Iodine, an organic mineral, is an absolute necessity for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. Over 2,000 years ago sea sponges were burned and the ash used by the Greeks to overcome simple goiter. The iodine yielded was taken up by the thyroid gland and converted into diodotyrosine and thyroxin.
Absorption of iodine is greatest from the small intestine, but is also absorbed by other mucous membranes including lungs and skin.Through circulation of the blood, iodine is distributed 50% in the muscles, 20% in the thyroid gland, 18% in the skin, 6% in the skeleton and the balance 6% in the parotid gland, the spleen and the liver. Although inorganic iodine is identified in the blood, it is the protein-bound iodine which conveys the circulating thyroid hormone.
Important investigations have emphasized the importance of naturally bound iodine, involved as an essential catalyst in calcium metabolism; it is also involved in the complete metabolism of phosphorus and starches. Lack of sufficient iodine shows up as a symptom of dental caries, and is a factor in cretinism, obesity, slow sexual development, lowered vitality, sexual frigidity and impotence; it is involved in the inability to think logically; to drooling through loss of muscle control; to loss of tissue tone, especially in the circulatory system.
The years of puberty, pregnancy and menopause create an increased demand for iodine, as well as times of stress and where infections occur. High carbohydrate diets impose iodine deficiencies, and those who overly void through kidneys, bowel or slcin are also subject to iodine deficiencies, particularly if low iodine-bearing foods predominate in the diet.
Less than one milligram of iodine is found in the entire volume of blood, and because of its solubility may be excreted through liver, skin, kidneys, lungs, intestines and mother’s milk or saliva.
Japanese, on an average, consume iodine-rich foods supplying more than five grams per day and goiter is virtually unknown in their country. In the USA, FDA limited the daily intake to 0.40 mgs., still dangerously too low according to many authorities.
Iodine-de-ficient soils are reported in the Pacific North-west, Rocky Mountain area, Central Plateau area and the Great Lakes region. Ordinary food sources of organically combined iodine may be found in kelp, sea lettuce (dulce), Irish moss, shellfish, sea fish and cod liver oil, or in produce grown on soil with a good iodine content, often where dried kelp is added. Iodine is lost when foods are boiled hard, and steam escapes, or excess water is poured off.
Put some liquid iodine in water in a glass coffeemaker and plug the top with a peeled Irish potato, then boil the water hard and watch the iodine get trapped in the potato, where it would ordinarily escape into the air, or deposit on the ceiling.
