Iodine for Beginners the Book

Iodine for Beginners the Book: A Practical Guide to Restoring a Vital Nutrient

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the guide nobody gave you, but probably should have. This isn’t a fear-mongering rant, and it’s definitely not a “just trust the experts” lecture. It’s the thing we read after feeling like garbage for way too long, after trying too many supplements, and after realizing that maybe, just maybe, our body isn’t broken, just under-supported, over-toxic, and severely misinformed.

This book exists because a lot of people are quietly struggling. Struggling to understand why they’re tired, cold, foggy, puffy, anxious, hormonal, or just feeling off. The bloodwork is “normal,” the doctor says “everything looks fine,” but our daily outlook says otherwise.

And so here we are. Iodine. The mineral we’ve heard terrifying things about. The one they say is “toxic in high doses” or “only needed in trace amounts.” We’ve probably been warned to avoid it entirely if we have a thyroid issue. Funny how nobody warns us that we used to get way more of it in our food before the chemical industry hijacked our salt shaker and replaced it with bleached, bromide-laced garbage.

This guide is for the skeptics. The thinkers. The people tired of health advice that changes every six months depending on which pharmaceutical company sponsored the study. We’re going back to basics. Cellular mechanics, nutrient logic, and a touch of common sense.

My name is Micah Coffey. I created WhyIodine.com and one of the largest iodine groups on the internet, Iodine for Beginners. I’ve seen tens of thousands of people try iodine, some carefully, some like a cannonball into a kiddie pool, and I’ve made it my mission to help people start smart and stay sane. I walked into this in a very similar way you are, with a lot of the same questions and hurdles.

In the pages ahead, we’ll talk about what iodine is, why our body needs it, why most people are low, and how to safely start bringing it back into our lives without losing our minds, our sleep, or our thyroid.

Let’s rebuild this machine, one drop at a time.

Chapter 1: What Is Iodine (and Why the Heck Haven’t We Heard the Truth)?

Iodine is not just a supplement. It’s not a fad. It’s not just “that stuff they use to sterilize wounds” or “the stuff added to salt” Iodine is a necessity. A fundamental, non-optional, molecular workhorse our body depends on every day. And if we’re not getting enough, our cells act like cars running low on oil, grinding, sputtering, overheating, and eventually breaking down.

Let’s clear this up right now:

So what exactly is iodine?

Chemically, it’s a halogen, like chlorine, fluorine, and bromine. But unlike those toxic hooligans, iodine is the only one our body actually needs. It’s the benevolent sibling of the halogen family. Problem is, those toxic ones, fluoride in our drinking water, bromide in our bread, chlorine in our shower compete with iodine at the cellular level. They hog the parking spots meant for iodine, then sit there doing absolutely nothing helpful. Yup, our cells might be occupied by the metabolic equivalent of unemployed squatters.

And iodine doesn’t just slide into place. The receptors it needs are often clogged with imposters fluoride, bromide, and chlorine thanks to years of exposure. It has to shove its way back in, displacing the junk that’s been holding the spot. But that’s a detox story for another chapter.

For now, let’s get grounded:

I tend to recommend starting with nascent because it helps us ease into iodine in a much more balanced way.

But here’s the kicker—the body doesn’t care how you get your iodine. It doesn’t check your label. It just wants atoms of iodine, especially for making hormones like T3 and T4. That’s literally what the 3 and 4 stand for: three and four iodine atoms. Without those, your thyroid is just sending out blank checks—no value, no action.

There’s still plenty of time to try different forms later and see what your body prefers. But the takeaway is simple:

Your body runs on iodine. Not opinions. Not marketing. Just atoms.

Chapter 2: The War on Iodine — Welcome to Idiocracy

If iodine is so essential, we’d think it would be easy to get. On every grocery store shelf. In ten different forms. With doctors recommending it left and right. Instead? It’s conveniently removed or hidden, restricted, and labeled by the FDA as a “List 1” chemical, a substance suspected of being used to make meth.

No evidence. No trials. Just suspicion. And that suspicion is enough to make iodine harder to get than some prescription meds.

Meanwhile, actual poisons like fluoride, a known neurotoxin, are being pumped into municipal water supplies with government approval. But iodine? The element our glands, our brains, our mitochondria depend on? Better have a dang good reason to be asking about it.

This is where iodine helps us start to question reality.

How did a nutrient so vital get demonized? How did we go from doctors prescribing iodine for everything from infections to fatigue to being told it’s dangerous in anything over trace amounts?

The answer, as usual, lies in money, patents, and control. Iodine is cheap. It’s effective. And it doesn’t need a drug company to repackage it. That makes it a threat.

So over time, the message changed. First it was, “Only take a little.” Then, “Be careful if you have a thyroid issue.” Then, “It’s dangerous.” And finally: “We suspect it’s being used to make drugs.”

