Iodine is probably one of the most misunderstood nutrient, if you think about nutrients at all. Believe it or not, iodine could be the missing link to your good health. For over a century, iodine has been hailed as the element necessary for your thyroid hormone production. And clearly, that's crucial. However, there's so much more. Without enough iodine, balancing your hormonal or endocrine system becomes impossible.
I've been reading a medical publication by Dr. David Brownstein and he says that adequate iodine is necessary for your immune system to function properly. And it's proven effective for treating fatigue, headaches, high blood pressure, liver disease, fibrocystic breasts and ovarian cysts, just to name a few things.
He also reports that iodine contains potent antibacterial, antiparasitic, antiviral, and even anticancer properties. You read correctly, it contains many cancer-fighting and cancer-preventing properties. Plus, iodine functions as both a strong antioxidant as well as an oxidant in the body. Compounds like iodine can help maintain that balance which makes it one of the most powerful anti-cancer agents known.
Iodine has been shown to cause apoptosis (or cell death) in breast and thyroid cancer cells. Dr. Brownstein has also reported that clinically, iodine can cause tumors to shrink and die from the center out. Similar results with nodules and cysts in the thyroid, ovaries, and uterus after instituting supplementation with iodine. And while good iodine levels help fight back against cancer, lowered levels provide fertile ground for cancer to begin in your many different hormonally sensitive tissues. Tissues of the prostate, thyroid, breast, uterus, and ovaries.
According to Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD, there is growing evidence that Americans would have better health and a lower incidence of cancer and fibrocystic disease of the breast if they consumed more iodine. A decrease in iodine intake coupled with an increased consumption of competing halogens, fluoride and bromide, has created an epidemic of iodine deficiency in America.
Now iodized table salt is the chief source of iodine in a Western diet. But 45 percent of American households buy salt without iodine. And over the last three decades people who do use iodized table salt have decreased their consumption of it by 65 percent. Furthermore, the much higher concentrations of chloride in salt (NaCl) inhibits absorption of its sister halogen iodine (the intestines absorb only 10 percent of the iodine present in iodized table salt). As a result, 15 percent of the U.S. adult female population suffers from moderate to severe iodine deficiency, which health authorities define as a urinary iodine concentration less than 50 µg /L. Women with goiters (a visible, noncancerous enlargement of the thyroid gland) owing to iodine deficiency have been found to have a three times greater incidence of breast cancer. A high intake of iodine is associated with a low incidence breast cancer, and a low intake with a high incidence of breast cancer.
Salt is vital to life. Salt (sodium chloride) courses constantly through our circulatory system. A shortage of this essential nutrient can cause serious health risks, even death.
Our most important electrolyte, the natural mineral salt is necessary to maintain the critical osmotic balance in human cells. Sodium is essential to transmission of nerve impulses signaling the heart muscle to contract. Sodium helps regulate human hydration, pH levels and the absorption of other nutrients. Chloride helps digestion, including potassium absorption. Chloride enables the blood to carry carbon dioxide from tissue to the lungs. When the immune system is under attack, chloride fights infections.
Salt is natural—and so is our need and desire for it.
The body cannot produce its own sodium or chloride, yet all human fluids contain (and need) salt, including blood, sweat, tears and digestive juices.
The body regulates the amount of salt we consume based on our individual needs. Salt intake levels are determined in the brain. Our cerebral cortex senses each person’s needs and creates an appetite that is more powerful than an individual’s conscious choice.
Thirst, for instance, is a signal that our bodies need water to help balance the salt we have consumed. A craving for salt reflects a healthy need. When healthy, our bodies are able to use the amount of salt they need, and expel any excess by processing through the kidneys.
According to Dr. Brownstein's research, salt is important for optimal performance of the immune system. His argument is that unrefined salt can play a positive role for many of the chronic life threatening diseases such as Fibromyglia, adrenal disorders, Meniere’s disease, headaches, thyroid disorders, and chronic fatigue. The interesting fact that is contradictory to widespread belief is that unrefined salt is great for maintaining cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
Unrefined salt is recommended as part of one's daily diet, as it contains about 80 minerals, which can contribute to a balance of minerals in the body. The consumption of unrefined salt with a holistic regimen will help to provide a refreshing outlook on life without deficiency of any of the necessary compounds.
Taken from Wikipedia, the online dictionary: " Iodized table salt has significantly reduced disorders of iodine deficiency in countries where it is used. Iodine is important to prevent the insufficient production of thyroid hormones (hypothyroidism), which can cause goitre, cretinism in children, and myxedema in adults."
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