Iodine

Based on a review of the literature, and recent clinical research studies2-13, the concept of orthoiodosupplementation can be summarized as follows:
1. The nutrient iodine is essential for every cell of the human body requiring peripheral concentrations of inorganic iodide ranging from 10-6M to 10-5M.
2. In non-obese subjects without a defecting cellular transport system for iodine, these concentrations can be achieved with daily intake of 12.5 mg to 50 mg elemental iodine. The adult body retains approximately 1.5 gm iodine at sufficiency. At such time, the ingested iodine is quantitatively excreted in the urine as iodide.
3. The thyroid gland is the most efficient organ of the human body, capable of concentrating iodide by 2 orders of magnitude to reach 10-6M iodide required for the synthesis of thyroid hormones when peripheral levels of inorganic iodide are in the 10-8M range.
4. Goiter and cretinism are evidence of extremely severe iodine deficiency, because the smallest intake of iodine that would prevent these conditions, that is 0.05 mg per day, is 1000 times less than the optimal intake of 50 mg elemental iodine.
5. The thyroid gland has a protective mechanism, limiting the uptake of peripheral iodide to a maximum of 0.6 mg per day when 50 mg or more elemental iodine are ingested. This amount therefore would serve as a preventive measure against radioactive fallout.
6. An intake of 50 mg elemental iodine per day would achieve peripheral concentration of iodide at 10-5M, which is the concentration of iodide markedly enhancing the singlet triplet radiationless transition. Singlet oxygen causes oxidative damage to DNA and macromolecules, predisposing to the carcinogenic effects of these reactive oxygen species.5 This effect would decrease DNA damage, with an anticarcinogenic effect.
7. Preliminary data so far suggest that orthoiodosupplementation results in detoxification of the body from the toxic metals aluminum, cadmium, lead and mercury.
8. Orthoiodosupplementation increases urinary excretion of fluoride and bromide, decreasing the iodine-inhibiting effects of these halides.
9. Most patients on a daily intake ranging from 12.5 mg to 50 mg elemental iodine reported higher energy levels and greater mental clarity with 50 mg (4 tablets Iodoral), daily. The amount of iodine used in patients with Fibrocystic Disease of the Breast by Ghent et al20 is 0.1 mg/Kg BW per day, 10 times below the optimal daily intake of 50 mg. In our experience, patients with this clinical condition responded faster and more completely when ingesting 50 mg iodine/iodide per day.
10. For best results, orthoiodosupplementation should be part of a complete nutritional program, emphasizing magnesium instead of calcium.
11. A beneficial effect of orthoiodosupplementation was observed in the clinical conditions listed in Table I.5,7,12,13
12. The iodine/iodide loading test and serum inorganic iodide levels are reliable means of assessing whole body sufficiency for elemental iodine for quantifying the bioavailability of the forms of iodine ingested and for assessing cellular uptake and utilization of iodine by target cells.
13. Orthoiodosupplementation may be the safest, simplest, most effective and least expensive way to solve the healthcare crisis crippling our nation

Recent research on the medical applications of this essential nutrient may prove indeed that iodine is a universal medicine, or more appropriately, a universal nutrient.2-13 Only 8 years after the discovery of iodine from seaweed by French chemist Bernard Courtois in 1811, Swiss physician J.F. Coindet who previously used successfully burnt sponge and seaweed for simple goiter, reasoned that iodine could be the active ingredient in seaweed. In 1819, he tested tincture of iodine at 250 mg per day, an excessive amount by today’s standard, in 150 goiter patients with great success. He published his results in 1820.14 Coindet was the first physician to use the newly discovered element iodine in medical practice. Since then, the collective experience of a large number of clinicians from the U.S. over the last century has resulted in the recommended daily amount of 0.1 to 0.3 ml of Lugol, containing from 12.5 to 37.5 mg elemental iodine, for iodine/iodide supplementation.5,15 The Lugol solution was developed by French physician, Jean Lugol in 1829 for treatment of infectious diseases using oral ingestion of his preparation.16 The Lugol solution contains 5 percent iodine and 10 percent potassium iodide in water. Iodine is not very soluble in water, with aqueous saturation at 0.33 gm iodine/L. The addition of potassium iodide to an aqueous solution of iodine stabilizes the iodine by forming a complex triodide I3- and increases the aqueous solubility of iodine in the form of a triodide complex 150 times. The range of daily intake of Lugol solution for iodine supplementation based on clinical observation of the patient’s overall well being turned out to be the exact range of iodine needed for whole body sufficiency, based on an iodine/iodide loading test developed recently