| Chart of Iodine Health Benefits | ||
|---|---|---|
Antioxidant |
| |
| Atrial Fibrillation / Arrhythmia | Iodine against cardiovascular disease (CVD) | |
| Cancer | Especially beneficial in high iodine-content organs. i.e. thyroid gland, breasts, ovaries, uterus, prostate, lung; | |
| Carbohydrate absorption | ||
| Carotene → Vitamin A | Aids in conversion of carotene to vitamin A | |
| Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) | Iodine reduces oxidative damage via its antioxidant role – Oxidative damage to weak arterial walls leads to excess clotting, atherosclerosis, high cholesterol; | |
| Cysts | Breasts, thyroid, ovaries and skin; fibrocystic breasts | |
| Detox. | Metals | Removes Metals. Dr. Abraham has shown that ortho-iodosupplementation promotes excretion, significantly over-baseline, of toxic metals such as cadmium, lead, mercury and to a lesser extent aluminum. Heavy metals are showing up in our air, food and water in greater concentrations than ever before -consequential to industrial and agricultural pollution, leaking dental fillings, road dust from cadmium-hardened tires, immunizations, tobacco, and decaffeinated tea & coffee products, etc. Excessive heavy metal presence can increase oxidative damage in the body. |
| Halogens | Removes halogens: fluorine, chlorine and bromine. Dr. Abraham and Dr. Jonathan V. Wright, M.D.(Nutrition and Healing, May 2005)have shown that high-dose iodine supplementation increases urinary excretion of fluoride and bromide, decreasing the iodine-inhibiting effects of these halides. | |
| Stomach bacteria | Protects against abnormal growth of bacteria in the stomach (H. Pylori) | |
| Food poisoning | Eliminates microbial infection | |
| Chemicals | Detoxifies chemicals | |
| Venom | Detoxifies snake/spider venom, etc. | |
| Allergens | Coats incoming allergic proteins to make them non-allergic | |
| Anti-microbial | Anti-infective; Disinfectant (drinking water, swimming pool); Disinfects blood (via thyroid). It takes about 18 minutes for all the blood in the body to pass through the thyroid gland to be mildly disinfected. | |
| Diabetes(Type 2) | Iodine Improves INSULIN Resistant Diabetes. Iodine’s ability to revive hormonal sensitivity back to normal significantly improves INSULIN sensitivity and other hormones. Iodine attaches to INSULIN receptors and improves glucose metabolism. Dr. Flechas has recently shown that patients with INSULIN resistant diabetes have a partial to full remission of their illness by taking iodine, and usually need less INSULIN. | |
| Energy Levels /Mental Clarity | Iodine increases Energy Levels/Mental Clarity. Most patients on a daily intake ranging from 12.5 mg to 50 mg elemental iodine have reported higher energy levels and greater mental clarity.”Iodine is essential for the development of the central nervous system; | |
| Expectorant | Expectorant for asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Most patients have received Iodine/Iodide (up to 2g per day) for prolonged periods of time; | |
| Glaucoma | Lack of iodine may be involved in glaucoma – Iodine is found in large quantities in the ciliary body of the eye | |
| Goiter | High dose iodine prevents thyroid’s release of thyroid hormones. | |
| Grave’s Disease | High dose iodine prevents thyroid’s release of thyroid hormones. | |
| Hair loss(alopecia) | Alopecia areata is when bald spots occur all of a sudden on your scalp. There have been reports of regrowth of hair by dabbing Lugol’s on bald spots or thinning areas once/day for 1-2 weeks. After a while, a crust will form. Within 6 to 12 weeks fine hairs will start to grow beneath the crust. Some people have used iodine as a means of preventing baldness. Used as a rinse after washing hair. Staining. When iodine/iodide solution is applied to skin, it can impart a faint to moderate orange-brown color, which fades away once no longer being applied. Iodine is also sold in “decolorized” form to avoid the staining. | |
| Hormone imbalance | ||
| Hypothyroidism /Hyperthyroidism | See Thyroid disorders below | |
| Immune deficiency syndrome | ||
| Irregular moods | ||
| Lipid oxidationprotection | Iodine keeps body fats from getting oxidized. Most important function, especially in cell membranes. | |
| Menstrual breast pain | ||
| Migraine | ||
| Osteoporosis | Radioactive iodine injected into patients shows a full outline of the bones on a total body scan i.e. iodine goes immediately to the bones. Together, thyroid hormone, iodine and growth hormone makes bones grow, mature and remodel when necessary, thereby maintaining a healthy bone structure. Vertebrates (animals with backbones) are the only animals with thyroid glands, thus it makes sense that iodine and thyroid control bone structure and function. Fluoride has been used against osteoporosis with beneficial results, but is simply replacing what iodine should be doing. | |
| Parkinson’s Disease | Lack of iodine may be involved | |
| Protein utilization | Testing has always shown an iodine deficient person to be unable to utilize their proteins properly. An iodine deficient person will remain protein deficient. It would make sense that anyone on a high protein diet would need more iodine than someone on a lower protein diet. It is interesting to note that the highest food source of iodine is seaweed, which is also high in protein. | |
