Vitamin D and Iodine are similar, and both are deficient and important to health

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Iodine Deficiency map

 
Red = low Iodine

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Table comparing Vitamin D with iodine

	Vitamin D	Iodine
Ancient History awareness	Egypt: sun improves health and bones	China: eating burned seaweed stops Goiter
1830, 1930	1930 discover active ingredient in cod liver oil was vitamin D	1830 Determined Iodine cured Goiter 1930: US added Iodine to salt
Fortification in the US	Add vitamin D2 to milk (later changed to D3)	Add Iodine to salt note: <5% of salt sold in UK is iodized UK had gotten it from milk until mid 1990's
Just enough fortification to prevent main disease	10 micrograms (prevent Rickets)	150 micrograms (prevent Goiter and cretinism)
Very low cost for fortification	1 cent per person-year (approx)	8 cents per person-year
Huge reduction in 40 years	2X to 3X reduction	4X reduction
	Air conditioning, sunscreen, multi-media	Less Iodine in milk (no longer used on cows)
	indoor jobs, less cholesterol, more obesity reduced Magnesium and Omega-3 (both of which raise Vit D levels)	Less Iodine in bread (no longer used in processing)
	live in cities - which have less UVB	Increased use of Iodine blockers: Fluoride Chlorine and Bromide (used in flour) also perchlorate in some fertilizers (See 2014 PDF)
	increased used of farmed fish - which has 1/4 the Vit D Increase use of low-fat milk, which provides less Vit D	1) Use table salt much less 2)No Iodine in salt used in processed foods 3) half of iodized salt not meet requirements
Need to increase the intake	at least 2X increase	at least 2X increase
No fear of toxicity	300 micrograms can be taken daily forever	US Tolerable Upper Intake = 1,100 mcg daily Note: Japanese consume 50,000 mcg daily
No fear of overdose	Single day toxic level - 1 million micrograms	Single day toxic level 1 million micrograms
No fear of long-term consequences	Finland used 100 ug for decades ==> far less diabetes	Japanese have taken 50,000 micrograms daily for centuries
Deficiency effects many people	Flu, pregnancy problems, cognitive decline, diabetes, etc. Proof that Vitamin D Works	Goiter; Fatigue; Weakness; Weight Gain; Mental Retardation, low iodine is the leading cause of mental retardation
Delay in having govt increase levels of food fortification	Many decades for govts to increase fortification	Many decades for govts to increase fortification
Fortification which has proven useful	milk, bread,	milk, bread, water (China)
Individuals can improve health now	Supplement - add to food consumed - more sunshine	Supplement or add to food consumed a single drop of Iodine a day is plenty
Does not accumulate in body	long term storage - weeks to months	long term storage - weeks to months
Vets use at least 3X more on mammals than US says humans need	Mammals need 3X to 4X more than humans	Rabbits need 5X more than humans, dogs need 20X more than humans
Loading dose	OK to 100X for a few weeks if need to re-stock	OK to 100X for a few weeks if need to re-stock
Deficiency testing - blood	Yes	Yes
Deficiency testing - free, not precise	Quick, free, self test of vitamin D deficiency	http://is.gd/iodinetest - need Iodine, results vary with temperature, etc - see below on this page

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6 reasons for decrease in Iodine (resulting in a 4X decrease in 4 decades)

1. Some countries do not require adding iodine to salt used commercially
2. People have be minimizing use of salt to reduce sodium in their diet
3. People using salt less at home: Iodine in home salt disappears in about 1 year
4. People using salt from mines, mountains that is not iodized
5. Cow's udders now cleaned with Bromine instead of Iodine
6. Iodine not used as often in baking bread

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Switzerland has greatly INCREASED the amount of Iodine in ALL of their salt over the past 60 years

3.75 mg/kg in 1975,
7.5 mg/kg in 1962,
15 mg/kg in 1980,
20 mg/kg in 1998 vs US 70 micrograms/gram = 70 mg/kg
Swiss fortify ALL salt, not just table salt.
Swiss Iodine intake may be >2X of that of US.

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See also VitaminDWiki

• Adding Iodine to salt added 11 percent to goiter states income (how much might vitamin D add) – July 2018
• Iodine Nutrition in US - 2008.pdf file
• Results of many blood tests in Australia – deficiencies only in Vitamin D, Iodine, and Vitamin B-12 – Dec 2015
• Search VitaminDWiki for IODINE 236 web pages as of Aug 2024
• Iodine deficiency
• Iodine deficiency might cause obesity
• All items in category Iodine 32 items
• All items in category Fortification and Vitamin D 135 items
• Obesity pandemic since 1975 - is it due to Vitamin D, Magnesium, Iodine, adenovirus, or what
• Obesity epidemic: a perfect storm of deficiency of vitamin D, Magnesium, Iodine, etc – May 2012
• Overview Magnesium and vitamin D
• Thoughts on improving vitamin D policies - Vieth Nov 2013 1 chart showing history of Iodine fortification of salt
• Typically takes a century for govts to fortify food with nutrients (like vitamin D)
• Vitamin D, DHA, Folic, Iodine benefits during pregnancy – July 2012
• Iodine added during pregnancy reduces preterm births, increases IQ. Etc.
• Common deficiencies D3, Omega-3, K2, Mg, B12, E, A, Iodine, etc – Mercola Oct 2015
• Off topic – myth that should have low salt diet
• Efficacy and Safety of Iodine Fortification - Zimmerman (Swiss) chapter in 2018 book
   Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
  Children - 2017
  

