I remember growing up I would see my family drawing a brown net on the body with some liquid. I was even included in the process. I did not give it too much thought but that net was meant to prevent widespread goiter and other thyroid problems as well as improve overall health. It was not until later that I attended an Acupuncture seminar and learned everything related to iodine net and its importance in the body. It was very interesting to me to study all over again how to draw iodine net. Did you know that every cell in the body contains and uses iodine? WBCs cannot effectively guard against infection without adequate amounts of iodine. Also, iodine intake might be an underlying cause for the evolutionary expansion of the brain. The initial transition of animals from sea to land was accompanied with the formation of the thyroid gland, representing a reservoir for the storage of iodine when adjusting to iodine-deficient habitats. Thyroid hormones are fundamental for brain development and the maternal contribution of thyroxine is essential for the embryo to develop normal neurological function and behavior. Another fun fact is that the average Japanese eats 13.4 mg of iodine daily from seaweed food products and have the lowest rate of breast and prostate cancer worldwide, while FDA recommended dosage is only 150 mcg a day. 

Why your lab tests are normal but you still have symptoms?

Iodine Deficiency Symptoms:

• Frustration (brain fog/brain slowness/’baby brain’)

• Depression

• Abnormal weight gain

• Constipation

• Fatigue

• Coarse skin, hair loss and slow hair growth

• Ringing in ears

• Goiter, growths, swellings/cysts/generalised fluid retention

• Lack of cell death, therefore cancers

• Sleep apnea

• Carpel tunnel, plantar fascilitis

• Decreased fertility

Conditions resolved by use of iodine:

• Digestion

• High levels of blood iodine levels are needed for the stomach to produce hydrochloric acid. Therefore “indigestion” and all the myriad symptoms that occur with it may be due to insufficient dietary iodine.

• Cysts resolve with iodine. This includes women with fibrocystic breasts and ovarian cysts or those with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis.

• Skin growths cysts, cancers, tendon problems (including plantar facilitis) resolve with topical iodine application

• Extra iodine is needed in pregnancy to boost your baby’s brain. 

How to correct thyroid imbalances?

• Add foods rich in iodine; seafood, alfalfa, raw cow milk, eggs, seaweed-kelp, dulce, nori, yogurt, fish.

• Avoid almonds, corn, millet, peanuts, canola oil, pine nuts, pears, turnips, cabbage, kale, mustard, peaches, soy (isoflavones block iodine), spinach, and brussels sprouts. These foods are goitrogens-they lower thyroid function and increase goiters. Good news-cooking these helps!

• Use Thyro-forte to improve T3 conversion and improve metabolism.

• Iodine supplementation.Topical use may be the least invasive and the most effective way to do this as too much oral iodine is also poisonous. The topical route allows the body to decide for itself how much it needs. Iodine is an essential mineral that no one can survive without, there are iodine receptors on each cell in the body, therefore it is impossible to have an allergy to iodine. $30

• Vitamin B, C, and D, zinc, selenium

• Maintain omega 3,6 and 9 fatty acid balance

• If antibodies are elevated use Evergreen Immune + since it’s made of adaptogenic herbs.

• If hyperthyroid use Thyrodex as it lowers levels of thyroid hormone in the blood, reduces enlargement of the thyroid gland reduces enlargement of the thyroid gland and resolves nodules while calming the shen and tonifying qi and yin.

• Workout everyday. Mix up high intensity interval training with walking and yoga. Push ups, pull ups, and lunges are great workouts to do at home. Daily exercise triggers hormones to correct thyroid issues.

• Halogens-bromine, fluorine, and chlorine. Each one of these has the ability to displace iodine on the cells and thyroid because they have less atomic weight. T4 is useless without iodine, having bromine, fluorine and chlorine on thyroxine makes it useless. Bromide is in pesticides, dyes, mattresses, plastic products, Rx drugs, plastic products, personal care products and some breads (potassium bromate.) Fluorine is in toothpaste, drinking water, beer, wine, soda, tea, insecticides, cereals. Chlorine can be found in pools, tap water, food packaging, spas, Rx drugs, and solvents. Taking iodine helps the body eliminate fluoride, bromine, lead, cadmium, arsenic, aluminum and mercury. 
  
  
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  See information by Mulberry Leaf found at this link below:
  https://www.mulberryleafacu.com/post/iodine-ingredient-for-life