This isn’t public health policy. This is narrative control. And it’s working. Most people are terrified of iodine and have no idea why.

I randomly bumped into info about iodine deficiency years before my health crashed. All I remember is going in circles and ending up so confused by the situation. Turns out that confusion was on purpose.

So if you’re holding this book and wondering whether you’re crazy for questioning the official stance, good. That means you’re still thinking. You’re still free. And you’re about to learn how to reclaim a part of your biology that was quietly stolen from you.

Let’s keep going.

Chapter 3: Why We’re All Deficient – The Collapse Is Cellular

Let’s not sugarcoat it, more than 60% of adults in the U.S. are living with at least one chronic illness. And that number climbs fast when we include those who are “undiagnosed but not okay.” We’re talking fatigue, anxiety, autoimmune conditions, weight gain, brain fog, hormonal issues, digestive chaos, insomnia, and mood swings. Call it what you want, but modern life is a metabolic dumpster fire.

What if this isn’t just about diet, stress, or bad luck? What if part of this collapse is tied to something as fundamental and neglected as iodine?

Iodine deficiency is more than just a thyroid thing. It’s a brain thing. A development thing. A decision-making thing. Low iodine has been strongly linked to lower IQ, especially during pregnancy and early childhood. But this doesn’t just stop at birth. Ongoing deficiency affects mental clarity, focus, memory, and the ability to process complex problems.

Now zoom out: we’ve got an entire society running low on this critical nutrient. And what do we see?

We’re watching a population get dumber, sicker, and more emotionally fragile while pretending it’s just bad luck or poor habits. Meanwhile, nobody’s asking if we’ve lost the biochemical foundation for thinking clearly in the first place.

It’s not just iodine, of course. But iodine is a trigger point. A spark. When it’s missing, our cells lose access to the very signals that tell them how to detox, how to balance hormones, how to regulate the nervous system. Our body starts storing instead of clearing. Stress chemistry takes over. And our ability to function like actual humans starts slipping.

We used to get iodine from food. From soil. From the oceans. But now we get fluoride in our water, bromide in our bread, and chlorine in our showers. Our halogen receptors are hijacked. And when the receptors are jammed, our signal is lost.

So yeah, the world looks like it’s falling apart. Maybe it’s not just political. Maybe it’s not just spiritual. Maybe it’s biological collapse at the root. A slow unraveling of brain chemistry, self-awareness, and basic metabolic logic.

And maybe, just maybe, we can start stitching it back together. One drop at a time.

Chapter 4: Getting Started – Unlocking the Machine

Here’s the twist no one tells us: those “miracles” we might see when starting iodine aren’t because iodine is some kind of magic cure. They happen because iodine is the key that unlocks dozens of nutrient systems that were stuck on idle. Iodine wakes things up. It doesn’t fix everything, it lets the things we already have start working again.

This is why we need to approach it with a plan. Because the power we wield with iodine is only as effective as the understanding we build alongside it. It’s like flipping the breaker to a building that hasn’t had power in years. If the wiring’s not solid, things might spark, sputter, or blow a fuse.

We start slow. We watch. We give our cells time to figure out what the heck is happening.

When iodine enters the system, it begins reactivating detox pathways, hormone receptors, immune circuits, and cellular energy switches that have been dormant for decades. As those circuits light up, the nutrients we’ve been low on, or supplementing without any noticeable effect, suddenly begin to function. That magnesium we’ve been taking? That vitamin C? Those B vitamins? They can finally plug into something. Because iodine turned the switch back on.

But here’s the deeper part: as we gain momentum, our understanding also improves. The deeper we go, the easier it gets to grasp how all of this fits together. Iodine isn’t just waking up the body—it’s waking up our intuition. Our connection to how we feel, what we need, and when we’ve had enough.

I’ve always been able to hear my gut instinct, but I’ve never known how to trust it. Till iodine.

So how do we get started? We’ll break that down in the next chapter, piece by piece.

But keep this in mind: iodine works with the body, not for it. The better we support the whole system, the better the system supports us. Iodine is just a very important piece to this puzzle.

Chapter 5: How to Start Iodine Without Ruining Your Week

Most people approach iodine like they just heard it’s the last bus out of town—chugging doses way too high, way too fast, after decades (and potentially generations) of deficiency. That’s not a healing protocol. That’s a metabolic car crash waiting to happen.

Here’s a sample 4-week planner to ease into iodine while supporting your system:

Week 1: Hydration & Salt, and Magnesium. Daily unrefined salt 1/4 tsp on food. Track symptoms. Add magnesium every other day (glycinate/malate), evening dose.

Week 2: Selenium & Vitamin C, and Observation. Add selenium (100–200 mcg), Vitamin C (500–1000mg). One at a time. Pause here. See how you feel for a few days. Adjust if needed.

