Nutrition/Immunology 101. Sticky please. - Page 55

[JaneS]

IODINE

I've been on a little iodine research project lately. And I'm blown away yet again by how much a crucial mineral is devalued by conventional wisdom.

The physiologic dose of iodine is now thought to be a minimum of 12.5 mg.

That's in milligrams people. The RDA is 150-290 MICROgrams.

12.5 mg closely resembles the average intake of Japanese of 13.8 mg, a society with much less thyroid disorders and certain cancers as described below.

Iodized salt is not a good source. Real sea salt is good but not sufficient. Kelp is the seaweed highest in iodine and for example, you would need approx. 1 teaspoon a day of www.seaveg.com kelp to get 12.5 mg.

Both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can be caused by or greatly influenced by iodine deficiency. Iodine should be considered as a first step of any thyroid treatment plan.

If you are deficient in iodine, doses upwards of 50mg/day for several months are suggested. Testing can be done with loading dose and 24 hr urine collection. When most of the iodine is excreted (over 90%), this signifies that the body has sufficiently stored enough and then you can drop down depending on symptoms and history.

The thyroid and the breasts store the most iodine but there are also receptors in stomach (influencing stomach acidity), salivary glands, gastrointestinal tract, prostate, bones, connective tissues, etc. Women with larger breast need more. There is strong correlation with iodine deficiency and breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers.

The thyroid has "first pick" of dietary iodine, so the other body tissues can be the first to suffer in times of deficiency.

And like most nutrients, I'm discovering on this WAPF journey, it's likely that all of us are deficient, the severity only in part depending on our past eating habits. It's very hard to get what our body really needs without specifically planning for it, and you may need a whole lot more than optimal levels to "restock your body" if you are deficient.

I got Dr. Brownstein's book on iodine, but most of his info is on web. Brownstein, Abraham and Flechas are at the forefront of orthoiodosupplementation, the term for physiological doses of iodine.

http://iodine4health.com/ortho/ortho.htm
http://www.drbrownstein.com/
http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/opt_Research_I.shtml
http://www.helpmythyroid.com/

Guy Abraham developed Iodoral, a tablet form of traditional Lugol's solution.

**If you know anyone with breast cancer or has a strong possibility of developing it based on family history, Brownstein's iodine book is a must read. **

The other issues with high iodine supplementation is that if you have a selenium deficiency, that can aggravate the problem. One seems to need the other when it is increased.

Also iodine detoxs the toxic halogens (bromine, chlorine, fluoride, perchlorate, etc.) and also lead and mercury. Detox symptoms can appear with high iodine supplemenation. Vitamin C is one essential nutrient for neutralizing this, and C also enables the body's iodine receptors.

[caedmyn]

Anyone know whether this Atomidine http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails....&pid=6500&at=0 would be a good iodine supplement? I can't do seaweeds right now because of DD's food chemical intolerances (long story).

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

Anyone know whether this Atomidine http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails....&pid=6500&at=0 would be a good iodine supplement? I can't do seaweeds right now because of DD's food chemical intolerances (long story).

I don't know how good it is, but this is the one we have in our cupboard, DH bought it. I actually don't know why he bought, but I wish I had known he had it 5 weeks ago when I had to get an x-ray (I guess he forgot). He had me eat miso soup and seaweed instead.

[Pookietooth]

does miso soup have iodine in it too? or just the seaweed?

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by Pookietooth

does miso soup have iodine in it too? or just the seaweed?

I asked DH why miso and he said the people of Hiroshima that ate miso and seaweed were less damaged by the radiation, he didn't know what it was in the miso. He also said sea salt baths helps clear radiation.

[Panserbjorne]

I did the test last year...here are my results and it gives you an idea of numbers:

Dear Elisabeth,

I�m writing with the results of the iodine test that has been performed.



The �cut-off� value on the �spot� test is 0.149, set by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the minimum level needed to prevent hypothyroidism in women and developmental delay in their children. The �cut-off� value is still rather low, compared to the spot test results in societies like Japan whose values can apparently be 14-70 times this amount.

The normal value on the �loading test� is an excretion of 90% or more, which is the value found in people who have total body sufficiency of iodine.



Your �spot test� result was 0.027, well below the cut-off value

Your �loading test� result was 27%, meaning that you retained 73%, or 36 mg of the 50 mg loading dose. These results indicate severe iodine deficiency and well functioning mechanisms for the absorption and utilization of iodine.

With such a good uptake, however, you may flush accumulated bromide to the extent that you have it in your body and the cells give it up in the face of taking in the iodine. This may make the salt load procedure important for you to utilize.

In case you aren�t familiar with the salt load, the following pertains:



1. Unrefined Sea salt, � - � tsp daily, on food. Unrefined sea salt should have an �off� color, indicating that it has not been bleached, nor had all the trace minerals refined out of it. Brands that are known to have good levels of trace minerals include Celtic sea salt and Himalayan Sea salt.
If, while taking Iodine, we suspect bromine toxicity (bad taste in mouth, acne-like eruptions, fatigue, irritability, difficulty concentrating or with memory, emotional instability, or depression), follow the following procedure (�salt load�):
1. Drink � tsp of unrefined sea salt in about � cup of warm water, and chase it with 16 ounces of pure water.
2. Repeat this in 45 minutes, and then once again, in order to start urinating. The chloride in the salt flushes the bromine into the urine, and if this relieves the symptoms, then we are most probably dealing with bromine toxicity. Report the results to me. I may adjust the iodine dose.

