Here is the list of over 20 publications about iodine consumption, trials, findings etc. the normal intake may be between 6 to 12.5 mg. it depends on the individual. when i started taking iodine, i took 50 mg a day for a week before i felt any uneasiness. now one drop of lugol's iodine every second day and i can feel it. according to these studies some vitamins along with iodine play major role in coping with iodine.  
http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/opt_Research_I.shtml

What's your opinion of potassium salt?  I've been using an iodized mixture of sodium and potassium chloride lately, and it seems to be working well.

I use sea salt that contains iodine naturally.  I also eat a little seaweed a couple of times a week.  Is this sufficient?  Who knows, I guess.  I definitely do not have any trace of a goiter.  I eat fish, too, and live on the East Coast, so I assume I'm okay.

The full text of the article "Iodine: deficiency and therapeutic considerations" (Altern Med Rev 13 (2): 116–27. PMID 18590348) published last year can be found here.

From that article: "The safety of therapeutic doses of iodine above the established safe upper limit of 1 mg is evident in the lack of toxicity in the Japanese population that consumes 25 times the median intake of iodine consumption in the United States. Japan’s population suffers no demonstrable increased incidence of autoimmune thyroiditis or hypothyroidism."

StephenB

This is the second time in a week the volatility of iodine has come to my attention.  I'm wondering now about the iodine content in the dried kelp and sea vegetable I have in my cupboards.  Anyone have any idea how stable that iodine is?

What do you reckon about "Celtic" salt (unprocessed sea salt)? I know there's a lot of websites out there granting it near-magical health properties, about which I am extremely skeptical, however it does have a notable amount of minerals in it (about 8% I believe) whereas regular salt is refined to 99.99% purity. So it seems if you switched to using that kind of salt in your diet (including avoiding processed food which uses pure salt) it may have some benefit. It does contain iodine naturally, too.

I'm taking Lugol's solution too, about 10 drops a day. My iodine was measured at "<1" by the lab four months ago.

Australian readers should note that Australian soil has an extremely low iodine content (it's official), so our food is unlikely to be a source of pretty much any iodine at all. A case where being a "localvore" won't help your health.

I take Iosol iodine, which I get from iherb.com for $12 a bottle (http://bit.ly/6qLtp). Each drop has 1,830 mcg of iodine, and there are over 600 drops per bottle. Great price, and seems to be working well for me. My feet aren't nearly as cold as they used to be, and my usually low morning temperature has started increasing a bit, too.

My sense is that goiter is the least of the problems with iodine deficiency.  Kris has pointed to the optimox link.  Optimox manufactures Iodoral which is iodine in convenient tablet form.  The liquid form, Lugol's Solution is available here: http://www.jcrows.com/iodine.html

My sister began taking iodine supplements last year at my suggestion.  She had experienced 5 years of bad mammograms so she was delighted to have a flawless mammogram three months after starting iodine.  It seems that iodine is so important to the baby that breasts concentrate iodine as well as thyroid glands.  Fibrocystic breast disease seems to be the equivalent of goiter in breast tissue.

She also reports better sleep, fresh moist skin, quicker reactions, more energy and most recently, iodine applied to poison ivy stopped the itch.  

Dr Flechas reports here, http://iodine4health.com/disease/diabetes/flechas_diabetes.htm, that half of his diabetic patients are no longer diabetic when they get enough iodine.  The other half improve, needing less medication.  It seems to me that iodine should be the first step in treating diabetes of either form.

Iodine deficiency is reported to be the number one preventable cause of mental retardation in the world.  Looking around, goiter is not the most visible evidence of iodine deficiency.

Having read the papers at Optimox and others, iodine looks to be under appreciated and quite valuable.

I cut out all salt from my 'nutritarian'-style diet a few weeks ago.  But as a result of reading this blog, I started taking 4 kelp tablets a day at about the same time. I'm thinking of taking even more tablets to try to help increase my low (according to the endocrinologists and this blog, not my doctor) thyroid numbers.

I rarely use salt except when I make popcorn.  I do occasionally take an Iodoral and sometimes add a drop of aquarium Lugols iodine in my 7 gallon water jugs of thermal spring water.

When I run in 90°+ weather I do take salt.  So far, at age 70, no goiter.

You might want to let Michael Bloomberg know that cutting back on salt will increase iodine deficiency.  His health commissioner, Thomas Frieden, was picked to head the CDC.

