Iodine is beneficial to every cell of the body (and all animal life). Becoming iodine sufficient brings a deep sense of wellness and mental clarity. It becomes an anti-microbial shield and reduces heavy metal penetration.

Sufficiency with iodine is a good feeling. A deeper sense of wellness, clarity of mind, warmer core body temperature, better energy.

Safety

There’s no need to fear an “allergy to iodine” – we can’t be allergic to an essential mineral. Its a sign of iodine starvation and a thyroid re-adapting to it.

Very low initial dosing is essential. Most people feel no effect from first doses but everyone must be careful.

When dosing with the mineral it’s important to have both iodine and iodide in the formula as they have complementary roles.

Properly managed higher doses are safe and non-toxic because excess iodine is released through urine and the mucous membranes.

Becoming Adapted to Iodine

Most people are very deficient in this precious mineral with some being quite starved for it.

There are three phases in becoming fully adapted to iodine.

First there’s getting used to new feelings as well as managing detoxification. Secondly there’s many months of solid dosing to penetrate deep enough to bring the body up to sufficiency. Finally it’s maintenance with occasional extra doses as an anti-biotic.

Possible Problems

Initial dosing can cause two problems

the thyroid gets excited and makes a burst of thyroid hormone
toxic metals and halides (see below) are pushed out into circulation.

A burst of thyroid hormone causes a ‘hyper’ feeling – jittery, nervous, anxious, sweaty, unable to sleep. Toxins could show on the skin and or cause lethargy and sickness. Please stay in touch with your practitioner during this time for support.

About 5% of people are quite unable to take an oral dose – they get badly hyper, feel terrible and may have pain in the thyroid. An effective trans-dermal formula is needed – absorbed through the skin it seems to bypass the thyroid and gently bring levels up in the body. Oral drops can be tolerated after a few months.

Maximum Daily Dose

When a small daily dose becomes comfortable the dose can be increased to around 5mg daily. This amount seems to be an excellent baseline for most adults, though some people instinctively increase the dose to around 12mg daily as they feel best at this level. Its actually about 70 times the recommended daily allowance…

Contrast this with the standard 50mg dose of many iodine protocols. Obviously many people are happy with high dosing but my experience is that the 5 to 12 mg daily over a year will surely bring the body up to sufficiency. It also saves money on iodine.

Moderate dosing is enough for maintenance. Its best to have a daily dose to keep a surplus leaving through mucous membranes as an anti-microbial shield.

Benefits may take a few months to become noticeable but slow is sure especially with metal detoxification.

The Effect of Selenium

Selenium is of utmost importance to help nurture the functions iodine is bringing to life.

The thyroid needs specific antioxidant support to prevent damage, this requires Selenium. The conversion of T4 to T3 is by a Selenium dependent enzyme.

Selenium also helps displace metals, even from bone, the brain and pineal gland.

Iodine and Microbes

Iodine will kill bacteria, fungi and viruses but it doesn’t affect beneficial bacteria in the gut – apparently these were part of our physiology since primordial times when all forms of life were iodine replete, pathogens came later in the timeline of history and are vulnerable.

It’s good to maintain a daily dose because it keeps the mucous membranes resistant to microbes. Short term high dosing is often as effective as a pharmaceutical antibiotic.

It would be fantastic if iodine could penetrate tissue so deeply that it eliminates all pathogenic microbes but this is not the case. Many microbes hide and stay safe in dense tissue especially collagen. Iodine doesn’t penetrate deep enough to eradicate them all though it noticeably reduces their effect.

Halides

We’re heavily exposed to halides which are the other elements similar to iodine – chlorine, bromine and fluorine. They’re all lighter than iodine and tend to displace it and accumulate through the body. Iodine sufficiency will clear other halides and keep them out.

Hugh Wallace ND

What it feels like to saturate the body with iodine