I have developed a love affair with iodine. It is so versatile as a mineral and in concentrated doses as found in high quality, Lugol’s solution it has potent anti-fungal, antibiotic, and antiviral properties. 100-200 years ago Lugol’s solution was used throughout the medical profession to treat a variety of problems, especially anything related to the thyroid. However, it is very cheap and very effective everything the pharmaceutical companies dread. What is iodine used for? Iodine is found in every cell in the body, this fact alone speaks for why everyone should be concerned with getting enough of this mineral. The prostrate, breasts, ovaries and thyroid all have a strong affinity for iodine. With its ability to induce apoptosis (cell death) Iodine performs the role of allowing sick cells the right of passage to death, without letting them hang around and cause unnecessary harm. This quality brings forth Iodine’s potential as a anti cancer mineral.

“Women with goiters (a visible, non-cancerous enlargement of the thyroid gland) owing to iodine deficiency have been found to have a three times greater incidence of breast cancer.
A high intake of iodine is associated with a low incidence breast cancer, and a low intake with a high incidence of breast cancer.”

~ Dr. Donald Miller Jr.

In a test studying 60 cancer patients, to see how much Iodine was retained in the body via urine samples, 100% of them where found to be deficient or severely deficient in Iodine. This study alone speaks volumes for how important it is to be consuming way more than the incredibly low set RDA for iodine. Which is just enough to prevent our thyroid glands from enlarging due to severe deficiency. Just like the incredibly low RDA for vitamin C (WHO sets 45mg/day) that is just enough to prevent scurvy! Compared to animals that synthesise the equivalent to humans of 2-5 grams a day, and up to 20 grams when under stress! One has to wonder why such low levels have been set for such things. It’s almost as if there is some conspiracy to keep people perpetually sick because then they are far easier to control. If you have a suspicion of such things, you can read about my stance on that here, for now, before things get too deep, let’s keep on Iodine.

“Iodine is a deadly enemy of single cell microorganisms thus it can be our best friend. Iodine was not available to these life forms at the beginning of evolution and it was not until seaweed concentrated it did it become involved in higher life forms. It is for this reason that the simplest level of life cannot tolerate iodine. Iodine kills single celled organisms by combining with the amino acids tyrosine or histidine when they are exposed to the extra-cellular environment. All single cells showing tyrosine on their outer cell membranes are killed instantly by a simple chemical reaction with iodine that denatures proteins. Nature and evolution have given us an important mechanism to control pathogenic life forms and we should use it and trust it to protect us in ways that antibiotics can’t. As we shall see directly below, so powerful is iodine in a protective sense that it also helps us rid the body, not only of harmful chemicals and heavy metals, but also rids the body of abnormal cells meaning it qualifies as an anticancer agent.

Elemental iodine is a potent germicide with a wide spectrum of activity and low toxicity to tissues. A solution containing 50 ppm iodine kills bacteria in 1 min and spores in 15 min. It is poorly soluble in water but readily dissolves in ethanol, which enhances its antibacterial activity. Iodine tincture contains 2% iodine and 2.4% sodium iodide (NaI) dissolved in 50% ethanol; it is used as a skin disinfectant. Strong iodine tincture contains 7% iodine and 5% potassium iodide (KI) dissolved in 95% ethanol; it is more potent but also more irritating than tincture of iodine. Iodine solution contains 2% iodine and 2.4% NaI dissolved in aqueous solution; it is used as a nonirritant antiseptic on wounds and abrasions. Strong iodine solution (Lugol’s solution) contains 5% iodine and 10% KI in aqueous solution. Iodophores (eg, povidone-iodine) are water-soluble combinations of iodine with detergents, wetting agents that are solubilizers, and other carriers. They slowly release iodine as an antimicrobial agent and are widely used as skin disinfectants, particularly before surgery.

Medical iodophobia has reached pandemic proportions.  It is highly contagious and has wreaked havoc on the practice of medicine and on the U.S. population.”