Remember to reduce bromine exposure which competes with iodine.

Thanks for conducting the poll - very interesting.
We use kosher and sea salt at home - about a year ago, this late realization (regarding iodine) led me to a bit of a panic, as my pregnant wife was nearing full term...  I was especially worried because I had been all along encouraging heavy broccoli consumption as well, and brassica vegetables are known to have goitrogenic properties (as do many other types of plants).  I then learned she was taking a multi-supplement that contained a fair amount of iodine. Whew.  Our 10 month old is doing great now, fortunately.   
We consume a fair amount of garlic and seafood as well, though I don't really know what the variance is when it comes to garlic's iodine content - presumably it depends quite a bit on the soil and water supply (Apparently, California garlic and broccoli assimilate a fair amount of selenium from the water used for irrigation, for instance).

k1wuk,

I'd love ot know if you have any more info on iodine and breast health.

I checked the Lo-Salt I've been using since I decided I might not be getting enough potassium (a good guess as electrolytes came back spot on) and realise it is NOT iodised.

Not a problem personally I suspect as I eat plenty of fish and shellfish but I'm now trialling various seaweeds, sea vegetables etc. Even without a deficiency these are tasty!

Goiter is not common in the UK AFAIK, nowhere near as common as hypothyroid. However when young my father was hyperthyroid, which damaged his heart before being treated. Didn't stop the tough old goat from living into his eighties, but in retrospect I believe he may well have become hypothyroid in later life as a result of the operation (not diagnosed), and probably also became Type 2 (not diagnosed)in his last years.

Probably wouldn't have lengthened his life but diagnosis and treatment would certainly have improved the quality a lot. All power to you for continuing your posts on these issues. They will suffice until Endocrine System SP1 is released.

Anna

Here are few links to dr. david derry's answer to patients(in case you haven't found it your self). My wife had painted lugol's iodine externally for breast lumps, with unbelievable results only after applying it twice. she was having hard time sleeping on one side. her mother passed away few years ago with Breast cancer. just being extra careful now.
http://thyroid.about.com/library/derry/bl1a.htm

http://thyroid.about.com/library/derry/bl2a.htm

My endo told me to avoid iodine because it exacerbates goiter in hypothyroid.  Also, those of you who know nursing mothers, PLEASE be aware of this risk:

from pubmed:
1: Hypothyroidism in a breast-fed preterm infant resulting from maternal topical iodine exposure.
Smith VC, Svoren BM, Wolfsdorf JI.
Pediatr. 2006 Oct;149(4):566-7.
PMID: 17011335 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

2: Transient hypothyroidism in a breastfed infant after maternal use of iodoform gauze.
L'Italien A, Starceski PJ, Dixit NM.
J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Apr;17(4):665-7.
PMID: 15198299 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

3: Early childhood caries: an overview with reference to our experience in California.
DenBesten P, Berkowitz R.
J Calif Dent Assoc. 2003 Feb;31(2):139-43. Review.
PMID: 12636318 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

4: Transient neonatal hypothyroidism during breastfeeding after post-natal maternal topical iodine treatment.
Casteels K, Pünt S, Brämswig J.
Eur J Pediatr. 2000 Sep;159(9):716-7. No abstract available.
PMID: 11014479 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

5: [Iodine antiseptics are not harmless]
Arena Ansotegui J, Emparanza Knörr JI.
An Esp Pediatr. 2000 Jul;53(1):25-9. Review. Spanish.
PMID: 10998400 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

6: The newborn should be protected from dangerous transient induced hypothyroidism.
López-Sastre JB, Rivas-Crespo MF.
Acta Paediatr. 1995 Oct;84(10):1211. No abstract available.
PMID: 8563243 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

7: [Thyroid function disturbances in an infant following maternal topical use of polydine]
Rakover Y, Adar H.
Harefuah. 1989 May 10; 116(10):527-9. Hebrew.
PMID: 2792927 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

8: Topical iodine, breastfeeding, and neonatal hypothyroidism.
Delange F, Chanoine JP, Abrassart C, Bourdoux P.
Arch Dis Child. 1988 Jan;63(1):106-7. No abstract available.
PMID: 3348642 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Leslie.
here is another study from the same site search. i just copied the whole paragraph.

