1
00:00:00.671 --> 00:00:03.832
It's a nutrient that your thyroid desperately needs.
2
00:00:04.593 --> 00:00:05.553
Iodine is essential.
3
00:00:06.233 --> 00:00:07.334
Iodine is powerful.
4
00:00:08.074 --> 00:00:10.015
So why are we avoiding it?
5
00:00:10.495 --> 00:00:13.676
Powerful nutrients require respect, not fear.
6
00:00:15.317 --> 00:00:17.397
I just want to say thank you.
7
00:00:18.058 --> 00:00:24.360
The fact that you're here means that you have trusted me with something so valuable these days, your time.
8
00:00:24.965 --> 00:00:26.885
And I do not take that lightly at all.
9
00:00:27.326 --> 00:00:42.409
So if you're listening because you're exhausted, you're gaining weight for no reason, losing your hair, getting really frustrated, or you've been told that everything looks normal, when you know deep down something isn't right, I want you to know that I see you.
10
00:00:42.969 --> 00:00:43.829
I've been where you are.
11
00:00:44.150 --> 00:00:46.470
And that's exactly why I created this podcast.
12
00:00:46.830 --> 00:00:54.072
My mission is super simple, to give you the information, the hope and the tools that I wish someone had given me years ago.
13
00:00:54.752 --> 00:01:02.056
So my goal is you get to stop wondering what's wrong with your body and finally start getting your life back.
14
00:01:02.796 --> 00:01:06.778
So if these episodes have helped you at all, would you do me one small favor?
15
00:01:07.639 --> 00:01:13.802
Take just a few seconds to follow the show, the little button in the upper corner, and then leave a review.
16
00:01:14.582 --> 00:01:25.329
Every follow and every review helps this podcast reach another person who's lying there awake at night wondering why they don't even recognize themselves anymore when they look in the mirror.
17
00:01:25.889 --> 00:01:30.292
Wondering what's happened to this amazing, energized, full of life person they used to be.
18
00:01:30.692 --> 00:01:31.473
You're helping them.
19
00:01:31.973 --> 00:01:32.874
And not only that...
20
00:01:33.534 --> 00:01:42.759
When you follow the show, you'll be notified about the hottest episodes everyone is listening to and everyone's downloading, along with any bonus episodes I drop throughout the month.
21
00:01:43.259 --> 00:01:45.000
Think of it as your insider pass.
22
00:01:45.600 --> 00:01:48.502
So thank you for letting me be part of your journey.
23
00:01:48.702 --> 00:01:49.642
And thank you for your time.
24
00:01:50.142 --> 00:01:52.404
Now, let's get into today's episode.
25
00:01:55.465 --> 00:01:56.966
So let me ask you something.
26
00:01:56.986 --> 00:01:57.086
Okay.
27
00:01:57.653 --> 00:01:59.594
You're walking into a health food store.
28
00:01:59.954 --> 00:02:02.454
You grab a bottle of iodine off the shelf.
29
00:02:03.274 --> 00:02:04.715
Maybe it says kelp on it.
30
00:02:05.255 --> 00:02:06.715
Maybe it says Lugol's.
31
00:02:07.456 --> 00:02:12.397
Maybe it says pharmaceutical grade in a fancy schmancy font on the front.
32
00:02:13.037 --> 00:02:13.837
And then you take it home.
33
00:02:13.857 --> 00:02:14.897
You take it every day.
34
00:02:14.917 --> 00:02:18.278
You feel good about it because iodine is good for your thyroid, right?
35
00:02:18.298 --> 00:02:18.698
It is.
36
00:02:18.718 --> 00:02:19.059
It is.
37
00:02:21.038 --> 00:02:23.800
But here's what nobody is telling you.
38
00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:28.263
You might not be just taking in iodine.
39
00:02:28.923 --> 00:02:43.734
You could also be and probably are swallowing arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, and a whole laundry list of ingredients that you really never planned to ingest when you bought that supplement called iodine.
40
00:02:44.254 --> 00:02:50.717
So in today's quick fixes episode, we're going straight at the iodine supplement industry.
41
00:02:51.378 --> 00:03:10.808
And by the end of today's show, you're gonna know which iodine to grab, which one to put back on the shelf, and why the form that I chose for my iodine fixer is different from almost everything else on the shelf, and why one particular myth about iodine and Hashimoto's means to die today.
42
00:03:11.488 --> 00:03:12.709
So here we go.
43
00:03:14.710 --> 00:03:19.233
Now, you already know that your thyroid uses iodine to make T4 and T3.
44
00:03:19.293 --> 00:03:23.615
If you don't have enough iodine, you're not making thyroid hormone.
45
00:03:24.216 --> 00:03:26.997
And this is where I go right for the science.
46
00:03:27.237 --> 00:03:32.000
The whole, this is not a podcast on should I take iodine.
47
00:03:32.040 --> 00:03:36.503
You can listen to the multitude of other podcasts where I go over the benefits of iodine.
48
00:03:37.243 --> 00:03:39.704
ad nauseum for 30, 45, 60 minutes.
49
00:03:39.764 --> 00:03:44.866
Today is about the type of iodine and the quality that you're actually buying and what to look for.
50
00:03:45.286 --> 00:03:50.708
But let's do an iodine one overview just for people that are just listening to this for the first time.
51
00:03:51.068 --> 00:04:02.893
You've not heard my iodine episode before where I go deep into the science and you just want like a little taste here so you can continue listening to this particular episode to know which iodine to buy.
52
00:04:04.001 --> 00:04:04.862
Iodine 101.
53
00:04:05.142 --> 00:04:08.466
It is needed by the thyroid to make thyroid hormone.
54
00:04:08.826 --> 00:04:17.274
It's also one of the main reasons why you're walking around with an elevated reverse T3 is low iodine.
