I read you say that everyone needs iodine supplementation but my doctor said my blood test shows it was OK, so do I need it?
Iodine is not optional. It is optional how you take it such as 1 to 3 small cups of seaweed per day or Nascent Iodine (not potassium Iodide) but 95% of the world’s population is deficient (according to WHO).
The test most doctors do is not testing to see if you have enough iodine in your body for all of the many jobs it has to do and it maybe just to test if you need a drug. Secondly, it is not very scientific and only gets readings for TSH and T4. The test for your entire thyroid panel includes free T4, free T3, reverse T3 and thyroid antibodies.
In any case there is a simple test you can do at home and that is to take your temperature first thing in the morning…
THE BODY TEMPERATURE TEST
There is one simple test anyone can do at home to uncover an underactive thyroid: Take your own temperature! The “basal body temperature” test was developed by Broda O. Barnes, M.D.
Because the thyroid hormone is so vital to cellular metabolism, reduced thyroid function often manifests as a drop in body temperature to below the normal level of 98.6F.
Barnes recommended the following procedure:
- Immediately upon awakening, and with as little movement as possible (stay in bed), place the thermometer under the tongue or in the rectum. Leave it there for 10 minutes.
- Record the readings on three consecutive days.
- If the average temperature over the three days is less than 97.8F, then, according to Barnes, you may have hypothyroidism, or low iodine.
Even if you have had a blood test and were told you did not have a low thyroid reading, go back and look at the test results again. You may find that your blood levels of thyroid hormones are actually low normal.
Many people who are within the so-called “normal” range but below the midpoint could benefit enormously from thyroid supplementation with iodine.
Your optimum oral temperature should be 98.0 in the morning before arising. Your oral temperature should rise to 98.6 to 99 degrees for about 10 hours a day (from 8 am until 11 am).
A good test time is to take your oral temperature between 11 am and 3 pm. The next time to do this is 20 minutes after lunch which is when your thyroid function should be at its best. It is important to work on getting and keeping your temperature at 98.6F.
The thyroid system deficient in iodine is a vicious circle, one thing leads to another until bacteria, parasites and viruses attack and cause other diseases and symptoms, including the body’s wanting to attack itself.
When body enzymes are not at the correct temperature, 98.6F, they don’t turn into the correct hormones, which then cause illness.
Even if your temperature is normal and you still have symptoms, you may have a low-grade infection that is raising your temperature. Symptoms are a really important factor that need to be taken into account.
Once you have taken care of the low-grade infection with supplements, you will be able to take the test again and get an accurate reading that shows your thyroid function.
I take and Recommend Nascent Iodine Drops, the only food state iodine drops. If you have a poor functioning thyroid consider stopping all carbs and high sugar foods as the resulting insulin produced upsets the thyroid hormone.
Remember you also need a total of 200mcg of selenium in your supplements as a co-factor of iodine. If you eat 6 Brazil Nuts on a regular basis, they contain 200mcg of selenium.
If you suffer repeated infections which can effect your thyroid then also consider Daily Immune Protection, which also has selenium in it.