1: Public Health Nutr. 2007 Dec;10(12A):1600-1.Click here to read Links
    Iodine nutrition of pregnant and lactating women in Hong Kong, where intake is of borderline sufficiency.
    Kung AW.

    Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China.

    OBJECTIVE: To describe the iodine nutrition of pregnant and lactating women in Hong Kong, where intake is of borderline sufficiency.DESIGN: Review of cross-sectional and prospective studies.SETTING: China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).SUBJECTS: Pregnant and lactating women.RESULTS: Studies of pregnant women in Hong Kong SAR have revealed an increase in the urinary iodine (UI) concentration as pregnancy advances. A significant percentage of women had a sub-normal serum thyroid hormone concentration at full term. Although iodine is concentrated by the mammary gland, 19% of all mothers had low iodine concentrations in their breast milk. The moderate correlation between the concentrations of iodine in breast milk and urine suggests that an adequate maternal urinary iodine concentration cannot reliably indicate that an infant is getting enough iodine in breast milk. Therefore, some breast-fed infants may still be at risk of low iodine intake, and additional iodine supplements, other than salt iodisation, would be warranted in this population.CONCLUSIONS: The currently recommended intake of iodine through universal salt iodisation may not be adequate for pregnant and lactating women, and supplementation during pregnancy and lactation should be further considered in light of the latest recommendations.

here is another one.

1: J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Apr;23(2):97-101.Click here to read Links
    Maternal thiocyanate and thyroid status during breast-feeding.
    Dorea JG.

    Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil.

    Cyanogenic glucosides are naturally present in plant foods especially in staple foods (cassava) consumed by millions of people in tropical countries. Most traditional processing methods are effective in detoxifying such goitrogens to safe levels of consumption. Nevertheless, residual cyanide (CN) is rapidly metabolized to thiocyanate (SCN) by existing metabolic pathways. There are concerns that goitrogens may reach the nursing infants through breast feeding or cow's milk based formulas. SCN adverse effects are commonly observed in relation to cigarette smoking. Breast-feeding is effective in protecting infants from anti-thyroid effects of eventual or habitual maternal exposure to CN exposure in food (cassava) or recreation habits (cigarette smoking). SCN goitrogenic effects occur secondary to iodine deficiency in special circumstances of high consumption of incomplete detoxified cassava and insufficient protein intake. Only during inadequate protein nutrition can SCN aggravate endemic iodine-deficient disorders (IDD).

More and more one reads about these, more and more it becomes a muddy and confusing subject.
despite the fact that we have all sorts of studies and experts to educate people, all it takes is few drug profit driven experts studies to confuse the less money spending route.
Please read this
"The Wolff-Chaikoff Effect"
"crying wolf".
http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/IOD-04/IOD_04.html
Please don't take me wrong. i am not trying to contradict the studies that you have posted here. i am merely trying to show as to what else is available out there.

The Safe and Effective Implementation of Orthoiodosupplementation In Medical Practice

This section had me laughing out loud. Much the same applies to the use of effective amounts of D3.
Medicoiodophobes suffer from: A) a split personality which results in iodophobia within the orthoiodosupplementation range previously used safely and successfully in medical practice and iodophylia for megadoses of iodide (up to 12 gm/day); B) double standards, which render those physicians intolerant to the minor side effects of the inorganic forms and extremely tolerant to the severe side effects of the radioactive and organic forms; C) amnesia pertaining to the inorganic, non-radioactive forms when making therapeutic decisions; D) confusion, attributing the severe side effects of organic iodine-containing drugs to inorganic iodine/iodide; and E) an altered state of consciousness, allowing doublethink, doublespeak, and contradictory logic to become acceptable. Although the factors involved in medical iodophobia are still unknown, decreased cognition seems involved. Since low iodine intake is associated with intellectual impairment, deficiency of this essential element cannot be ruled out, and if present, would create a self-perpetuating phenomenon. Needless to say, medical iodophobia is contagious and can be transmitted to patients and other physicians (iatrogenic iodophobia). Medical iodophobia will remain a syndrome until the causes are discovered and effective therapy implemented. It is very likely however, that medical iodophobia will eventually be classified as an iodine-deficiency disease.

My endo told me not to take iodine because he said living in the UK, it being an island, people here get enough iodine from their diets.

He also said that because I eat a lot of fish (once or twice per day) that gives me additional iodine.