55
00:04:17.294 --> 00:04:27.644
So iodine deficiency will hinder that T4 to T3 conversion that has to happen where your body takes the inactive thyroid hormone T4 and converts it into the active thyroid hormone T3
56
00:04:28.445 --> 00:04:35.072
which gets to the cells to alleviate your symptoms of weight gain and fatigue and feeling cold and hair loss and dry skin and all the things.
57
00:04:35.632 --> 00:04:44.702
So if you do not have enough iodine, you cannot make enough thyroid hormone and you can't properly convert that inactive thyroid hormone to the active form.
58
00:04:45.282 --> 00:04:49.206
In addition to that, we're going to roll back to seventh grade chemistry class.
59
00:04:49.226 --> 00:04:51.349
Do you remember the periodic table of elements?
60
00:04:51.909 --> 00:04:58.816
where you would see chlorine, bromide, fluoride, or fluorine right next to iodide or iodine.
61
00:04:58.976 --> 00:05:02.740
It's the IDE and the INE forms, halogens and halides.
62
00:05:02.760 --> 00:05:07.685
So they're all neatly stacked together in that periodic table of elements.
63
00:05:08.310 --> 00:05:09.070
Now, here's the thing.
64
00:05:09.530 --> 00:05:20.153
When we're looking at the cells in your body, the 40 trillion cells that you have in your body, we already know that every single one of those cells has a receptor site on it for T3.
65
00:05:20.754 --> 00:05:25.255
But also, every single one of those cells has a receptor site on it for iodine.
66
00:05:25.855 --> 00:05:37.768
Now, if you're not taking in enough iodine or any at all because you've been fear-mongered by all the IG influencers out there telling you to avoid iodine, then guess what is going to attach to that receptor site instead?
67
00:05:38.409 --> 00:05:43.594
The toxic halides that look identical to iodine and iodide.
68
00:05:44.175 --> 00:05:54.358
So yes, the toxic halides of fluoride, which you're exposed to every day, even if you change to a fluoride-free toothpaste, to chlorine, which you're exposed to every day because it's in our water supply.
69
00:05:54.378 --> 00:06:00.939
And yeah, even if you have a filter on your shower, you're still being exposed to chlorine because do you like never leave your house?
70
00:06:01.039 --> 00:06:12.142
I mean, if you never, ever leave your house and you have a whole house water filtration system and you never go in a pool, never shower at the gym and never go to a hotel or go on vacation, then you're going to be a filter.
71
00:06:12.342 --> 00:06:14.585
Sure, maybe you're chlorine free.
72
00:06:15.126 --> 00:06:21.034
Just make sure that you don't just get a glass of water when you're out at a restaurant because that's going to have chlorine in it as well.
73
00:06:21.334 --> 00:06:27.042
And then there's bromide that is on your clothes and your furniture and your carpets and your grass and your baked goods, the whole deal.
74
00:06:27.062 --> 00:06:27.262
Yeah.
75
00:06:27.402 --> 00:06:28.083
So guess what?
76
00:06:28.123 --> 00:06:31.065
You are being exposed to those toxic halides every single day.
77
00:06:31.546 --> 00:06:34.268
And if you're not taking iodine, then those toxic halides are going to win.
78
00:06:34.288 --> 00:06:35.569
They're going to shut down your thyroid.
79
00:06:35.589 --> 00:06:36.971
They're probably also going to cause cancer.
80
00:06:37.311 --> 00:06:47.139
So you take the science and you decide whether or not you want to believe the IG influencers that are out there fear-mongering you to avoid iodine.
81
00:06:47.179 --> 00:06:48.341
You know what you got to ask them?
82
00:06:48.441 --> 00:06:49.702
Show me the science.
83
00:06:50.502 --> 00:06:51.884
Show me the science.
84
00:06:52.584 --> 00:06:54.765
As Jerry Maguire would say, show me the money.
85
00:06:55.425 --> 00:06:57.406
Well, the money is in the science, people.
86
00:06:57.726 --> 00:07:02.108
And that's where you have to look to make the decisions about what you're going to do with your body.
87
00:07:02.768 --> 00:07:04.629
Instagram isn't going to tell you everything.
88
00:07:05.149 --> 00:07:06.230
So let's look at the science.
89
00:07:06.330 --> 00:07:06.550
Okay.
90
00:07:06.850 --> 00:07:08.691
So now you know why you need iodine.
91
00:07:09.291 --> 00:07:10.792
Now we're going to break down what kind.
92
00:07:11.372 --> 00:07:24.465
So I am putting four iodine options on the table and we are going to break each and every one of them down because these are the common iodine options that are out there that you will see and hear about and potentially buy.
93
00:07:24.785 --> 00:07:29.489
So buyer beware and consumer, be your own advocate here.
94
00:07:30.460 --> 00:07:32.622
Number one, kelp-based iodine.
95
00:07:32.642 --> 00:07:35.064
We're going to talk about that, break down the pros and the cons.
96
00:07:35.504 --> 00:07:40.128
Number two, Lugol's, which is the OG solution of iodine.
97
00:07:40.408 --> 00:07:43.591
Now, Lugol's iodine is the type of iodine.
98
00:07:44.051 --> 00:07:45.192
It is not a brand.
99
00:07:45.232 --> 00:07:52.158
What you will find is many iodine brands on the market contain Lugol's iodine.
100
00:07:52.178 --> 00:07:53.318
We're going to break down what that is.
101
00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:57.920
Number three is iodorol, which is a tablet form of iodine.
102
00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:00.921
And number four is nascent iodide.
103
00:08:00.941 --> 00:08:04.342
This is a monoatomic form of iodine.
104
00:08:04.602 --> 00:08:06.162
So we're going to break these down one at a time.
105
00:08:06.962 --> 00:08:08.323
Let's start with kelp.
106
00:08:08.563 --> 00:08:18.225
Oh my goodness, I can't tell you the amount of times patients will come into the practice and they'll say, well, my PCP told me to just go to the health food store and get some kelp.
107
00:08:18.766 --> 00:08:19.466
So kelp
108
00:08:20.306 --> 00:08:26.631
gets marketed over and over again as like the health food darling of the iodine world.
