Life Extension article on iodine

17. November 2009 William Davis (25)
Here's a link to my recent article in Life Extension Magazine on iodine:

Halt on Salt Sparks Iodine Deficiency

Iodized salt, a concept introduced into the U.S. by the FDA in 1924, slowly eliminated goiter (enlarged thyroid glands), along with an enormous amount of thyroid disease, heart attack, mental impairment, and death. The simple addition of iodine to salt ensured that salt-using Americans obtained enough iodine sufficient to not have a goiter.

Now that the FDA, goiters long forgotten from their memories, urges Americans to reduce salt, what has happened to our iodine?

I talk at length about this issue in the Life Extension article.
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Comments (25) -

  • Michael

    11/17/2009 1:08:06 PM |

    The link provided is based on the Life Extension search tool and seems broken.  This link works Halt on Salt, Oct 2009.

  • Terry H

    11/17/2009 1:20:13 PM |

    Dr D,

    The link does not work for me. Sends me to a www page that appears unrelated to your post and certainly not the the article you recommend.

  • Jim Purdy

    11/17/2009 1:22:21 PM |

    I don't think that link goes to the magazine article. It seems to go to a product advertisement instead. Did I do something wrong?

  • Daniel

    11/17/2009 3:28:09 PM |

    LE must have changed the link - it sends me to a page where I can purchase pure IGF, which, by the way, I'm surprised people want to take.

  • Anonymous

    11/17/2009 3:29:06 PM |

    I think you want this link

    http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/oct2009_Halt-on-Salt-Sparks-Iodine-Deficiency_01.htm

  • ciphen

    11/17/2009 4:06:49 PM |

    The link you posted doesn't go to your article. Might want to update that.

    Question: what is the best way to test for Iodine levels? I've been taking 400mg kelp iodine for a while, and want to make sure I'm not overdoing it (I'm 28).

  • Sara

    11/17/2009 4:15:05 PM |

    Dr. Davis,

    Clicking the link in the article takes me to the page to buy iodine supplements, not the article itself; I had to search to find the actual article. I think it's because you're linking to search results, and when someone else puts in the same URL without having given it the same inputs, it hiccups. This link should be to the actual article: http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/oct2009_Halt-on-Salt-Sparks-Iodine-Deficiency_01.htm

  • Anonymous

    11/17/2009 4:31:03 PM |

    http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/oct2009_Halt-on-Salt-Sparks-Iodine-Deficiency_01.htm

  • Anonymous

    11/17/2009 4:49:33 PM |

    The article appears to be at this link:

    http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/oct2009_Halt-on-Salt-Sparks-Iodine-Deficiency_01.htm

    Tom

  • Catherine

    11/17/2009 5:59:27 PM |

    Dr. Davis,
    Great article on Iodine (had to use LEF search to get it--link doesn't work).
    I am the perfect example of the healthy-diet person who developed thyroid disease and fibrocystic breasts due to salt and dairy food avoidance.
    I also have that abnormal reaction to iodine now. Iodine causes a hashi flare-up, and as you've stated I have become hyper-sensitive to it now.  But you also stated that in your experience it is a "temporary" reaction which makes me want to try it again--maybe more slowly, very low doses at first?
    Any tips from your experience with this hyper-sensitivity?
    Thanks for addressing this iodine problem with thyroid---many thyroid books and articles say if you have Hashimoto's to just avoid iodine completely so as not to create a flare-up, but that is not healthy for the rest of the body either.
    Warm regards,  
    Catherine

  • jack

    11/17/2009 6:03:53 PM |

    Hi -

    The link to the LEF article pulls up an
    ad for one of their Human Growth Factor
    pills.

    Punching Iodine into their search engine
    did'nt find it - Perhaps I missed it...

  • Jack

    11/17/2009 6:08:15 PM |

    Here it is...

    http://search.lef.org/cgi-src-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=0&page_id=1490&query=iodine%20deficiency%20salt&hiword=DEFICIENCIES%20DEFICIENCYIN%20DEFICIENCYIS%20DEFICIENCYS%20DEFICIENT%20IODINATION%20IODINES%20SALTED%20SALTER%20SALTI%20SALTIN%20SALTING%20SALTMAN%20SALTO%20SALTS%20SALTY%20deficiency%20iodine%20salt%20

  • Anonymous

    11/17/2009 6:40:31 PM |

    It is rather interesting for me to read that post. Thanx for it. I like such themes and anything connected to them. I would like to read a bit more soon.

