 Iodine is an element required for the production of thyroid hormone, and thyroid hormone regulates the metabolism of every single cell in the body. The importance of iodine in the diet has really been understated, as the body cannot produce any on its own, and if we don't have enough iodine, we don't have enough thyroid hormone. Problems from iodine deficiency can range from goiter to hypothyroidism, and especially developmental problems during key stages of life, such as pregnancy and childhood development. Goiter. Without adequate iodine, the thyroid progressively enlarges as it tries to keep up with demand of thyroid hormone production. Worldwide, iodine deficiency is the most common cause of thyroid enlargement and goiter. Hypothyroidism. While this is uncommon in the United States, although we've been told to believe, iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide. Thyroid hormones regulate many important biochemical reactions, including protein synthesis and enzymatic activity, and are critical determinants of metabolic activity. They are required for proper skeletal and central nervous system development in fetuses and infants. Thyroid hormone also helps the body use energy, stay warm, and keep the brain, heart, muscles, and other organs working as they should. Pregnancy-related problems. Iodine deficiency is especially important in women who are pregnant or nursing their infants. Severe deficiency has been associated with miscarriages, stillbirth, preterm delivery, and congenital abnormalities in their babies. Even mild iodine deficiency during their pregnancy, which may be present in some women in the United States, may be associated with low intelligence in children. Indigenous people are ancestors, hunter-gatherers, demonstrated iodine-seeking behavior. In the book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, by Weston Price, a dentist who went around in the early 1900s who was exploring indigenous groups because he was curious that they didn't have cavities, there is a woman who had a terrible goiter in her neck. She had come down from a 9,000-foot level in the mountains above Lake Edward. Here all the drinking water was snow water, which did not carry iodine. She had come down from the high area to the 6,000-foot level to gather the water, hyacinth, and other plants to obtain the ashes from these and other iodine-carrying plants to carry back to her children to prevent, as she explained, the formation of big neck, such as she had. The people living at the 6,000-foot level also used the ashes of these plants. Before the 1920s, iodine deficiency was common in the Great Lakes, Appalachian, parts of Northwestern United States, as well as most of Canada. The introduction of iodine salt removed this iodine deficiency, as well as this supposed goiter belt. Unfortunately, iodine deficiency is still an issue in a lot of countries. One interesting theory on iodine deficiency in regards to Neanderthals, or Neanderthals, if you're one of those people, is that they weren't necessarily Neanderthals because of genetics. It was because they were Cretans, aka people with severe iodine-related problems. This theory from Jerome Dobson was after observing the similarities in where Neanderthals were located to goiter belts of Central and Alpine Europe. This is countered by other anthropologists as they mention, key skeletal traits in Cretans are not found in Neanderthals. The most common theory is that Neanderthals disappeared because they interbred with modern humans. But there is certainly a lot of back and forth between these two ideas. One other interesting note is that although these two species coexisted, there is no evidence that they cohabitate or interbred, making this even more of a mystery. One thing to keep in mind is that modern-day Cretans are likely deficient in more things than just iodine. The only way to test this would be to follow a nutrient-dense diet absent of iodine. But that's not going to happen, and I don't think it needs to happen. There are plenty of Neanderthals still alive and kicking, judging by some of the YouTube comments. The molecular effects of iodine, as well as a lot of epidemiological evidence, points to its probable role in the prevention of cancers through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. It has been shown in many studies that there is a statistical relationship to goiter and cancer. In collecting data for a book on iodine and the incidence of goiter, the accompanying maps were obtained, showing a resemblance between the distribution of goiter and cancer in Switzerland. A self-reported goiter is associated with significantly increased risk of stomach cancers in a large population-based Chinese cohort. In another study, iodine-deficient people had been shown to have more occurrence of stomach cancer as well. There are many nutrients key to developmental stages of life, and iodine is no exception, especially in nursing women. If iodine is not present in the diet, it will not be present in the breast milk. This is also important during pregnancy, really any developmental stage of life. One source of iodine is seaweed, and you guys have seen me consume seaweed in several of my day of eating videos, and upon looking at this information, seaweed might not be the best source for some people. Levels of iodine in seaweed vary widely according to species and how the seaweed is dry. One study found a huge range of 2 to 817 micrograms of iodine per 100 grams. Odine content is reduced when seaweed is dried in the sun, and iodine may vaporize during cooking and humid storage conditions. So seaweed is a very inconsistent product to say the least. Seaweed also contains certain anti-nutrients, such as lignins, phytoestrogens, that can depress thyroid function. This may explain why thyroid problems, except for goiter, are common among the Japanese even though they eat a lot of seaweed. I think this ties a lot into the source of seaweed and how frequently you are consuming it. I don't think it would be bad to consume a sun-dried seaweed in a small amount once a week or once every two weeks, as long as you're not exceeding your recommended dosage of iodine every day. One thing that's super exciting to me is that you can actually get iodine transdermally. This study shows that iodine has approximately a 10% bioavailability when applied to your skin. One issue with this is controlling the dosage. It's hard to know how much iodine is actually being absorbed through your skin based on how much you put on. The other issue is anyone who's used iodine before knows how badly it stains certain things. I tried using this in my bathroom that had very nice, clean white grouting and tiles and it looked like someone killed a dog in there and left it for about five weeks. So definitely something to be said about being careful when applying this transdermally. I'm going to show you guys how I usually do this and keep in mind, do not rub this on a part of your body that you want people to see. So the fatty parts of the body tend to be ideal around the stomach area. So if you did want to rub this on your stomach, I would put a few drops. I would be very careful as it's a very thin liquid, so it will flow really quickly. So I just rub it in like that, leave it. I usually put on a lot more, occasionally I'll rub it all over my whole body and just test the absorption. Now as you can see after I rub this on my hands, my hands look like iodine and I really do like using iodine for sanitizing my hands. I've actually been doing that lately. That's how I've been getting my iodine by cleaning my hands with it. And people might think you're an alien, but people think I'm an alien anyway. Another issue to be brought up on the topic of iodine is that certain vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables, can cause goiter. These anti-nutrients contained in things like cabbage and turnips have been found to cause hypothyroidism in animals. Two mechanisms can potentially explain this effect. The hydrolysis of progoitrin found in cruciferous vegetables may yield a compound known as goitrin, which may interfere with thyroid hormone synthesis. The hydrolysis of another class of glucosinolates known as indole glucosinolates results in the release of thiocyanate ions that can compete with iodine for uptake by the thyroid gland. One study in humans found that the consumption of 150 grams a day of cooked Brussels sprouts for four weeks had no adverse effect on thyroid function. But these were cooked and this has proven to reduce that specific anti-nutrient in the food. Now, drinking a raw kale shake every day might put you on your way to thyroid issues. One other thing I found out about was feeding seaweed to cattle reduced methane emissions by up to 99%. This really got me thinking that vitamins, minerals, elements play a much bigger role in nature and maybe even the universe. It's so interesting to me that a plant needs vitamin D2 just like humans need vitamin D3. A cow needs to convert the carotene in grass into retinol just like humans need to consume animal foods for the preformed version of vitamin A. There's something to be said about the importance of these vitamins and minerals and definitely a lot to be discovered over the next few years, few decades. We'll see what happens, but hey, I was here first, ladies and gentlemen. So a big shout out to adamatgrithin.com for the iodine protocol. Your body temperature correlates with iodine, so whether you increase or decrease your iodine intake, that will alter your body temperature. In order to find your ideal body temperature, you have to mess around with this a little bit. And the main sources of iodine, of course, are dietary. Seaweed is, to me, I think, still a good option. The best sources from an indigenous perspective would be shellfish, especially mollusks, clams, and really any seafood is a great source of iodine. Iodine is also contained in meat, eggs, dairy. It's much higher in eggs and dairy than it is in meat, especially raw, grass-fed, high-quality products. Those will contain iodine. I don't think your local supermarket milk is going to have a significant iodine content. I would also be wary of the iodine content of supermarket eggs. If you're going to a local farm and buying quality products, that's where the iodine content will be present. So liver is an example of an animal tissue that does have a reasonable amount of iodine, but you should really be either consuming seafood, supplementing transdermally, seeking foods that specifically have enough of an iodine content for you to optimize your health. Personally, I think I've overlooked the importance of iodine and probably a lot of other minerals and elements as well. The reason for this is because it's so easily, inherently achieved on a properly done indigenous or carnivore diet that you don't really have to worry about it. I was consuming fish eggs for most of my early years on the carnivore diet and I either consumed fish eggs or seaweed at some point in time because I realized that I needed to get iodine in my diet in some way. So thank you guys for watching. If you guys would like to support the channel, please like, subscribe, and share the video. In my Amazon shop down below, cod liver oil is a good source of iodine. There's also the canned cod liver and I have some seaweed from Maine Coast Sea vegetables. That's some decent quality stuff. If you guys want to get your hands on it immediately, they do sell this at a local hoe foods and the cod liver can be obtained at like a Polish or Russian grocer. They might even have some fish roe, fish eggs at reasonably affordable prices. If you guys want personalized question support, you can check out my Patreon. That's a great way to answer questions one-on-one. I'm on Instagram guys, I'm on Twitter arguing with people and posting cute selfies. If you guys do want to reach out to me for one-on-one consultations in regards to optimizing your lifestyle, maybe even considering an iodine protocol, you can send me an email frankatufano at gmail.com or contact me through the form on my website below. On that website is also some hygiene products like Frankie's Naturals lip balm, my hair pomade, my tooth powder, and some deodorant I wear. Outside of that guys, you enjoy the rest of your week.