He said some of his German patients take iodine against his wishes (must be a popular supplement among Germans), and if they are pregnant it's really bad for the fetus.

Anne

Fish.
according to Dr. david derry,"Fish of the great lakes still shows Goiter formation".
http://books.google.ca/books?id=PVWOyP68OMsC&pg=PP1&dq=dr+david+derry&client=firefox-a#PPA6,M1
So even fish's origin is important. apart from fluoride in the tooth paste and fluoride added municipal water which depletes us from iodine. never mind chlorine in the water and bromine in the food and many other goods around us, helps to deplete iodine.

I wonder about the huge amount of food that is imported into the UK from distant locations One can't assume enough iodine universally throughout the UK based on UK soil content.

Kris - you should eat sea fish and shell fish.

Anne,
Thank you for your advise.
now i am eating sea fish twice a week. but iodine is must for me. my mother's right side elbow and knee was in bad shape for 35 years. The knee joint was so bad that the joint would come off of it's position. we had to learn our to self to place it back. as usual, she went to many doctors but no help. she is vegetarian all her life. about six months ago she started applying lugol's iodine externally on the knee. she was applying religiously 3 times a day for 2 weeks on and one week off. at the end of the two weeks application, the knee would look like war zone. after about month and half, the knee starting to look like normal knee. now she is able to walk about mile and a half every day on the tread mill. she also been taking 3 drops a day internally too. i personally believe in more iodine than we can find in our the food.

Anna:
"Breast Cancer and Iodine" by Dr David M. Derry, Canada

I almost missed this, coming between the Big Squeeze and the NIH petition (I signed and commented, BTW).  I'm very interested in this idea of yours, and have been musing on it since I joined TYP and first came across it.  But I've wondered why you singled out wheat from other carb-heavy grains/cereals, potatoes, etc. and if it's just that it makes up such an overwhelming percentage of the typical diet.  I have been low-carbing for several years, sometimes quite strictly and sometimes less so, but other than the difficulties of convenience and finding variety, and of changing ingrained (pun originally unintended, but I like it) habits, I had none of the "withdrawal" or cravings, or even the feelings of fatigue etc. when first starting, though I was sort of expecting and prepared to have them from reading the Dr.'s Eades.  Over the last couple of months, my husband is low-carbing with me  for the first time, and he finds it much more difficult than I, but mainly because he doesn't really like many vegetables, finding many that I love to be bitter, and the few he does like are primarily the starchy ones.  He may not choose to do this long term, as he says it works for him mostly because there is nothing to look forward to at meals, I'm assuming because he doesn't choose much variety.  He is sticking with it for now, because he has lost 15 pounds along with his lower back pain, has stopped snoring and is sleeping better,and he told me yesterday that he feels better than he has for years and years. He does still eat one slice of toast at breakfast, and I know he misses buns with hamburgers, etc., but even though by desire he would eat much more wheat, corn, potatoes, I don't think that he shows signs of cravings or withdrawal.  Do you think that wheat addiction, if it exists, can be easily separated from an overall craving for other carbs?  And if so, what percentage of people do you think are affected?  Do you think ethnicity plays any part?

I'm a long time Atkins eater and would like to know does the gluten in eggs do the same thing as the gluten in wheat, or in other words if the problem is giving up gluten "cold turkey" if you stop eating wheat products and added eggs ( which are high in gluten ) would that take care of the problem ?

Peter write a bit about this in his hyperlipid-blog.
http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/2008/01/casein-vs-gluten.html

And here´s some references on opioid peptides from the PubMed:
http://www.npif.no/forskning

Some collected articles from dr. Reichelt on the subject:
http://gluten-free.org/reichelt.html

Several times in the past year, I have gone through a two-three day "fugue state" around endurance exercise and being better about sticking to a low-carb, high-fat diet.

I agree that my mental state on the other side is positive, alert, and with plenty of energy, but the headaches, mental fog, bad mood, and mild depression make this a very frustrating time.  It's a particularly annoying side effect of coming back from a trip, or other occasion where I have to (or choose to) relax my dietary rules for a while and then "get back on the wagon".

I don't know that I'd choose to describe this as "wheat withdrawal".  When I had to describe it to my wife, I said it was "adaptation to a fat-burning metabolism".

Jenny--

These observations are purely from my anecdotal experience, though large.