Week 3: First Drop of Iodine, and Note Reactions. Try 1 drop of 2% Lugol’s or Nascent. Nothing else new this week. Track skin, sleep, mood, digestion. Hydrate, rest, salt load if needed.

Week 4: Repeat or Rest. If well tolerated, try 2 drops. If not, rest. Support with detox baths, food.

This isn’t rigid. If something hits hard, stay in that week longer. If you need to rest earlier, rest. No protocol is worth pushing through symptoms that are clearly red flags. I personally would take every other day off to really help ease into this.

The smart way? One thing at a time. Get to know these things.

Start with the basics. Get salt and magnesium on board. Then maybe selenium. Then maybe vitamin C. See how that feels. Then one drop of iodine. Just one. Not because it’s weak, but because our system is.

We’re not trying to go from zero to 1,000mg per hour. We’re trying to teach our cells how to function again. And that takes time & communication, not force.

If unrefined salt seems to be stirring things up, continue increasing it slowly for a bit while eating clean. But stick with adding salt to food. Salt loading has it’s place, I’ll explain more later.

This is what real healing looks like:

If we tolerate it, we try two drops, maybe next week, or the week after that.

Why the delay? Because real change takes time. Because our body is not a supplement bucket. Because every drop of iodine is potentially waking up 20 different processes that all need to coordinate.. which takes time.

We’re not in a race. We’re in a re-education program for our cells called Welcome Back to Earth. And the slower we go, the more we learn, the more we tune in, and the less we panic when something finally stirs up.

As long as we’re not going 100mph, simply taking our foot off the gas pedal can be enough to get us back to safety.

Visit the homepage of whyiodine.com for the iodine I currently recommended.

The next chapter? How to tell when what you’re feeling is healing… or just plain too much.

Chapter 6: Detox or Disaster? When “Healing” Feels Like a Breakdown

Let’s be honest: starting iodine can sometimes feel like we’re either about to ascend to a new plane of existence… or die in a Walgreens parking lot. That wave of fatigue, the weird headache or neck pain, the pressure in the chest—is it detox? Is it healing? Or should we actually call someone?

Welcome to the chaos of cellular reboot.

Here’s the truth: healing is messy. Especially when we’ve been running on backup systems, filled with junk, and suddenly the cleaning crew (iodine) shows up with a flamethrower and a clipboard.

Iodine doesn’t just stroll into our system and hand out hugs. It’s more like:

These toxins don’t quietly leave. They kick, scream, and often reroute through our skin, kidneys, lungs, or brain fog before exiting the building.

Common detox reactions include:

Sounds fun, right?

But here’s the difference between a detox reaction and an actual problem: context and timing.

If we just started something new like iodine, selenium, or vitamin C, and a day or two later our body goes full drama queen, chances are we’re stirring the pot. If we ease up and the symptoms back off, then we’re not dying. We’re detoxing.

If, however, things escalate sharply, don’t resolve with rest or hydration, or feel genuinely scary (like chest pain, heart palpitations, or blacking out) don’t be stupid. Seek help. Even smart people need to visit the Emergency Room sometimes.

That said, most of the time, we’re not having heart attacks. We’re having a biological housecleaning tantrum. It’s the difference between a panic attack and a fire. We still feel the heat, but we’re not burning down. Going slow helps this situation as well.

So how do we ride it out without losing our minds?

Healing isn’t always linear, and often feels like going backward. But detox symptoms are proof that the body is responding. And that’s the first step toward rebuilding.

Chapter 7: Cofactors – The Bare Minimum to Not Crash and Burn

Let’s clear something up: these “cofactors” aren’t optional. They’re not bonus upgrades. They’re the bare minimum our nutrient engine needs in order to keep up with what iodine starts revving up.

Iodine is a switch. A powerful one. It tells our cells to wake up, rebuild, detox, and get back to work. But without the parts, tools, and energy to do that work? We crash. We inflame. We spin our wheels and wonder why nothing’s working.

That’s where cofactors come in.

Here are the key ones:

We’re not only trying to load up a supplement shelf. We’re trying to find and give our cells the foundation compounds they’ve been missing.

Most of us have been low on these for years. Sometimes lifetimes. Our grandparents didn’t have enough. Our food doesn’t have enough. So when iodine wakes the body up, it’s like turning the lights on in a building where no one’s cleaned the place in decades.

Without cofactors, things can get ugly fast.

Some people take iodine and feel like a superhero. Others take the same dose and get wiped out. Nine times out of ten, the difference isn’t luck, it’s support. Did we prep? Are our minerals in place? Are we feeding the system, or just pushing even more stress?

Cofactors aren’t here to make iodine work. They’re here because the body needs them, with or without iodine. But once iodine enters the picture, that need becomes non-negotiable. And no, our food does not provide enough of these other nutrients as we consume concentrated forms of iodine. 

