Iodine

Most of the world’s commercially sold Iodine is made or harvested in Latin America, North America, and then Japan as the third largest contributor. Iodine was first discovered in France during the wars of Napoleon, it was named after its purplish hue (Iode means purple in Greek).

Iodine has been used as a disinfectant for unsafe drinking water, and (unlike chlorine) is safe for consumption over a long period of time making it vastly more useful though it is moderately more expensive by comparison. Its effectiveness of killing bacteria is extraordinary, Mark Sircus (a scientist who studied Iodine in particular) has stated that Iodine is the most effective antibacterial agent known to man that is safe for continued topical or oral usage. More than 90% of bacteria brought into contact with Iodine die within two minutes, both gram positive and gram negative are effected (unlike certain antibiotics used in hand soaps).

Although Iodine is most commonly known in medical science as an oxidant, recent studies and observations have brought forth information proposing that it is actually more antioxidative than it is oxidative depending on the circumstances.

Thyroid function is dependant on Iodine, deficiency of Iodine is the leading cause of avoidable mental inhibition. Unfortunately even people who have a lot of Iodine in their diet from eating seafood or taking supplements can be deficient. In the thyroid there are receptors which accept all halides (bromide-chloride-fluoride-iodide-astatide), and thanks to water Fluoridation those who do not have enough Iodine in their diet to both counteract the Fluoride and be used for bodily functions suffer from hypothyroidism. Fluoride is one of the smallest molecules on the periodic table, because of this it is extremely difficult for your body to remove it from its system whereas Iodine is a much larger molecule and exists for a short period of time inside your thyroid gland.

I will leave the majority of my rant of distaste towards Fluoride for another time, though I will say that only 50% of the Fluoride you drink from almost -any- beverage will stay inside of your body.. Often times it binds into your bones and can cause arthritis, or it disables your pituitary gland by collecting in and around it. You cannot tell if a beverage has fluoride in it, even if it is labeled as having been purified with a process that removes it as companies are allowed to add it to their drink if they so feel to (so bottled water is always risky business when trying to avoid Fluoride exposure, you should contact the manufacturur to ask if they add it). The more you know right?..

Back to Iodine deficiency, it should be said that thyroid function is often not measured by a set level but actually an average of those around you. The United States is the best place to observe if you want to understand what hypothyroidism is, because people who have hypothyroidism have lowered IQs, reduced fertility, increased lethargy, lowered overall body temperature, and increased chances of developing obesity. In the United States, it is my opinion based off of average diets and sources of chlorides/bromides/fluorides that most Americans are hypothyridic.

Recent studies have shown that consumption of Iodine has been proven effective when used to prevent oral and salivary disease onset by infection.

I hope this has been informative, my next article may involve vitamin D.

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