Benefits of Iodine for Health

To counter the effects of iodine loss, Dr. Jarvis recommended various methods including: eating foods rich in iodine: food from the ocean, radishes, asparagus, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, rhubarb, potatoes, peas, strawberries, mushrooms, lettuce, bananas, cabbage, egg yolk, and onions; Painting a small area of the body with tincture of iodine; and taking preparations known to be rich in iodine, including cod liver oil, kelp tablets.

Dr. Jarvis was very keen on Lugol's iodine for treating various illnesses, including colds and flu, and for countering the effects of stress: He writes, "Supposing you do follow the suggestions outlined above and find that some weeks the pressures of your private and your business life are causing you to lose the ability to bounce back. Then you should add a drop of Lugol's solution of iodine to your glass of apple or grape juice at breakfast, or you may take it in the mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. The point is that the potassium in the solution (Lugol's is 5% potassium iodine) blocks off the body mechanism that organizes for aggressive action, releasing its hold on the body when opportunity for rest and relaxation arises. The iodine swings into action the body and the building up and storing of body reserves. When working under pressure, include the Lugol's solution dose each day until the period of pressure passes. If it should happen that your body becomes saturated with iodine, you will find that there is an increase of moisture in the nose. If this occurs, omit the iodine until the nose is normal.

Lugol's Iodine can be purchased in some drug stores or over the internet.

Various preparations of iodine are available, including tincture of iodine, iodine crystals and tablets. Manufacturers instructions should be followed in each case. With tincture of iodine, adequate levels are normally achieved by using 4 drops to 1 litre of water or one drop to a glass. As with all halogens it is less effective against cryptosporidia.

Iodine has been used safely for periods of several months, however it is not known whether there are adverse effects associated with longer term use. Those with a history of thyroid disease or iodine allergy, the pregnant and the very young may be advised against using iodine for water purification.

The taste of iodine can be largely removed by neutralising the iodine, after it has had time to work, with dissolvable vitamin C tablets, lime or lemon juice. It should be noted that this also stops the disinfectant action, so care should be taken to prevent recontamination of water.

Tincture of Iodine: USP tincture of iodine contains 2% iodine and 2.4% sodium iodide dissolved in 50% ethyl alcohol. For water purification use, the sodium iodide has no purification effect, but contributes to the total iodine dose. Thus it is not a preferred source of iodine, but can be used if other sources are not available. 0.4 cc's (or 8 drops) of USP tincture (2% iodine) added to a liter of water will give the 8 mg/l (same as 8 PPM). If the iodine tincture isn't compounded to USP specs, then you will have to calculate an equal dose based on the iodine concentration.

Lugol's solution: Contains 5% iodine and 10% potassium iodide. 0.15 cc (3 drops) can be added per liter of water, but 3 times more iodine is consumed compared to sources without iodide.

Betadyne (povidone iodine) Some have recommended 8 drops of 10% povidone iodine per liter of water as a water treatment method, claiming that at low concentrations povidone iodine can be regarded as a solution of iodine. One study indicated that at 1:10,000 dilution (2 drops/liter), there was 2 PPM iodine, while another study resulted in conflicting results. However, at 8 drops/liter, there is little doubt that there is an antimicrobial effect. The manufacturer hasn't spent the money on testing this product against EPA standard tests, but in other countries it has been sold for use in field water treatment.

Iodine Deficiency
By Robert Sarver

Dr. David Brownstein has a US medical practice dealing primarily with thyroid patients. He has been quite successful treating hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism with the iodine/iodide supplement Iodoral that is available over the Internet without prescription. Dr. Brownstein believes that the usual thyroid medication prescribed by doctors is the wrong treatment because it does not deal with the underlying iodine deficiency problem. All cells in the body need iodine for proper functioning. All glands (thyroid, adrenal, etc.) especially need iodine for the production of hormones. Dr. Brownstein believes that iodine deficiency is a major cause of breast cancer and other diseases of the reproductive organs such as ovarian, uterus and prostrate cysts and cancers. Iodine levels in US soil have fallen 50 per cent over the past 50 years and soil in the US is deficient in iodine. The Great Lakes region has some of lowest soil iodine levels in the world and this results in high levels of cancers related to iodine deficiency. Dr. Brownstein has been quite successful in treating fibrocystic breast disease (cysts in the breast) with iodine/iodine supplementation. In one case a 37 year-old woman with severe fibrocystic breast disease was completely cured after supplementing with 50 mgs of iodine a day for two months. Women with large breasts need more iodine than women with smaller breasts. Other medical authorities agree that iodine deficiency can lead to fibrocystic breast disease and/or ovarian cysts. [1] [2] [3] Iodine can similarly reduce uterine fibroids and one of the first conventional medical treatments for severe fibroids was to paint the uterus with iodine. [4] Some other medical conditions associated with iodine deficiency are goiters, Graves' Disease, Hashimoto's Disease, fatigue and impaired immune system function. Iodine deficiency during pregnancy can lead to miscarriages and reduced IQ in surviving offspring. [5] The World Health Organization says that iodine deficiency is the largest single cause of mental retardation. Iodine also detoxifies the body by removing mercury, fluorides, chlorides, and bromides.

If iodine/iodide are so crucial in the body, why hasn't there been more research studies published? Dr. Brownstein believes that because iodine cannot be patented there is no incentive for the drug companies to perform the research. Iodized salt and the iodine supplements usually found in health food stores contain the iodide form of iodine. Dr. Brownstein has had little success treating patients with only iodide. The supplement Iodoral contains both the iodide (reduced) and iodine (oxidized) forms of iodine because the body needs both forms. The US RDA for iodine is 150 mcg. Iodoral contains 100 times (12.5 mgs) the RDA's requirement of iodine/iodide. It seems the conventional medical establishment again has grossly underestimated the amount of a nutrient needed for good health. According to Dr. G. E. Abraham, "Of all the elements known so far to be essential for health, iodine is the most misunderstood and the most feared. Yet, it is by far the safest of all the trace elements known to be essential for human health. It is the only trace element that can be ingested safely in amounts up to 100,000 times the RDA. For example, potassium iodide has been prescribed safely to pulmonary patients in daily amounts of up to 6.0 gm/day, in large groups of such patients for several years. It is important however to emphasize that this safety record only applies to inorganic nonradioactive iodine/iodide, not to organic iodine-containing drugs and to radioiodides." [6]

Seafood and sea plants such as kelp (seaweed) are good dietary sources of iodine but few people in the US consume enough of these foods. On a personal note, I found sellers of Iodoral on the Internet and purchased 180 tablets for $40. The usual dosage as a supplement is one tablet a day but up to four tablets a day can be taken for medical conditions under a knowledgeable MD's supervision. For those interested in knowing more about iodine's function in preventing and treating diseases, four of Dr. Brownstein's video clips located at http://vitamincfoundation.org/videos. Dr. Brownstein's home page and links to his books are located at drbrownstein.com/iodine.shtml.

His books include Iodine: Why you need it Why you can't live without it, Overcoming Thyroid Disorders and Salt: Your Way To Health which encourages consumption of sea salt in order to obtain many trace minerals.

Informative research papers about iodine are at http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/opt_Research_I.shtml.

Iodine deficiency may be a major contributor to the widespread arthritis problems in the US. A folk remedy for arthritis is consumption of two drops of Lugol's solution each day. Two drops of Lugol's solution contain the same amount of iodine as one Iodoral tablet. Lugol's solution is a water solution of 10 per cent potassium iodide and 5 per cent elemental iodine. Iodine deficiency may be a major contributor to the widespread emotional disorders in the US. A folk remedy for the treatment of some emotional disorders is consumption of two drops of Lugol's solution each day. Hormones control body weight. Malfunctioning glandular systems due to iodine deficiency may be a major cause of the overweight problem in the US.

References:
[1] J. D. Fleches, MD, http://www.helpmythyroid.com/iodine.htm
[2] Abraham, G. E., Flechas, J. D., Hakala, J. C., "Orthoiodosupplementation: Iodine sufficiency of the whole human body", http://www.helpmythyroid.com/IOD-02.html
[3] James Howenstine, MD, "Iodine is vital for good health", http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james37.htm
[4] Herb and Supplement Encyclopedia, http://www.florahealth.com/flora/home/canada/healthinformation/encyclopedias/Iodine.asp
[5] Iodine Deficiency Disorder, http://indorgs.virginia.edu/iccidd/aboutidd.htm
[6] G. E. Abraham, MD, "The safe and effective implementation of orthoiodosupplementation in medical practice", http://www.helpmythyroid.com/IOD50.htm

The change in my life has been incredible. The first change was my energy. I felt completely recharged! I also felt motivated! Like I actually WANTED to get things done. Mentally I felt so much clearer. I have struggled on and off with depression since I was 13 years old and for the first time in my life I felt consistently stable. I researched this further because it was completely astounding to me. There is a known link between low thyroid function and bipolar disorder! In fact, if anti-depressants stop working or aren't as effective in some people, doctors prescribe them a medication that enhances their T3 and- viola! -their medication starts working again!

