Question about iodine

mphatesmpb Wed May 25, 2011 12:21 pm

Most of the discussions on this forum seem to revolve around the concept that living in an unnatural state is the source of all of our health issues. Modern living conditions subject our bodies to increased levels of stress: we are exposed to various environmental toxins, most of us don't get much sunlight, modern food processing techniques result in poor nutrition, etc.

But what about iodine? Which departure from the natural "caveman" state does iodine redress? Did paleolithic human beings have more iodine in their diet?

Smurfy Wed May 25, 2011 1:23 pm

Only a small amount is actually about getting more iodine. It's really more of a respite from the environmental toxins etc that you spoke of. If we didn't have said toxins in everyday life, the need for iodine would be much less than the amount we recommend taking.

Cavemen didn't have bromine overload (modern breads, drinks, you name it), chlorinated pools/showers, fluoridated crap. obviously. Their toxic load was miniscule, so technically they only needed a small portion... seafood stuff was probably good enough. Plus I think if they drank raw milk in their society, that contains iodine, probably adequate to their needs too.

It's all a balancing act. We wouldn't stress iodine if it wasn't bullied by modern toxins.

mphatesmpb Sun Jun 12, 2011 8:01 am

Perhaps iodine depletion in soils could be contributing to deficiency.

An environmental approach to correcting iodine deficiency: supplementing iodine in soil by iodination of irrigation water in remote areas.
Ren Q, Fan J, Zhang Z, Zheng X, Delong GR.
Source

Institute of Population Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China. renqiang@pku.edu.cn
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:

Iodine deficiency disorders continue to be a severe problem in many parts of Central Asia, causing delayed mental development and cretinism in indigenous populations. In some areas, iodized salt has not succeeded in controlling this problem. In southern Xinjiang Province of China, we tried a new method of supplying iodine to rural populations by dripping potassium iodate into irrigation water canals. By this means iodine was distributed into soil, crops, animals and people. This proved feasible and cost effective; it reached all the people, required no medical expertise, required no continuing effort after the initial dripping, and had the important added benefit of improving livestock production.
METHODS:

We serially monitored iodine concentrations in soil, crops, animal products and human urine for several years after the last dripping. In a similar project in Inner Mongolia, total soil iodine was determined in addition. Here, iodine concentrations in soil, crops, animals and people have been monitored for 4 years after supplementation.
RESULTS:

After dripping, total iodine increased two-fold, while soluble iodine increased 4-5-fold. Iodine added to soil is available for more than 4 years after a single application.
CONCLUSIONS:

Potassium iodate added to soil appears to increase soluble iodine out of proportion to the amount added. This effect and the long persistence of dripped iodate in soil contribute to the efficacy and cost effectiveness of this method of iodine supplementation.

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