Many people today have problems with fatigue, obesity, brain fog, constipation, fibrocystic breasts, polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetes, heart disease and other symptoms that may reflect back to one specific nutritional deficiently.  You have heard me say time and time again about the mineral depletion of our soil and hence foods aren’t as nutritious as they were years ago.  In the early 1900’s, doctors had various simple tests that helped them determine basic nutritional deficiencies and looked at these foundational issues before having blood tests that dictated treatment with drugs instead of foods. Blood tests don’t always pick up on subtle deficiencies until they are causing major health issues. (Remember I mentioned last time about Beriberi, vitamin B deficiency, of the heart can be the underlying issue of heart disease).

Sometimes the big problem lies with pharmaceutical companies not being able to patent naturally occurring substances and therefore there is not as much of a public awareness of how simple supplements can help.  I am talking today about a very important element that used to be much more available in our foods and was even automatically in all our baked breads as a preservative to help maintain it in our diet. Every cell in our body needs this mineral with the majority of it being used in the thyroid to make its life needed hormones.  This association with the thyroid is very near and dear to my heart as I am a 10 year survivor of thyroid cancer.  The mineral I’m talking about is Iodine.  It has played a significant role in my life since my cancer and prior, but I didn’t realize it before.  I had a sluggish thyroid and undeclared hashimoto’s disease which can be sign of future thyroid cancer.  I wish I had known what I know today about the importance of Iodine.

The thyroid gland, which regulates so much within the body, is very important.  If I could go back in time and do anything over again physically, it would be to not remove my entire thyroid.  I was not into natural health at that time and went with what was recommended when I was diagnosed with cancer.  I have learned since then how to naturally supplement what I need.  Some of the things one would notice if their thyroid was depleted of iodine or stressed include hot flashes, cold hands/feet, depression, constipation (a major problem), thinning hair, morning headaches, thinning outside eyebrows, wide-spaced teeth, sluggishness, high cholesterol and even menstrual problems. 

Iodine is a trace mineral, a halide on the periodic table of elements along with fluorine, bromine and chlorine.  While Iodine is very important in our body, especially with the thyroid, the other 3 halides actually are antagonistic to iodine.  When iodine was taken out of our baked breads in the 1960’s, it was replaced by bromine.  Of course many are getting chlorine and fluorine through water, pools, hot tubs, toothpaste, mouth washes and even some beverages. Any of the other 3 halides are so similar in structure to iodine that they will actually bind to the iodine receptors on the thyroid gland, but are useless and then they prohibit the thyroid from getting the necessary iodine for proper functioning. 

Many people believe they can get the iodine needed in iodized salt, but in order to correct iodine deficiency, it would take 20 tsp. of salt to do that on a daily basis for 3-6 months.  Of course, no one would eat that much!  This misunderstanding keeps many people from even considering an iodine deficiency.  This may be the missing link for many people who are sick or just not feeling like themselves.  Iodine is only absorbed by some body parts, the stomach and salivary glands, when the deficiency has been fully satisfied to what they call the “saturation” level of iodine.   This takes time and lots of iodine.  Some may fear that, but it has been shown that the body will secrete 95% of the amount we take in, there are just only so many receptors available so it helps to flood the system to make more available while the food is passing through to reach the saturation point. 

Did you ever use iodine on a cut when you were a kid?  My dad loved it and that was the first thing reached for when there was any skin wound.  I hated it because it would turn my skin orange for a week until it eventually wore off.  Well, today, if we apply iodine topically to the skin, it would most likely absorb the iodine and use it within hours because most of us are so iodine deficient!  This says to me that the foods I ate as a kid had enough iodine in them that my body wasn’t deficient, but food has changed a lot since then, and I am exposed to other halides that I didn’t use to be and now am lacking this essential nutrient that virtually affects every cell in the body.  Stop in to Natural Options and we can do an Iodine Patch Test as part of our Thyroid function Evaluation for $15 to see if you might benefit from an Iodine supplement, or just try it and see!

There are many doctors who have done extensive research with iodine deficiency like Dr. Guy Abrahams, Dr. James Howenstein, and Dr. David Brownstein.  They have individually stated the importance of iodine in even preventing breast, thyroid and prostate cancer.  Having adequate foundational nutrition is so important to good health and wellness.  If this topic is of interest to you, check out your local health food store for more information or Google it online.  There’s also a great book Iodine: Why you need it, Why you can’t live without it.  Maybe iodine is your missing link to feeling better.  Can you see yourself in any of the lists above?  Spring is coming and I hope you have the energy to enjoy every minute of it!  We also do individual Nutritional Deficiency Screenings to help you on your way to wellness, call to make your appointment today!

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