The next thing I noticed was that my knees were no longer hurting. They had been fairly sore for at least a month and the just stopped hurting completely.

The list goes on and on. The hypothyroid night sweats are gone (I would wake up at least 4-5 times each week with my pajamas, hair and sheets drenched), I am sleeping decently, my acne cleared up, the puffiness in my eyelids is gone, and on and on....

One thing that still just blows me away is that my feet are smooth. For as long as I can remember, my feet have been dry and cracked and the skin was so thick. To get my feet in shape for sandals in warm weather took a ton of effort. I just figured that's how my feet were. Within just a couple of days, I started noticing my feet were not as rough. After a week, they were like I had received an incredibly expensive pedicure minus the nail polish. To get results like this, normally I would have to soak, scrub, moisturize repeatedly and maybe after a week they would look half this good.

The whole thing is shocking and amazing to me. It has helped me beyond anything I could have imagined. I figured so many of my issues were things I had to live with and never dreamed they could even be treated. I wonder how many people are walking around with low functioning thyroids and don't even know it?

Don't take my word for it. Do the research for yourself, there are tons of well-documented studies online. Do a patch test. If you are deficient, try it for yourself and get your life back!

The element iodine is very poorly dissolved in just water whereas potassium Iodide easily dissolves in water. And Iodine is much more soluble in an aqueous solution of potasium iodide. Thus a Lugol's Iodine solution is normally 10% potassium iodide in water in which 5% elemental Iodine is completely dissolved. Lugol's is therefore a mix of water, iodine and potassium iodide.

This is why Lugol's Iodine is the best form of iodine to supplement -- because you get the benefits of both elemental iodine as well as potassium iodide in a convenient aqueous solution.

The much smaller kelp dose will certainly help to supply just your thyroid, but will not be helpful for other problems -- including hypo- and hyper-thyroid problems, caused by iodine insufficiency in your body.

To understand this, the Japanese eat at least 4.6 grams of seaweed everyday which supplies a minimum of about 13.8 mgs of iodine for their bodies and this unique habit appears to be why the Japanese have the lowest rates of uterine, breast and prostate cancer in the world. As well, they also have the lowest rates of lung cancer despite the Japanese people being one of the heaviest national group of smokers in the world. The Japanese also have some of the lowest rates of thyroid problems, fibrocystic breast disease, uterine fibroids and diabetes problems. This also seems to be tied in with their high iodine diet. This sort of health can only be achieved if the RDA for iodine is totally ignored and a higher dose of at least 12.5 mgs of iodine is supplemented per day.

Now also add to this all the "iodophobia" that is out there -- the fear people have on ingesting larger iodine doses than the RDA recommends, despite the fact that iodine is very body friendly. For a period of about two weeks, I took over 100 mgs of iodine -- which is around 800 times more than the RDA. I never noticed any problems or odd effects on my own body(which is not to say that some people may have problems with this dose which is dependent on on good kidney excretion).

As to the problems of obtaining good supplements -- well this is a problem associated with Codex Alimentarus laws. Many of the supplement companies nowadays are owned by the big pharmaceuticals, who deliberately put out poor quality supplement mixtures in dosages that do you little good at all. Recommended RDA iodine dosages are a good example of this.

I've thought about this problem -- concerning ensuring that supplements contain helpful dosages -- and there are two things you can do. Either you order these supplements over the internet and pay a bit more for them, or just get a friend who owns a dog, cat or horse to go to the vet and ask them to purchase the Lugol's Iodine for you at the vet clinic. It's a fact that vets are for more tuned into curing animal medical problems that our doctors are at curing our problems. Also, vets seem to be far better tuned into natural remedies like using iodine and ACV in animal feed than our beloved doctors -- as the writings of Dr Jarvis attest. You can also purchase DMSO, MSM and many other good quality supplements for yourself from the vet and at a far better price. Ted also recommends vets as a source of good MSM and DMSO powder.