Once we ‘break the seal’ with these larger amounts of iodine, we need to keep up with any other nutrients that we respond to. We don’t take X amount of a nutrient because it’s included, we aim for that much and try to find what works for us.

I rarely use vitamin C. In the 10 years I’ve been at this, I’ve tried vitamin C about 100 times as a rough guess. I’ve felt benefits like 3 of those times. So guess what? I don’t take much vitamin C. I try it from time to time and try sticking with it for a little, but I don’t just take it to take it, and I aim for quality forms.

I usually use liposomal vit C with cofactors or flavonoids etc. I’ve tried Rose Hip tea and things like Camu powder for their vit C content. Sometimes I notice a little something and stick with them.

I handle all nutrients with the same framework. This is just how I handle vit C since I do not notice much from it.

Take the cofactors seriously. Start slow. Add one at a time. Don’t just copy someone’s stack off a forum(but do take notes on it). Feel it. Track it. Learn what your cells respond to.

We’re not just supplementing, we’re building something. And these are the raw materials we build with.

Chapter 8: TSH Panic – When Labs Lie (or Just Mislead)

Let’s talk about TSH, the lab number that somehow became the dictator of our thyroid destiny. We get our blood drawn, and a single number shows up on a chart, and suddenly we’re being told our thyroid is underactive, overactive. Sometimes we’re even told “we’re fine” even though we feel like hot garbage.

TSH stands for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. It’s made by our pituitary, not our thyroid. That’s right, the number doctors obsess over isn’t a measure of thyroid function. It’s a measure of how loudly our brain is yelling at our thyroid to get its act together.

Here’s where it gets fun: when we start iodine, TSH often goes up. Not because our thyroid is failing, but because our body is trying to reboot decades of dysfunction and it needs to temporarily turn the volume up on the signal. It’s like reactivating a crew that’s been asleep in the server room since dial-up internet was cutting edge.

This is normal. It’s called a rebound. A recalibration. A “hey we’re trying to build something in here” moment.

But the average doctor sees a TSH above the reference range and immediately prescribes synthetic hormones. They don’t ask why it’s high. They don’t ask if our free T3 or free T4 levels are stable. They don’t ask if we just started iodine last week and our cells are learning how to speak thyroid again.

They just panic. And hand a prescription that might shut our thyroid down even further.

How to interpret TSH without losing your mind:

The problem isn’t the test. It’s how it’s interpreted, which is out of context, in isolation, without understanding what our body is trying to do.

So breathe. Don’t let one number override your lived experience. You’re not a lab result. You’re a system in motion in a world that doesn’t exactly want you to figure this out.

Chapter 9: When the Body Remembers – Emotional Detox and Memory Flashbacks

Let’s get weird, but real. Iodine doesn’t just clean house physically. It has a habit of kicking the door open on the emotional closet too. Old stuff. Buried stuff. Stuff we swore we were done with.

It starts small. Maybe we cry during a random commercial. Maybe a song triggers a wave of grief we didn’t see coming. Maybe we suddenly remember something from age 7 that hasn’t crossed our mind in decades, and now it’s loud.

Welcome to emotional detox.

This isn’t some woo-woo concept. Our nervous system stores trauma. Our cells store chemical memories. And when our biology wakes up, when iodine and cofactors start recharging the lights in every dusty hallway of our inner operating system, sometimes, we’re going to feel it.

Old memories can rise up. Emotional triggers get louder. Dreams get weird. Anxiety shows up out of nowhere. But it’s not regression. It’s release.

Our body isn’t broken, it’s processing. Stuff that got stuck. Stuff that didn’t get closure. Stuff that got shoved down because survival didn’t allow for reflection.

Some people report:

This is your nervous system untangling knots. It’s your biology giving you a second chance to feel, heal, and release. Not always comfortable, but powerful, and important.

So how do you handle it?

Emotional detox isn’t a setback. It’s a sign your system is regaining access to all its files, including the ones you thought were lost.

This is a good time to keep our diet clean. Petrochemical colors can shift us dramatically, especially as we are already processing something. This is just one example of additives some people commonly consume without much thought.

Chapter 10: Halide Wars – Bromide, Fluoride, and the Great Cellular Eviction

If you’ve ever wondered why you feel like a radioactive swamp monster after starting iodine, let’s introduce the real culprits: the halide freeloaders.

Meet bromide and fluoride. They’re chemically similar to iodine and close enough to trick our body into storing them in place of the real deal. They park themselves in our glands, our brain, our skin, then just sit there like toxic squatters, contributing absolutely nothing and occasionally setting fires.

Our body didn’t choose them. It was tricked. They came in through brominated bread, flame retardants in our mattress, tap water, toothpaste, Gatorade, soft drinks, and even some pharmaceuticals. Decades of exposure. potentially generations of build-up.

Then iodine shows up. And suddenly, these impostors get evicted.

But they don’t leave quietly. They exit kicking and screaming. Through the skin, the kidneys, the lungs, and the nervous system. This is halide detox. And it can get weird.