109
00:08:27.191 --> 00:08:30.094
And it's actually not at all.
110
00:08:30.194 --> 00:08:32.456
It's the worst choice possible.
111
00:08:32.496 --> 00:08:33.096
And here's why.
112
00:08:33.116 --> 00:08:39.521
Okay, yes, it comes from the ocean and it's a whole food and it's natural.
113
00:08:40.222 --> 00:08:41.423
But here's my problem with that.
114
00:08:41.843 --> 00:08:43.744
Kelp is a sea plant and...
115
00:08:44.525 --> 00:08:51.307
It doesn't have a filter on it that protects it from anything else that is in the water around it.
116
00:08:51.327 --> 00:08:54.868
It is going to absorb whatever is in the water around it.
117
00:08:55.488 --> 00:08:59.530
And that's how we get iodine in the first place from kelp.
118
00:08:59.590 --> 00:09:04.411
The kelp sea plant is absorbing the iodine in the ocean.
119
00:09:04.971 --> 00:09:07.212
So if the water it grew in was contaminated...
120
00:09:07.792 --> 00:09:20.752
with arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, pharmaceutical drugs, all of that ends up in your kelp right alongside the iodine because it's from the ocean.
121
00:09:20.772 --> 00:09:22.755
And right now we know that our oceans are polluted.
122
00:09:23.236 --> 00:09:25.319
We know that our waters are polluted.
123
00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:27.822
That's why fish are like multi-sex.
124
00:09:28.363 --> 00:09:38.356
Now we're finding male fish that can lay eggs because of the xenoestrogens that are in the water, the pharmaceutical drugs and the heavy metals that are in our water.
125
00:09:38.396 --> 00:09:40.378
They are literally changing the sex of fish.
126
00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:41.759
It's a problem.
127
00:09:42.299 --> 00:09:44.060
That's not what you want to be ingesting.
128
00:09:44.580 --> 00:09:45.701
You just wanted iodine.
129
00:09:46.281 --> 00:09:51.002
Instead, you bought a heavy metal cocktail with iodine as the little sprinkle of garnish on top.
130
00:09:51.602 --> 00:09:53.463
And there's another problem with kelp.
131
00:09:53.483 --> 00:09:57.384
The iodine content is wildly inconsistent.
132
00:09:57.865 --> 00:10:06.047
So researchers have tested commercial seaweed and kelp products and found iodine ranging from almost nothing to more than 25,000
133
00:10:08.608 --> 00:10:10.290
micrograms per portion.
134
00:10:10.790 --> 00:10:12.252
That's 25 milligrams.
135
00:10:12.492 --> 00:10:16.196
That's the high end of where I want you to fall in your iodine dose.
136
00:10:16.556 --> 00:10:27.888
So you could go out and grab a little kelp product and take it and you can be jacked up, wired, hyperthyroid, heart pounding out of your chest, eyes bulging, you thinking that you
137
00:10:30.170 --> 00:10:32.372
And it's not because the iodine did that.
138
00:10:32.492 --> 00:10:39.298
It's because you bought a kelp product and you have no idea how much iodine you're actually getting every time you take a serving.
139
00:10:39.698 --> 00:10:42.120
So what was actually in the bottle didn't always match.
140
00:10:42.141 --> 00:10:49.307
What was on the label, that's what these researchers found over and over and over again when they tested kelp products at the health food store.
141
00:10:49.847 --> 00:11:07.591
So you just have to be cautious about buying into the marketing terms of natural or organic when it comes to an iodine product, because it doesn't actually tell you about the iodine dose or the heavy metal load.
142
00:11:07.611 --> 00:11:10.912
Just because something says natural doesn't mean that it's free of heavy metals.
143
00:11:11.172 --> 00:11:14.233
Just because it says organic doesn't mean that it's free of heavy metals.
144
00:11:14.813 --> 00:11:17.154
The ocean is natural and highly organic.
145
00:11:17.814 --> 00:11:22.195
but it's loaded down with heavy metals and pharmaceutical drugs and other contaminants.
146
00:11:22.855 --> 00:11:25.356
So we can't just go by marketing terms.
147
00:11:25.396 --> 00:11:32.637
This is why I'm doing this podcast so that you can be a savvy consumer and not waste your money.
148
00:11:33.178 --> 00:11:47.621
Because realistically, if you are buying a crap product that is $10 less than a good product, you didn't save $10, you wasted the 20 bucks that you spent on the
149
00:11:48.001 --> 00:11:48.903
crap product.
150
00:11:49.523 --> 00:11:52.707
So again, know what you are buying.
151
00:11:52.908 --> 00:11:55.190
Take an extra minute or two and be savvy.
152
00:11:55.511 --> 00:12:00.457
Don't just grab it from GNC or from Amazon because you can get it in a day or immediately.
153
00:12:01.218 --> 00:12:06.424
Wait another day or two to get something that actually will work in your body and be beneficial.
154
00:12:07.025 --> 00:12:09.967
to you because that's ultimately why you're buying the supplement in the first place, right?
155
00:12:10.368 --> 00:12:17.574
You're not buying iodine to have heavy metal contamination and a whole slew of other issues because of the heavy metals.
156
00:12:18.595 --> 00:12:22.897
All right, now let's look at the OG iodine Lugols.
157
00:12:23.497 --> 00:12:31.320
So now Lugols is a molecular iodine plus potassium iodide, and it is dissolved in water.
158
00:12:31.940 --> 00:12:35.842
So it has honestly legitimate clinical uses.
159
00:12:35.862 --> 00:12:38.323
Like I said, it's the OG iodine.
160
00:12:38.403 --> 00:12:40.403
It's been around a long, long time.
161
00:12:41.004 --> 00:12:43.585
But here's the thing that people don't really talk about.
162
00:12:43.665 --> 00:12:44.205
Number one,
163
00:12:44.825 --> 00:12:48.786
The purity of a Lugol solution is not automatic.
164
00:12:48.806 --> 00:12:51.646
You're not automatically like, oh, well, this is the OG, so it must be pure.