~ Dr. Guy Abraham

“Lugol’s solution is an iodine-in-water solution used by the medical profession for 200 years. One drop (6.5 mg per drop) of Lugol’s daily in water, orange juice or milk will gradually eliminate the first phase of the cancer development namely fibrocystic disease of the breast so no new cancers can start. It also will kill abnormal cells floating around in the body at remote sites from the original cancer. Of course this approach appears to work for prostate cancer as prostate cancer is similar to breast cancer in many respects. Indeed, it likely will help with most cancers. Also higher doses of iodine are required for inflammatory breast cancer. As well we know that large doses of intravenous iodine are harmless which makes one wonder what effect this would have on cancer growth.”

~ Dr. David Derry

With many more chemicals found in our everyday lives, we all should be consuming way more Iodine, not less, as the current trend seems to be. Iodine is very useful in removing its sister elements, fluoride, and bromide from our bodies. Also Iodine, to a lesser extent, can help remove lead and mercury from our system. Iodine, used to be added to bread as a supplement, but now, generally, has been replaced with bromide.

I would look at Iodine as a universal assistant to a healthy body. Although not the magic bullet to cure everything, it is certainly worth having in our armoury of good health. In high quality lugol’s solution, you would receive 6.5mg elemental iodine per drop. I used it as one of my tools to combat Candida. Also when I recently came down with a cold this was a very hand tool to have lying around, and played a major role in assisting my speedy recovery, by helping to kill the infection and then helping to remove mucus. Iodine loves the mucus membranes around the body. It keeps these healthy and helps eliminate any unnecessary mucus in the body.

“Running our bodies without sufficient minerals is like running a car without oil. Our engines of cellular life begin to seize up especially quickly today because of all the impurities in our food, air, water and medical and dental drugs and substances. Minerals are powerful medicines exactly because they directly touch upon and effect vital body physiology.

 One might go as far as imagining that there might even be a conspiracy to keep us iodine deficient, because if we are iodine deficient our will to resist is diminished, our apparent intellect, energy and vitality are all diminished and we are significantly more vulnerable to thyroid malfunction, endocrine/hormonal imbalances, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer. Many fine physicians are wondering why the RDA for iodine would be set so low, and why would many of the former sources of iodine be diminished or removed and replaced with things like bromides and fluorides that deplete iodine and offer no worthwhile compensation for the replacement?”

[…]

Some symptoms of under-active thyroid functions include fatigue, underweight or overweight, constipation, fuzzy thinking, dry skin, low blood pressure, fluid retention, depression, and slow reflexes. When using high-dose iodine supplements then watch out for signs of over-active thyroid functions. These include anxiety, insomnia, rapid weight loss, diarrhea, high pulse rate, high blood pressure, sensitivity or bulging eye and vision disturbances.

Iodine supplements tend to normalize over-active thyroid conditions, including autoimmune conditions and thyroid cancer. However, if the size of the thyroid is increased as with goiter, then additional iodine will initially cause an overstimulation. To normalize thyroid size and functions the iodine dose needs to be increased only very slowly and temporarily decreased when overstimulation occurs, and after a while slowly increased again.

Another problem is that iodine is a heart stimulant, and if you are using thyroid medication, or other stimulant drugs in addition, then that may be too much stimulation and heart palpitations may develop. In this case you need to reduce some of these stimulants sufficiently to rectify this problem.

According to my experience and understanding the greatest benefit of high iodine intake is its effectiveness in killing Candida and other fungi and microbes. This may also be a reason for its effectiveness with breast cancer and fibrocystic disease in breasts, ovaries and uterus. The secret of this success may be the fact that both iodine and fungi have an affinity for the mucous membranes. By keeping the mucous membranes healthy iodine greatly helps to overcome autoimmune diseases, sinus problems, asthma, lung cancer, and other lung problems, and also intestinal diseases, including inflammatory conditions, and cancers. Studies indicate that the best iodine supplement is one that includes molecular iodine, which breast tissue prefers.

~ Walter Last

I would highly recommend reading Walter Last’s comprehensive article regarding Iodine, as well at the other sources linked throughout this article. As always, I wish you to find use of the empowerment that comes with knowledge applied in our everyday lives. Take your health in your own hands!