  • Anonymous

    11/17/2009 7:01:46 PM |

    Good point. I'll make sure to eat spoonfuls of salt Wink But seriously, very important point and people should take their supplements.

    Off-topic: Can you share your thoughts on the virtually zero-fat diet described in the book by Dr. Esselstyn. Thanks.

  • Kevin

    11/17/2009 10:54:45 PM |

    My blood pressure is lower than the average so I ingest a lot of iodized salt.  Also I run a lot of marathons during the summer.  When I need more salt during races I can pour it in my mouth.  If I'm low on sodium it tastes great.  If I'm not in need of salt it just about makes vomit.  

    kevin

  • Dr. William Davis

    11/17/2009 11:14:48 PM |

    Thanks, all, for noting the broken link. I'm not sure what happened.

    It should be corrected.

  • Electronic Medical Records

    11/18/2009 2:58:10 AM |

    I completely agree to the post.Sea salt or rock salt is very good for health but definitely in measures.

  • Future Primitive

    11/18/2009 6:15:12 AM |

    I'm trying to understand what an appropriate dose is.  It seems like iodine dosage in relation to TSH follows a "U" shaped response, where too little iodine results in high TSH and too much iodine can likewise result in high TSH.  There's evidently a sweet spot, BUT it also seems to depend very much on whatever the thyroid is adapted to in terms of the ambient, dietary iodine intake prior to the beginning of supplementation.  That is, a mid-Westerner with a chronically low iodine intake is going to respond quite differently to a 1000 mcg iodine dose than, say, a person who grew up on the Northern coast of Japan... On an immediately related topic, I'm curious to know more about the apparent adaptive down-regulation of T3 in response to caloric restriction and likewise (similarly, it would seem), carbohydrate restriction.  Any thoughts?

  • Runner2009

    11/18/2009 5:42:23 PM |

    Dr Davis:

    My question is on a bit of a tangent to this topic, but on the related issue of what seems to be a situation where maintaining what was considered a "healthy" level now is possibly dangerous:

    "Low triglycerides are risk factor for hemorrhagic stroke"

    http://www.lipidsonline.org/news/article.cfm?aid=8578

    Do you have any insight into this study ? I have been diligently keeping my lipid levels in check .I lowered my triglycerides from a fairly low level of 75mg/dL down to 50 mg/dL. Now I am concerned. (My LDL is 95 mg/dL and HDL is 64 mg/dL). I don't take any drugs , just lots of exercise and diet (Krill oil, almonds, Beta Glucan fiber)

    Thanks

    Thanks

  • Runner2009

    11/18/2009 5:44:22 PM |

    Sorry, forgot the link:

    http://www.lipidsonline.org/news/article.cfm?aid=8578

  • Dr. William Davis

    11/18/2009 10:55:25 PM |

    Hi, Future--

    That is the frustration with iodine: insufficient data on what represents an ideal level of intake. And it may vary from region to region, individual to individual.

    The T3 issue is indeed fascinating, a topic that will be explored more fully in the blog and in the Track Your Plaque website.

  • Dr. William Davis

    11/18/2009 11:18:27 PM |

    Hi, Runner--

    I'm skeptical that this is an important effect that warrants action.

    Primitive cultures typically have triglycerides in very low ranges, since they avoid processed foods. I'd be shocked if achieving physiologic normal levels is the sole explanation behind increased stroke.

  • Anonymous

    12/12/2009 1:29:24 AM |

    mm... good  post

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Niacin makes NY Times

Niacin makes NY Times

24. January 2007 William Davis (0)
In the wake of the crash and burn of Pfizer's torcetrapib, media attention has turned up the miracles of . . .good old niacin. The NY Times carried a well-written report on niacin in its recent report, An Old Cholesterol Remedy Is New Again.


