Re: Why ?

There is a lot of misinformation out there about the harmful effects of a high Iodine diet and Iodine supplementation. Iodine supplements of all kinds (per the FDA) are not recommended for long term use, this includes kelp/sea vegetables, lugol's, iodoral etc. This is because there have been a number of health problems that have been unfairly blamed on high iodine intake. For instance there was a town in Japan that had a huge increase in Hashimoto's thyroiditis, that was blamed on the high iodine diet even though the people of that town had always had a high iodine diet and had never had this problem before or since.

If Iodine causes Hashimoto's then the American population, who consumes very little iodine compared to the Japanese would certainly have less Hashimoto's but instead we have more. Unfortunately, whoever said that Iodine caused this problem and others got the word out without any proof or further study, and here we are today afraid of iodine, and stricken with many diseases caused by iodine deficiency.

To be fair there were some legitimate side effects and deaths blamed on iodine. There was a time when prepared iodine was the most overused, over prescribed medication on the market. Iodine deficiency is not the cause of all illness nor is iodine a panacea that fixes every problem. In short if you are thinking about taking large doses of prepared iodine you may first want to find out if you truly are iodine deficient, because taking iodine in this form when you are not can be problematic. Even if you are not deficient you can and should still eat food or food based supplements containing iodine because your body does need iodine every day. The US RDA of 150 mcg is way too low, it is estimated that the average Japanese person consumes around 10-15 mg per day, this may be closer to what the body needs and uses daily.

I do want to say that Kelp does contain inorganic iodine as well as other salts and nutrients that may help with the absorption and use of iodine in the body. The prepared forms such as Lugol's and Iodoral etc. contain inorganic iodine in very large amounts, but do not contain many other substances needed for iodine usage in the body. Because of the way they are ingested the prepared forms tend to cause more side effects than kelp/sea vegetables and require other supplementation to keep the body in balance. The up side to the prepared forms is that they contain high enough doses to correct deficiency and probably do not contain heavy metals and other chemicals that seaweeds tend to absorb from the ocean water.

Normally, I would say that the natural whole food form is always better. Kelp/Sea Vegetables in large amounts will deliver the same amount of iodine and will also correct a deficiency, but may contain other harmful substances because of our abuse of the oceans. I believe that the above cited Japanese population who had an increase in Hashi's was probably exposed to mercury or other heavy metals in their food supply resulting in the increase in autoimmune disease. Like all foods it is probably good to eat a variety of sea vegetables not just one form of kelp and be sure that the company harvesting it is using practices that reduce and eliminate the contaminants. They should also be testing the batches for contamination.

In short, it is probably safe and advisable, in most instances, to take kelp/sea vegetable supplements for a long period of time. (The warning on the label is not based on fact, but wild speculation) If you have a severe deficiency you may consider taking a prepared form of iodine for a while and then use a more natural form for maintenance.

I hope this is helpful. If you want more information Dr. Brownstien's book on Iodine is very helpful, although he does not really talk much about natural forms of iodine. Tweet