Common symptoms:

This isn’t iodine hurting us. It’s iodine rescuing us from the residue of a toxic industrial age. Our cells were tucking this stuff away either in an attempt to get us as far down the road as they could.. or till we hopefully figure out what’s going on and start providing what they need in order to catch-up on the backlog.

The key here is support and pacing. If our skin is freaking out, if our dreams feel like a nuclear sci-fi short film, if our mood flips like a light switch, it’s time to slow down, up our unrefined salt, hydrate, and support detox pathways.

Salt loading can help pull bromide through the kidneys. Vitamin C supports adrenal function and oxidative stress. Binders like activated charcoal or bentonite clay can mop up the garbage once it’s loose.

And remember: your body has been holding onto this junk for decades. This isn’t just detox, it’s renovation.

We’re not falling apart. We’re finally clearing the sabotage.

Chapter 11: Detox Tools and Cellular Terrain – Sunlight’s Defense Against the Frequency Fog

As we continue this deep cleanup, it’s not just about what we take, it’s also about what we remove, expose ourselves to, and how we support the terrain our cells live in. Healing isn’t just biochemical, it’s environmental, electrical, and even photonic.

Let’s start with sunlight.

We’ve been conditioned to fear it. Sunscreen everything. Avoid peak hours. Hide behind UV blocking glass. But natural sunlight is one of the most fundamental inputs our biology depends on. It affects everything from our circadian rhythm to our mitochondrial charge. And more recently, research has begun connecting sunlight to bile flow which is something often overlooked in detox protocols.

Bile is the body’s garbage truck. It helps us move out toxins, fats, hormones, and waste products. And guess what iodine kicks up? All of the above. Without adequate bile flow, we’re stirring the pot without an exit strategy. But sunlight, especially morning light, can help stimulate liver and gallbladder activity. That means better digestion, better detox, and clearer signaling across the board.

Daily light exposure helps:

Meanwhile, after sunset, we need to flip the switch. Blue light exposure after dark wrecks our melatonin production, scrambles sleep, and keeps our nervous system in a constant state of low-level alertness. Our cells don’t just need nutrients, they need rhythm.

Enter: blue blockers.

No, not the gimmicky Instagram kind. We’re talking about real, amber or red lenses after sunset. Dim red bulbs in the evening. Screens off (or shifted to red tones). Give our biology darkness so it knows it’s time to repair.

And then there’s the frequency fog—non-native EMFs from Wi-Fi routers, cell towers, Bluetooth, smart meters, and more. We don’t have to live in a cave, but we do need to recognize that our cells are electrical. When we’re already detoxing, already inflamed, already rewiring, this extra static makes it harder for the body to rest, recover, and rebuild.

Try this:

These aren’t fringe concepts, they’re foundational when our detox load is high.

If we’re trying to heal in a soup of artificial light and constant microwave radiation, we’re asking our cells to juggle while we pelt them with rocks.

This chapter isn’t about being perfect, it’s about recognizing that healing happens faster when we remove friction. Sunlight in the morning, darkness at night, and a break from the static in between.

The more we support our body’s natural design, the less it needs rescue.

Chapter 12: Baths, Binders, and Breakfast – A few ways to Reduce the Load

Let’s get into some hands-on, real-world strategies for making this process smoother. Because while the iodine does its job stirring the pot, it’s on us to make sure the junk actually gets out, and doesn’t just slosh around inside us.

Baths are more than self-care fluff. They’re an underrated detox tool that helps open up one of the largest elimination channels we have: our skin.

Add a cup or two of Epsom salts to warm (not hot) water. Maybe throw in a half cup of baking soda, look into Dead Sea salt or borax. Soak for 20–30 minutes. Let the skin breathe. Let the tension go. Let the lymph move. Find something that works for you and start slowly with each.

This isn’t about turning into a prune from soaking or scrubbing ourselves into oblivion. It’s about creating space, physically and emotionally, for the body to let go of what it no longer needs.

Binders (like activated charcoal, bentonite clay, or chlorella) can be taken away from meals and supplements to catch some of the junk being mobilized by iodine. Think of them like cleanup crews walking behind demolition teams. Just be mindful: too much can cause constipation, so hydration and pacing matter. I personally don’t use binders so pay attention and don’t take these just because. Take stuff that you notice helps, because otherwise what is it doing?

Now, let’s talk about breakfast—not in the cereal-and-orange-juice way we were taught, but in a way that actually lowers our stress hormones.

We wake up with naturally elevated cortisol. It’s supposed to give us that push to get going. But in a depleted body, one under stress from detox, from inflammation, from years of imbalance, that cortisol spike can be too sharp. It leads to anxiety, irritability, and crashes later in the day.

