For over 30 years, I have been practicing holistic medicine. During this time period, I have been lecturing, studying, and writing about iodine. If someone asked me what was the best thing for the most people that I have seen over this time period, the answer is easy; Rectifying iodine deficiency provides the most positive results of any medical therapy.
Iodine levels have been falling across the US over the last 50 years. According to the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES). During this time period, we have seen a rapid rise in disease of the glandular tissues including the thyroid, ovaries, uterus, prostate, adrenals, and pancreas.
Iodine is an essential item for every cell in the human body. In the glandular tissues iodine promotes the formation and maintenance of the normal architecture. When there is normal architecture of the glandular tissues, there are no cysts, nodules, or other abnormal growth of pathological tissue. Iodine deficiency has been shown to be associated with an increase in pathology of the glandular tissues. It has been my premise that iodine deficiency has been one of the main causes of the epidemic of glandular disease in the US.
Presently, US women have a one in seven chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer. Studies have shown US men have a one in three chance of being diagnosed with prostate cancer. We presently have an epidemic of cancer of the pancreas, uterus, ovaries, and the thyroid gland. In fact, thyroid cancer is one of the fastest growing cancers in the US. In 2025, nearly 45,000 Americans will be diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I In 2025, 316,915 US women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.
My experience has clearly shown a relationship between inadequate iodine levels and the rapid rise of both breast and thyroid cancer as well as cancer of the other glandular tissues.
However, it is not just cancer that is associated with low iodine levels. Diseases of the thyroid gland—hypothyroidism as well as autoimmune thyroid disorders including Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s disease are directly related to low iodine levels.
If iodine was so important for every cell in the body, then why did I include it as being the most misunderstood nutrient in the title?
In my medical training, I was taught that iodine deficiency was a thing of the past, as it was cured by adding a small amount of iodine to salt. Why was iodine added to salt? It is a very interesting story.
In the early 1900’s there was a high prevalence of goiter in the states bordering the Great Lakes. Due to the earlier reports of effectiveness of ingesting naturally occurring iodized salt and goiter problems (swelling of the thyroid gland), it was hypothesized that adding iodine to the diet of people in the Great Lakes area would decrease the incidence of goiter.
In 1923-1924, the State of Michigan’s Department of Health conducted a large-scale survey of goiter in four counties. Of 66,000 school children examined, nearly 40% had enlargement of the thyroid gland (i.e., goiter). In 1924, iodized salt was introduced to the area. By 1928, there was a 75% reduction of goiter observed and by 1951, less than 0.5% of school-age children had a goiter. Research also showed a greater reduction in goiter among regular users of iodized salt as compared to non-users.
David Marine conducted the first large-scale study on using iodine as a therapy to reduce goiter. In the early 1900’s, he looked at the positive effects of iodine supplementation for decreasing goiter in farm animals. From the results in animals, Marine estimated the amount of iodine necessary to treat humans.
Dr. Marine chose Akron, Ohio as the test area for iodine supplementation. Akron, Ohio was chosen due to the high rate of goiter—56% of school-aged girls had goiter in Akron.
There was a 600% increase in goiter in adolescent girls versus boys. The reason for this increase was due to the increased iodine requirements in pubertal girls as compared to boys. The first glandular tissue to grow at puberty are the breasts, which require significant amounts of iodine.
Dr. Marine studied two groups of students:
1. A control group of 2305 students where no iodine was given.
2. A treatment group of 2190 students who were given 9mg/day of sodium iodide (averaged daily) for 2.5 years. This dose of iodine is nearly 100x the present RDA for iodine.
The results are shown in Figure 1. The control group (no iodine) showed a 22% incidence of goiter. The treatment group had a significantly lowered 0.2% incidence of goiter.
Due to the positive results from using iodized salt in Michigan and Ohio, the rest of the United States quickly adopted the policy of adding iodine to salt, thus decreasing the goiter rate throughout the country. Today, the World Health Organization actively promotes the use of iodized salt to help prevent goiter throughout the world.
The use of a small amount of iodine added to salt was a success; goiter rates dramatically declined. As goiter rates declined, patent medicine began to take hold. Since iodine was a natural substance without patentability, big pharma had little interest in studying iodine. Since that time period, conventional medicine has had little use for iodine.
When I began practicing holistic medicine in 1992, I began to diagnose thyroid disorders such as hypothyroidism and autoimmune thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s disease
and Graves’ disease in a significant percentage of my practice. I simply could not understand why so many patients were suffering from thyroid problems.
I investigated all the cofactors that the thyroid gland needs for the production of thyroid hormone. These items include magnesium, B-vitamins, vitamin C, selenium and iodine.
I was initially hesitant to use iodine in my practice as I was taught that iodine deficiency did not exist. However, I met an iodine expert, Dr. Guy Abraham, who developed an iodine loading test. This was the first functional iodine test that provided clinically reliable results as to the iodine status of the individual being tested.