Benefits of Iodine for Health

Iodine deficiency is probably also a major cause of obesity, arthritis and mental illness. I think that the MD's who performed the research for these discoveries will receive the Nobel Prize.

Within the past week I have written an article "Iodine Deficiency" which is attached. I have retained the publication rights because the article has already published by the Vitamin C Foundation at http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/iodine.htm. Two health newsletters will publish the article and I have submitted it to the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and the Townsend Letter for publication. I intend to submit the article to other health organizations.

The health and health care implications for this discovery are enormous. Virtually every older person I know has symptoms of iodine deficiency and those symptoms are fibroids/cysts of the reproductive organs, thyroid problems, obesity, arthritis, dry eyes, compromised immune system functioning, reduced sex drive and a long list of other symptoms. Some young people already show symptoms of iodine deficiency such as ADD. Iodine deficiency may play a role in autism.

I am a chemical engineer and 58 years old.

Started out with 3 spots of face, one close to eye, one hiding in eyebrow and a beauty on side of nose, that derm said beginnings of melanoma. She blasted the frozen stuff, but still present and hurt like hell. Decided to use regular tincture of iodine, applied with q tip 3 times a day. Within a month they are completely gone! Worst was on nose, which burned and got worse, before it got better. Burned, scabbed about 5 times, but don't give up!! I would put a spot bandage on if going out but removed when home. Keep it dry, and don't pull off scab. NO scarring, just nice new clear skin now!!! Swabbed sore throat that just won't quit last night and is better today. Fantastic stuff this iodine. Also, Lugol's iodine won't sting and you can use it to purify water if need be.

Iodine deficiency is rampant in most of us. Iodine is the best treatment for thyroid disorders, breast issues, bladder infections and many, many, many other issues. Iodine also clears up chest congestion. Iodine also improves babies IQ's when given to pregnant women.

Iodine also detoxes the body from heavy metals. Anyway much much more information.. Well worth reading.https://www.jcrows.com/MaryJoFahey_IodineRemediesSecretsFromTheSea.pdf"

* Iodine acts to lower cholesterol and also helps to successfully remove and clear plaque from the heart arteries.

* Iodine, as well as T3 and T4, tend to accumulate in the lungs. Iodine is anti-carcinogenic and anti-mutagenic. In the old pre-WW2 days iodine was used by medical doctors in much larger doses -- 300 mgs to 2000 mgs amounts (50 to 300 drops a day of lugols) -- to successfully treat chronic forms of bronchitis, asthma and emphysema. Lugol's Iodine is therefore highly protective for the lungs in general.

* In larger dose, lugol's iodine inhibits the conversion of histidine to histamine. So lugols acts as a natural anti-histamine against allergies as well.

* For low acidity problems in the stomach, taking oral lugol's iodine will treat the root cause and revive proper acid levels in the stomach for proper digestion.

* There is an artery that runs through the thyroid/parathyroid which trickles out iodine continuously into the blood. Iodine kills 90%-95% of all known pathogens.

* Iodine in the blood also prevents bacteria and viruses from attaching themselves onto host cells for invasion, attack or reproduction.

* Cyst problems such as uterine fibroids and fibrocystic breast disease are completely resolved and cured, usually over a 3 month period, by taking 50 mgs (8 drops) lugols iodine a day.

* Taking daily oral Lugol's Iodine can also resolve prostate problems in men.

* Larger dose lugol's iodine, just on its own, can completely cure systemic candida. Google Search "Orian Truss iodine candida".

All of the above benefits are associated with taking larger dose lugols. But most people still associate the small RDA microgram dose for iodine with just the thyroid when, in actual fact, the rest of the human body needs at least 100 times more iodide/iodine than the RDA recommends. Women also need much more iodine than men. For a lactating woman -- her breasts alone will need 100 times more iodine than the RDA.

Yes, Thank You, I should have included the amounts taken in my post. "Case History": kelp eating and intermittent Iodine drinking in the past. (joke) I am a 53 3/4 Y. O. F, 5'4 3/4 H. , 121 w. , that needs to learn the metric system.

I used organic kelp powder in this test and chose to accept that 1tbl, 15ml, of kelp powder contains 7.5 mg of Iodine, as a given. (could be a wide variance). I also began with Atomic Iodine 2%, and switched to Lugol's 5% at day 8. (sorry folks, as I am still in a state of anecdotage, I do not have a good comparitive explanation for this, for you).

Wk. 1, 10 drops 2% Atomic Iodine tincture, 1tsp. Kelp powder in smoothie. End of Wk. 1, 15 drops 2% Atomic Iodine, 1 tsp. 3x daily kelp powder in 4oz water. Herx. Effects: mild acne on chin, mild constipaton, "roiling colon" with immoderate flatus. Began daily enema, followed with oral probiotic supp. (50 billion).