A solid, protein-rich breakfast can help blunt that cortisol wave. Think eggs, grass-fed meats, leftover dinner, protein powder with balanced nutrients, something that tells our body, “You’re safe. You’re fed. You don’t need to stay in fight-or-flight.” If you’ve seen PathwayMap.com, you probably get why protein in the morning matters—it’s the primary fuel for our nutrient engine.

Reducing stress isn’t about meditation apps and spa days (though those may help). It’s about building our day around safety signals.

The more safety our body perceives, the more capacity it has to detox, repair, and build. We don’t heal in a state of panic. We heal when our system finally believes it can.

This chapter is about creating that belief—and giving our biology the tools to act on it.

Chapter 13: Adrenals on Empty – Why Pushing Through Isn’t Healing

Whether we call it adrenal fatigue, feeling worn out, or whatever we might see this as, there is a very important point to make that is being overlooked by 99.97% of the health info being shared. We cannot heal properly while we’re stressed. We have to think of a machine constantly trying to work under severe stress. 

Constant stress wears down even the best machines. Even humans, the most advanced. But we’re built for balance, not chaos.

But the world we are a part of is not our machine’s proper environment. This is the big disconnect today. People are trying to live in the matrix while dabbling with a few natural healing methods in hopes one will finally work. Nature has a framework. If we adhere to that framework we increase our chances of survival many times over.

Adrenal fatigue isn’t technically a medical diagnosis, but let’s be real, whatever we want to call it, something is clearly broken. And no, it’s not fixed by more coffee, more willpower, or more supplements with the word “adaptogen” in bold font.

Our adrenal system regulates stress response. It keeps cortisol, blood sugar, inflammation, and energy rhythms in check. But when we’re nutrient-depleted, overwhelmed, and tossing iodine, or any potent nutrient, into the mix without proper support, our adrenals start waving a white flag.

It’s not always because we’re doing something wrong. It’s because we’re finally doing something. We’re waking up systems that haven’t had resources in years, and they’re trying to respond with what little backup they’ve got.

Sometimes iodine feels amazing. Energy goes up. Brain fog clears. Sleep improves. But other times, especially when we push the dose too fast, it’s like hitting the gas in a car with no oil. The engine revs, but the wear and tear builds fast.

Large amounts of iodine can stimulate us. They can push us through exhaustion, giving a temporary feeling of power and clarity. But it comes at a cost—usually one we feel later when the cortisol crash hits, the brain fog returns, or we suddenly need a nap at 10am.

It’s not that iodine is “bad” for the adrenals. It’s that it’s powerful. And if we stimulate metabolism without supporting the systems that regulate that metabolism, like the adrenals, we end up overclocked and under-recovered.

Here’s how we support the adrenals:

Pushing through isn’t healing. It’s spending energy we haven’t earned yet.

If we want to truly heal, we stop asking “How much more can I do?” and start asking “What would help me feel safer, more supported, and more regulated today?”

That’s how we rebuild, not just the thyroid, but the whole system.

Chapter 14: How Much to Take – Finding the Edge Without Falling Off

Let’s talk dosage. This is where most people get confused, overconfident, or just plain wrecked. Because iodine is not like anything we’ve taken before. It’s not a casual part of a wellness routine, it’s a system-wide signal, a mobilizer, a disruptor. It wakes things up that haven’t moved in years, and if we’re not paying attention, it can be a bulldozer plowing through unprepared terrain.

So where do we start?

Start low. Start slow. Start with intent.

I usually recommend starting with one drop of 2% Lugol’s solution. That’s less than 2.5mg of iodine/iodide combined. For many of us, that’s the first real iodine our system has seen in decades—or maybe ever.

If we’re sensitive to supplements, starting with a drop of one of the nascent iodine I mention or starting with 2% on your skin is likely best. Only a tiny amount of people react to these smaller amounts of iodine. Most of them were already aware they react to things but did not realize how potent iodine is.

Then we wait. Not 10 minutes. Not “until we feel something.” We wait days. Sometimes a week. We observe. We hydrate. We support detox pathways. We stay curious.

As we build up, we go one drop at a time. One layer at a time. One system at a time.

Eventually, we may run into something. That might be:

This is not failure. This is the edge—the point where iodine has unearthed something our body can’t yet keep up with.

This is when we pause, not push.

Many try to power through. They megadose. They go from 1 drop to 50. They call it “detox” when it’s really just stimulation, burning through reserves we haven’t built yet.

The smart move? We step back. We lower the dose. We support with cofactors. We add protein, salt, sunlight, sleep. We give the body what it needs to catch up.

There’s no prize for going fastest. The win is in sustainability. In having enough energy to wake up, think clearly, digest food, and handle life like a human again.

The goal is not to take iodine consistently forever. The goal is to restore function so that we need less support, not more.

One day we’ll get into larger amounts of iodine to help clear the funk, but we’re not ready for that yet.

That’s the art: find the edge… then back off just enough to build from it.