(Read the entire report at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/health/23consume.html?em&ex=1169701200&en=670fa84ae2ea648c&ei=5087%0A)

Among their comments:

...torcetrapib worked primarily by increasing HDL, or good cholesterol. Among other functions, HDL carries dangerous forms of cholesterol from artery walls to the liver for excretion. The process, called reverse cholesterol transport, is thought to be crucial to preventing clogged arteries.

Many scientists still believe that a statin combined with a drug that raises HDL would mark a significant advance in the treatment of heart disease. But for patients now at high risk of heart attack or stroke, the news is better than it sounds. An effective HDL booster already exists.

It is niacin, the ordinary B vitamin.

In its therapeutic form, nicotinic acid, niacin can increase HDL as much as 35 percent when taken in high doses, usually about 2,000 milligrams per day. It also lowers LDL, though not as sharply as statins do, and it has been shown to reduce serum levels of artery-clogging triglycerides as much as 50 percent. Its principal side effect is an irritating flush caused by the vitamin’s dilation of blood vessels.

Despite its effectiveness, niacin has been the ugly duckling of heart medications, an old remedy that few scientists cared to examine. But that seems likely to change.

“There’s a great unfilled need for something that raises HDL,” said Dr. Steven E. Nissen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic and president of the American College of Cardiology. “Right now, in the wake of the failure of torcetrapib, niacin is really it. Nothing else available is that effective.”

In 1975, long before statins, a landmark study of 8,341 men who had suffered heart attacks found that niacin was the only treatment among five tested that prevented second heart attacks. Compared with men on placebos, those on niacin had a 26 percent reduction in heart attacks and a 27 percent reduction in strokes. Fifteen years later, the mortality rate among the men on niacin was 11 percent lower than among those who had received placebos.

'Here you have a drug that was about as effective as the early statins, and it just never caught on,' said Dr. B. Greg Brown, professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. 'It’s a mystery to me. But if you’re a drug company, I guess you can’t make money on a vitamin.'


Of course, you and I don't have to wait for the media to endorse something. I'm nonetheless thrilled that this hugely helpful vitamin is gaining greater recognition. My preferred form nowadays is over-the-counter SloNiacin (Upsher Smith). Weve seen no liver side-effects and a minimal quantity of flushing. It's also reasonably priced, $13.99 for 100 tablets of 500 mg at Walgreen's. That's a lot cheaper than prescription Niaspan at $130 for 60 tablets.

Perhaps the notoriety will cut back on the silly responses from some physicians that I still hear about from patients: "My doctor said to stop the niacin because it's going to destroy my liver."
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Should you become a vegetarian?

Should you become a vegetarian?

24. February 2007 William Davis (0)
Do you need to become a vegetarian in order to reduce your heart scan score?

No. Plain and simple. We’ve had many non-vegetarians drop their scores.

That said, are there still advantages to following a vegetarian diet, or some variation on the vegetarian theme?

Yes, there are. Let’s put aside the moral or religious arguments in favor of not eating animals—the need to eliminate killing animals for food, elimination of suffering common in modern livestock practices, Kosher considerations, etc. (Not that there aren’t real arguments here. Our focus for this conversation is not, however, the moral dilemma, but the health argument.)

Some of the most unhealthy people I’ve ever met, mostly males, are proud carnivores who boast of their prodigious capacities to eat meat. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tease out the ill-effects of excessive meat eating, since these same men also tend to be substantially overweight, smoke, drink excessively, and fail to get exercise unless their job is physically demanding. You know the type.

What advantages does a vegetarian obtain? A number of studies have suggested that the reduced saturated fat, reduced exposure to parasites, as well as reduced exposure to the antibiotics and hormones now used routinely in livestock-raising practices, do indeed provide benefits to the vegetarian. Thus, vegetarians tend to be substantially thinner, experience less bowel cancer, have less diabetes and heart disease, and live longer.

(If you are interested in reading or seeing more about just how inhumane modern livestock practices are, take a look at the video, "Meet Your Meat" at meat.org. Be sure not to view this after dinner.)

Of course, some of the disadvantages of eating animal products diminish when free-range livestock are eaten, i.e., livestock not raised in the inhumane cramped, filthy conditions of livestock factories, but in the open, grazing or rooting freely. These animals tend to have different fat compositions and taste different.