Wk 2, discontinued Atomic Iodine, began Lugol's solution 5%, 2 drops daily, 1 tsp. Kelp powder 3x daily. Began to apply Lugol's, undiluted 3 drops, to shingles lesions at base of spine and on bum cheek. (no pain here, but caution to others). Day 11, experienced mild heart palpitations and mild anxiety. (recurring songs in the brain). Began "pulsing", by discontinuing Lugol's and kelp for 2 days. Restarted Lugol's 5% 1 drop and kelp 1 tsp. At day 14. Continues to "pulse", skipping suplementation for 1 or two days, then restarts at lower dosage.

There appears to be a wide variance in an individual's needs for Iodine, and it's difficult to distinguish detox effect from side effect, but, for me, the benefits outstand the deficits in this endeavor. Bessie, I hope this "windy" discussion is helpful, as, finding one's indivdual needs is a good challenge. (maybe I have shown this, unwittingly) Tom from Sk. And Bill from the Philippines have provided us with great links to information about Iodine's effects, and I am grateful. Thank You, EC, Connie

Recently, I went a bit overboard to perhaps push my own iodine levels deliberately into excess. This I did by using a 2% USP iodine tincture and painting an area under both my fore-arms which were each the size and area of a dollar bill.

I painted both my fore-arms this way four times. All these patches of iodine(except the 4th one) disappeared in under one hour. The fourth patch of iodine disappeared in about an hour and a half. I also took the equivalent of about 15 mgs of lugols iodine orally at the outset. There were no symptoms of excess iodism either in the evening, the next day or on any subsequent day.

From current thinking, the iodine painting alone should have driven me to excess iodine symptoms but it didn't and I was not happy about this, so I have searched widely on the internet for answers.

In answer to the many enquiries about the iodine skin painting test, here is an article by Dr David Derry, a person who is very pro-iodine and who has written books on the subject of iodine. Here he presents actual evidence on the usefulness of iodine painting:

"The "test" of putting iodine on the skin to watch how fast it disappears is not an indicator of anything. The iodine disappearance rate is unrelated to thyroid disease or even iodine content of the body.(1-2) Meticulous research by Nyiri and Jannitti in 1932 showed clearly when iodine is applied to the skin in almost any form, 50% evaporates into the air within 2 hours and between 75 and 80 percent evaporates into the air within 24 hours. (1) A total of 88 percent evaporates within 3 days and it is at this point that the evaporation stops. The remaining 12 percent that is absorbed into the skin has several fates. Only 1-4% of the total iodine applied to the skin is absorbed into the blood stream within the first few hours. The rest of the iodine within the skin (8-11%) is slowly released from the skin into the blood stream.

However Nyiri and Jannitti's findings that... "the percentage of iodine penetration through the skin is the same, irrespective of whether the cells have a high or low vitality, or are dead, and irrespective of the direction of penetration" have important implications for iodine functions in the body, skin, pregnancy and fetus and also for the therapeutic use of topical and oral iodine. Iodine would be the only compound of significance during early pregnancy which can pass rapidly through all tissues of the fetus without the aid of any blood vessel or lymphatic transport. It could be that not only does iodine control natural cell death (apoptosis) (5) in the fetus but may also influences stem cell development.

Nyiri and Jannetti also mentioned iodine applied on the skin can be used to shrink swelling of the thyroid gland (goiters). So even small amounts of iodine absorbed through the skin can have good effects on body organs. From my own clinical experience, repeated application of iodine (Lugol's) to the skin appears to cause regeneration of the skin from the bottom up (Quiescent, stable or stem cell) (3) eventually sloughing the old version of the skin off like a snake molting. If there was a pre-cancerous lesion on the old skin, it is replaced with new skin minus the lesion. There does not seem to be any skin lesions which are not helped or cured by this procedure. In some cases I found clinically obvious low thyroid conditions also needed to be treated to be more effective. Minor lacerations and healing of surgical wounds respond well. If skin regeneration is from the bottom, then there is little or no scar formation.

My parents' generation tended to put tincture of iodine onto a fresh wound to prevent infection. This turns out to be helpful but not the best way to use it. Besides it stung badly when applied. It is much more effective (and doesn't hurt) to apply iodine repeatedly after a scab has been formed. The iodine put onto the scab helps to organize total repair of the tissue. It is implied a similar approach could be taken to burns of all depths but at the same time the physiology of burns suggest there is an acute lack of thyroid hormone. (3)

All pre-malignant lesions and many other oddities of the skin appear to respond to this regeneration process triggered by topical iodine. I have mentioned previously a patient with a biopsy-proven breast cancer lesion (she refused surgery because of previous cancer treatment) that was strongly fixed to the skin responding well to topical iodine and ended up being a dimple on the breast three year later. (6)

It is my belief a water solution of iodine (like Lugol's) is an important therapeutic agent for skin. Because of its effectiveness and the results, perhaps many skin diseases are related to local tissue areas of relative iodine deficiency. Perhaps the most graphic lesions are the "keloid" (worm) incision scars formed after surgical procedures. If the iodine intake and tissue levels are adequate, such as in Japan, keloid formation doesn't happen (7). In addition, iodine's ability to trigger natural cell death (apoptosis) (5) makes it effective against all pre-cancerous skin lesions and likely many cancerous lesions. The local site is replaced with normal skin. However, even lesser doses of topical iodine seem to reverse the ominous appearance of skin lesions. Because my older brother died of metastatic melanoma, my chances of getting a malignant melanoma are increased by 400 times. (8-9) Having grown up in Venezuela near the equator my sun exposure at a young age was far above normal. So all suspicious lesions I notice are returned to normal with topical Lugol's."
Extract from About.com