| Radioactive fall-outprotection | Radioactive isotopes of iodine (same #protons, different #neurons i.e. different atomic mass) are produced by nuclear fission. A large release of these (such as in the Chernobyl accident) can be countered by saturating the thyroid’s iodine uptake with an excessive amount of non-radioactive elemental iodine (e.g. as potassium iodide tablets) to eliminate radioactive molecules more rapidly. Following the Chernobylnuclear reactor disaster in April 1986, Lugol’s iodine was given to 10.5 million children and 7 million adults in Poland, as a remedy to the possible accumulation of radioactive iodine-131 in the thyroid.A protective mechanism in the thyroid gland limits uptake of peripheral iodide to a maximum 0.6 mg /day when > 50 mg elemental iodine is ingested, so therefore 50 mg would serve as a protective measure against radioactive fallout. | |
| Ribonucleic acids → protein | Conversion of ribonucleic acids to protein | |
| Sebaceous cysts | Iodine “Dissolves” fatty /oily material in sebaceous cysts. “Sebaceous cysts” are cysts which contain oily, fatty material. They usually appear rather suddenly on the face or in the groin or labia. Rubbing in potassium iodide (SSKI) mixed 50-50 with DMSO will almost always persuade these cysts to go away in a week or two; it appears that the iodide “dissolves” the fatty, oily material contained in the cysts, allowing your body to slowly re-absorb and dispose of it. | |
| Skin | Lesions /Skin tags etc | Iodine applied to pre-cancerous lesions, brown pigmented areas, skin tags etc. heals from the bottom up. A lesion is replaced with new skin and other malformations are cleared up . Iodine’s ability to cause natural cell death (apoptosis) makes it likely that it would work against cancerous lesions too. |
| Cosmetic | Iodine improves skin condition. 7% of all Iodine in the human body is stored in the skin, specifically in the sweat glands. A lack of iodine in the sweat glands manifests as dry skin and a decreased ability to sweat when hot.After iodine therapy, Bruce West, DC, noticed that older women were becoming more youthful, less depressed, stronger, and more energetic. Dr. Abraham, a former professor of ob/gyn endocrinology at UCLA, considered the premiere thyroidologist in the country, also expressed in a conversation with West, that “in our experience older women (especially over 65) noticed a major difference both physically and mentally. “We placed an 83-year-old woman on orthoiodo supplementation [iodine therapy] for six months at 50 mgs of elemental iodine daily.She experienced a tremendous increase in energy, endurance, well being, and memory.At six months all her skin peeled off and was replaced by new, younger-looking skin. She was flabbergasted and amazed at her new appearance.”- Guy Abraham, MD, Endocrinologist | |
| Healing/prevent Scarring/keloids | Application of iodine (Lugol’s) to the skin seems to regenerate skin from the bottom (where the stem cells responsible for making normal cells reside) up. Eventually sloughing off the old skin. This type of healing leaves little to no scarring. Be aware that iodine stings royally on an open wound! It is more effective at organizing repair and doesn’t sting if applied after scab has formed. Prevents “keloid” (worm) incision scars formed after surgical procedures. Keloids do not form with adequate iodine intake and tissue levels, such as in Japan.Updegraff,H.L. Reconstructive surgery and old facial burns. JAMA 101:1138-1140, 1933. page 1139 | |
| Stomach Acid Production (Deficiency => Stomach and Duodenal ulcers, GERD) | Iodine is necessary to produce stomach acid. The stomach lining actively transports a lot of iodine into the stomach cavity, where it is used by the stomach’s parietal cells to concentrate chloride, necessary to produce hydrochloric acid. The lack of iodine in the stomach manifests as achlorhydria (lack of digestive acid production). The prolonged presence of achlorhydria creates a much higher incidence of stomach cancer, peptic ulcers and GERD. The body doesn’t “feed” adequate amounts of iodine to the stomach until about 100 times that needed by the thyroid is present in the body, which for most people is never the case. | |
| Stress | Extra iodine needed under stress. The thyroid converts iodine to the hormones T4 /T3, needed for cellular metabolism. However, stress activated hormones like CORTISOL and EPINEPHRINE (adrenaline) can divert the conversion of these hormones into inactive forms that do not activate metabolism. To maintain a strong energy output, more iodine is needed to replace that used up by stress. | |
| Teeth | Iodine strengthens teeth. Ingested fluoride takes the place of iodine that should be there in the teeth, especially growing teeth. Iodine, thyroid and growth hormone, have control of tooth growth. The benefits of green tea may be in its providing fluorine, which is actually just substituting for what iodine should be doing. | |
| Thyroiditis | See Thyroid disorders below | |
| Thyroid Disorders | Thyroid hormone Production requires iodine. An insufficiency of iodine can lead to: HYPOthyroidism; HYPERthyroidism; Thyroiditis; Iodine against Thyroid disorders Metabolic functions of the cell : | |
| Toxic Metal Overload | Fluoride/bromide contamination | |