If these results are abnormal, and together we decide to supplement iodine to achieve sufficiency of iodine in the body, we need to make sure that you do not have any abnormal growths in the thyroid gland that could be cancerous, or which could incorporate iodine and generate excess thyroid hormone (so-called �toxic adenoma.�) The most accurate way to do this is to perform an ultrasound of the thyroid gland. If this has been done in the past and showed a cystic or nodular goiter, then we may have to do another test to assess any subsequent changes. Please call Donna to set this up. The types of thyroid problems that are being screened for here are more common (though still infrequent) in the presence of iodine deficiency.



More information on iodine deficiency can be found at www.optimox.com, by following the link to iodine research. This is a technical site, but publications #9 and #10 are more oriented to the general public.

[Panserbjorne]

I did my test last year and have been supplementing since. The interesting thing is that if I miss taking it for a couple of days I have a MUCH shorter fuse. IT clearly impacts many aspects of my health.

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by firefaery

I did my test last year and have been supplementing since. The interesting thing is that if I miss taking it for a couple of days I have a MUCH shorter fuse. IT clearly impacts many aspects of my health.

Thank you to everyone who has posted about this. I have a somewhat alternative doc who is treating me for Hashimotos Thyroiditis and adrenal fatigue. I am not sure we have talked about iodine. I will bring this up next time. It is all so complicated! I have a very short fuse and maybe this will help. I know that is a symptom of many things but I need to look at this too since I have low thyroid.

[Pookietooth]

So, ff, what kind of supplement do you use?

[Panserbjorne]

I use Iodoral, 4 tablets per day.

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

Anyone know whether this Atomidine http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails....&pid=6500&at=0 would be a good iodine supplement? I can't do seaweeds right now because of DD's food chemical intolerances (long story).

The iodine is in the form of iodine trichloride. This iodine trichloride is manufactured from elemental iodine and pure chlorine gas. Therefore there is no potassium in it.

I would go with Lugol's which can be found at any compounding pharmacy. Lugol's has both iodine and potassium iodide.

Iodoral is Lugol's made into tablets. Lugol's can cause stomach irritation (i've been taking with milk or kefir and now that's improved for me). Lugol's is much much cheaper than Iodoral. And you don't have the risk of the Iodoral tablets not dissolving completely.

I'm working up to 50 mg. (or 8 drops of Lugol's) for a few months until testing. I'm at 5 drops now with no negative effect.

[wallacesmum]

Are you supplementing selenium, too?

[Panserbjorne]

I am. And magnesium, calcium, vitamin C, A & D.

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by Lady Lilya

I use a lot of both.

I am not really very worried about E at this time. It was long ago that I was looking for a supplement and couldn't find one without soy and other things that I avoid.



I can't get raw milk. We would have to rent a car. Not really feasible for a regularly consumed item that doesn't have a long shelf life.

I do have bone broths as a part of my regular diet.

I don't actually rely on supplements. In fact, I very rarely take them at all. Most of the time I forget. I only want to take them as more of an "in case."

The only thing I feel right now that I am not getting as much of as I think I should is Vitamin A. (At the time of my earlier post months ago, I was also concerned about D, but now that the weather is decent I can go outside in the sun.) I haven't been worried about it too much, though.

I used the CLO a few times, but since the second trimester, whatever I eat I get a bit of indigestion, and I wasn't liking tasting it for so long afterwards. I even chased it with strong-flavored things in an attempt to override the CLO's flavor, but it was still the CLO I was tasting for a while. If I was really worried about a major deficiency, I would probably make myself do it anyway, but it really doesn't seem that critical to me. Most of the symptoms I have that I feel come from A shortage are more annoyances than anything -- not dangerous -- like tired-feeling eyes and keratosis pilaris.



I live in NYC. There is plenty of sun. I have been getting plenty the last few weeks, so I am not worried. But, I don't think I stored up much last warm season, because I was stuck working indoors a lot, and I didn't make effort to have outdoor leisure activities. I figure at this point, I have a lot of storing up to do.

I had meant to respond to this. I hear what you are saying, but understand your symptoms of vitamin A deficiency which are annoyances are still your body's way of telling you that you ARE deficient. Vitamin A is SO CRITICAL to the fetus' development. I really feel strongly that you should be forcing that CLO down. The baby is only getting what you have to give. IF you don't have enough neither will he/she. People are always talking about folic acid being the key to building a healthy baby-I actually think vitamin A is more critical.

[cortsmommy]

Does anyone have any ideas about supplements/diet to specifically help combat allergies and asthma? TIA

[Lady Lilya]

I have heard that the trick for pollen allergies is to eat local honey. Supposedly, your body gets accustomed to the compounds in the local pollen via the honey, and then stops overreacting to it when you inhale it.

[southernmommie]

Wow. What a LONG thread! It took me about a week to read through it all including the links! I have many questions but still processing all this wonderful information first. I am so glad that you ladies have taken the time to research this and post on here. I have learned so much this past week! Now I'm off to clean parts of my house now!

[southernmommie]

I am printing this thread out so I can go along and highlight the parts that I need. It's gonna print 28 pages! Not including the links that I will print out too.