The Shocking TRUTH About Too Much Iodine

Risks of Excess Iodine Supplementation 0:00

Are you creating thyroid problems by taking too much iodine? You know, many people out there are taking high doses of iodide. I see a lot of holistic doctors prescribing high-doses-of-iodide supplementation. And this actually can be very problematic. You see, your thyroid, when it uses iodides to make thyroid hormones, it needs just a very specific amount. The recommended daily allowance is 150 micrograms for adults. Now, this is just a minimal amount of iodine you need to prevent iodide deficiency.

You certainly can get more than that. But there are people taking mega doses of Iodine supplementation. I see people are taking 10,000 micrograms or more a day. And this can predispose you to problems because many studies now show that excess iodines supplementations can lead to things like hypothyroidism, like autoimmune thyroid, where your immune system starts to attack your own tissue. There's been many study now demonstrating this. So you gotta be very careful when you're supplementing iodine.

Now on the other hand, if you don't have enough iodines, then of course you can run into problems too, because again, iodide is required to make the thyroid hormones.

Iodine Deficiency and Thyroid Hormone Production 0:58

In America, people who tend to be deficient in iodides are people are vegans and those who avoid iodized salt. You can take the guesswork out, you could do urinary testing. There are blood tests for iodin, but the most accurate testing is urinary because your kidneys break down 90% of your iodine and then it's excreted out through the urine. So urine testing is the most accurate way to check for iodide. Again, if you're one of these people taking a lot of iodines, you've got to be careful with that because again, it predisposes you to having thyroid imbalances.

You're taking iodides to try and help your thyroid metabolism. Do not take excessive amounts of We know in some studies up to 2000 micrograms for people who don't have thyroid problems, aren't predisposed to having thyroid problem, like autoimmune thyroiditis, generally that tends to be okay.

Testing Iodine Levels and Safe Supplement Ranges 1:44

But for most of my patients, we stick around that 200 to 300 micro gram a day mark, especially if you're not vegan, specially if your not avoiding iodized table salt. And so that's very important. Well I hope that helps you recognizing the dangers of excess iodine supplementation. For more videos on nutritional therapies and for treatments for hypothyroidism, see the videos my YouTube channel.