Today's Natural Cure: Iodine

Original article from:  mnwelldir.org

Iodine — Why You Need It; Why You Can’t Live Without It

Some of you must wonder why we have focused on Iodine so much.

The answer is very simple and comes in three parts:

1. Iodine is an essential nutrient; essential to wellness.
2.  Iodine deficiency is rampant in the US
3.  Iodine deficiency is ridiculously simple to cure

From the American Thyroid Association:

The thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped endocrine gland that is normally located in the lower front of the neck. The thyroid’s job is to make thyroid hormone, which is secreted into the blood and then carried to every tissue in the body. Thyroid hormone is essential to help each cell in each tissue and organ to work right. For example, thyroid hormone helps the body use energy, stay warm, and keep the brain, heart, muscles, and other organs working as they should.

Let me emphasize: The thyroid’s job is to make thyroid hormone, which is secreted into the blood and then carried to every tissue in the body.

That hormone is called thyroxine and it contains 4 iodine atoms. Without iodine, your body will not function properly, period.

From the World Health Organization:

Iodine Deficiency is the world’s most prevalent – yet easily preventable – cause of brain damage. Today we are on the verge of eliminating it – an achievement that will be hailed as a major public health triumph, ranking together with smallpox and poliomyelitis.

Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) jeopardize children’s mental health – often their very lives. They start before birth. Serious iodine deficiency during pregnancy may result in stillbirths, abortions and congenital abnormalities such as cretinism, a grave, irreversible form of mental retardation that affects people living in iodine-deficient areas of Africa and Asia. However, of far greater global and economic significance is IDD’s less visible, yet more pervasive, level of mental impairment that lowers intellectual prowess at home, at school and at work.

Dr Brownstein’s book should be in every home in the land. Not only does he show how deficient we all are, he points out symptoms (results) of this deficiency, gives real human examples of this deficiency, outlines those things that cause us to be deficient, gives real human examples of how health improves when the body gets enough iodine, and touches on new research in the field on iodine and especially, iodine in fighting cancers (especially breast cancer).

Of all the elements known so far to be essential for human health, iodine is the most misunderstood and the most feared. Yet, iodine is the safest of all the essential trace elements, being the only one that can be administered safely for long periods of time to large numbers of patients in daily amounts as high as 100,000 times the RDA. However, this safety record only applies to inorganic, nonradioactive forms of iodine.  Some organic iodine containing drugs are extremely toxic and prescribed by physicians. The severe side effects of these drugs are blamed on inorganic iodine although studies have clearly demonstrated that it is the whole molecule that is toxic, not the iodine released from it.

The daily dosage of Iodine, the most optimal dosage, is between 12.5 mg and 50 mg. Iodine is stored in the body, and it can take nearly a year taking 12.5 mg per day to get the body’s levels up to sufficiency.

Brownstein also shows us a few things that will lower our iodine levels, such as pastas and breads, chlorinated water, diets deficient in fish (vegan, vegetarian diets), and salt restricted diets.

I really hate to give away the meat of a book I was sent to review (why should anyone buy the book?), but you can read more about Brownstein’s book here: http://www.mbschachter.com/Iodine.htm

Here is a paragraph from this website:

The commonly accepted medical opinion is that iodine’s only role in the body is to help make thyroid hormones. Although this is an extremely important function, Abraham demonstrates that the role of iodine in the body goes far beyond its function of making thyroid hormones. Other possible functions include: helping to regulate moods, preventing cancer (especially in breasts, ovaries, uterus, prostate and thyroid gland), preventing and treating fibrocystic breasts in women, helping to regulate blood pressure, helping to regulate blood sugar and prevent and treat diabetes, and helping to prevent abnormal cardiac rhythms. For example, Japanese women, who have one of the lowest breast cancer rates in the world, ingest more than 13 mg of iodine daily from seaweed without suffering any adverse consequences. He further demonstrates that iodine tends to be antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic, and antifungal and that it enhances immune function. Furthermore, he suggests that suboptimal iodine intake may contribute to various thyroid abnormalities commonly seen today, including hypothyroidism (underactive), hyperthyroidism (overactive) and autoimmune inflammation of the thyroid (Hashimoto’s Disease). 