Somewhere on EC you may run into my original post about my lugol's iodine adventure suspense drama at my aunt's house.

She has a fancy bathroom with a green toilet and tub. Well this was during the very deadly COVID time. I was trying to keep me well so I could help to keep her well. I took a bottle of iodine with me in the bathroom. My bad, I spilled some iodine on her toilet, and it refused to wash off. Then I remembered people posting on EC about how Vitamin C can make your even your clothes healthy. So I crushed some Vitamin C tablets and wiped the toilet. The iodine stain came off the toilet and there was no evidence that I spilled iodine on it. That remembrance brings me to what happened yesterday.

Yesterday, my throat was bothering me, so I pulled out the iodine. I should have put some on a cotton ball, but I was in a hurry. So I poured a bit on my hand and went to rub my throat, and some iodine dropped on my blouse and started sliding down it. I had on my favorite mustard color blouse. I opened the jar of vitamin C powder. There's a gram scoop inside, so I used that one scoop, I rubbed the dry vitamin C powder along the iodine run and the stain disappeared in front of my eyes. "Amazing." I thought I would have to change blouses, that quick there was no sign of the spill. This is a day later and still no sign of iodine stain.

HisJewel

I then thought I would like to try some Lugol's solution (iodine), but didn't.

But what I tried, stopped the ectopic beats quickly and never to return. What I took was 1 250mg tablet of calcium citrate. The first tablet took about 3 hours to work. The next morning I woke up with ectopic beats, but of a much milder form. No longer every 3 to 10 beats, but now about 3 missed beats in a minute. I then took my next calcium citrate tablet on an empty stomach - and in about 1 hour my ectopic beats ceased comletely. I now take 1 calcium citrate tablet daily and am no longer bothered with ectopic heart beats.

How I came to relize that it was calcium I needed was when I tried a good quality magnesium supplement for a couple of days with no benifit (it actually might have made this more intense). I then put two and two together. Low vit D = low calcium.

I hope this helps sombody out there.

Regards.

I took Alprim a well-known drug for urinary tract infection which occurred due to food poisoning, my body unbalanced with the sulphur content of this drug, giving me stinging eyes, headache, over active thyroid and pains in my body....too much acid forming.

I took a teaspoon of organic kelp iodine, within 5 minutes the pains in my body near my neck and shoulder went, the heaviness left my head, it felt like the fluid in the brain begin to flow (odd but yes), my eyes slowly began to loose the sting although it took a day.

I have heard Iodine is great for getting rid of sulphur burps as well.

Anyone had this type of experience?

Brazil nuts contain very high levels of selenium. 100 g nuts provide about 1917 mcg of selenium which is 3485% of the recommended daily intake. This makes Brazil Nuts the highest natural source of this mineral. keep on researching!!!

Further, you won't harm yourself, if you take too much Iodine, because Iodine is water-soluble, and your body will use what it needs at the moment, and very easily eliminate any excess through the urine.

Iodine is a very-very necessary supplement.

However, there are a few very powerful special interest groups that are hell bent for taking away your access to Iodine.

For many years since 1948 they sent us lots of fear messages based on the (recently debunked) "Wolff-Chaikoff Effect" that erroneously claims hypothyroidism is caused by excessive Iodine intake.

Those special interest groups have iodophobia, and iodophobia is contagious.

Their iodophobic bioterrorism is a real threat to our nation. While they're masquerading as guardians of our thyroid gland, they don't realize that one of the easiest and most effective ways to destroy a nation is through the removal of Iodine from the food supply.

For context - I've been "cleansing" for years but this is my first actual detox so I'm sort of surprised that so much is happening. It is expected that iodine takes about 3 months to both detox and restore the body's iodine stores so we'll see what happens!!

I got onto iodine due to a sore, swollen and lumpy breast which was very quickly dealt with by painting the breast with povidone iodine solution (betadine) several times over the course of a couple of days at which point a small lump moved outward toward my armpit then around where it settled right on top and it has been busy! Sometimes smaller, sometimes larger, sometime hard and sometimes soft. It seems to be swelling and then sort of coming apart and then what remains is smaller. It's very interesting.

Anyway, I couldn't believe the sore throat trick worked! It's like there's a direct line from the wrist to the throat!

