As you know, thyroid hormones T3 and T4 contain a mineral iodine. In other words, you cannot make T3 and T4 without iodine. And if you want to have normal hormone function, you must have enough of this mineral.
Unfortunately, iodine deficiency is extremely common.
One of the reasons is that iodine is mostly found in the ocean. Which means that fish, seaweed and other ocean creatures tend to have a fair amount of iodine. Unfortunately, this cannot be said about soil. It contains very little iodine, sometimes almost nothing. As a result, plants like grass, vegetables, and fruits grown on this soil will contain very little iodine. Animals that eat these plants also will have very little iodine.
When we eat these plants and animals, we get hardly any iodine at all. There are areas in the US where large groups of people routinely developed goiters. This is a condition when the thyroid gland becomes enlarged and appears as a big lump on the neck. They used to call those areas “goiter belts.”
This is why sometime in the 1920s the US government has decided to add Iodine to salt, to prevent Iodine deficiency. That’s why we have iodized salt. But lately many people have reduced their salt intake so iodine deficiency is again becoming common.
Reason #2 is that iodine is an important not just for the thyroid. Most other organs need a little bit of Iodine. For example, glands that make saliva (salivary glands), stomach to produce acid, ovaries that produce female hormones, lungs, heart, prostate gland and pretty much all the organs.
The second biggest consumers of iodine after the thyroid are mammary glands or breasts. They need quite a bit of iodine for normal growth and development. As a girl goes through puberty, her breasts start growing and they consume whatever iodine they can get, competing with the thyroid gland. In fact, the breasts need so much iodine that often they do not get enough. This may lead to a condition called fibrocystic breast disease, where breasts have lumps that can be painful. This condition is quite common in women in the US. It may also have some connection to breast cancer.
The result is that many American girls, who had low iodine to begin with, turn after puberty into iodine deficient women. This leads to hypothyroidism. This also may explain why hypothyroidism is much more common in women than in men. And also why so many American women have fibrocystic breast disease and much higher risk of breast cancer.
US has the highest incidence of hypothyroidism in the world. Which countries have the lowest? Japan and Iceland, where people eat a lot more seafood and seaweed. They also have much lower incidence of fibrocystic breasts and breast cancer. The incidence of breast cancer in US is more than 3 times higher than in Japan, probably for the same reason.
In my practice I find that almost every woman is low in iodine. There is no good way to check for iodine deficiency. Blood test is not very reliable. Urine test is only marginally better.
Lucky for you, I know an easy way to check yourself for iodine deficiency.
You will need a topical iodine solution, sold in pharmacies under the names Povodine, Betadine, and others. It’s an antiseptic liquid that is applied to wounds, scrapes, and other skin injuries. it kills bacteria and fights infection. It is usually located in “first aid” isle.
Take a cotton ball and soak it with the solution of iodine. Then use this cotton ball to paint a circle about the size of a tennis ball anywhere on your skin – abdomen, chest, thigh, buttock, forearm - you choose the spot. The location does not matter, because all you want to know is how long it will stay on your skin.
If you have enough iodine in your body, the stain will stay on your skin for at least 24 hours, probably longer, maybe 2-3 days. But if you are deficient, your body will literally “suck the iodine in” and it will disappear within hours.
If you are deficient, you will need supplements of iodine. They have all kinds of iodine supplements, liquids, pills, creams, etc. Some supplements are only available by prescription. If you are low in iodine and need to take a supplement, I prefer that you do it under a doctor’s supervision. Because if you take too much iodine that’s also not good, because it can actually suppress your thyroid.
The bottom line is that many women, especially hypothyroid women, are deficient in iodine and they would benefit from iodine supplements. Especially if they also have fibrocystic breast disease.
If you think you may have hypothyroidism, if you have the symptoms, and your doctor refuses to treat you because your blood tests are “normal”, of if you are being treated with Synthroid and still do not feel well, just give me a call.
I have treated literally thousands of patients with hypothyroidism, and I think I can help you become healthy, energetic, vibrant and vigorous, as you deserve to be.
My number is 718-769-0997.
Also, if you or someone you know have fibrocystic breast disease please sign up for my comprehensive thyroid seminar to learn how to help it. There is a method that is very simple and often very effective that can get rid you or your friend(s) of lumpy and painful breasts.