Just to clarify some thoughts here -- iodine painting IS useful in my opinion when painted over the skin on the neck of the thyroid. This is because the thyroid only needs MICROgrams of iodine/iodide. However, in my opinion, since research evidence from Dr Abraham's Iodine Project has confirmed that the rest of the body's needs amount to at least 12.5 mgs as a maintenance dose -- an amount that is 100 times more than the RDA of 0.125 mgms, then foot-painting is not a good method to achieve the whole body's need for iodine.

In answer to all those asking how you can check your own iodine levels -- the best way seems to be by temperature using a Basal Thermometer. These are more accurate than electronic thermometers. When you first wake in the morning, put this thermometer in an armpit and hold it there with your arm and stay in bed for about 10 minutes. Then check your temperature -- if it is between 97.8 and 98.2 degrees, you probably don't need any extra iodine, because iodine is an essential part of the mechanism for body temperature regulation. If the temperature is lower or higher than this temperature zone, then you might need more iodine or less iodine respectively.

I have experienced so many benifits that I will always take my iodine

For the last three weeks I've been putting liquid iodine on 2 knuckles where I have very thick skin (no idea why). I read a lot of feedback from people using iodine on skin problems, so I thought I'd give it a try it, since I had liquid iodine in the house.

Almost immediately I saw a change. The skin, which was very rough, is now softer, almost like my other knuckles, and the skin isn't nearly as thick. One is almost normal.

I also started applying iodine about a week ago to a mini-mole on my face, and it is reduced in size.

One of the most interesting things is the change in my breasts. When I had mammograms done in the past, I was told that my breasts were dense. Now, although I didn't apply any iodine directly to the breast, they no longer feel lumpy.

Yet another thing I noticed was that I felt much less eye strain from the day I started using iodine on my hands, but it seems to be helping my eyes less than it did at the beginning.

The one thing I haven't had success with is in applying iodine on liver spots. I've been applying a few times a day to the biggest spot and so far no change, but I'll keep trying for a while.

This is a cheap and easy, harmless therapy. It's really worth trying to see if it does you any good.

After becoming very ill by the end of 2007 due to Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease), and finally self-diagnosing and spending a painful 2 grand to wring some meds out of appallingly ignorant and uncaring doctors (a rant for another time!), I've spent the last year or so greatly changing my diet, starting Levoxyl, taking supplements and researching like mad, trying this and that. I did improve some, but it's not been nearly enough to get me back to normal...until the Atomidine. I've hardly had the chance to haunt EC like I normally do because I'm off and out getting so much done! Not only do I have more energy, I have MOTIVATION (that's been a very elusive thing!). I do still have 'down' time but it's not anywhere near like it was before starting the Atomidine. I am so very grateful to God for this miracle and I hope it continues on.

I've had swollen glands in my neck for years, and they are mostly gone now. I've also been putting Atomidine on a suspicious mole on my arm that I was supposed to get removed long ago (I chickened out!). It's flaked over twice now (pain-free), yet the skin around it is fine, like the Atomidine is affecting only the suspicious spot. I'll report back with any more changes on that; I do expect it'll take some time if it's really going to get rid of it.

This has been my own experience so far with Atomidine. As always, research for yourself before trying anything.

I'm hoping to see some more discussion on the various types of iodine, and also hoping someone else has experience of Atomidine and can advise if I should continue taking it as I have been (single drop most days, with days off here and there) or should I be changing something. I'm afraid I'll somehow cause its effectiveness to fade...and I can't bear to go back to the way things had been! I don't usually take it on the days that I take my tiny dose of Levoxyl (I only take half of a low-dose pill every few days now).

On a side note re: the Hashimoto's, I've been taking chlorella on and off after seeing someone here post that their antibodies disappeared after taking that for awhile. I'm going to try to take it more consistently. I hope to have the funds to retest in a few months and see where my antibodies stand after these measures - and I'll report that here too :)

Iodine % Strength to mgs Conversion Table

It is very important to understand these conversions and also important to take the correct dosage of lugol's Iodine in mgs as recommended. Most Lugol's Iodine sold in America today is 2% strength or less -- which therefore means that you will have to take over double the number of drops (of 2% LI) because most of the older LI remedies assume that people still use the 5% strength Lugols.

As an example, if you are taking say 8 drops or a 50 mg daily dose of 5% Lugols Iodine per day -- this will translate to you taking 20 drops of 2% Lugols iodine for the same daily 50 mgs dose as the 8 drops of 5% LI.

Also, 7% Lugol's Iodine is much more effective on external melanomas and warts than LI of lower percentage strength.