165
00:12:52.147 --> 00:13:04.909
Potassium iodide can be manufactured cleanly, but the raw material specs actually allow for trace amounts of arsenic and heavy metals to remain.
166
00:13:05.409 --> 00:13:08.850
So these are allowable by the FDA.
167
00:13:09.490 --> 00:13:11.191
So that means it's not zero.
168
00:13:11.411 --> 00:13:15.973
There's not a 0% of arsenic in the Lugol solution.
169
00:13:15.993 --> 00:13:19.794
They're not 0% heavy metals in the Lugol solution.
170
00:13:20.294 --> 00:13:37.201
And my dear friend, Sarah Banta talked about this on many a podcast that we've had together about how she specifically tested or knew a company that grabbed Lugol solutions from a variety of different manufacturers and tested it and they found
171
00:13:37.887 --> 00:13:41.651
heavy metal contamination in the Lugol's formulas.
172
00:13:42.292 --> 00:13:52.222
So if a company is selling you Lugol's and calling it pure, what you want to do is ask for the certificate of analysis on the finished bottle, not the raw ingredient.
173
00:13:52.722 --> 00:13:54.524
And if they can't produce it, then you have your answer.
174
00:13:55.345 --> 00:14:00.952
Here's the thing, just a little backstory, a little peek behind the curtain of the supplement industry.
175
00:14:01.613 --> 00:14:11.526
When I say that you want the COA or Certificate of Analysis on the finished bottle and not the raw ingredient, or you want it, yes, you want it on the finished bottle, not the raw ingredient because...
176
00:14:12.187 --> 00:14:34.012
There's a difference between the raw material ingredient of a supplement being tested and being certified free of heavy metals versus the combining of a variety of different ingredients and how those ingredients interact with each other and do the other ingredients that are put in the bottle.
177
00:14:34.692 --> 00:14:43.815
Do they contain trace amounts of heavy metals, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, pharmaceuticals, and that's being transferred over into the bottle?
178
00:14:43.835 --> 00:14:50.017
So if you're not testing the finished bottle, you actually don't know what the quality is of that particular product.
179
00:14:50.357 --> 00:14:52.858
You only know the quality of the raw ingredient.
180
00:14:53.298 --> 00:14:57.000
So just a little behind the scenes of the supplement industry.
181
00:14:57.861 --> 00:15:03.583
The other issue with Lugol's is it's really hard to go low and slow and titrate up.
182
00:15:03.643 --> 00:15:07.984
And this is where iodine gets a bad reputation.
183
00:15:08.585 --> 00:15:18.068
Because I truly believe that all of these fear-mongering IG influencers that tell you to avoid iodine when they have no science backing whatsoever behind that statement, they...
184
00:15:18.688 --> 00:15:34.635
either use themselves with patients or they heard stories of other practitioners using Lugals with patients and that particular patient going into a little bit of a thyroid storm, getting a little bit hyper, like hyperthyroid.
185
00:15:35.356 --> 00:15:37.977
And that's where it becomes a problem.
186
00:15:38.617 --> 00:15:46.206
Now, some practitioners will tell patients to just go right, start right into 25 milligrams, start right into 50 milligrams.
187
00:15:46.226 --> 00:15:48.068
Well, that in and of itself is an issue.
188
00:15:48.389 --> 00:15:50.611
You need to titrate up slowly.
189
00:15:50.631 --> 00:15:52.433
You need to titrate your iodine up slowly.
190
00:15:52.754 --> 00:15:54.075
It's like taking T3.
191
00:15:54.436 --> 00:15:56.879
I would never give you a prescription for T3.
192
00:15:57.719 --> 00:16:01.661
25 or 50 micrograms of T3 and say, here, start here.
193
00:16:01.681 --> 00:16:04.783
We would start at five micrograms, maybe 2.5.
194
00:16:04.843 --> 00:16:08.305
We would go twice a day, and then we would titrate up slowly from there.
195
00:16:08.945 --> 00:16:10.386
Same thing with iodine.
196
00:16:10.406 --> 00:16:14.668
You start literally with one drop, which when you're using iodine,
197
00:16:14.848 --> 00:16:31.818
My iodine fixer, which we're going to talk about in the form of nascent iodine, it's a lower dose per drop, which allows you to titrate up slowly, which allows your body to get used to it as you are titrating up instead of punching you in the face and sending you into a hyperthyroid state.
198
00:16:32.418 --> 00:16:43.912
So one drop of a 2% Lugol's is around 2.5 milligrams, which that's not a bad starting dose, but many, many people need to start less than that.
199
00:16:44.333 --> 00:16:50.901
I mean, some people need to start at like a half of a milligram and then go to one milligram.
200
00:16:51.281 --> 00:16:55.085
and then go to literally like 1.35 milligram.
201
00:16:55.465 --> 00:17:09.678
So titrating up very, very slowly is key to allowing your body to get used to iodine and to allow it to adjust to that titration upward of iodine where you're finding your sweet spot, your sweet dose.
202
00:17:10.739 --> 00:17:11.780
One drop of 5% Lugol's,
203
00:17:14.573 --> 00:17:17.476
That's 6.25 milligrams.
204
00:17:17.616 --> 00:17:18.237
What are you going to do?
205
00:17:18.257 --> 00:17:19.719
You can't start there.
206
00:17:19.739 --> 00:17:26.106
Now, listen, I tell my audience to aim and my patients to aim somewhere between 6 and 25 milligrams of iodine a day.
207
00:17:26.747 --> 00:17:31.292
But again, where you need to start is much, much, much lower than that.
208
00:17:31.312 --> 00:17:31.572
Right.
209
00:17:32.293 --> 00:17:34.434
And then you need to work your way up.
210
00:17:34.934 --> 00:17:43.536
So if you have Hashimoto's or you're new to iodine or you had a bad experience with iodine years ago, and maybe you're thinking now, like I need to reintroduce it.