Chapter 15: The Long Game – When to Pause, Reset, and Actually Listen

Here’s where it gets real: most of us don’t need to keep pushing more iodine. We need more clarity. More awareness. More patience. The real growth often happens when we stop for a bit and see what settles.

There comes a point in this process where the smartest move isn’t going forward, it’s pausing. Giving our cells time to catch our breath. Letting the dust settle. Letting the changes we’ve triggered integrate and stabilize. The metabolic version of “sleeping on it”.

Because here’s the truth: if we keep increasing iodine without knowing whether it’s helping, we’re not healing, we’re gambling. We’re burning through resources without knowing if anything’s landing, mistaking stimulation for progress, and missing the subtle signals our body is trying to give us.

Imagine a shy new student trying to find their place. If we push too hard, we might just make things worse. But if we observe, offer gently, and respect their pace, we give them a real chance to grow. If we’re wise and play the game, we can support them beyond their own potential.

Pausing isn’t regression. It’s strategy.

Sometimes we need to stop iodine entirely for a week. Or a month. Sometimes we stay at one drop for two months to really learn what that drop is doing. Because when we pause, we can finally tell:

If we feel stuck or overwhelmed, like nothing is clicking or everything is a fog, this is the time to push reset on the reset. Step back. Get a clean head. Let the adrenaline wear off. Rebuild trust with our system.

We can come back to iodine later, better prepared, more tuned in, and with a stronger foundation beneath us. The amount of iodine we’ve taken by the time we’re taking a break is likely enough to carry us a few months. Keep in mind how much iodine we’re able to get from these drops compared to what we were getting before learning about iodine. 

This journey isn’t about constantly doing. It’s about knowing when to pause, when to support, and when to coast. Healing doesn’t always feel productive. Sometimes it feels like nothing at all is happening—until one day, we realize we’re stable, calm, and actually living again.

And that’s the long game: building a body we can live in—comfortably, clearly, and confidently.

Let’s talk about how that feels, how to sustain it, and how to help others get here too.

Let’s wrap things up

One day I hope to write much more, but I wanted to keep this as short as possible so starting iodine might feel just a touch less overwhelming. I’d like to touch on a few things to help fill in some blanks before we sign off for now.

What is Salt Loading and when do we use it?

Dr. Guy Abraham introduced salt loading to help flush out bromine displaced by iodine. The idea is to drink salty water (¼–½ tsp unrefined salt in ½–1 cup water), then follow with 12–16 oz of plain water. The salt helps pull bromine from cells, and the water flushes it out—often triggering urination or a bowel movement within 30 minutes.

When used occasionally and at the right time, it can be extremely effective. Some people even feel brain fog lift almost immediately. But overuse comes with risks.

Some now recommend salt loading daily for weeks, or indefinitely, which can backfire. Drinking salt water forces sodium through tissue, unlike salt from food, and can overwhelm those who aren’t ready for it. I’ve seen people end up in the Emergency Room from electrolyte imbalances caused by aggressive salt loading.

Others report it stops working altogether after prolonged use, likely from overdoing it. This isn’t a cure-all. Use it strategically, and listen to your body.

Where does the high dose idea originate?

Dr. Brownstein originally recommended starting iodine at 50mg, but over time — as more people tried it and ran into rough reactions — he lowered that to 12.5mg. That’s a 75% reduction. I personally question why someone would reduce it by that much without going all the way down to small amounts that mess with less people?

There are a few main reasons I see people still starting in the 12.5–50mg range:

It’s not ideal, but this is what most people are confronted with as they find iodine. Why are we starting this show with a method that mimics medication? Because that’s what most doctors do. Drug it. Next.

Hashimoto’s Isn’t Caused by Iodine – It’s Exposed by It

If you’ve been told that iodine “triggers” Hashimoto’s, you’re not alone. But you’re also not getting the full picture. For decades, your thyroid may have been silently suffocating, hoarding the wrong halides and limping along with synthetic hormones or partial function. Then someone adds iodine, and suddenly your immune system finally notices the problem.

Antibodies go up. You feel worse. And everyone says, “See? You can’t take iodine.”

But in most cases, this is less about iodine being the enemy and more about our body finally getting the resources it needs to dig up old junk. We didn’t “trigger” an autoimmune disease, we exposed it like we expose corruption. The inflammation we feel isn’t a betrayal, it’s a reaction to long-ignored damage that’s finally moving.

The fix? Support, don’t suppress:

Start slow. Give the body time to remember what “normal” feels like again. Don’t forget, our cells are missing a lot more than iodine. Iodine is just the ignition key and technically this thing’s been sitting around in the elements without maintenance for decades.

I suspect Graves’ Disease is very similar but I have not worked with enough people currently in this configuration to tune into which areas really need support. I have a feeling the points I highlight at whyiodine.com/hashimotos will at least help mitigate graves enough to very, very slowly add some iodine.

