Testing for Iodine Deficiency

I have heard mixed messages about iodine from different doctors and medical studies. There is a massive amount of research available on what can happen in the body when a person is deficient in iodine. If you are not getting enough iodine, you could face:

• Thyroid Dysfunction
• Grave’s Disease
• Thyroid cancer
• Impaired intellectual and neuromotor development
• Mental impairment
• Osteoporosis
• Difficulty in getting pregnant and staying pregnant
• Loss of pregnancy (stillborn baby)
• Low birth weight
• Neurological damage to your baby (mental retardation, etc.)
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (S.I.D.S)
• Increased risk of breast cancer, endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer
• Depression
• Increased risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease

 

And yet, when I listened to Dr. Hilgartner at the Weston Price Conference, I was surprised to hear him say that many people would do best to *avoid iodine,* because their body has too much of it. Too much iodine in the body can create:

• Hyperthyroidism
• Thyroid Autoimmunity
• Mania
• Increased risk of death from melanoma and skin cancers

And in the case of Manic-Depression (Bipolar), the blood iodine level fluctuates up and down. This confuses me! Too much? Too little? How can we tell what our body needs?

Thankfully, Dr. Natasha offered a solution for this dilemma! Here it is:

1. Buy some liquid iodine

   

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2. Paint a patch of iodine on your skin, about the size of your hand.
3. Iodine is orange, so you will be able to see it clearly.
4. Watch to see how long it takes your body to absorb the iodine.
5. If your body absorbs the iodine within 24 hours, you need it. If it takes quite a bit longer, you don’t need it.
6. Voila! Now isn’t that simple? I plan to go out and buy some iodine soon! 🙂