Iodine: An Essential Nutrient and Holistic Option for Detoxing Heavy Metals and Halogens
Iodine is an essential nutrient. The body does not make iodine, so you have to consume it. The modern food supply is no longer a reliable source of iodine, and 95% of Americans are deficient in it.
There are iodine receptors in every cell of the body. Iodine stimulates the production of hormones, the body’s chemical messengers.
Because we live in an increasingly toxic world, iodine supplementation is crucial. Pharmaceuticals, food, water, and air contain high levels of heavy metals like mercury, lead, cadmium, and arsenic, and the halogens chlorine, fluorine, and bromine.
- Mercury is used in dental fillings, vaccines, and seafood.
- The city of Flint, Michigan poisoned its citizens by using lead pipes for the water system.
- Cadmium is found in some foods, cigarette smoke, and batteries.
- Arsenic is used to treat wood for building homes.
- Chlorine is added to swimming pools and municipal water supplies and is used to manufacture paper.
- Fluorine (in the form of fluoride) is used in dental treatments and added to water supplies.
- Bromine is found in commercially processed baked goods, sports drinks, jet fuel, and pesticides.
All of these elements compete for the iodine receptor sites in the body. Without enough iodine in the system, detrimental heavy metals and halogens inhibit the optimal production of hormones and disrupt enzymes.
Hormonal dysfunctions manifest as metabolic disorders and diseases such as:
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Hyper- and hypothyroidism
- Goiter
- Cystic conditions
With enough iodine in the system, hormone production and enzyme activity runs more efficiently and metabolism is optimized. Iodine preferentially binds to the iodine receptor sites in the body, and iodine supplementation immediately begins the excretion of halogens and heavy metals.
Iodine is fundamental to optimal health and can protect from environmental toxins.
Sources:
Lead-Laced Water In Flint: A Step-By-Step Look At The Makings Of A Crisis.
Bromines: Avoid This If You Want To Keep Your Thyroid Healthy.
Dr. Mark Sircus. Iodine: Bringing Back the Universal Medicine.
www.intothegardenofeden.com
This is important information that can actually SAVE YOUR LIFE!!! This is one supplement I don't do without! Thanks for raising the awareness of this essential nutrient.
Yes, it really can save your life and GREATLY improve health!
I LOVE IODINE!
It's like an invincibility force field. IT'S FASCINATING!!
Thank you for sharing this elemental wisdom!
I LOVE @gardenofeden!
WE LOVE IODINE TOO!!
Also the fact that Iodine has been scientifically proven to raise the I.Q levels of people as well. It used to be mandatory to supplement the food supply. Thanks big government for removing the Iodine and adding more heavy metals!
Yes, iodine is essential for proper brain development! It's really important for children to have enough, and pregnant and nursing mothers need more than anyone else.
Iodine was included in commercial baked goods like bread, but was removed in the 1980s and replaced with bromides, which are poisons especially when there isn't enough iodine in the body. Insidious!
I started taking iodine almost 2 weeks ago, and I can feel a huge improvement in my memory, focus, and overall well being. Great stuff!
It's a legit upgrade for sure!
Also curious about the following:
Great questions, @jamesc!
"Too much" iodine is dependent on the type of iodine in question. Iodine allergy is EXTREMELY rare, and if someone has an adverse reaction to something like a topical iodine disinfectant from a healthcare setting, it is likely the other elements causing it (as in iodine-povidone substances). There may be burn or rash.
GOE offers nascent iodine, which is the exact form the body wants. It is immediately absorbed and utilized with no energy loss. One will not overdose on this form, especially given that most people are deficient to begin with and will require a period of supplementation just to bring themselves up to par.
We offer nascent iodine that has 150 mcg per drop, the full RDA in the US. For comparison's sake, the Japanese consume an average of 5,000 mcg to 13,000 mcg per day because seafood (specifically, seaweed) is a foundation of their diet, to no ill effect. They have lower rates of obesity, cancer, diabetes, and other disease as well. (Note on seafood: you can get ~25 micrograms of iodine per 3 oz shrimp, so you would have to consume 18 oz of shrimp to get as much as is in 1 drop of nascent iodine from GOE, plus the ocean is super contaminated with mercury and radiation, etc. Unprocessed, uncooked seaweeds have much much higher concentrations, although most Americans aren't eating enough of this on a daily basis to meet their needs.)
Elemental iodine, however, is a toxic form that damages tissues on contact. Elemental iodine is not safe for consumption.
Overdosing on low quality forms of iodine (including iodates, radioactive iodine, and potassium iodide)comes from repeated exposure to HIGH concentrations. Symptoms can include GI damage and discomfort, fever, shortness of breath, vomiting, kidney failure, and confusion. Again, this is not an issue with nascent iodine but different forms.
Too little iodine is a health epidemic in the US--95% of Americans are deficient. Low iodine levels leave the body susceptible to heavy metal, halogen, and radiation poisoning. It also manifests as a host of disease and ailments, from brain fog, low energy, and infections, to thyroid disorders and goiter, to diabetes and cancers, to mental retardation in babies and children. (Iodine is absolutely vital for proper brain development, thus pregnant and nursing mothers need 3-4 times more iodine than men per day.)
A metallic taste can manifest when a person has too many heavy metals in the system, which can only happen if iodine levels are too low.
Great info! I was just thinking of doing a post on iodine. Specifically I was looking at ways to use it to purify water. My family is always aware of our iodine intake because it gets depleted quickly.
Iodine is a good way to purify water but only if you are using high quality iodine and only using as much as you need anyways.
If you want to purify water there are much cheaper ways like food grade hydrogen peroxide or or the BEST high quality colloidal silver.
I have heard of colloidal silver as a great way to supplement water, but not to purify. Thanks for the suggestion. I want to have a few options on hand 'just in case' (yes, I was raised by a survivalist lol). I did grab a LifeStraw, but I want something that also gets rid of viruses. And then there is the choice of boiling the water and adding minerals back into it.
High quality CS is the best aniviral on the planet!
http://www.intothegardenofeden.com/supplements.html
Awesome! The more people are aware of and supplement with iodine, the better the health of the entire community! Purifying water is another valuable use of this awesome element. Looking forward to reading your post about it!
Wow, I have never tried it yet, thank you! I will be picking some up for our family, it makes so much sense after I remember they make people take iodine after they have been exposed to radiation.
Great, we're so excited that this info reaches people who will benefit!
Yes, iodine has NUMEROUS benefits to the body. In this post, we are highlighting only one of its many incredible properties, but protection from radiation is another AWESOME ability of iodine!
There are actually several forms of iodine. The body most easily absorbs and uses NASCENT IODINE.
Radioactive iodine (I-131) is used in some western medicine procedures, and it is the form released after nuclear events. The thyroid does not differentiate between the nascent form your body needs and the radioactive form that is actually harmful--it will just soak up whatever is available in the environment.
Potassium iodide is often used after nuclear events to detox the body. It works, but you don't need that form, and the body has to work to break it down. Nascent iodine, however, is the "ready-to-go" version that is immediately useable. Having enough iodine in the body before radiation exposure is ideal.
There is much more to share about iodine, including how important it is for brain development in utero and through childhood!
Thanks for the additional information. Nascent iodine, got it! :) You explained it well. I'm looking forward to more of your posts.
You're welcome!