The advantages of vegetarianism, however, have blurred in recent years, since many so-called vegetarians have failed to maintain the distinction between naturally-occurring foods and processed foods. So, Ritz Crackers, Oreo cookies, whole wheat bread, and Raisin Bran fit into a vegetarian program, but they’re awful for your health. I’ll occasionally meet a self-proclaimed vegetarian who looks every bit as unhealthy as a conventionally eating American, that is, overweight, pre-diabetic person with a developing heart scan score.

So it is not necessary to be vegetarian to reduce your score. You might consider vegetarianism for other reasons, such as moral considerations, or to reduce your risk for cancer. But it is not necessary to drop your heart scan score. A non-processed food diet? Now that's is worth giving serious consideration.
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Carbohydrates and LDL

Carbohydrates and LDL

4. April 2010 William Davis (16)
There's a curious and powerful relationship between carbohydrates and LDL particles. Understanding this relationship is crucial to gaining control over heart disease risk.

(Note that I did not say "LDL cholesterol"--This is what confuses people, the notion that cholesterol is used as a surrogate marker to quantify various lipoproteins, including low-density lipoproteins, LDL. I'm NOT interested in the cholesterol; I'm interested in the behavior of the low-density lipoprotein particle. There's a difference.)

Carbohydrates:

1) Increase triglycerides and very low-density lipoprotein particles (VLDL)
2) Triglyceride-rich VLDL interact with LDL particles, making them smaller. (A process mediated by several enzymes, such as cholesteryl-ester transfer protein.)
3) Smaller LDL particles are more oxidizable--Oxidized LDL particles are the sort that are taken up by inflammatory white blood cells residing in the artery wall and atherosclerotic plaque.
4) Smaller LDL particles are more glycatable--Glycation of LDL is an important phenomenon that makes the LDL particle more atherogenic (plaque-causing). Glycated LDLs are not recognized by the LDL receptor, causing them to persist in the bloodstream longer than non-glcyated LDL. Glycated LDL is therefore taken up by inflammatory white blood cells in plaque.

Of course, carbohydrates also make you fat, further fueling the fire of this sequence.

The key is to break this chain: Cut out the carbohydrates. Cut carbohydrates and VLDL and triglycerides drop (dramatically), VLDL are unavailable to transform large LDL into small LDL, small LDL is no longer available to become oxidized and glycated, blood sugar is reduced to allow less glycation. Voila: Less atherosclerotic plaque growth.

Yet the USDA, American Heart Association, and the Surgeon General's office all advise you to eat more carbohydrates. The American Diabetes Association tells you to eat 70 grams or so carbohydrates per meal. (Yes: Diabetes, the condition that is MOST susceptible to these carbohydrate effects.) Follow their advice and you gain weight; triglycerides and VLDL go up; calculated (Friedewald) LDL may or may not go up, but true measured LDL (NMR LDL particle number or apoprotein B) goes way up; small LDL is triggered . . . You know the rest.

The dance between carbohydrates and LDL particles requires the participation of both. Allow one partner to drop out of the dance and LDL particles will sit this dance out.
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Comments (16) -

  • Jon

    4/4/2010 5:12:14 PM |

    What kind of carbs are we talking about exactly though? Is there a difference between carbs in fruits and vegetables vs breads? And what should I replace them with?
    (not looking for an argument, I would  just like to know).

    -Thanks.

  • Peter

    4/5/2010 12:49:40 AM |

    I wonder what the rationale is for the Diabetes Association's recommendation to eat a lot of carbs.
    Right or wrong, there must be some logic to it.

  • Drake

    4/5/2010 1:57:51 AM |

    Jon,

    I think you'll find this site and TYP focuses on cutting out the carbs most responsible for inflammation.  This includes getting rid of wheat and sugars.  Read this site for an evening or two and you'll quickly find out what to avoid.  The topics on the left column contain a wealth of information.

    I cut out all grains and sugars and limit my fruits to mostly berries (too much sugar in most everything else).  I eat meat, lots of vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs, and some berries.  You'll get all that your body needs from those sources.  Ditch the bread; you don't need it.

