Iodine deficiency is very common in America. We are told that 1 mg of iodine per day is the maximum anyone should intake (ref). But the healthiest people on earth intake much more Iodine than this per day!

http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/13/2/116.pdf


This could explain most of the subclinical hypothyroidism affecting 40% of the population and contributing to the obesity pandemic.

Should we all supplement with something like Iodoral ?

Patrick

I've been thinking about this lately myself, am going to try to include some sea veggies in the diet.

Good timing on this article, I bought a bunch of wakame and kombu a little while ago and I feel a million times better after eating it. My skin is clearer now and my eyebrows are bushier(?!) Also, this is pretty TMI so be warned, I have inverted nipples and they've made themselves less inverted. That kind of hurt.

I started getting a metallic taste in my mouth after a few days of pigging out though, this is apparently from the iodine pushing out bromine and other things. So I'm taking a lot of salt baths right now and eating a little less sea weed.

In my opinion, if you're not going to eat a lot of sea weed then yes, you should try out an iodine supplement. Just be prepared for some detox symptoms and take things very slowly.

I make wraps with nori (seaweed) I buy at Wal-Mart. Nori is used to make sushi rolls.

My dr has me on 25mg Ioderal. I read this on mary shommons website and it cooled my enthusiasm. I told my dr I would only take it a few times/week instead of daily. Once my pills are gone I won't buy anymore. If you don't have any thyroid problems I would skip Ioderal and just eat food sources of iodine.

Iodine Exposure/Intake
Use of iodine or herbal supplements containing iodine, in pill or liquid form, by people who are iodine sufficient increases the risk of autoimmune thyroid disease and hypothyroidism, and, less commonly, hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis.

Iodine Deficiency
Lack of sufficient iodine -– iodine deficiency -– increases the risk of hypothyroidism and goiter. Iodine deficiency is more common in developing nations, and countries where table salt is not iodized. In the U.S., iodine deficiency is seen mainly in people who restrict their salt intake, and in some people who live in areas –- usually mountainous or inland –- where there are lower iodine levels in soils and foods.

In the Eades new book they recommend taking the supplements because the sort in sea food isn't utilized well. They said they were eating all kinds of iodine rich things and were still low (according to the 24 hour iodine load test). So now they recommend Iodoral.

So where do we buy Iodoral?

I use Lugol's solution daily. Do a Google search you can find sources. Costs less than iodoral. Iodoral is Lugol's solution in tablet form. Lugol's solution is sold at pet stores, to keep fish tanks clean. Boy Scouts we used Lugol's solution to purify water. You can do the simple deficiency test by putting a circle of tincture of iodine on your arm (never drink). If you have adequate iodine, the spot should still be visible 24 hours later. If it disappears quickly, your body is absorbing the iodine quickly from shortage.

According to Dr Eades blog, you can get it on amazon.com.

Maybe it's as simple as getting off this 'salt is evil' kick. Salt is just fine, it is iodized after all.

Problem solved.

Dr William Davis has blogged several times recently on the subject of iodine deficiency: http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Iodine

His most recent post:

A question: if one had undiagnosed thyroid issues, and like the "Kurt" in Dr Davis' example, a slightly enlarged thyroid, would that enlargement create any problem swallowing? Make one feel as if their breathing was restricted a little? Or is the thyroid not in a location to do so?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_1...0&sprefix=lugol

That search link on amazon has a variety of lugol's and other forms and a couple books etc.

I've been reading on this lately. I do find myself a bit confused. I've seen the Ludol's recommendation. I've seen others who say don't INGEST iodine, merely put it on your skin. I read that taking kelp tablets was a natural form of iodine and I bought some of those (gosh they are nasty supplements, you can smell-taste them 10 feet away). I got a variety of more medicinal type supplements but in my slight paranoia have not yet taken any of them besides the herbal (eg kelp) ones yet.

I could have sworn that somewhere recently I found reference to a lab, with a website, that does thyroid panel testing based on dried blood spots, you could send off for it, a little similar to enterolab.com (that uses stool samples to test for reaction to grain and milk and other proteins). I can't seem to find the link now but that sounded like a useful alternative for people like me who don't have a regular doctor and don't want to have to try and beg a doctor to do even half the tests I want or it won't be covered by insurance.

Only table salt you buy at the grocery has to be iodized. Table salt at McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, only Burger King has iodized salt, as it costs slightly more. The slight amount of iodine you get from salt is not enough. Probably eating the Japanese level of iodine is best. There are women's breast cancer organizations who feel lack of iodine contributes to breast cancer, and they recommend iodoral tablets. Lugol's solution/iodoral tablets have the two forms of iodine, in optimum proportions. One is for the thyroid health, the other is for your glands - such as womens breasts, mens prostates. Japanese women do not have all the benign fatty growths and tumors in their breasts, which are common to American women.

In Michigan in the 1930's, something like one third of the adult population had goiters, which led to iodine being added to table salt, and to bread. Later, to save money, a cheaper process was used to bake commercial bread, and the requirement to add iodine was removed.

Raypeat.com has good articles on thyroid, iodine, salt.

Buy tincture of iodine at the pharmacy. Put a one inch circle on your arm. See how rapidly the circle vanishes. This is a measure of how deficient you are. Your thryoid is absorbing the iodine if your body is deficient.

You need to take Lugol's solution by drinking it, to absorb both forms of iodine. Do a google search on Lugol, and you can read how this 19th century physician solved many health problems of his patients.