211
00:17:43.736 --> 00:17:50.777
Yes, you do, but don't do that with Lugol's because a single drop already blows past your starting dose.
212
00:17:51.478 --> 00:17:54.698
And then once that drop leaves the dropper, there's no taking it back.
213
00:17:54.778 --> 00:17:56.699
It's hard to even do it, half of a drop.
214
00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:58.319
That is my issue.
215
00:17:58.779 --> 00:17:59.600
That is my issue.
216
00:17:59.620 --> 00:18:00.800
You can't control it.
217
00:18:01.734 --> 00:18:05.879
Okay, number three, we're talking about iodorol.
218
00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:09.102
Iodorol is basically Lugol's in a tablet form.
219
00:18:09.703 --> 00:18:14.428
Standard iodorol is 12.5 milligrams per tablet.
220
00:18:14.468 --> 00:18:22.497
So five milligrams of molecular iodine and 7.5 milligrams of iodide as potassium salt.
221
00:18:23.098 --> 00:18:30.624
Plus there's cellulose, there's silicon dioxide, centric acid, pharmaceutical glaze required to hold the tablet together.
222
00:18:31.244 --> 00:18:34.126
So all of that is in that iodorol tablet.
223
00:18:34.546 --> 00:18:39.790
Now, 12.5 milligrams, again, like it's the same thing that we talked about with Lugol's.
224
00:18:39.890 --> 00:18:46.175
How are you going to take a hard tablet of 12.5 milligrams and get 0.5 milligrams out of that?
225
00:18:46.215 --> 00:18:49.097
You know, like bite off a little end of it, like hope it flakes off.
226
00:18:49.417 --> 00:18:51.359
Well, that's not controlled dosing.
227
00:18:51.379 --> 00:18:52.340
You have no idea.
228
00:18:52.940 --> 00:18:54.762
how many milligrams you just took.
229
00:18:54.782 --> 00:19:02.828
So you don't have any idea of how many milligrams to go to the next day or the next day or the next day because you're taking this hard tablet and trying to break it down.
230
00:19:02.868 --> 00:19:06.231
You can barely even break an iodorol tablet apart.
231
00:19:06.731 --> 00:19:15.799
So if you're the person, again, that needs to start at 0.5 or 1 or 1.5 milligrams, you can't take an iodorol tablet.
232
00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.801
You are going to lose your mind.
233
00:19:18.421 --> 00:19:19.062
Lose your mind.
234
00:19:19.662 --> 00:19:23.005
So to me, Iodorol is just off the table.
235
00:19:23.726 --> 00:19:25.567
It's not even an option.
236
00:19:25.607 --> 00:19:27.649
It's kind of like kelp, like take it off the table.
237
00:19:27.689 --> 00:19:28.530
It's not an option.
238
00:19:29.110 --> 00:19:41.661
Lugol's, I still like it, but because of those two issues of the potential contamination and the higher dosing of each drop, even at the 2%, for most people, that's just a little bit too much.
239
00:19:41.721 --> 00:19:43.383
But Iodorol, just take it off the table.
240
00:19:43.923 --> 00:19:48.946
Because there is no way that you are going to find your sweet spot dose.
241
00:19:49.006 --> 00:19:54.588
And then on top of that, what about when you hit 12.5 and then you want to go to the next one?
242
00:19:54.609 --> 00:19:56.269
You're still titrating up.
243
00:19:56.630 --> 00:20:02.433
So even if you're like, well, Dr. Amy, I take 12.5 milligrams right now, so I could handle an iodorol tablet.
244
00:20:02.493 --> 00:20:03.133
Okay, yeah.
245
00:20:03.493 --> 00:20:05.074
But what if you want to go to 15?
246
00:20:05.414 --> 00:20:06.314
What if you want to go to 20?
247
00:20:06.655 --> 00:20:10.577
You know, you can't do that with a hard tablet.
248
00:20:10.617 --> 00:20:12.718
That's what I'm saying about the iodorol tablet.
249
00:20:13.238 --> 00:20:14.059
Take it off the table.
250
00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:15.620
You just can't adjust it.
251
00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:16.621
It's not a starting dose.
252
00:20:16.641 --> 00:20:17.482
It's just gambling.
253
00:20:18.562 --> 00:20:21.185
Now let's talk about nascent iodine.
254
00:20:21.745 --> 00:20:24.307
This is what is in iodine fixer.
255
00:20:24.948 --> 00:20:26.969
Now, real quick backstory.
256
00:20:26.989 --> 00:20:33.115
I dove into everything iodine for like three years, right?
257
00:20:33.815 --> 00:20:37.738
before bringing iodine fixer into the fixer formula supplement line.
258
00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:39.380
I know the importance of it.
259
00:20:39.520 --> 00:20:42.982
Everything I talked about at the beginning, the science, we need iodine.
260
00:20:43.483 --> 00:20:45.064
However, there's a lot of information out there.
261
00:20:45.084 --> 00:20:54.111
And that's one of the reasons why I'm doing this episode is to break it down for you and unconfuse you because it took me three years of research to come to this conclusion.
262
00:20:54.692 --> 00:20:58.395
Why I chose nascent iodine for iodine fixer.
263
00:20:58.975 --> 00:21:10.848
Number one, I chose it because when I lined up every iodine option side by side, nascent iodine won on every single scorecard, every single box I wanted to check.
264
00:21:11.369 --> 00:21:11.830
Here's why.
265
00:21:11.850 --> 00:21:14.312
All right, number one, it's monoatomic.
266
00:21:14.973 --> 00:21:16.514
And that's really the whole point.
267
00:21:16.554 --> 00:21:18.876
Most iodine on the market is diatomic.
268
00:21:18.996 --> 00:21:25.541
Two iodine atoms bonded together as I2, and that's what molecular iodine is.
269
00:21:25.561 --> 00:21:27.463
That's what's in Lugol's and iodorol.
270
00:21:27.903 --> 00:21:32.147
But before your body can actually use a diatomic iodine,
271
00:21:32.827 --> 00:21:35.208
it has to break that bond apart.
