Are You Getting Enough Iodine?
I found a “hidden hunger” when I went to the doctor early in 2013 for a routine check. My Doctor found a lump in my neck. It wasn’t painful or uncomfortable. Just a lump.
I was sent for an ultrasound. I have had lots of ultrasounds in my life. I have 4 children. This was the first ultrasound of my neck.
Turns out that the lump wasn’t life threatening. It wasn’t anything scary or horrible. It was a goiter. WHAT!?? Isn’t that something old people got in the 60’s? How can I have a goiter?
I was very thankful that it was a goiter and not something more serious.
It turned out that my body had low iodine levels. My diet was low in iodine and my world was depleting the small amount of iodine I had.
One of the main culprits stealing away my iodine was water. I was drinking water that was chlorinated & fluoridated. The combination of the low iodine intake & the iodine “robbers” in my life caused my “hidden hunger.”
To really understand the bodies need for iodine and how our current environment is depleting us of this vital nutrient I recommend the book “The Iodine Crisis – What You Don’t Know About Iodine Can Wreck Your Life” by Lynne Farrow.
I learned that every cell in my body needs iodine. Iodine is especially important for women’s health. The breasts, uterus, and prostate need large amounts of iodine to remain healthy. Iodine is also important for healthy skin and nerve function. My body didn’t have enough iodine. I had no idea until the goiter showed up in my neck. I am thankful it did. Without the lump in my neck, I most likely would have not known. Had the goiter not appeared, my body could have gone hungry even longer. My deficiency could have developed into something much more serious. I am thankful for the goiter.
Once I knew what was wrong, other things made sense. Breast tenderness, lumps, fibriods can all be a sign of low iodine. Tiredness, restlessness during sleep, and brain fog are all signs of low iodine. Since iodine burns fat, obesity can also be associated with low iodine.
For more information on the signs of low iodine go here.
There were 2 steps I had to take to meet my body’s need for iodine:
- increase the amount of iodine going in and
- decrease the “iodine robbers.”
First, I had to increase the amount of iodine going into my body. I do this with Lugol’s Solution.
A couple of drops is all it takes. I am not recommending this for anyone one else. I am not a medical professional. Please speak with a healthcare provider about any iodine concerns you may have.
This is the original solution by Lugol. It is 10% potassium iodide and 5% iodine. I had to go online to find it. The “iodine” supplements I found at my local health store were no where near this strength. I wanted to bring my body back to a healthy level as effectively as possible. We decided that this was the best solution for my needs. I ordered this solution off the internet.
The second step I made to increase my iodine levels was to eliminate things that were depleting it: “iodine robbers.” In her book, Farrow talks about all the chemicals in our environment and substances in our food that take iodine away from us. This includes: chlorine, bromine, mercury, fluoride and aspirin among other things. Basically, when we intake these iodine robbers, they inhibit our thyroid from being able to properly absorb and utilize the iodine in our diet.
Bromides are not nutritious and can be toxic. They can prevent iodine from being absorbed. Bromides are increasingly being found in our environment. Bromide (BVO) has replaced iodine in bread as an inexpensive dough conditioner. BVO is found in most store bought breads. It is also found in some softdrinks. Bromides are even sprayed in warm climates to help with pest control (California & Florida).
The Main Culprits stealing my Iodine: Fluoride and Chlorine
Fluoride is toxic and increases the chance of cancer. It also lowers intelligence, increases depression, and lowers testosterone levels. Fluoride is a contributing cause to goiter because it inhibits the ability of the thyroid gland to absorb iodine.
Where I live the tap water is fluoridated. I’ll give the dentists some credit and say that maybe fluoride can be good for teeth (which is still debatable), but I do not think it should be consumed.
Chlorine has been related to heart disease, linked to birth defects, cancer, reproductive disorders, and immune problems.
Chlorine is also found in Sucralose. Sucralose is used as a no calorie sweetener in candy, breakfast bars, soft drinks and much more. Chlorine robs our body of iodine by “kicking out” the iodine.
My tap water is chlorinated and fluoridated. This means I was in-taking who knows how much chlorine and fluoride through my drinking water, coffee, soups, stews, rice, and anything that used tap water. I knew I had to change my water. I needed clean water.
When I went on my quest to find drinking water that did not contain chlorine or fluoride, I found that even most bottled water was chlorinated. I looked into getting one of those giant water jugs that sits in your kitchen. I considered reverse osmosis. I looked at distilled and spring water. I researched whole house filters, softeners, and water systems. After much, much, much research we went with a Berkey.
I love my Berkey. The Berkey water systems are gravity operated so no power is needed. It is simple to use and can filter stagnant, scummy pond water into clear pure drinking water.
The Berkey is unmatched in it’s ability to:
- Remove chlorine, lead, pathogenic bacteria, cysts and parasites entirely
- Extract harmful chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, VOCs, organic solvents, radon 222 and trihalomethanes
- Reduce nitrates, nitrites and unhealthy minerals such as lead and mercury
- This system is so powerful it can remove red food coloring from water without removing the beneficial minerals your body needs.
- The PF-2 Element ables it to absorb Arsenic V and pre-oxidized Arsenic III as well as fluoride and other residual heavy metal ions.
- It is made from polished, stainless steel.
- Filters a full canister overnight.
Virtually no other system can duplicate this performance. To see how the Berkey compares to other filtration systems go Here.
Here is the Berkey in my kitchen.
To operate, just pour any water in the top chamber: rain water, tap water, pond water, creek water, any water. The water will process through the charcoal filters into the PF-2 filters (fluoride filters) and into the bottom chamber. Lift the lever on the spout at the bottom to dispense fresh, clean drinking water.
Here is a look inside the top. There are 2 charcoal filters in our system. You can see that there are 4 empty slots. Adding additional filters to the system will speed up the filtering speed. 2 filters is fine for us. We refill it once a day & it provides all our water.
We also have one at the pawnshop.
This may just look like a couple of 5 Gallon buckets from Walmart, but it is not. The buckets are nothing special, but the inner mechanics are all Berkey. We bought replacement filters, washers, and a spout.
This is a great solution that will yield the same Berkey quality, filtered water without the high cost. If you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars, this is the way to go.
My husband is very handy and he made this. He just used a drill to make holes in the bottom/tops of the 5 gallon buckets. He assembled all the filters & washers & it works just like the shiny one at home (without the shiny part).
I started supplementing my diet with Lugol’s Solution and filtering all the water we use (drinking and cooking) the same week. The results were outstanding. I developed a rash from under my neck to below my belly button. I was covered in a rash. My body was detoxing something.
I don’t know if it was the chlorine, fluoride, something else, or all the above. I just know that something in me was now coming out of my skin. Wierd. The rash lasted 2 weeks. I kept taking the Lugols (5 days on, 2 days off) and using only filtered water.
Once the rash cleared up the world changed. I was sleeping better. I was feeling better. Everything in life was brighter, clearer, crisper. I had more energy.
The fogginess, sleeplessness, and lethargy had all happened so gradual that I didn’t realize it had happened.
Or maybe, I just thought it was part of getting older. Whatever the case, the filtered water & Lugol’s changed it.
After a year of good health on the Lugols & filtered water, I went on vacation for 10 days. I drank standard water: bottled water, tap water, spring water. I didn’t want to be difficult. We were on a remote island in the middle of no where. I just drank the water that was available. I didn’t want to be the high-maintenance girl who needed yuppie-water. I just drank whatever water was there. By the 4th day I was feeling tired. By the 8th I had pain in my breasts.
As soon as I returned to my Berkey and Lugols, my health returned. I am a believer!
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XO,
Candi
