Benefits of Iodine for Health

http://www.cancercontrolsociety.com/bio2005/flechas.html

"... Work done by many researchers over the last few years has shown that iodine is utilized by many different sections of the body. Twenty percent of all of the iodine sits in the human skin. A lack of iodine in the skin manifests as very dry skin and skin that does not sweat when an individual becomes hot. In newborn children iodine is responsible for the development of the babies' I.Q. Recent research shows iodine deficiency is felt to be the source of attention deficit disorder in children.

Iodine is utilized by every hormone receptor in the body. The absence of iodine causes a hormonal dysfunction that can be seen with practically every hormone inside the body. Dr. Flechas has recently been able to show that patients with insulin resistant diabetes have a partial to full remission of their illness in the presence of taking iodine. Iodine deficiency is also felt to be the source of ovarian cysts. With iodine replacement therapy the cysts disappear and women have stopped having ovarian cysts.

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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

35 years with bad knee. joint would come off some times. always swollen. applied regular iodine externally three times a day. applied one week on and 4 days off. only the affected part would mildly burn and the knee will feel bug crawling inside the skin. after a week the bad skin looked like war zone. so gave four days break. new skin came after break. started the application again. itch started badly on the knee. applied Tea tree oil over iodine to stop the itch immediately. after 4 weeks knee shape came to look like normal. at this time the effected part squeezed to the size of a quarter. still kept on applying on the affected area and surroundings. pain went away after 3 weeks from the start up of the application. but didn't stop applying. this has been 4 months now. knee is like brand new.

i did switch from regular store available iodine to lugol's iodine after 3 months. started applying iodine to every family member's joint pain and cysts. iodine never failed to cure.

5 years ago I should have been diagnosed with fibrocystic breast disease but was told that my "lumpy bumpy" breasts needed vitamin E. I didn't take it seriously as I wasn't diagnosed with anything. I had just had my first child. Over the last 6 months I have had pain in my breasts not just before a period but at intervals during the month that wouldn't even allow me to hug my (now I have 3) children. I had no idea until reading this site and the information from Dr. Brownstein that I had fibrocystic breast disease, the precursor for breast cancer (which is so prevalent in this area that it should be a CRIME that people are not handed iodine by the government in giant sized rations!) The great lakes basin is the worst in the WORLD for iodine deficiency--we are the reason salt is iodized--only well enough to fend off goiter and mental retardation which were becoming a problem in the early 1900's in this area! The actual need for iodine by your body is 13.5mg a day and that's after fixing a deficiency. And that number does not take into account the other factors we are exposed to. (Halogens which replace iodine in the body everywhere around us--chlorine, bromine, fluorine--in bread, in toothpaste, in water) THIS IS EPIDEMIC!

Two days into my salmonella killing spree with iodine, I began my menstrual period without cramps. I have had such terrible cramps from my period that I have a stock pile of ibuprofen. (which makes your stomach bleed and hurts your liver) but what are we to do? IODINE! I have been on Iodine for 4 days now and each morning I wake up with cramps but almost as soon as I take my 6 drops of lugol's my cramps are GONE! It's like the cramps are there because my ovaries are begging me for much needed iodine to clean me out. I am so thrilled about this! By the way--my breast pain has diminished to almost none, and they feel like 16 year old breasts. No kidding. My energy level has sky rocketed and I am losing weight. (I should mention that I am taking the iodine with a liquid B complex supplement because Dr. Brownstein says it is possible to get heart palpitations and/or symptoms of iodine allergy if you are deficient in vitamin b2 and b3 since they are needed to transport iodine throughout your body. I can feel my metabolism normalizing--it feels GREAT!

For a long time I have wondered why my ears hurt--I thought maybe I was taking an autotoxic (something toxic to your ears) drug--I wasn't taking any drugs other than ibuprofen--so I wasn't convinced, but I was becoming afraid that I would eventually lose my hearing. I have also become slower in the brain over the last few years. I attributed it to the mercury in my fillings after reading Dr. Clarks book--but having seen the symptoms of iodine deficiency including hearing loss and cretinism I now believe I am severely deficient in iodine and I am so excited to not get any worse. I am getting better!