would kelp tablets be of any use to someone with no thyroid

[Tatty10]

[begutbegut]

Hello!

I don't think so - kelp contains iodine, so the reason people take it is to improve the function of the thyroid. But if you have no thyroid gland, I don't see how it could help. But I could be wrong!

A

[bantam12 in reply to begutbegut]

If you have no thyroid then no need to take it.

[Tatty10 in reply to begutbegut]

Hi thanks for the reply, this is what i cant get my head round,would the iodine be absorbed in the blood

[tegz in reply to Tatty10]

It would end up in the blood like [most/all?] nutrients and is used elsewhere, I understand- not just by the thyroid.

Just that most ends up there- when it exists, as it's so important.

Other endocrine glands do have secondary functions, like adrenals producing low levels of sex hormones etc.

If you're taking replacement thyroid hormones then it wouldn't matter for that function- as the process of usage is to remove iodine molecules -not to add to them.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to tegz]

I have tried to think through the "iodine economy".

A typical recommended intake of iodine - in total - is around 150mcg. (This is the sort of number mentioned in, for example, Thyroid Manager.)

The majority of that goes to the thyroid and is formed into thyroid hormone. Some will pass straight through.

These figures seem to correspond fairly well with the full replacement doses of thyroid hormones required by those who are on full and adequate replacement.

I suspect that at least a reasonable proportion of the iodine "used" other than directly as thyroid hormone actually comes from the deiodination of thyroid hormone - at each step from T4 to T0 an atom of iodine is liberated.

I'd go further and suggest that maybe thyroid hormone originated in relatively primitive animals (or even lower orders) where it provides a way of safely transporting iodine around the body or storing it.

If anyone was getting even a fraction of the 150mcg and is on full replacement dose of thyroid hormone (or nearly so), then I doubt there is or could be any need for any supplementation. Those who are advised to go on a low-iodine diet in preparation for treatments can find it very hard to get the intake as low as they need.

Rod

[marram]

You would definitely have more iodine in your system, but it would not give any benefit to you because actually if you are taking thyroxine, you are getting four molecules of iodine in every molecule of T4 - and to make T3 you need to remove one molecule of iodine. So you will then have some surplus iodine in your body. Eventually when the T3 gets used, that iodine will be surplus, too.

If you had a thyroid it would be recirculated back to the thyroid to make more T4.

I found this which is interesting, I have not yet read all of it, but there is a suggestion the the body uses iodine for other things as well:

articles.mercola.com/sites/...

I intend to read it later, particularly the part which says "your body needs iodine for more than just your thyroid"

[Heloise in reply to marram]

marram, iodine acts as a disinfectant in the body as well as outside. Many women have fibrocystic breasts but lugols solution will cure it. Personally I think thyroid problems and breast cancer may both be due to the lack of iodine. earthclinic.com/Remedies/io...

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Heloise]

Insufficient iodine may well be behind a significant amount of disease - thyroid and otherwise.

However to imply (and this is how it reads to me, maybe others would not agree?) that pretty much all thyroid disease is due to insufficient iodine seems unlikely. We have countries such as Japan where intake of iodine is typically very high and yet thyroid disease is pretty common there as well. I am not meaning to ignore the traditional seaweed consumption of Wales and Ireland but there are fewer papers reporting on those countries separately to the UK and/or Europe.

Excess iodine is also behind some disease.

Rod

[Heloise in reply to helvella]

Oh, no, Rod. Her comment "

I intend to read it later, particularly the part which says "your body needs iodine for more than just your thyroid"

I wanted to point out the importance of iodine ALSO to breast tissue and not only to thyroid tissue.

I'm sure hashimoto's (autoimmune) far outweighs deficient iodine in my opinion. But I would not be surprised if fibrocystic disease is directly related to either iodine or iodide (can't recall at the moment) deficiency.

[Heloise]

Tatty, this mineral is important for other functions and being deficient may be implicated in breast cancer as well as thyroid problems. The depletion in the soil may be a reason for deficiency in our bodies and iodized salt may not be enough. earthclinic.com/Remedies/io...