One of the most questionable issues in modern medicine is the use of iodized salt in the kitchen.
The declared aim of conventional medicine is to prevent thyroid disorders of all kinds by consuming iodized salt.
Do humans need iodine? Yes!
The organism produces two hormones from iodine and specific amino acids in the thyroid gland, T3 and T4, which play a central role in the body’s overall heat balance and are also important. They influence the entire energy metabolism of the organism. The production of these two hormones is controlled by two superordinate glands: the thalamus in the brain and the pituitary gland. A finely balanced system of hormones and neurotransmitters controls and monitors everything. If there is a deficiency or excess of thyroid hormones, this can lead to devastating disorders throughout the entire organism. Humans cannot do without iodine, but too much is also harmful.
Perhaps there is a control mechanism in nature that prevents too much and too little iodine from being absorbed?
In nature, iodine is found in various forms. Some are intended for humans, others are not, and some are even lethal.
Iodine is an element and basic substance of the earth. It is a halogen, which means salt former. Iodine is a good partner for many compounds and is therefore an all-rounder in the occurrence of various compounds. Iodine has another important property: it has isotopes. To simplify the word isotopes, imagine iodine in different weight classes: light iodine atoms, medium-weight and overweight iodine atoms. An exact weight class is called an isotope.
In principle, we should be talking about neutron numbers in the atomic nucleus of iodine, but that would be going too far.
Do these isotopes have an influence on human health? Depending on the isotope, it can be stable or unstable. Unstable means a radioactive decay of the isotope. There are various radioactive processes and these have different effects on humans.
Basically, the less a person is exposed to radioactive radiation, the longer they will live.
Conclusion:
People should not only pay attention to the form in which they ingest iodine, but also to the mixture of isotopes they are exposed to.
Humans have two ways of absorbing iodine, one active and one passive.
Vacations at the North Sea or the Mediterranean replenish the iodine depot. Not only through fish consumption, but iodine saturates the sea air, just like all other salts found in seawater. People absorb this iodine by breathing and through the skin. Although small amounts, one vacation can store enough iodine in the connective tissue to last for 6 months. Depending on the individual’s effective consumption of iodine, the specified time may be less.
IODINE IN THE SEA AIR IS THE ONLY NATURAL SOURCE OF IODIZED SALT.
If it is passively absorbed by humans (skin, respiratory tract), it can accumulate in the organism without causing harm. From an isotope point of view, iodine naturally occurring in sea air is practically radiation-free.
In nature, iodine is an essential element. This means that iodine is not only needed for humans, but also for many other living organisms.
Do all living organisms utilize and store iodine in the same way?
Amino acids are just as important for the production of hormones in the thyroid gland as iodine itself.
Like all other halogens, iodine is very rarely found in its pure state in nature. When it comes to living organisms, iodine is always associated with proteins.
In seawater, iodine, like all other trace elements, is always bound in complex structures with proteins. As a result, an optimal simulation in the laboratory is hardly possible to date.
Nature makes it difficult to deal with trace elements. Perhaps this is intentional, as all dangerous isotopes are separated out in these complex structures and fixed in those organisms that can deal with them.
Corals and calcareous algae do not seem to have any great difficulty with radioactive substances. Research is constantly providing new insights into this.
What remains is a low-radiation trace element cocktail that accumulates in all other marine organisms. This is always in combination with proteins. Fish, shellfish and edible algae provide us with an iodine depot in combination with proteins, which contain all the necessary amino acids.
Once again, nature shows us how clever it is. As if she knew that iodine alone is useless, but that the combination with amino acids is crucial. It needs both components for hormone production in the thyroid gland. Such protein-iodine compounds must be absorbed within the metabolism, which does not allow excess iodine in the blood. This is because during active absorption, the iodine and amino acids pass directly through the metabolism into the blood. It is therefore imperative that there should be a balance in the amount to be utilized. As we shall see, the thyroid gland reacts extremely sensitively to excess amounts.
As a result, it is still virtually impossible to achieve an optimal simulation in the laboratory.
Are there any edible sources of iodine here?
