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Iodine protects the thyroid gland from radiation damage
But not all the iodine available is the same.

by Robert Redfern, your personal health coach.

You may have heard about Iodine from the media reporting on Japan's nuclear catastrophe and the fear that winds or rain could spread radiation around the world as happened in the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. I remember this well as we were living on North Wales in the UK at the time, where so much radioactive rain fell that the sheep became radioactive.

There has been a panic rush to purchase potassium iodide (a compound of potassium and Iodine, the sort found in junk salt), which has traditionally been recommended by scientists to protect your glandular system from radiation poisoning.

The Japanese and other South East Asian governments are handing out this supplement in huge quantities to the survivors and to other citizens at risk. In an ideal world we would be getting Organic Iodine in our foods rather than taking potassium iodide (a synthetic form).

Here at Naturally Healthy Publications, we've received many requests from people wanting to know where they can find available supplies of Iodine.

At present Nascent Iodine (the nearest form of iodine closest to Organic Iodine) is the iodine supplement my whole family use everyday to stay healthy and radiation sickness is the last thing on our minds. You need this everyday just for good health.

What is iodine?

Iodine is a basic element or mineral that doctors realized over 100 years ago was critical to human health.

We now know we cannot live without it and deficiency is a contributory factor in many disease. They also realized that it is a rare mineral (47th in abundance) and it was missing in the average diet due to shortages in the soil and industrialized farming methods and it has only got worse in the junk industrialized food culture.

The form of iodine we should be ingesting should be Organic Iodine which is only available in the diet through seaweed like kelp and some seafoods.

Unfortunately table salt was chosen as the method to supplement iodine in the population but they chose potassium iodide to add to sodium to make table salt as they did not fully understand organic iodine and its colloidal properties.

I do not fully understand why they take out all of the other 65 minerals from the sea salt which would have saved countless lives.

How is organic iodine different than iodine?

The mineral, iodine is highly poisonous as basic element and it takes only three grains to kill you.

When a plant absorbs iodine (or any minerals) from the soil or mineral it converts it to an non-toxic organic form (or better described as colloidal form).

Organic (colloidal) Mineral research became popular in the 1930's and a leading researcher, Dr Watson demonstrated drinking a glass full of colloidal iodine to show its safety.

As no land based food containing iodine can easily be identified (even organic foods), there is only seaweed and seafoods in high quantities containing organic iodine.

The closest you can get (and what my family take) to Organic Iodine is the product Nascent Iodine

Why boost my organic iodine levels to protect against radiation? If your body does not get enough of any mineral and in this case iodine then your body may take in the next (available) mineral on the periodic table.

Radioactivity contains radioactive iodine and therefore anyone deficient in iodine is at risk of absorbing this radioactive iodine which will end up all over the body in all of the places where iodine is used and especially the thyroid.

Radioactive Iodine has a life of 15 million years and so supplementation is essential throughout the lives of anyone exposed to radioactivity.

Therefore the important thing is to get iodine into your body in a safe supplement form. This does not have to be "potassium iodide" if there is a safer supplement is available. It can also be in the form of Nascent Iodine, which is a high-quality iodine supplement that has been available in the natural product marketplace for several years.

(Do NOT drink topical antiseptic iodine products as they may be toxic).

To protect against radioactive contamination take 10-drops of Nascent Iodine 4 times per day.

What is iodine used for in the body normally?

Symptoms of iodine deficiency include:

Muscle cramps,
Cold hands and feet,
Proneness to weight gain,
Poor memory,
Constipation,
Depression and headaches,
Edema,
Myalgia,
Weakness,
Dry skin and brittle nails,
Selenium deficiency - Iodine is essential for utilization of selenium,
Fluoride poisoning - If iodine not in the diet then fluoride will be absorbed.

Iodine deficiency has been linked to:

Hypothyroid
Breast and other Cancers
Fatigue
Fibrocystic Breasts
Graves Disease
Hashimotos's Disease
Immune dysfunction
ADHD
Mental Retardation - The prime cause is iodine deficiency.

It is also essential as a co-factor for the proper use of another critical trace mineral called selenium which is also no longer in the food chain and needs supplementation.

Do I need take iodine supplements daily?

The simple answer is yes. It is highly likely that everyone, including and especially children, need to take an iodine supplement. Doctors insisted on governments ensuring iodine supplementation over 100 years ago for every member of the public which is why potassium iodide was added to sodium to make table salt.

Now doctors are aware of just how bad table salt (inc. the junk salt added to processed foods) is and are quite rightly telling their patients to STOP consuming this junk table salt.

Even the best, sea-salt, rock salt and the latest craze, Himalayan Rock salt, do not have sufficient organic iodine to ensure good health.

Seaweeds and sea food may have enough but you would need to check and make sure you were eating the correct levels.

Will taking iodine interfere with the drugs I am taking for my thyroid?

It is highly likely that those taking an iodine supplement or eating high levels of certain seafoods may need to lower the use of thyroid drugs.

They therefore need to seek advice on how to measure the suitability of these drugs.

Sources for Iodine

Nascent Iodine - in a dropper bottle that enable precise measuring of the dose and especially for children.

Seaweed (kelp and Kombu) up to one oz daily for normal supplementation and normally and up to 3 ounces in emergencies, dried Variable; may be greater than 18,000 mcg (18 mg) per ounce.

Potassium Iodide supplements from your health store or multi-Vit formulas containing it.

Remember: Iodine is a mineral that is critical to your families good health and is not normally in todays diet.