> ...I noted someone had problems with burning eyes from taking iodine. I have taken 250 mgs daily for about eight months, luv it. It has fixed all my ailments, My eyes burn, if I don't wash well, scrub my face twice a day, I believe the iodine is loading up in the skin oils, and making it alkaline, which burns the eyes if it contacts them. Anyhoo, scrub your face, keep the oil off and you will live long and healthy taking iodine. david lubbock tx...

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We haven't heard from David, lately. Is he missing because he was really taking 250 mg every day? I wonder if he meant 25 mg, instead? Or maybe he forgot to include the Selenium?

So far, I've read pages 1 and 16 of theseiodine comments. I have to go back and see if "Atomidine" is mentioned in any of the other 14 pages. I'm attached to Atomidine, because I'm stocked up on it. But it doesn't have the combination of elemental iodine and compound iodide, so maybe it's not the best supplement.

The Atomidine does seem to provide a de-toxifying effect. After taking it the previous day, I wake up around 4 AM with a racing heart. (Maybe 75 or 80 beats per minute when it would normally be less than 60, but with a bit of a pounding sensation, too.) Usually, that was my cue to stop taking the Atomidine, but now that I read from y'all that the racing heart is a symptom of detoxifying, then I'm sticking with it.

Last week, I took one drop later in the afternoon, and it woke me up before sunrise with a racing heart.

Two days ago, I took one drop in the morning, and it didn't wake me up the next night, so taking it in the morning seems to be a good strategy. Yesterday, I took two drops in the morning, and it didn't wake me up. Today, I took three drops in the morning, and I'm still alive.

Last year, I went through a couple of bottles of RLC Labs iThroid -- 12.5 mg capsules, which contains a combination of iodine and iodide, and certainly smells like the real thing. And it's dark, dark green. It didn't create any detox symptoms, even though it has hundreds of times more iodine than Atomidine. I don't know if it helped, but it didn't hurt.

So, my first guess is that the Atomidine is a better detoxifier than iThroid. However, detoxifying is a different process than taking sufficient supplementation, so there's still a need for the iThroid.

Without guidance, I would stop taking one if I were taking the other.

When I went shopping [on Amazon], I don't remember why I chose the iThroid over the Lugol's. Maybe iThroid was less expensive per mg. Maybe it's because iThroid liquid is in a capsule, and that seemed more convenient than spilling iodine all over the place. I mean, I'm not a messy person, but I have my moments. I'll have to check again; it would be intuitive that a simple bottle of liquid should cost less than putting it into capsules.

Don't forget; if you take iodine -- whatever size dose per day, then take a standard 200 mcg capsule of Selenium also. Selenium is an inexpensive supplement.

Or, one of the google returns say:

> Brazil nuts are known to include as much as 95 mcg of selenium per nut. Given that the RDA for selenium is 55 mcg and we recommend getting 200 mcg daily, just a couple of Brazil nuts could have you set.

Brazil nuts, however, can be a nuisance to remove from their shells, eh?

In addition to ample water you are already drinking, add a spoon (about 10~15gms) of unrefined sea salt or Celtic Salt or Himalayan salt to a bottle of water about a liter and keep sipping it. This will supply Magnesium, Calcium, (small amounts of Iodine) and other about 60+ trace minerals which are helpful in balancing and curing the ailments you mentioned.

Regarding Lugol's, a starting dose of 1 to 2 drops in a cup of water would do wonders. If you want to apply on skin (though the absorption varies) try applying on various parts of body... say one day arms, second day on thighs, third day on stomach areas etc.....

Hope this clarifies some of your questions.

Regards, Ravee

Now I have a multitude of what appears to be age spots, but they're from an episode of some kind of severe infection and fever and before these "spots" came out, many doctors told me there was nothing wrong when they examined me and it was psychosomatic etc as I really felt SICK from an inner ear infection/ruptured ear drum/days of drainage etc (and I have had this happen before.... But this time I FELT VERY ILL ) so when these blebs and literally they were like blisters with a brownish fluid popped out I was beyond going to anymore physicians and simply drank water/tea whatever I could handle--but when the swollen glands and everything calmed down I was left with these spots---so I read here the other day on the application of the iodine to the skin and after only 3 days---I see a difference on one big one already--it's flattened out and looks like it will soon peel off---THANKS TO ALL posting their experiences-- I will post again when they really start to resolve or simply the old skin drops off--