m intrigued by claims that iodine supplementation can help counteract the effects of fluorosis, but 12-100 mg a day seems like a recklessly large amount that could create more problems than it solves. Natural Factors (a company to which I have no affiliation) has an affordable liquid kelp supplement that a sales rep has assured me has been properly tested for metals like arsenic and mercury. Each drop contains 800 mcg of iodine mixed with iodide, like a weaker version of Lugol’s solution. That seems like a more prudent dose to begin experimenting with. I’ll try supplementing that amount on days when my meals are low in iodine. If I get any interesting results, I may report back.
Simon says
My, a balanced and thoughtful comment. Rather unusual these days. My only criticism might be that grifting seems to be endemic to all health scenes; or perhaps it’s just endemic to humans, trying to profit from other people’s ignorance and fear. I prefer dogs to people, with exceedingly few exceptions.
I’m curious to hear any updates you might have, caster out of 9s. I’m thinking of taking a daily drop of 5% Lugol’s…I agree that megadosing many mgs per day seems a recipe for illness, rather than benefit.
Casting Out Nines says
From where did you get that Abraham and Brownstein’s recommendation is for only 1.5 mg of iodine a day?
From p.121 of Brownstein’s book (first edition): “Approximately 12 mg of iodine has been established as the optimal daily dose of iodine/iodide for the breast and thyroid gland. However, this may not be adequate to address the needs of the rest of the body.” So Brownstein is recommending 12 mg as the bare minimum.
Not coincidentally, I suspect, that amount corresponds almost exactly with the amount of iodine in 2 drops of 5% Lugol’s solution and in the weaker version of Iodoral.