I take a 12.5 mg tablet of Iodoral once or twice a week just as a boost because my thyroid medication (both T3 and T4) is pretty well under controle. I've been tempted a few times to try and get off medication altogether by taking Lugols or Iodoral but as long as I'm doing well I can't see why. I get my T4 and slow release T3 from a compounding pharmacy with a prescription from my naturopathic physician. I always have and still do use a lot of iodized salt in my cooking and still ended up hypothyroid, as did all of my 5 sisters and brothers. A niece was leaning strongly toward mental illness by the time she was 14 or 15 years old, only to find out it was caused by hypothyroidism and with proper medication became a totally different, kind and sweet person almost overnight.
I copied a few links from the old forum that I found interesting, although you were also on those threads back in 2005, so may already have these.
I take one iodoral daily.. but might switch to lugols when I run out of the iodoral. Just make sure you have a multivitamin with selenium. The 2 work together.
The interaction of dietary selenium and iodine on the activities of the selenoenzymes, selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and type I deiodinase (DI-I), and the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) were studied. Male weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were fed an AIN-93G diet for 6 wk with modified selenium and iodine concentration as follows: three levels each of iodine and selenium (0.03, 0.2 added and 1.0 added mg iodine/kg diet, and 0.05, 0.18 added and 1.0 added mg selenium/kg diet) were used in a 3 x 3 factorial design.
Renal, but not hepatic, DI-I activity was lower in rats with low selenium intake than in controls. Circulating T3 concentration was not affected by the dietary levels of iodine or selenium. Unlike in liver, kidney and erythrocytes, thyroidal GSH-Px activity was not lower than in controls in rats with low selenium intake, but was significantly higher when iodine intake was low.
Significant interactions of iodine and selenium on serum T4 and thyroidal GSH-Px activity were observed. Serum T4 was maintained at control levels when both dietary iodine and selenium were low, but not when iodine alone, or selenium alone, was low. Activity of thyroidal GSH-Px was lowest in rats fed a diet containing high iodine and low selenium.
The results suggest that high iodine intake, when selenium is deficient, may permit thyroid tissue damage as a result of low thyroidal GSH-Px activity during thyroid stimulation. A moderately low seleniu
My understanding is that selenium really is necessary and helpful to iodine therapy; however, it should be taken about 2 hours away from iodine. The same for vitamin C and other antioxidants; but especially vitamin C. Selenium is a very powerful antioxidant.
There are lab studies showing that vitamin C does change iodine to iodide. That was done in university labs to provide example of electron donor activity, I believe. Iodide is good for you; but in some cases, you may want to utilize the effects of iodine.
For 5 months, in 2007, I was practicing orthoiodosupplementation; using more than 100mg daily. Today, I use perhaps 12.4 mg twice a week for maintenance. It seems like I keep retoxifying myself; even when I use mild forms of detoxification. Things don't move through my system very well or very quickly.
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- Jim
"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein
I take Liqui-Kelp daily iodine liquid drops. 4 drops = .25 ml or 150 mcg of iodine. I take this 3x day, and in 2 mos. the iodine tincture test has gone from 30 minutes to absorbtion to 8 hours. My endo did NOT want me on it as she says thyroid cancer patients should not take iodine, but when I did it anyway, I got a bunch of energy any my achy premenopausal signs went away in my breasts. She's adjusted my Synthroid once and is looking to do it again in a couple of weeks as initially I was TSH 4 toxic, and a month ago the reading was still 'hyper' high. As I no longer eat meat I also went on an l carnitine supplement, 1000 mg. 3x day, and coconut oil, 3 tbls. a day. I feel and look like a new person.
I wonder about the warning about taking selenium and iodine together. They appear together in nature.. seaweed is a good example. When you consider that seaweed is one of the major sources of iodine for japan, you wonder how they assimilated it if the selenium in the seaweed canceled out the iodine?
I floated the idea the other night. You should have seen the look on my dear wife's face. It's as if I told her I was joining the army and heading off to Iraq.
This is going to be a tough sell, ST. I may need to employ hypnosis.
I wonder about the warning about taking selenium and iodine together. They appear together in nature.. seaweed is a good example. When you consider that seaweed is one of the major sources of iodine for japan, you wonder how they assimilated it if the selenium in the seaweed canceled out the iodine?
also fish.. usually have both iodine and selenium.
??
Yes, that's a good point. The whole iodine/antioxidant interaction is part of what's making me hesitant about using it regularly.
When I take it, I typically try to take it on an empty stomach - for the reason mentioned in your post and JFH's post. But, that's not always so easy to do. I already have other supplements that I try to take in-between meals. And, I'm hoping to avoid adding another supplement pit-stop to my day!