One cancer overlooked above that seems to be related to an iodine deficiency is endometrial cancer.

Iodine is Antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiparasitic, antiinflamatory when it comes to preventing Hashimot’s Disease, or autoimmune inflammation. 

Though iodine is best known to affect our metabolism, its functions are far and varied:

… it helps to regulate moods, preventing cancer (especially in breasts, ovaries, uterus, prostate and thyroid gland), preventing and treating fibrocystic breasts in women, helping to regulate blood pressure, helping to regulate blood sugar and prevent and treat diabetes, and helping to prevent abnormal cardiac rhythms. [http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/332/9/562]

From Dr. David Brownstein’s book Iodine: Why You Need It; Why You Can’t Live Without It:

Of all the elements known so far to be essential for human health, iodine is the most misunderstood and the most feared. Yet, iodine is the safest of all the essential trace elements, being the only one that can be administered safely for long periods of time to large numbers of patients in daily amounts as high as 100,000 times the RDA. However, this safety record only applies to inorganic, nonradioactive forms of iodine.  Some organic iodine containing drugs are extremely toxic and prescribed by physicians. The severe side effects of these drugs are blamed on inorganic iodine although studies have clearly demonstrated that it is the whole molecule that is toxic, not the iodine released from it.

Dr Browstein outlines a laundry list of disorders treated with iodine:

·        Breast Disease

·        Dupuytren’s Contracture

·        Excess Mucous Production

·        Fatigue

·        Fibrocystic Breasts

·        Hemorrhoids

·        Headaches and Migraine

·        Headaches

·        Keloids

·        Ovarian Cysts

·        Parotid Duct Stones

·        Peyronie’s

·        Sebaceous Cysts

·        Thyroid Disorders

·        Cancers (breast, ovarian, thyroid, prostate)

Now we get to the controversial part: how to take Iodine.

Dr Abraham invented a form he’s using both in his studies and with his patients that is called Iodoral which contains 5 mg iodine and 7.5 mg iodide as the potassium salt (which just happens to be the optimum ratio of iodine to iodide that Abraham has found in his research). To reach a “full load” of iodine, Abraham loads his patients with 4 Iodoral tablets and 8 drops of Lugol’s solution for a three month period.

This MUST be done under a doctor’s supervision, because once you reach your “full load” just three drops of Lugol’s solution can be toxic.

Some physicians recommend potassium iodide, but this does not contain Abraham’s ration of iodine to iodide. However, potassium iodide has been used with great success in helping to open clogged arteries, cure bladder infections, eliminate (or reduce) ovarian cysts, diminish keloids (raised pinkish scar tissue at the site of an injury; results from excessive tissue repair), loosen thick bronchial phlegm, help in reducing (and curing, at times) Peyronie's Disease (painful erections, or a bending of the penis during erection) and Dupuytren’s contracture (rare hand deformity in which the connective tissue (fascia) under the skin of the palm thickens and scars; knots (nodes) and cords of tissue form under the skin, often pulling one or more of the fingers into a bent (contracted) position), and finally its original use that many who have served in the military will remember, to disinfect water.

I’m not sure how many physicians are privy to testing for proper iodine sufficiency or how many know the hazards. I’ve discovered that adding iodine to the body chases certain minerals out of the body. This is something I’m going to have to research further. But finding a physician, naturopath, or nutritionist (dieticians know squat about iodine) is up to you.

Finally, there is Magnascent. This product has not been tested by the FDA, nor has it had many clinical studies. However, we have been following some clinical studies in Israel and in Africa, and so far, there have been some great results. Ten drops a day is not even close to the amount required in your body, but it will add up over a period of time. It’s best to add this to water first thing in the morning.