  • Anonymous

    4/5/2010 1:07:09 PM |

    Dr. Davis,

    My older brother was recently diagnosed with Type II diabetes. I sent him many of your links but he tells me the classes he goes to, put on by the doctor, tell him he can eat 75 cabs per meal as you talk about in your recent post.

    The cabs include bread, oatmeal, and even chocolate. Any advice on how else I can get it through his thick skull he should not be eating this junk? I love him and want him around for many years.

    Thank you.

  • nightrite

    4/5/2010 3:56:14 PM |

    The paleo people will tell you to drop the carbs and replace those calories with more fat, especially saturated fat.

    Of all the carbs breads/grains are the worst and then fruits so keep those to a minimum if not total elimination (small amounts of berries are ok).

  • Christine

    4/5/2010 5:05:42 PM |

    I was just signing in to address the same question as Jon. Actually to put in my 2-cents worth:  When you say drop all carbohydrates, surely you mean all high glycemic carbs - the high starch carbs like wheat and other grains (breads, cereals, even gluten-free grains), potatoes, white rice, plus moderate those carbs that are very high in sugars like carrots, onions, corn, the list goes on.  I find it confusing, and other readers may also, for you to say cut out all carbs. For if that is the case, what do we eat?
    I've been reading your blog for some time and find it to be most helpful, but this is the one area in which I wish you would be more specific.
    Thanks for being there. The world needs you.

  • mojodiver

    4/5/2010 5:31:50 PM |

    Same here. I had great success in my cholesterol numbers and weight as a result of lowering my carb intake to ~70g per day. I don't eat grains and prefer to get my carbs via colorful fruits and veggies.

    I exercise a lot now too.

    When you mean cutting carbs, what kind and to how much are you recommending?

  • StephenB

    4/5/2010 6:18:20 PM |

    Thanks for the post. I did not know the mechanism for small LDL being formed or for their getting into arteries before reading this entry.

  • W8liftinmom

    4/5/2010 8:05:42 PM |

    IMO, common sense would dictate keeping the better more nutrient dense carbs and limiting the less nutrient dense and starchy carbs.  So stick to mainly vegetables as your carb source - that's how I like to do it.

  • Dr. William Davis

    4/5/2010 10:10:35 PM |

    Hi, Jon--

    Vegetables are, of course, desirable foods. Some fruit.

    Beyond this, the sensitivity to carbohydrates is best judged individually with at least a HbA1c or, even better, a one-hour postprandial glucose.

  • Dr. William Davis

    4/5/2010 10:11:21 PM |

    Anon--

    The most persuasive tool is to get your brother to check occasional 1-hour postprandial glucoses.

    These high values can be downright hair-raising.

  • Dr. William Davis

    4/5/2010 10:12:22 PM |

    By the way, I will start a series of Heart Scan Blog posts called "What to eat" to clarity the confusion.

    This is also already posted in exhaustive detail in Special Reports on the Track Your Plaque website.

  • Anonymous

    4/7/2010 6:54:03 PM |

    I'd like to know where lentils, chickpeas and beans sit.
    When I've tested I get very little BG spike after eating them

  • Ned Kock

    4/8/2010 3:40:51 PM |

    Indeed, very good advice Dr. Davis.

    It is worth noting that low fasting triglycerides, especially below 70 mg/dl, are a marker for large-buoyant LDL particles:

    http://healthcorrelator.blogspot.com/2010/04/low-fasting-triglycerides-marker-for.html

  • Peter

    4/8/2010 4:57:00 PM |

    Dr. Davis, How can we tell which of these is the main problem?

    1.  Wheat.  The cultures that eat rice or corn and beans don't seem to have much heart disease or diabetes.

    2. Refined carbohydrates.  The cultures that don't have many of the diseases of civilization don't have Cheerios, etc.

    3. Carbs in general.  All carbs seem to raise our post-prandial
    glucose levels.

    4. Sugar and it's variants.  Increasingly sugar seems to be linked with health problems.

  • Anonymous

    4/9/2010 8:51:07 PM |

    Hi Ned Kock
    I have read your article, and I'd like to know how much exercise is considered excessive.

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