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See also web

• Iodine: An in-depth guide to its potential benefits Mercola Aug 2019
• History of U.S. Iodine Fortification and Supplementation
  Nov 2012  Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
• The History of Iodine in Medicine Part I: From Discovery to Essentiality
  Extremely wide use of Iodine. 1,700 approved pharmacopoeial names assigned to iodine-containing products in 1956
  Same web source has 21 additional Iodine and Medicine publications, such as
  The History of Iodine in Medicine Part II: Thyroid Fixation and Medical Iodophobia
     US bread from 1960-1980 had 150 micrograms of grams of Iodine per slice
• How Potassium Iodide Can Potentially Work for You Mercola Aug 2018
• Iodine can prevent or help cure breast cancer Natural News July 2013
• Iodine-Rich Foods Fight Breast Cancer GreenMedInfo Oct 2015
  Reduces estrogen, up-regulated 29 genes and down-regulated 14 genes in breast cancer cells
  Japanese women get about 25 times more iodine than US, But when Japanese women get U.S. diet BC rates jump to US rates,
  Iodine is blocked by chlorine and fluoride in drinking water, as well as bromine in flour, bread, and baked goods
• American Academy of Pediatrics recommend more Iodine during pregnancy May 2014 PDF is attached at bottom of this page
  minimum of 150 ug of elemental Iodine - note: virtually no prenatal supplement contains this much as of May 2014
• Nice overview of Iodine and how much to take Nov 2013
• Iodine Supplementation - 2009, but nice
• Iodine and the Body Iodine Research - 2009?
  ". . . fluoride is in the same chemical family as iodine and can replace iodine in the body if the iodine is deficient."
  "Radioactive iodine injected into patients shows a full outline of the bones on a total body scan. This means one of the places iodine goes to immediately is bones."
  Research catgories: .Adrenals, Blood, Bones, Brain (CNS), Breast Introduction, Breast, Exocrine System, Eyes, Gastrointestinal, Heart, Hormones, Immune System, Kidneys, Liver, Lungs, Mouth. Ovaries, Pregnancy, Skin, Thymus, Thyroid, Vagina, Whole Body, AIDS, Cancer, Candida, Colds and Flu, Allergies, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Lyme Disease, Sjogren's Syndrome, Thyroid Disease
• Japanese Iodine intake 1-3 mg per day - 2011
• Iodine Web MD
  includes interactions with medications for an overactive thyroid, Lithium, Ace Inhibitors, Angiotensin receptor blockers, water pills,
• https://www.ukiodine.org/iodine-in-the-uk/ still not added to salt as of 2022]
  • Iodine had been added to cow feed and had used as a dairy disenfectant, but no longer

See also web - Iodine tests

• How to Perform the Iodine Patch Test April 2015
  Author is not sure if it is reliable. Has a short video on patch test and a 1 hour video on Iodine Deficiency
• The Skin Patch Test for Iodine Deficiency
  This author is also unsure of the reliability of the patch test.
  Time for patch to disappear varies with temperature, pressure, etc.
• Dried Urine testing for Iodine ZRT labs $80 - also on Amazon
  Iodine and creatinine testing in urine dried on filter paper - Feb 2013

US Map areas with low Iodine in water closely matches Goiter areas (date ?)

_Seems likely that this will be the same region which will have low Iodine in the 21st century

+that people consume less Iodized salt, less Iodine from milk and bread, and more Bromine which blocks Iodine

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30% of the globe has less than 100 micrograms of Iodine

Wonder what percentage of women have < 220 micrograms - which appears to be the minimum needed during pregnancy

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The Need for Iodine Supplementation Othomolecular Medicine June 2017

• "The variety of diseases for which iodine was prescribed in the early years is astonishing - paralysis, chorea, scrofula, lacrimal fistula, deafness, distortions of the spine, hip-joint disease, syphilis, acute inflammation, gout, gangrene, dropsy, carbuncles, whitlow, chilblains, burns, scalds, lupus, croup, catarrh, asthma, ulcers, and bronchitis - to mention only a few"
• "The body requires iodine to metabolize both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids"
• "Unfortunately, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for iodine - about 150 mcg per day - will not allow delta-iodolactone to be efficiently formed in the thyroid gland. The thyroid requires higher iodine concentrations to efficiently produce it. Researchers have found that 100 times the RDA amount of iodine is optimal to produce delta-iodolactone."

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Attached to the bottom of this page are notes on Iodine from the internet Feb 2012 and Jan 2013
Note: Water fllters which use reverse osmosis eliminate all Iodine and Magnesium

Iodine Fortification around the world

• Iodine supplementation is now required in virtually every country - The UK is one of the 20 which still has no Iodine requirement Oct 2018

Many people are Iodine deficient, but especially vegans - 2020

Vitamin and Mineral Status in a Vegan Diet
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki