Sources of iodine ?

[Danielj1]

If you are dairy and wheat free and do not take iodised salt what do people think is likely intake of iodine per day ?

My gut sense is that you are not getting RDA?

Happy for other views

[shaws Administrator]

It is not wise to add iodine if you take thyroid hormones.

Excerpt:

It is used to treat individuals who have hypothyroidism due to any cause. Levothyroxine can be converted to T3 in your body, so you only have to take one medication to supply both hormones. Since levothyroxine already contains iodine, you do not need to take additional iodine to treat hypothyroidism.

livestrong.com/article/5320...

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I disagree. Iodine is easily obtained from food even without iodised salt available.

Recommended amount for adults is 150mcg daily.

If you drink one glass of non-organic cow's milk and consume 1 yogurt per day, that gives you on average 100-200mcg depending on season.

120g of haddock gives on average 390mcg iodine.

120g of cod gives on average 230mcg iodine.

170g of scampi gives on average 160mcg iodine.

BDA's iodine food fact sheet bda.uk.com/foodfacts/Iodine...

Iodine should be tested before supplementing, and only supplemented under the supervision of an experienced practioner.

[Clutter]

Danielj1,

If you take Levothyroxine 65% by weight is iodine which in addition to iodine in your diet should provide your daily RDA.

[Danielj1]

I take the point about milk and yoghurt but many here are dairy free so it seems fish is then a good source of iodine

If you are not a fish eater ...I can see then a vegan/non dairy diet may be more challenging

50 mcg thyroxine @ 65 % is about 30 mcgs

If I don’t take fish or dairy or iodised salt i am struggling to see how I am anywhere near RDA.... bear with me if I have missed something ...

I wonder if medical advice is making assumptions about diet and thyroxine dose levels to reach RDA

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Danielj1]

I think you have Hashimoto's

With Hashimoto's we are advised to avoid iodine, though it remains a controversial issue

drknews.com/iodine-and-hash...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

Iodine was, in the past used to treat hyperthyroidism

[Chippysue]

I have always steered clear of iodine after reading that we should avoid it if we have hashi’s.

That is until a month ago when my Nutritional therapist advised me to have 4 drops a day on my skin. I tested low.

If the colouring goes soon then you are deficient. Apparently most of us in the Uk are iodine deficient now and same goes for magnesium and selenium.

I had also stopped salt as we were incorrectly told it was bad! I have pink himilayan salt now. Dr David Brownstein has written a book about our need for salt!

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Chippysue]

The patch test is also contraversial, as there is a theory that the fading of the colour is actually caused by temperature and evaporation, not the amount of iodine absorbed:

"...the skin iodine patch test is not a reliable method to assess whole body sufficiency for iodine. Many factors play a role in the disappearance of the yellow color of iodine from the surface of the skin. For example, if iodine is reduced to iodide by the skin, the yellow color of iodine will disappear because iodide is white. In order to regenerate iodine on the skin, one needs to apply an oxidant such as hydrogen peroxide, complicating the test further. The evaporation of iodine from the skin increases with increased ambient temperatures and decreased atmospheric pressure due to weather conditions and altitude. For example, the yellow color of iodine will disappear much faster in Denver, Colorado at 5,000 feet above sea level than Los Angeles, California at sea level, irrespective of the amount of bioavailable iodine."

optimox.com/iodine-study-20

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Yes, I've read that the patch test is unreliable. I did the non-loading urine test and was exactly on the middle of the range. My then practioner put me on a Multi which contained 150mcg iodine, which I questioned but she said it was fine as it was a low dose. Retesting a few months later my level had shot up well over range, I ditched the Multi (and the practioner a bit later on).

The loading iodine urine test is said to be flawed too blog.zrtlab.com/flaws-in-th...

[Danielj1]

Which level has shot over the

Range out of interest ?

[Danielj1]

The protocol I follow is to use kelp with selenium / zinc / healthy dose of sea salt and it works a treat. I have yet to see any research that tests outcomes with iodine supplements in the context of a full protocol - most don’t even dose with selenium let alone salt so pretty unhelpful really

I used Himalayan salt for ages until I was told very firmly to leave it well alone - it seemed a really sensible option ...

[Chippysue]

I am having bioresonance from my Nutritional therapist.

With everything we can read for and against.

I am happy, I will let you know if the iodine colour starts to fade after a longer time.

Sue

[Danielj1]

Had some results today - ft3 up from 4 to. 5 so conversion much improved as I hoped from all the supplements tsh down a little from 6.5 to 4.5

Stuck what to do over iodine /kelp

Option 1 - accept higher tsh and keep with current thyroxine plus kelp

Option 2 - try again to raise dose to 75 mcg and drop kelp and make a concerted effort to drop tsh further

Option 3 - keep kelp and raise thyroxine

Not any major move in antibodies ...

[Marz in reply to Danielj1]

You have replied to yourself - so no-one will have read your post Best to write in a new post !

Also when you reply to members click onto the Green Reply button so the person receives an alert and can reply See above !