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The Iodine Group | |
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Dr. David(David Beaulieu, DC)
A review of the latest information on iodine and the thyroid and a preliminary report of my clinical trialDr David August 2005
"The Problem, and My Big “AHA”: Over the years I have had excellent results relieving fibrocystic breast pain and fibrocystic disease of the uterus and ovaries. These conditions are most often directly related to Iodine deficiency and responded quickly to our iodine product. However, the weight gain, dull hair, weak nails, moderate depression, and low energy that are also related to sub-clinical hypothyroidism have never responded the way the textbooks say they should. I can not adequately describe how perplexing I have found this, but I think Dr. Brownstein gave me the answer, and that was my big “aha.” Iodine works when it comes to reducing and eliminating fibrocystic breasts, uterine and ovarian fibroids, and cystic prostatitis, but you need something else to boost energy, alleviate depression, etc. Combining iodide with the iodine is the answer.
"The Solution, Iodine Plus Iodide: Apparently, the body uses both the oxidized and reduced forms of iodine, which are iodine and iodide. That’s certainly not the way we learned it when I was in school. It turns out that iodine is specific for reducing the inflammatory cystic symptomatology, but iodide is necessary for thyroid hormone production, and apparently to activate thyroid hormone receptor sites around the body; therefore, it is the iodide that results in the increased energy and other benefits.
"Other Problems Related To Iodine Deficiency: Dr. Brownstein presents compelling information that ties iodine deficiency to breast cancer (which affects 1 in 7 women), and by association with sub-clinical hypothyroidism, all other cancers as well. These findings supported my own observations treating cancer patients for over 30 years, that there was always a case of low thyroid when there was a malignant cancer, although usually what would be termed a sub-clinical hypothyroid condition (meaning that the laboratory test would show a low normal reading while the symptoms of hypothyroidism would still be present).... Other research suggests that iodine insufficiency plays a major role in type II diabetes and insulin control, and that by supplementing iodine the insulin needs of the diabetic patient on medication can be drastically reduced or even eliminated in many cases.
"How To Tell If You Need More Iodine: One of the first indicators is belly fat in men. When the abdominal muscles disappear under a layer of fat, a pot belly, insulin resistance or syndrome X is present. In women the fat also occurs on the hips. The medical literature is finally talking about this fat as a major indicator or symptom of underlying risk to cardio-vascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and all the inflammatory diseases that plague industrialized societies. If you have excess “belly fat” you are at risk to all of the above as well as sub-clinical hypothyroidism resulting from iodine deficiency. Frequently experienced additional warning signs of low thyroid function due to iodine deficiency are a tendency to be cold when everyone else isn’t, low energy levels, dull hair, weak fingernails, depression, and overweight that resists diet and exercise. Finally, the ultimate way to tell if you need more iodine is to do the “iodine patch test” in the comfort of your home.... After doing the iodine patch test it would be prudent to test your thyroid. You can do that at home too, very inexpensively....
"The Results Of The Trial: I am pleased and excited to tell you that the results of the clinical trial of the new iodine/iodide supplement have been outstanding. I have had one type II diabetic eliminate the use of injectible insulin and lose over 50 pounds while making no other changes in diet or lifestyle. This corroborates Dr. Brownstein’s results and gives us another tool in helping stabilize and sometimes correct this disease that has risen to epidemic proportions. I have had numerous phone calls praising the supplement for creating new hair growth and adding luster to previously ”mousy” hair, and an equal number of calls praising stronger nails. A fair number of patients experienced a noticeable difference in degree of depression, and for some the change was sufficient to eliminate medication. Eliminating the pain of fibrocystic breast disease was one of the most noted responses, but that was expected because of prior experience with iodine alone. The most frequent improvement was in available energy. Almost everyone noticed an improvement in energy, with many claiming the improvement to be much more than ever expected.
"The worst area of response was in the category of weight loss. Although the weight loss that occurred from taking the supplements was significant, it wasn’t outstanding or what most of the subjects had hoped for. However, working with a number of Weight Watcher clients that were unable to get past a plateau, I found that adding the iodine/iodide supplement got them over the plateau and back to losing weight, but it took diet and exercise changes to accomplish their goals. I guess the lesson is that for most of us, there is no simple solution to the weight we have gained via poor lifestyle choices, and it takes the effort of diet and exercise to correct the problem. The folks who were on the Weight Watchers program, however, were delighted to find something that would get them off the plateau and back to losing again. Obviously, iodine/iodide supplementation is not a simple solution to weight loss, so although supplementation makes weight loss easier, I'm not sure anything will make it easy."
Thyroid, the most common hormone problemDr David
"The History of Iodine and the thyroid: The history of thyroid problems is so interesting I am going to share a little of it with you. Iodine is an essential mineral. We must have it to be healthy. I remember when I was in school, a great fuss was made over the recent iodination of salt. It was considered a monumental public health advancement. Iodine, as you may know, is critical in the manufacturing of thyroid hormone. Unfortunately, iodine is not found in the normal mid-western diet. Iodine is not essential for the growth of soil based plants, and most soil is devoid of it, so vegetables, grains, etc., do not contain iodine. We get our iodine from sea vegetables and salt-water fish, and because these weren’t abundant in the mid-western diet, thyroid problems were of epidemic proportion. We even named the region the “Goiter Belt” after the swollen appearance about the neck that often accompanies those who are most seriously afflicted. Thyroid problems were the most prevalent of the endocrine diseases at that time.
"Well, the iodination of salt virtually eliminated mid-western goiter problems, and thyroid disease slipped from the list of commonly diagnosed medical conditions. Over the next few decades two things happened to undermine this important public health advancement. First, many people started equating high blood pressure with salt intake and took the salt shaker off the dinner table. Of course, that greatly reduced salt, and, therefore, iodine intake. Two, numerous above ground nuclear tests (and accidents) occurred. The thyroid, being in large part responsible for protecting us from aberrant radiation in the atmosphere, has been affected in virtually all North American inhabitants."
"The Iodine Patch Test: The first simple home test for iodine deficiency is performed by painting an iodine patch on your abdomen about the size of a paper back novel or video cassette. If you don’t have a bottle of iodine around the house, your pharmacist can sell you one. Once popular for use as an antiseptic on scratches and abrasions, iodine (usually a 2% solution) has fallen out of favor, but is nevertheless a medication that should be in every medicine chest. If the iodine patch you painted on your abdomen is gone in twenty hours (or tremendously faded), you are in iodine deficiency. Once you start supplementing iodine, repeat this iodine patch test monthly to determine iodine sufficiency. How quickly the patch of iodine disappears determines your supplemental iodine dosage, so doing the test regularly is important. At the point where the patch is still barely visible after 20 hours, you have adequate iodine in your system for your thyroid to work properly.
"Iodine replacement: The iodine supplement of choice is Preventics Iodine/Potassium, which is located under “Minerals” in the brochure or price list. It closely duplicates the iodine/iodide ratio found in Lugol's iodine solution, and is the formula that I have found to be most effective."
Iodine and Fibrocystic DiseaseDr David
"When the fibrocystic disease is particularly bad, the application of iodine directly to the breast areas most affected improves results even more, although extra care must be taken not to stain white undergarments. With fibrocystic disease of the uterus and/or ovaries, it helps to paint the iodine patches on the skin directly over the organs. Almost without fail, by the time the iodine patch lasts 24 hours before fading, the fibrocystic disease is gone. Many women have reported back to me that their OB/GYN told them that their uterine and /or ovarian cysts that were bigger than an orange have disappeared."
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