Despite their anecdotal nature, I have seen this effect over and over and I do believe that somehow, for reasons I do not fully understand, wheat is unique. While all carbohydrates generate sugar effects, wheat seems to be unique in that a proportion--20%?--develop addictive patterns from it.

Anomyous, there is no gluten in eggs. Gluten refers to the proteins in grains. All grains have gluten but the grains involved in gluten intolerance are wheat, barley and rye.

As someone with a lifelong carbohydrate addiction problem, I do believe that there is something deadly about wheat, especially the combination of wheat and sugar.  There is no way that I could eat ten baked potatoes or ten rice puddings.  I could easily eat 10 donuts or 10 cookies.  

My personal theory is that it is a brain chemistry problem in susceptible people.  I base that on the fact that during the 5 years that I took phen-fen, I could eat moderate amounts of wheat with no problem.  I truly believe that the now banned "fen" part of the drug altered my brain chemistry so that wheat was not quite as intoxicating.

Hi Dr. Davis:

Thanks so much for your TYP book.  It was very interesting.  Have you read the book Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.  It's an excellent book providing a review of the relevant science from the past 150 years with respect to diet and chronic disease.  He discusses carbohydrate whithdrawl in his book.

Olga

I still don't see the connection between wheat and heart disease.  What is the mechanism?  And why is it so beneficial to avoid wheat if one is not overweight and is consuming it in the form of fresh baked bread or home-made pastas versus cookies, donuts, or breakfast cereals?

I'm thinking the difference in our flours is significant.  Different varieties, grown for different types of cooking/baking, contain different amounts of the substances we react to.  I think our wheat has been altered over time to grow so it's easier to harvest, store and process (and to process and store once again once it gets to the bakery and stores)and is less geared toward human consumption.  I tried spelt for a while there and had much less g.i. reaction than I do with general wheat flours.

I am so glad to see a heart doctor aware of gluten addiction. I am a gluten addiction expert having seeing its impact on my own life, my family, and now my clients. The withdrawal is real and takes place on physical, emotional, and social levels. Wheat and gluten are everywhere in our culture, so care must be taken to address the entire lifestyle to ensure folks have adequate coping mechanisms and support to stay gluten free (and dairy and sugar free in most cases. An excellent book describing the opiate qualities of the gluteomorphin in gluten and the ensuing gluten withdrawal when gluten is eliminated in the newly published "The Gluten Effect" by Drs. Rick and Vikki Petersen: http://www.healthnowmedical.com/news/show_news.html?article=book_released

Gluten Withdrawal is SO very real. I have been gluten free for about one month now. The first week or so I felt wonderful and my intestinal symptoms had subsided. Then starting about the second week I started having what felt like wide blood sugar swings and incredible hunger. I worked at getting the good stuff in like nuts and protein and worked on not over dosing on the GF Carbs, but it has been quite difficult. I feel much more jittery and irritable that usual and it is comforting to know that this too will pass...Thank You for bringing Gluten Withdrawal out from the shadows...

i've recently discovered a wheat allergy and stopped. within days i felt the way i used to feel 15 years ago. that is: normal! however i'm on day 8 of no wheat and i'm having anxiety attacks today (anxiety was one of my wheat-allergy symptoms). do you think it's because i'm still withdrawing? looking forward to your response.

You'll recognize it in someone who previously ate bread and other wheat flour-containing products freely, then eliminates them. This is followed by extreme cravings, usually for bread, cookies, or cake; profound fatigue; shakiness; mental fogginess; blue moods. The syndrome can last for up to one week.

I gave up gluten about 14 days ago.  Felt depressed, jittery, shaky and starving!  Thought I must have some blood sugar problems.  I ended up eating four wheat cookies out of despair.  I felt very happy and not depressed after that.  Made me wonder if maybe I was having withdrawls.  Did a web search and hear I am Thanks for the info.

Anonymous you're on to something. I gave up wheat a year ago and the benefits are great including a 25 pound weight loss, more energy, motivation, etc.,etc. Eating wheat with a meal is the trigger that causes a craving later -sometimes 2-3 days later- and giving in to the craving closes the loup. In other words eating the craving meal does not trigger another craving. So, I started wheat-free eating and for two days had cravings which I simply indulged. On the third day the cravings were gone for good. No miserable withdrawl symtoms.