Bromine is in seaweed also; and bromine is what has caused so many thyroid problems in countries that have removed iodine, in bread making, and replaced it with bromine. When purchasing bread, I always look for the label saying "No Bromates".
In nature, healthy substances are mostly in balance. There are many minerals in seaweed that could make a therapy program fail. It does not mean that seaweed is bad. It just means that you won't get whatever you are looking for in an iodine therapy.
One main reason for iodine therapy is to make it displace bromine in the thyroid and other tissues. The thyroid does not know the difference between the two. So, inconveniently bromine has taken the place of iodine. The mission, of iodine therapy, is to give the body so much iodine that it will chelate these other halogens; and take its rightful place.
Yes, that's a good point. The whole iodine/antioxidant interaction is part of what's making me hesitant about using it regularly.
When I take it, I typically try to take it on an empty stomach - for the reason mentioned in your post and JFH's post. But, that's not always so easy to do. I already have other supplements that I try to take in-between meals. And, I'm hoping to avoid adding another supplement pit-stop to my day!
Is there a reason why you feel you must take it on an empty stomach Harry?
When I was taking iodine specifically for therapy, I would take it on an empty stomach; but felt that I could eat after about 30 minutes. I just wanted to make sure that I did not eat something with high content of vitamin C. Now that I only take it for maintenance, I will typically add it to food or drink; such as a drop (Lugol's) in a cup of coffee. I don't take it with tea; because tea has another halogen, fluoride. Iodine is OK with food. I wish that the bakers would add iodine back to bread. They beginning to do that in Australia.
Is there a reason why you feel you must take it on an empty stomach Harry?
When I was taking iodine specifically for therapy, I would take it on an empty stomach; but felt that I could eat after about 30 minutes. I just wanted to make sure that I did not eat something with high content of vitamin C. Now that I only take it for maintenance, I will typically add it to food or drink; such as a drop (Lugol's) in a cup of coffee. I don't take it with tea; because tea has another halogen, fluoride.
Hola, Jim.
Thanks for your contributions to this thread.
The reason that I try to take the iodine on an empty stomach is because I'm trying to avoid the interactions that you've mentioned.
I figure if I take it on an empty stomach ... it should be able to work without any interference. Perhaps that's too extreme of a position?
It is not extreme, if it makes you comfortable Harry. That's a big part of any therapy. Right? Attitude.
You are right to recognize the need to keep oxidants and antioxidants away from each other. Iodine is not so fragile. Ascorbic acid is powerful though. This is true with MMS therapy as well. Ascorbic acid can render that therapy useless. So vitamin C is the only nutrient that should be kept about 2 hours away from iodine. Others? I would say 1/2 hour. Depending upon what you are looking for with iodine, some have even been successful with "painting" it on their skin. However, to take the quantity that will help your thyroid, you probably need to take it internally. For help with fibrocystic breast disease and thyroid, one needs to have the iodine. For help with prostate, one needs the iodide. So, the best form is the Lugol's solution of iodine and potassium iodide. Then you can be assured that all body tissue will benefit. Iodoral is a tablet form of Lugol's solution.
Also, iodine-rich seaweed exhibits an anti-cancer effect in rats and in the lab on human breast cancer cells.
Quote:
Many Iodine Literate Doctors suggest selenium, vitamin C, and magnesium enhance the therapeutic value of iodine. Niacin was also recommended at the February 07 Iodine Conference.
I wonder about the warning about taking selenium and iodine together. They appear together in nature.. seaweed is a good example. When you consider that seaweed is one of the major sources of iodine for japan, you wonder how they assimilated it if the selenium in the seaweed canceled out the iodine?
also fish.. usually have both iodine and selenium.
??
Quote:
In scientific jargon, selenium has an unusually high "binding affinity" for mercury. In layman's terms, this means that when the two elements are found together, they tend to connect, forming a new substance. This makes it difficult for the human body to absorb the mercury separately. So when mercury "binds" to selenium, it's no longer free to "bind" to anything else -- like brain tissue.
I suppose the same is true with selenium in seaweed. You'll find traces of mercury there too.
I've read that selenium causes mercury to be rendered useless; so the mercury is neutral as it passes through the digestive system. I did not realize that the selenium is no longer usable by the body either. I guess it is better to take more selenium; so that there will be enough left for other functions in the body.
Quote:
The more recent selenium hypothesis holds that mercury takes a more active role in the relationship. Under this theory, when mercury enters the body it seeks out selenium and takes it out of circulation, preventing the body from creating enzymes that depend on selenium to perform their functions. Enzymes are special proteins that control the various steps in chemical reactions that make life possible. Without enough selenium-based enzymes, the functions of the brain and other organs can be affected.
Iodine Question
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