272
00:21:35.848 --> 00:21:45.752
So it's extra work that your body has to do in order to be able to properly utilize that particular iodine molecule or that iodine product.
273
00:21:46.433 --> 00:21:47.753
Neasin iodine is different.
274
00:21:48.254 --> 00:21:55.877
It's monoatomic, or sometimes you'll just hear it as atomic, a single iodine atom carrying an electrical charge.
275
00:21:56.677 --> 00:22:04.259
It's already been separated from its partner through a patented process, literally developed by like a NASA aerospace engineer.
276
00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:06.880
It's kind of cool when you really get down in the weeds with it.
277
00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.181
So basically, your body doesn't have to do the chemistry to unlock it.
278
00:22:11.661 --> 00:22:12.441
Think of it this way.
279
00:22:12.781 --> 00:22:18.103
Diatomic 2, Lugol's iodine, shows up at your door in a locked box.
280
00:22:18.832 --> 00:22:29.944
Your body has the key, but it has to stop and unlock the box and get it key in properly and turn it and then take it out of the box before it can actually use what's inside.
281
00:22:30.525 --> 00:22:33.948
Monoatomic nascent iodine shows up already unlocked and ready to work.
282
00:22:34.569 --> 00:22:37.092
That's where it's more bioavailable.
283
00:22:37.513 --> 00:22:39.896
It's less work for your body to do.
284
00:22:40.397 --> 00:22:50.089
Faster to absorb, faster to use, but easy and gentle on the body because of the dosing.
285
00:22:51.008 --> 00:22:52.449
So we'll get to that in a moment.
286
00:22:52.969 --> 00:22:57.773
So why does this monoatomic, easy to use bioavailable form matter?
287
00:22:58.353 --> 00:23:10.342
Okay, well, number one, if your gut isn't working perfectly, low stomach acid, which most people with Hashimoto's have, if you didn't know this, if you have Hashimoto's,
288
00:23:11.042 --> 00:23:18.969
you most likely, probably, high probability, have low betaine hydrochloric acid.
289
00:23:18.989 --> 00:23:22.031
That's your stomach acid that is used to break down food.
290
00:23:22.592 --> 00:23:26.155
Hashimoto patients are notorious for having low betaine HCl.
291
00:23:26.195 --> 00:23:34.081
So low stomach acid, sluggish absorption, digestive issues, which literally describes a huge number of thyroid patients.
292
00:23:34.802 --> 00:23:39.786
You want iodine that's already in the form that your body can use in the nascent iodine form.
293
00:23:40.505 --> 00:23:45.008
And if you're sensitive, we need to start you low.
294
00:23:45.169 --> 00:23:50.032
So you want a form that's efficient at low doses so you're not overshooting.
295
00:23:50.913 --> 00:23:55.076
And the ingredient list is almost embarrassingly simple.
296
00:23:55.496 --> 00:24:03.182
So there's iodine and USP grade ethanol, which is really the preferred carrier of
297
00:24:03.942 --> 00:24:12.407
So iodine is better suspended in ethanol, which is alcohol, because all of that alcohol just burns off.
298
00:24:12.567 --> 00:24:18.190
In fact, when you even open it up and put it in your little cup with water, that ethanol is evaporating.
299
00:24:18.230 --> 00:24:23.333
So you are getting pure iodine, not mixed with glycerin.
300
00:24:23.993 --> 00:24:24.934
There's no kelp.
301
00:24:25.726 --> 00:24:29.268
There's no potassium iodide that can hinder absorption.
302
00:24:29.288 --> 00:24:40.254
There's no tablet coating, which many of you are sensitive to fillers like cellulose, stearins, silicon dioxide, citric acid, and then pharmaceutical glaze.
303
00:24:40.434 --> 00:24:41.355
So there's no fillers.
304
00:24:41.395 --> 00:24:42.495
There's no preservatives.
305
00:24:43.036 --> 00:24:44.577
There's no mystery ingredients.
306
00:24:45.317 --> 00:24:47.500
You can titrate slowly.
307
00:24:48.522 --> 00:24:56.013
One drop of the nascent iodine in Iodine Fixer is small enough that we can start you low.
308
00:24:56.634 --> 00:25:01.040
And then we can gradually build up drop by drop.
309
00:25:01.621 --> 00:25:06.185
As you listen to your body, you increase slowly, slowly, slowly.
310
00:25:06.465 --> 00:25:11.030
So you start where your body can totally tolerate it, where you don't even feel the fact that you're taking it.
311
00:25:11.550 --> 00:25:19.577
And then you move up by one drop per day and you fall somewhere in that six to 25 milligram sweet spot.
312
00:25:20.038 --> 00:25:25.583
But this is done on your terms, listening to your body, not on a tablet manufacturer's terms.
313
00:25:26.769 --> 00:25:42.224
So this is exactly what I want for you, is you to be able to use and get the benefits of iodine without overshooting and feeling like you are hyper or feeling like you just can't even tolerate iodine whatsoever.
314
00:25:43.405 --> 00:25:49.852
Okay, now let's talk about the breast tissue conversation because this is important.
315
00:25:50.712 --> 00:25:55.618
So I want to talk about something most iodine conversations skip entirely.
316
00:25:56.418 --> 00:25:58.621
Iodine is not just a thyroid nutrient.
317
00:25:59.202 --> 00:26:02.666
Your breast tissue concentrates iodine.
318
00:26:02.706 --> 00:26:03.607
It uses it.
319
00:26:03.927 --> 00:26:11.275
And unlike your thyroid, which prefers iodine, breast tissue has a preference for molecular iodine, the monoatomic form.
320
00:26:11.956 --> 00:26:13.197
So why does this matter for you?
321
00:26:13.757 --> 00:26:23.100
Well, iodine in breast tissue has been studied for its role in normal breast health and support of avoidance of cancer, let's say.
322
00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:27.522
Supporting healthy breast tissue is imperative for...
