Re: mmmmmm-mmmmm, fresh meat (wom-edit ~RRR for entire thread)

"Point 1: Dr. Abraham states that his focus on Iodine began after learning about the role of high dose Iodine in treating fibrocycstic breast disease in women.
The data that high dose Iodine can help fibrocystic breast disease is clear. Dr. Abraham is making the fallacy I have seen others make of confusing a useful property of a substance with its role as an essential element. Nutrients are cofactors for physiological functions in the body. Some also happen to have useful effects when used in doses well in excess of physiologic requirements.
Take niacin as a case in point. As adults we require only 14-18 mg of niacin to prevent us from pellegra, a fatal deficiency disease. With a diet high in the amino acid tryptophan we can do fine on even lower amounts of niacin. It happens to be that doses of niacin 100-200 times this can act as a gentle HMG CoA reductase inhibitor. Yet these doses can cause maculopathy in up to 7% of adult males who take it. 6 Those of you who use niacin in enough people have likely observed this reaction as I have.
Clearly even though niacin may have useful properties in high doses, this does not mean that recommended intakes for all should be rewritten.
The majority of adults can tolerate intermittent high doses of iodine with no adverse effects. Long term elevations, such as Abraham proposes, are different. Those who are low in iodine, or who have positive thyroid antibodies can have adverse effects by raising their long term intakes as little as 100 mcg. 7
Those who are not deficient can manifest toxicity with as little as 600 mcg daily. The WHO has stated that 1000 mcg is a safe upper limit for most without thyroid antibodies. Thyroid antibodies are commonly present with normal thyroid function and can be found in up to 26% of the population. I did not find recommendations to pre-screen for antibodies prior to treatment in the Iodine Project. 8"


this is a clear cut defense of the current halogen imbalance in america today. iodine NEVER causes antibodies to be formed against thyroid tissue. fluorine and bromine and mercury and lead and lack of selenium do just a fine job of that, as evidenced by his noted 26% figure(and rising, most likely). so stay well under a milligram of iodine a day and you wont interfere with this imbalance in the least.