Check It Out: Good health is a blessing

By Joan Janzen

A group of seniors were discussing their ailments over a cup of coffee. “My arms are so weak I can hardly lift this cup of coffee,” said one. “My cataracts are so bad I can’t even see my coffee,” said another. “I can’t turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck,” said a third. The fourth senior offered a bit of optimism and said, “Count your blessings that we can still drive.”

Good health is a blessing, and there are a few doctors who use their online platforms to deliver common-sense advice to their listeners. Dr. Suneel Dhand is one of those online voices. “The main role of any physician in the whole world should be to be aggressively trying to get their patient off medication, not on medication. Doesn’t that seem like a revolutionary idea?” Dr. Dhand asked.

The research he reveals is both revolutionary and simple. While sharing an episode with John Campbell, a retired nurse, the duo said research revealed that over one-third of the global population is iodine-deficient, and more than 90 percent of North Americans are iodine-deficient.

I must admit I didn’t know much about iodine, other than recalling it being used to cleanse cuts when I was a kid. But it turns out I’m not the only one who knows very little about iodine.

Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith talked about iodine on a recent podcast. “I didn’t know anything about iodine; we’re not taught about this stuff in medical school,” she said. So why is iodine important?

John Campbell offered an explanation: “We’ve known the rate of breast cancer is very low in Japan, and the difference is iodine intake. Studies show the ingestion of iodine in North America is a couple of micrograms per day.” However, in Japan, the intake of iodine is twenty to thirty times more, because they eat a lot of fish and seaweed, and virtually all iodine comes from the sea.

Dr. Hardwick-Smith said that people in Japan have shown that 12-15 milligrams of iodine reduces thyroid disease, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. “I noticed in my practice about 50 percent of my patients over 50 years old have a low function of their thyroid gland. The thyroid needs iodine to function,” she observed.

The doctor also observed in studies that Japanese women who moved to North America and changed their diet increased their risk of breast cancer to the same level as that of their fellow North Americans. “So it’s not genetic; it’s diet-related,” the doctor said.

John Campbell noted it’s quite well evidenced that iodine deficiency is the most common global preventable cause of mental impairment. It’s essential for the development of the nervous system.

Iodine deficiency is common in North America because people don’t eat a lot of seafood, and our soil is depleted in iodine. A hundred years ago, there was iodine in the soil, and we could get iodine from plants and vegetables. 

So, how do you know if you are iodine-deficient? Dr. Hardwick-Smith said, “I ask my patients to look at their diet and at their thyroid function. If your thyroid function is low and your diet is not rich in iodine, it’s reasonable to assume that you’re going to be deficient in iodine.” Our thyroid can’t function without an adequate amount of iodine.

“Like most doctors, I was taught that the recommended 125 micrograms of iodine per day was adequate and everyone got enough from table salt and the problem was solved,” the doctor reported. “But we were wondering why breast cancer, prostate cancer and low thyroid were dramatically on the rise. Iodine is not the only cause, but it certainly does play a part.”

Some of the iodine supplements are potassium iodide, iodine and Iodoral, which you can get on Amazon. “I’ve given them to many patients,” Dr. Hardwick-Smith said. “Sometimes the pharmacists will get upset and be worried that’s too much potassium. I’ve never seen a patient taking it who had elevated potassium. I’ve never seen anyone develop hyperthyroidism by taking iodine. That’s another myth we were taught in medical school. What we do see is an improvement in thyroid function.”

She pointed out something interesting. If you’re iodine deficient and begin taking an iodine supplement daily, you might experience what she calls “bromide flu” symptoms. “You might stop taking it and think it was making you sick, but that’s not what is happening,” she explained.

What is happening is your thyroid gland absorbs the iodine, and the bromide that attaches to your iodine receptors is displaced, causing an elevation of bromide in your bloodstream.

And what is bromide, and where do we get it? Bromide is added to commercial baking. Eating bromide actually decreases our ability to bind iodine. “It’s a toxic substance and can cause flu-like symptoms for a few days,” she said. “Like any type of detox, you’re getting rid of those nasty chemicals, and it can make you feel bad for a few days.”

She recommends beginning to take an iodine supplement twice a week and gradually increasing it to daily amounts so your symptoms will be minimized.

Of course, the best source of vitamins is always food; fish and seaweed are good sources of iodine. However, supplements are inexpensive and harmless to try. The doctors noted there are additional benefits to having a sufficient amount of iodine: it reduces aches and pains and the development of fibrocystic non-cancerous cysts.

When it comes to counting our blessings, good health is one of the biggest blessings we could ask for. Thanks to helpful doctors, we can keep on learning new ways to maintain our health.