323
00:26:28.082 --> 00:26:45.757
for your protection and helping the body manage the kind of cellular stress and inflammation that shows up as fibrocystic changes, fibrocystic breasts, tenderness, cyclical breast pain, dense, lumpy tissue, all of that has helped with iodine.
324
00:26:46.238 --> 00:26:49.781
So women who are iodine deficient are not just risking their thyroid.
325
00:26:50.281 --> 00:26:51.823
They're not just risking being...
326
00:26:52.603 --> 00:27:07.529
overloaded with toxic halogens and halines that can cause widespread cancer and thyroid destruction, they're also leaving their breast tissue without one of the nutrients it specifically wants.
327
00:27:08.450 --> 00:27:11.851
So when I talk about iodine, I'm not just talking about T4 and T3.
328
00:27:12.351 --> 00:27:17.734
I'm talking about the tissue that sits over your heart, the tissue that you check in the shower every month.
329
00:27:18.414 --> 00:27:20.115
That tissue wants iodine too.
330
00:27:20.135 --> 00:27:20.255
Right?
331
00:27:20.975 --> 00:27:23.717
Your breast tissue wants iodine.
332
00:27:24.278 --> 00:27:40.312
This is one of the many, many, many reasons that I want iodine in a form that is clean and bioavailable and something that you can take consistently, not something that you dread taking because the dose is too aggressive.
333
00:27:40.952 --> 00:27:43.033
Your boobies want iodine.
334
00:27:43.613 --> 00:27:47.855
Next up, we're going to kill the Hashimoto's myth that the fear mongers like to say.
335
00:27:48.476 --> 00:27:49.376
So I already know.
336
00:27:49.576 --> 00:27:52.958
I already know what a huge chunk of you are thinking right now.
337
00:27:53.518 --> 00:27:58.181
Dr. Amy, I have Hashimoto's and every influencer on Instagram says iodine will raise my antibodies.
338
00:27:58.301 --> 00:28:00.302
Isn't iodine dangerous for me?
339
00:28:00.942 --> 00:28:02.483
All right, let's break this down.
340
00:28:03.003 --> 00:28:09.008
This is one of the most oversimplified statements in the thyroid space, and it needs to stop.
341
00:28:09.628 --> 00:28:10.489
Here's the real story.
342
00:28:10.989 --> 00:28:11.690
I'm going to say it again.
343
00:28:11.850 --> 00:28:14.291
Iodine is required to make thyroid hormone.
344
00:28:14.852 --> 00:28:22.577
Every single one of you with Hashimoto's who still has a thyroid, that thyroid still needs iodine to do its job.
345
00:28:23.178 --> 00:28:28.642
So telling every Hashimoto patient to avoid iodine forever does not make physiological sense.
346
00:28:29.302 --> 00:28:33.526
It's basically telling your gland to try to do its job without the raw material.
347
00:28:34.167 --> 00:28:38.631
Where the myth comes from is real, but it's a little bit twisted.
348
00:28:39.031 --> 00:28:49.561
So very high doses of iodine given suddenly to somebody who is also selenium deficient with active inflammation and no monitoring.
349
00:28:49.581 --> 00:28:49.641
Ha!
350
00:28:50.457 --> 00:28:53.078
Yeah, that can aggravate thyroid dysfunction.
351
00:28:53.738 --> 00:29:08.705
And studies have shown this in populations where iodine intake was low for decades and then suddenly spiked from this mass use of iodine or from practitioners starting people off on 25 or 50 milligrams of iodine or even 12.5.
352
00:29:09.165 --> 00:29:12.287
For a patient that is sensitive, that's going to be too high.
353
00:29:12.887 --> 00:29:15.208
Now, this is a very specific scenario.
354
00:29:15.388 --> 00:29:24.810
Again, this is a Hashimoto patient, selenium deficient, active inflammation, given a high dose.
355
00:29:25.850 --> 00:29:26.370
Sure.
356
00:29:26.930 --> 00:29:27.270
Yeah.
357
00:29:27.650 --> 00:29:30.831
You could absolutely go a little bit hyper and not feel too good.
358
00:29:31.371 --> 00:29:37.993
But this is not the same scenario as a Hashimoto patient taking a clean, monitored, patient.
359
00:29:38.653 --> 00:29:43.980
gradually increased dose of iodine alongside adequate selenium.
360
00:29:44.521 --> 00:29:45.322
It's a beautiful thing.
361
00:29:46.222 --> 00:29:56.765
The influencers making a blanket statement are literally lumping all of you, every Hashimoto patient in with those extreme scenarios.
362
00:29:57.265 --> 00:30:04.287
And that's leaving people iodine scared, iodine deficient, which is that's its own thyroid problem.
363
00:30:04.427 --> 00:30:08.088
Iodine deficiency is its own thyroid problem.
364
00:30:08.648 --> 00:30:10.329
So here's what actually matters.
365
00:30:10.489 --> 00:30:11.689
If you have Hashimoto's,
366
00:30:12.628 --> 00:30:14.689
And you should be taking iodine.
367
00:30:15.330 --> 00:30:18.131
Number one, are you taking selenium as well?
368
00:30:18.571 --> 00:30:22.953
Selenium protects the thyroid from iodine-related oxidative stress.
369
00:30:23.694 --> 00:30:25.495
So selenium non-negotiable.
370
00:30:26.185 --> 00:30:31.307
And I'm not talking about taking 200 milligrams of some cheap ass selenium that you got at Costco.
371
00:30:31.747 --> 00:30:36.388
I'm talking selenomethionine, 100 milligrams a day.
372
00:30:36.428 --> 00:30:36.949
That is it.
373
00:30:37.689 --> 00:30:39.309
You don't need to go overboard either.
374
00:30:39.329 --> 00:30:42.970
I actually have selenomethionine in my T3 conversion fixer.
375
00:30:42.990 --> 00:30:53.514
So if your reverse T3 is high, add that in because that's going to allow you to also add in iodine and protect your thyroid from iodine-related oxidative stress.
