I am not promoting isolated iodine. It's much safer taken along with all the other trace minerals in
kelp. However, this is an excellent article on how iodine in the thyroid keeps the rest of the body
in a healthier state. Also how easily it can be disrupted by commom household products. Edith
http://www.health-science-spirit.com/iodine.html The Thyroid, Iodine & Disease Prevention
The role of the thyroid gland has been understood for some time now. Although conventional medicine places emphasis on its contribution to regulating the body's metabolism, an equally important role is its contribution to the immunological health of the body.
This organ's thyroid cells are the only ones in the body capable of absorbing iodine, an important mineral nutrient and potent germ killer - (though 80% of the less than 25 mg. of iodine in the body is found elswhere, primarily in muscle and bone, extracellularly - the thyroid has a concentration of iodine that is over 1,000 times greater than that found in muscle tissue.) In terms of immunology, the thyroid gland acts as a gatekeeper: every 17 minutes all the blood in the body passes through the thyroid, where this gland's secretion of iodine kills germs that have come into the body (through absorption of food in the digestive tract, skin injury, respiratory intake, etc.) Pathogenic micro-organisms, the primary causative agent for disease in the body, are made weaker during their passage through the thyroid gland. With each "17 minute passage" they are made still weaker until most are killed, provided the thyroid has its normal supply of iodine.
We know from clinical study that few people have anywhere near enough iodine in their body for the thyroid to function optimally. Three disturbing trends initiated in the 20th century made this collective deficiency inevitable: (1) the introduction of chlorine - another halogen, like iodine - used in drinking water, pools, and as a ubiquitous cleaning agent in industry, etc. - which displaces iodine (see far left sidebar), (2) the alteration of the Western diet to reduce natural food sources of iodine, and (3) farming practices designed to increase crop yield which have lead to reduced iodine content in many foods. Aggravating this diminishing source issue is the fact that the body does not conserve iodine the way it does iron. We must receive a regular dietary or supplemental intake in order to maintain optimal health.
A History
of Lugol's
Lugol's Iodine (also called "Lugol's solution") was first developed by the French physician, Jean Lugol, in 1829. It is a transparent brown liquid consisting of 10 parts potassium iodide (KI) to 5 parts iodine to 85 parts of (distilled) water. It is an effective bactericide and fungicide and, in fact, was, for the better part of a century, a common antiseptic - (though it has laboratory uses separate and apart from any medical application). Lugol's and similar iodine solutions probably fell out of favor in the last half of the 20th century due to combination of economics and esthetics: first, it is so cheap to make that it cannot compare to "cleaner," value-added antiseptics with more marketing muscle; and secondly, it will stain clothes and will even temporarily stain skin when used topically to treat a wound. The internal applications of various iodine solutions have been published and discussed for well over a century.
Treating Candida Mycoplasia & The Aftermath of Antibiotic Usage
Many alternative physicians will use Lugol's for these conditions -- just 6 drops, 4 times daily (24 drops per day). (Read Dr. Orian Truss). Precautions: Lugol's, like bio-oxidative preparations, is oxidative. You should avoid taking anti-oxidant supplements (Vitamin A, C, E, selenium, glutithione, etc.) for the duration of your "higher-than-normal" usage of Lugol's. You should also follow high usage of iodine products with Microflora Restoration - or similar products to replenish vital intestinal flora.
he role of iodine in human nutrition is well-established - as are its deficiency diseases and the conditions to which its deficiency can contribute (i.e. goiter, cretinism, hypothyroidism, etc.) The amount of iodine necessary to void diagnosable deficiency is quite small. Below, for example, we provide the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance for iodine in mcg.'s.
Infants 40-50
Ages 1-3 70
Ages 4-6 90
Ages 7-10 120
Age 11 older 150
Pregnant women 175
Lactating women 200
Optimally, people would get all their iodine from dietary sources: soybeans, cauliflower, peanuts, cauliflower, etc. But much agricultural farmland is now iodine-deficient, leading to reduced levels of iodine in foods. Other areas, such as the Great Lakes region in the U.S., are naturally deficient in iodine -- a fact that lead to the massive goiter in the 1930's, when 40% of the people living in Michigan suffered from goiter. In 1924, iodine was first added to table salt as a preventative measure, and by 1940, the practice was in general consumer use. Using iodized salt has, no doubt, been effective: it contains about 76 mcg. of iodine per gram. The average person consumes at least 3 grams of iodized salt daily, exceeding the RDA for iodine by 150 mcg. However, iodized salt has many other drawbacks: it contains aluminum and processing chemical residues, its overuse creates the well-documented conditions associates with high sodium intake and sodium-potassium imbalance, etc.
With treated salt's convenient little addition to the Western diet - its integration accelerated by the explosive expansion of fast food outlets, at which table salt's cup doth overflow, one might think we have seen the last of iodine deficiency. Hardly.
Enter "halogen displacement" and the effects of chlorine intake on the body's small reserve of iodine. Table salt, by definition, is mostly "sodium chloride" (what chemists call a "halide" - or a halogen tied to a mineral, making it a "salt" of a halogen). Although bound to sodium, the use of table salt as a delivery vehicle for iodine ironically presents a situation where you ingest far more chlorine, which displaces iodine (as we will see in a moment) than you do the iodine itself.
You see, chlorine, which has been used extensively since 1904 to control microbes in public drinking water, belongs to the same class of elements as iodine: the "halogens" - or elements that are one step removed from the "inert elements" (or gases) because they have just one electron missing from their outer shell to make it inert (non-reactive). This makes them quite readily reactive.
The mechanism behind "halogen displacement" was probably best described by J.C. Jarvis, M.D. (Folk Medicine, Henry Holt & Co., 1958, HB, p. 136), who wrote: "The clinical activity of any one of these four halogens is in inverse proportion to its atomic weight. This means that any one of the four can displace the element with a higher atomic weight, but cannot displace an element with a lower atomic weight. For example, flourine can displace chlorine, bromine and iodine because flourine has a lower atomic weight than the other three. Similarly, chlorine can displace bromine and iodine because they both have a higher atomic weight. Likewise, bromine can displace iodine from the body because iodine has a higher atomic weight. But a reverse order is not possible. A knowledge of this well-known chemical law brings us to a consideration of the addition of chlorine to our drinking water as a purifying agent. We secure a drinking water that is harmful to the body not because of its harmful germ content but because the chlorine content now causes the body to lose the much-needed iodine..."
To counter the effects of iodine loss, Dr. Jarvis recommended various methods including: (1) 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; (2) Painting a small area of the body with tincture of iodine; and (3) taking preparations known to be rich in iodine, including cod liver oil, kelp tablets ...
But he was particularly keen on the power of Lugol's iodine, for treating various illnesses, including colds and flu, and for countering the effects of stress: "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."
Read directions thoroughly before use.