Say no to Brazil nuts

Brazil nuts are known for their higher selenium content. But they have a major flaw that I think is important for us to think about.

Nuts are moldy in general, but Brazil nuts produce a certain protein that helps a very potent mold grow.

Snacking on something that might have mold is one thing. But eating something knowingly moldy, and possibly dangerously so, almost every day in the name of “health”? Yeah… hard pass.

Selenium is too important to hope for the best from food sources. I believe a solid clean nutrients dense diet is very important but our food, soil and storage methods are not exactly focused on nutrients, so I mindfully boost my food with supplements.

MTHFR: The Canary in the Iodine Mine

MTHFR mutations are everywhere now. They’re practically a wellness rite of passage. But here’s a twist no one’s talking about:

What if MTHFR isn’t the root cause… but a downstream adaptation to long-term iodine deficiency and the toxic buildup that follows over generations?

Iodine isn’t just about thyroid hormones, it also plays a major role in regulating genes, clearing halides, and supporting the production of glutathione, our body’s master antioxidant. Without enough iodine, our system starts accumulating toxins and oxidative stress. Over time, the body compensates by expressing gene mutations like MTHFR.

Methylation gets sluggish because we can’t clear toxins effectively. Our neurotransmitters crash. And everyone’s too busy treating the mutation to ask what caused the system to mutate in the first place.

Here’s how to support that terrain without making things worse:

Fixing MTHFR might not be about fixing a gene at all. It might be about restoring the nutrient that kept your DNA from panicking in the first place. I’m not sure how, but the entire health sphere seems to have forgotten about oxidative stress buildup as they try to overclock methylation with methyls.

What happens when we force things in a biochemical machine that’s missing something as integral as iodine?

What happens when the majority of our cells are inundated with generational toxicity that physically inhibits the machinery we’re trying to rebuild, yet we try to overclock this thing instead? What are we doing?

I really hope more people start to see what I’m trying to point out here. To me, it feels like we’re digging ourselves deeper into the same kind of mess that got us here to begin with. 

Pointing out these inconsistencies feels a lot like reminding people that Tylenol depletes glutathione. Nobody wants to hear it. I’m starting to think resistance to change is the real epidemic.

Seriously though, calm down

Take a nap when your body is asking for one. Take a sick day if need be. If you can’t, understand that this is part of what’s holding your cells back and make it a point to find a workaround. 

Back off stimulants like caffeine, alcohol, energy drinks or anything similar. This includes work, projects, hobbies and video games. We’re constantly seeking these things in an attempt to fill a gap. But it’s time to fix the gap with nutrition and balance. 

Go camping, in your backyard if need be. Figure out how to disconnect and calm down. Learn how to do this full-time.

Can we just take a multi? 

There are a handful of issues with multivitamins but the main issue I see with them is they will likely contain at least several nutrients we cannot use yet. These extra compounds are stress on our system.

A quality multi isn’t a bad way to provide small amounts of some compounds that are not easy to get our hands on otherwise. I cycle through multis or similar blends once in a while and stick with anything that seems to help, similar to solo nutrients.

The main issue with multis is the potential for poor quality, improper blends that people blindly take too much of. If we understand what most of the nutrients are and use something like this sparingly, I think it can be a helpful addition to our arsenal.

Welcome to Iodine — What’s Next. 

Iodine cut through a fog I didn’t know I was living in.

Before my health crash shoved me down this path, I had read two books in my life. I couldn’t focus well enough to retain anything unless I was extremely interested. I’d get a few pages in and realize I was thinking about lunch, or a noise outside, or absolutely nothing related to the words in front of me.

I wasn’t dumb—I just couldn’t focus.
A handful of minor learning issues made school a nightmare, and I barely scraped by. I was just sort of floating through life.

Then I found iodine.

Everything changed. I taught myself grammar, biochemistry, and a few other things I once assumed were way out of my league. And apparently I wrote a book?

So now what?

Well… pretty much anything. It’s up to you.

If you like what I’m sharing here, I’ve got a lot more. I’ve been trying to unpack my experience with this for years—through videos, conversations, and over 250,000 words scattered across my websites.

There is more to this. The overall concept I’m sharing about iodine works for just about any nutrient. I start slow, move up slowly and pay attention to how I respond without forgetting to pause and resasses.

Come hang out with me on Facebook where I break this stuff down into bite-sized pieces that are way easier to digest.

And if you want community, connection, and real-life answers from real people, join the Iodine for Beginners Facebook Group. Over 90,000 of us are in there. We ask questions. We compare notes. We post charts. We get sarcastic. And we get it—because most of us have been through it too.

You don’t have to figure this out alone.
We’re all unraveling this together.
One drop at a time.

facebook.com/micah.john.coffey | whyiodine.com/groups | pathwaymap.com | www.unpilled.tv