Iodine

Requirements:

• RDA:
  
  150 mcg./day for adults
  175 mcg./day for pregnant women
  200 mcg./day for lactating women
• Daily Optimal Intake:
  
  RDA values

Supplement Forms:

• Aqueous iodine
• Caseinated iodine (iodaminol)
• Elemental diatomic or molecular iodine
• Iodinated salt
• Lugol's Solution (sodium iodide)
• SSKI (saturated solution of potassium iodine)

Food Sources:

• Seafoods:
  
  Dulse
  Freshwater fish
  Kelp
  Saltwater fish

Signs and Symptoms of Deficiency:

• Cretinism
• Goiter
• Hypothyroidism

Causes of Deficiency:

• Decreased intake
• High intake of brassica family: cabbage, peanuts, kale, soybeans, mustard seed, turnips, rapeseeds, cassava

Adverse Reactions and Toxicity:

• Reports of 20 - 30 mg./day can inhibit thyroid function, other reports say >300 mg./day
• Signs of toxicity: dermatitis, depression, aggravation of acne, nausea, headaches, excessive secretions

Drug/Nutrient Interaction:

• Reduces the estrogen quotient converting estrone and estradiol to estriol in the liver

Biochemical Functions:

• Decreased iodine levels are associated with risk of breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancers
• Essential for thyroid hormone synthesis

Clinical Indications:

• Asthma: use as a mucolytic agent and expectorant
• Atherosclerosis
• Bronchitis: use as a mucolytic agent and expectorant
• Fibrocystic breast disease: paint the cervix with iodine
• Multiple sclerosis
• PMS
• Antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal: use with immune suppressed patients
• Consider with: breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancers
• Dupuytren's contracture: topically with arnica oil and DMSO
• Estrogen metabolism
• Goiter: large chronic goiter may require thyroid hormones; less chronic: 300 - 600 mcg./day
• Hyperthyroidism: 300 - 900 mcg./day
• Keloid: topically with arnica oil and DMSO
• Lymphatic stasis: use both orally and topically to soften tissue
• Peyronie's disease: topically with arnica oil and DMSO
• Salivary duct stone dissolution: SSKI 7 - 10 drops TID for 1 - 2 weeks
• Sarcoidosis
• Sebaceous cysts: use both orally and topically to soften tissue

Copyright 1998 - 2008 by L. Vicky Crouse, ND and James S. Reiley, ND. All rights reserved (ISSN 1527-0661).