Re: I was NOT LOSING HAIR TILL I STARTED IODINE

yes... you have. Take it further. Read about Iodine toxicity or iodism and hair loss in the commercial animal industry OR, veterinary medicine. Especially in horses and/or cattle.

It is important not to explain "hair loss" away through the elimination of toxins... what is a toxin? Too much oxygen, water, salt, can kill and in these circumstances become a toxin. When does anything stop being beneficial and begin to upset the balance and/or turn toxic/deadly? This varies greatly from one individual to the next.

A reaction to a large dose (a single drop of Lugol's perhaps) of Iodine is a given for someone who may have been born Iodine deficient to iodine deficient parents and only ingested 50mcg or so throughout a lifetime.

Everyone is different... one person may be able to take a gram a day with no apparent ill effects... another a few milligrams and they become violently ill.

It goes back to my explanation of taking a lost amazon tribe member without any of their natural comforts and putting them into a huge city, on city food and water, pollution and all... they would likely become violently ill, perhaps even contract a disease they have no built up immunity for and possibly die. Do the same with the city dweller thrown into the amazon forest sans every comfort, give them the unrefrigerated aged and rotting meat these people eat along with the bugs and everything else... likely the same would happen to them. Why? Different people are adapted to different environments, diets, etc. etc.

While an iodine deficiency can and does contribute to hair loss, an OD can do the same. I have tried to get people over, and over again to understand that the same or similar symptoms of a deficiency can and will be experienced in a toxicity of the same mineral/element, which will vary; that our needs from one individual to the next are as diverse as the diversity among humans. That one man's food can be another man's poison. The reason for this is the swing of balance from one end of the spectrum to the other, offsetting other antagonistic/balancing minerals/substances.

If my body has adapted to function on very little iodine over the course of breeding through several generations, I will not tolerate iodine supplementation as well as another who has been ingesting several mg a day throughout their life. I have always eaten seafood, sea vegetables and ate sushi several times a week for years. In addition, I have supplemented iodine in the past, even before these forums, thus I will tolerate iodine supplementation much better than someone who has been born, raised and bred through a multi-generational severely iodine deficient ancestry.

There is a reason for moderate approaches to any protocol... unless of course we are talking cases of medical emergencies, etc. where the loss of hair or other undesirable consequences are "worth the risk"... "benefits outweigh the risks"... I sound like the FDA talking. Even then, one person's dose will vary from another's dependent upon many factors including familial history.

As noted in the past on this forum, folks who may have been into alternative health for a longer period of time, be relatively cleaned out (cleanses), and have most/all of their dietary needs met otherwise, may, for the most part, see less of a reaction to iodine supplementation (most likely any supplementation for that matter) than those who jump into it without any other preparation, INCLUDING, adequate mineral balancing. In addition, these "alternative health" folks are most likely more in tune with their bodies and can better gage need than someone who has never done this before.

I am convinced most people have no idea what warning signs to look for in imbalance and/or toxicity symptoms, such as cardiovascular, digestive, intestinal, hair, nail, and skin health among a host of other things.

Most certainly as hopinso has stated, detox can be responsible for hair loss... but so can imbalances and toxicities brought on by over consumption/supplementation of a particular substance. When we talk about detox, detox from what exactly? If we have an overdose of any form of life giving salt, water, or even oxygen we would need to "detox" from that, no?

Prism makes a great point on "better nutrition" and companion supplements. I would like to take it one step further to state that one or several person's thoughts of 25, 50, or 100mg a day as being safe does not EVER, and NEVER will, apply to everyone.

I know people here want to believe that iodine is the be all end all and I can appreciate that many have seemed to have had great benefit. I know the issues surrounding bromide and fluoride...

The issues however, have more to do with man's exploits, including the isolation and manufacture of specific substances than the classification of a particular naturally occurring substance as either good or bad.

Are we so sure, that we are all so smart, that we can counter "balance" the environmental assault on our bodies using isolated supplements without possibly inviting the same damage to our systems we are trying to avoid?

I have taken large doses of iodine... I hope that I did no harm and that I did myself some good. It took me a while to recover once I realized I over did it and i began to once again make forward progress from my high dosing; 100mg+ a day doses sometimes reaching 250+ a day.

I continue to take 6 drops (2 drops, three days a week) a week and eat my seaweeds, probably getting an approximate total dose of 8 - 10 mg a day. I may back off to 4 drops a week if I get through this winter without getting sick... will make it three years of being illness free.

I am still making definitive forward progress in all areas of my health.

I really would recommend that if people have no real pressing health issues to supplement iodine at reasonable maintenance levels... what ever they determine that to be for themselves, be it through diet, a few drops of Lugol's a week, or a 100mg or more a day in any form. The bottom line is we must take personal responsibility for our own health and actions including any and all negative repercussions that come along with our choices.