376
00:30:54.563 --> 00:30:57.945
Number two, are you starting your iodine low and you're increasing slowly?
377
00:30:58.405 --> 00:31:01.687
You're not swallowing a 12.5 milligram tablet on day one.
378
00:31:02.307 --> 00:31:03.528
Are you being monitored?
379
00:31:03.548 --> 00:31:09.572
Are you checking TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, TPO and TGA antibodies?
380
00:31:10.292 --> 00:31:12.553
Are you using a clean form of iodine?
381
00:31:13.093 --> 00:31:17.174
Not kelp with heavy metals, not a fixed high-dose tablet with fillers.
382
00:31:17.875 --> 00:31:22.096
When you do it that way, iodine is not the enemy of Hashimoto's.
383
00:31:22.776 --> 00:31:26.178
It's a nutrient that your thyroid desperately needs.
384
00:31:26.938 --> 00:31:27.878
Iodine is essential.
385
00:31:28.579 --> 00:31:29.679
Iodine is powerful.
386
00:31:30.399 --> 00:31:32.340
So why are we avoiding it?
387
00:31:32.820 --> 00:31:35.987
Powerful nutrients require respect, not fear.
388
00:31:36.689 --> 00:31:40.637
So how do we evaluate the iodines on the shelf?
389
00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:43.483
So here's your quick fixes checklist.
390
00:31:44.428 --> 00:31:45.669
First of all, what's the source?
391
00:31:46.329 --> 00:31:53.053
Purified iodine, potassium iodide, kelp, nascent iodine.
392
00:31:53.674 --> 00:31:54.414
What's the source?
393
00:31:55.054 --> 00:31:57.996
Is it monoatomic or diatomic?
394
00:31:58.596 --> 00:32:05.481
Already usable atomic iodine or the locked box version that your body has to unpack?
395
00:32:06.081 --> 00:32:09.083
Can you actually adjust the dose slowly and
396
00:32:09.743 --> 00:32:13.446
Or are you stuck with whatever comes out of one drop or one tablet?
397
00:32:13.946 --> 00:32:16.428
Has the finished bottle been tested for heavy metals?
398
00:32:17.068 --> 00:32:18.689
Lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury?
399
00:32:19.370 --> 00:32:20.150
The finished product.
400
00:32:20.691 --> 00:32:22.492
Will the company show you the actual numbers?
401
00:32:23.172 --> 00:32:23.913
What else is in it?
402
00:32:24.493 --> 00:32:26.394
Kelp, fillers, coatings, preservatives?
403
00:32:26.955 --> 00:32:30.417
Are you also getting adequate selenium, especially if you have Hashimoto's?
404
00:32:31.078 --> 00:32:32.078
Are you monitoring your thyroid?
405
00:32:32.098 --> 00:32:32.999
Are you monitoring your thyroid?
406
00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:34.600
All of that is important.
407
00:32:34.700 --> 00:32:36.882
And the bottom line is your thyroid needs iodine.
408
00:32:37.102 --> 00:32:38.643
Your breast tissue wants iodine.
409
00:32:39.104 --> 00:32:42.126
Your Hashimoto's thyroid needs iodine under the right conditions.
410
00:32:42.686 --> 00:32:46.469
But needing iodine does not mean that you grab the first kelp capsule you see.
411
00:32:46.810 --> 00:32:53.395
It doesn't mean that you swallow a fixed 12.5 milligram iodorol tablet before you know how your body responds.
412
00:32:54.010 --> 00:32:59.773
Remember, kelp is inconsistent, can carry arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, pharmaceuticals along for the ride.
413
00:33:00.133 --> 00:33:02.314
Lugol's is a big dose and a single drop.
414
00:33:03.054 --> 00:33:05.375
Once it hits the water, there's no adjusting it down.
415
00:33:05.976 --> 00:33:08.257
Lugol's also has been shown to contain heavy metals.
416
00:33:09.017 --> 00:33:12.279
Iodorol is a hard tablet you can't break into controllable starting doses.
417
00:33:13.179 --> 00:33:21.241
Nase and iodine, the form that's in iodine fixer, is monoatomic, bioavailable, ready in the form your body uses.
418
00:33:21.741 --> 00:33:25.362
The ingredient list is iodine and ethanol that's going to burn off, nothing else.
419
00:33:26.122 --> 00:33:28.742
You can start at one milligram.
420
00:33:28.762 --> 00:33:30.083
You can start at two milligrams.
421
00:33:30.143 --> 00:33:32.983
Titrate up to your therapeutic dose drop by drop.
422
00:33:33.543 --> 00:33:36.644
This is the form that I choose to use with my patients today.
423
00:33:37.092 --> 00:33:38.852
This is the form that I use every single day.
424
00:33:39.393 --> 00:33:40.233
Because here's the thing.
425
00:33:40.613 --> 00:33:43.954
We don't need to give you the biggest possible dose of iodine.
426
00:33:44.514 --> 00:33:54.036
We need to give you a clean, bioavailable, adjustable source of iodine without dragging a bunch of unwanted garbage into your body.
427
00:33:54.616 --> 00:33:55.917
So turn your bottle around.
428
00:33:56.617 --> 00:33:57.897
Read the ingredient list.
429
00:33:58.537 --> 00:33:59.498
Look at the dose.
430
00:34:00.338 --> 00:34:01.318
Ask for testing.
431
00:34:01.698 --> 00:34:04.879
Ask what form of iodine is actually in there if it's not listed on the bottle.
432
00:34:05.709 --> 00:34:13.759
And if you want the one that I choose that I personally use and formulated for all of you and for my patients, go grab Iodine Fixer.
433
00:34:14.139 --> 00:34:15.220
The link is in the show notes.
434
00:34:16.322 --> 00:34:17.663
That is your quick fix for the day.
435
00:34:18.244 --> 00:34:24.231
Share this with anyone you know, with breasts or with a thyroid, which is pretty much everyone.
436
00:34:24.952 --> 00:34:25.613
Until next time.