Animals are out of the question. Because they consume iodine themselves. But plants and fungi could perhaps be a possibility. In order to store iodine, it must be available, and geology is also crucial, as natural phenomena can cause iodine to become a scarce commodity. For example, north-eastern Switzerland, southern Germany and large parts of Vorarlberg in Austria. The last ice ages have caused a thorough and lasting leaching of all iodine deposits in these regions. The inhabitants of these “iodine-deficient regions” are known for their thyroid swellings (goitre). The very low-iodine diet has had a negative impact on public health.
Chestnuts from Tuscany store iodine in their fruiting bodies. The tree’s root system selectively absorbs isotopes. This effect is also evident in another region (Ticino, southern Switzerland). Here, increased radioactive contamination from the geological layers has been known for a long time. Cancer, especially of the thyroid gland, is more common than elsewhere in Switzerland. Nevertheless, Ticino chestnuts contain little or no radioactive isotopes. Another astonishing fact is that the cancer rate has risen in the last hundred years and the per capita consumption of chestnuts has fallen. For centuries, chestnuts were the bread of the poor, but nowadays this is hardly the case for image reasons. The active intake of iodine from chestnuts must be slow and with proteins. Supplementing iodine through dairy products by adding iodized salt to cows’ feed is not the best solution in terms of isotopes. In the long term, they accumulate in humans and animals, which can lead to serious problems.
Well-intentioned iodization therefore does more harm than good. Some dairy products are then additionally treated with brine, which can lead to a further accumulation of iodized salt.
We should not consume iodized salt in its active form. Firstly, it does not contain any proteins and secondly, the isotope mixture does not seem to be in order.
Commercially available iodized salt is an industrial product to which a lot has to be added. Iodine is considered a waste product in various areas of industry and should be stored as hazardous waste. Chemistry has found a way to produce a salt that is safe for humans from this waste:
Where is the necessary protein that would help it to be absorbed slowly? And what kind of iodine is recycled? Whatever iodine is available. The demand is so great that production cannot keep up. This results in isotope mixtures that are not harmless if they are ingested for too long. The thyroid gland likes to store such radiant iodine isotopes. The result is nodules in the thyroid gland and possible tumors.
For over twenty years, attempts have been made to convince people that iodized salt intake protects against hypothyroidism. Thanks to information campaigns and targeted consumption of iodized salt, this type of thyroid problem should no longer play a role. Although there are fewer symptoms of hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, autoimmune problems and tumors have increased by almost thirty percent.
In the Mediterranean region, too, there were virtually no thyroid complaints. Since the coastal population has also been supplied with iodized salt, there has been an enormous increase in various thyroid diseases in southern Italy, for example.
The accumulation of isotopes can lead to tumors/cancer. Even small quantities are sufficient for this. The immune system can go completely off the rails if it comes into contact with these isotopes. The result can be a complete collapse of the body’s defenses. In the immune system, however, there can also be other phenomena that can occur when there is an excess of iodine. Autoimmune situations are the result. The immune system rebels against the thyroid gland by destroying it or other organs. Examples of diseases are Hashimoto’s disease, Graves’ disease and Addison’s disease. The thyroid gland can also cause so-called hyperthyroidism. This disease should not occur in an iodine-deficient area, but unfortunately there is an increase instead.
The iodine supply should be closely monitored. The daily requirement should be ensured through diet and the connective tissue stores should be replenished by spending time in iodine-rich areas. The diet should include unrefined sea salt. Chestnuts can be added to conventional bread as flour and enrich it with iodine. Sea fish should be eaten at least once a week. Plan a vacation by the sea (Mediterranean, North Sea) for about two weeks. Avoid iodized salt, iodized salts such as pickling salt, table salt or even iodized sea salt. If you already have thyroid disease, you should also avoid all cabbage vegetables. Although they contain many healthy nutrients, they demand too much energy from the metabolism, which leads to an overload of the thyroid gland. Even patients with hyperthyroidism can go on a seaside vacation under supervision and derive health benefits from it. However, this requires a specialist such as a doctor or alternative practitioner who checks the hormone status closely and is familiar with the pitfalls of iodine.
Anyone living in a coastal area should strictly avoid any kind of artificially iodized food. Otherwise the thyroid gland would immediately begin to lose control of the hormone levels. Cabbage is even recommended in this area, then all the positive trace elements and vitamins are utilized.