The Iodine Index

Everything needed to get started with iodine.

Search for any questions you have, scroll the organized articles below, or browse the categories on the right.

Starting iodine

Starting iodine

It’s exciting to find iodine and it’s benefits. But.. how do we get started? This page is an attempt to put this question into perspective.  This page is a complete rewrite from an old version https://whyiodine.com/should-i-start-iodine/ Have you seen iodine’s benefits? I’ve mentioned iodine’s connection to over 60 diseases and ailments. With this much ability to…

Iodine allergy?

Iodine allergy?

A very small amount of people have some type of reaction when their body is exposed to iodine. It’s easy to assume our body is reacting to iodine itself, but biochemistry is complex and a lot of things can happen when our system finally has access to important building blocks. To potentially help understand what’s…

Beginner’s Protocol

Beginner’s Protocol

You were hoping for a 5 point bullet list with dosage amounts, but now you have another wall of text. If this is still a bit too much, look into kelp for now and come back to this page when you have a few minutes to read. If starting kelp is still too much after reading…

Why is iodine so complex/confusing?

Why is iodine so complex/confusing?

Watch me read this page here https://youtu.be/hsqMxmAGH-U As someone starts to research iodine, they may notice this topic can become complex or confusing rather quickly. This is due to iodine’s versatility and importance across various aspects of life and health. It also has to do with the fashion in which our current medical system operates…

Who cares about iodine?

Who cares about iodine?

Iodine is required for life. Our cells cannot function properly without it. It also helps us remove various forms of toxins including some fungi and bacteria. If our life is not possible without iodine, being low on could potentially cause just about anything. They added iodine to salt so our neck would stop swelling as…

Does iodine deficiency mean cancer?

Does iodine deficiency mean cancer?

At this point, we either see whats going on with cancer, or we’ll most likely never figure out whats going on in the world around us. But once we understand what our body is trying to do with proper building blocks via food and environment, we just want to to figure out which nutrients are…

Poison Myth

Poison Myth

Iodine is a natural element that is required for life, without it, we wouldn’t be here. Iodine itself, within proper dosage, is not toxic. The healing reactions it causes may be why some people think there is an allergic or toxic reaction though. There are solutions containing iodine that would be toxic to consume, those are not…

How much iodine do I take?

How much iodine do I take?

Somewhere along our journey of starting iodine, we’re going to come across a fundamental question. How much iodine do I take? This image with a list of variables to consider is just a fragment of the potential details that alter how much of which substances someone should and shouldn’t take. Due to these potential variables,…

Trans-dermal,  Iodine through the skin?

Trans-dermal, Iodine through the skin?

A lot of people start with a trans-dermal application for several reasons. Some apply it directly to issue areas to help that area of the body absorb more iodine, whether also consuming it internally, or not. Some people don’t even have specific areas to target with iodine, they just apply it to their skin till…

Patch Test

Patch Test

There is a method floating around the internet for a long time, and even several books talking about applying a small patch of iodine to our skin and judging how iodine deficient we are depending how quickly we absorb it. There are so many factors to this. Something to keep in mind. Even a single…

Testing can only see so much

Testing can only see so much

Some people wonder if testing iodine levels before starting is important, and there are several questions that come up as to how the tests work. This page isn’t to deter anyone from testing, it’s just to share my opinion and some information on the situation. The most common method used to check iodine levels is…

24-hour urine loading test

24-hour urine loading test

This page is an attempt to put testing in general as well as several methods of testing into perspective. There are a handful of ways to test our levels of different nutrients and each have their pros and cons. Blood tests A great way to look at how blood tests work is to think about…

Pulse Dosing – Our built-in nutrient meter

Pulse Dosing – Our built-in nutrient meter

Most of us are taking too much of each various supplement. This could be just as bad as missing these nutrients though. Plus, it’s expensive. Watch me read this page and elaborate a bit here https://youtu.be/8Bi3cu8Pr5U Article Highlights What is pulse dosing? Why pulse dose? Firewood example How I pulse dose How I pulse dose…

The Iodine Protocol

The Iodine Protocol

The iodine protocol is a set of nutrients which help us restore our iodine levels. As Dr. Brownstein has worked with patients and successfully helped them restore their iodine levels and regain their health, he has shared some of the common nutrients which help the process. He also works with his patients to address outstanding…

Unrefined Salt

Unrefined Salt

As iodine allows more cells to function, their demand for sodium will increase. Another component of salt, chloride, can help us remove bromine which is commonly dislodged by iodine. Article Highlights Iodine Protocol and Salt We need salt and there are a lot of good reasons why There are a handful of different types of…

Magnesium(s)

Magnesium(s)

Magnesium is a rather common nutrient with a lot of information surrounding its benefits. As long as we don’t take way too much of it, it’s rather safe. The most confusing aspect to magnesium is probably the fact there are about a dozen different forms. Article Highlights Magnesium has connections to everything Magnesium and Iodine Magnesium gets…

Selenium

Selenium

Deficiency seems common among people with compromised immune systems or related conditions like auto-immune, IBS, allergies, HIV, Crohn’s disease, Grave’s disease and Hashimoto’s disease. Article Highlights Some people have elevated selenium levels, but supplementing helps them feel better Instead of testing, I learned the symptoms of low and high selenium and figured out how much…

Selenium Continued

Selenium Continued

This is an extension of my write up about selenium at https://whyiodine.com/selenium. This page is currently a placeholder for some extra info I pulled from the main selenium page to keep that one a little shorter. I will eventually expand on this additional info about selenium. Iodine can use up selenium, reducing existing levels Thyroxine…

Vitamin C

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is part of The Iodine Protocol. Dr. Brownstein recommends 2,000mg – 5,000mg per day if we’re actively taking 50mg of iodine. I started with small amounts of iodine and worked up slowly, so I did not need this much vitamin C at first. Vitamin C can help improve a defective cellular transport mechanism…

ATP Co-Factors B2/B3

ATP Co-Factors B2/B3

ATP Co-Factor is part of The Iodine Protocol. In most iodine information you’ll find online, this supplement is considered optional. It’s usually only recommended for people with lots of brain fog, fatigue or existing thyroid condition. I’m still confused as to why this is considered optional, as I continue to look into it, I continue…

Salt Loading for bromine detox

Salt Loading for bromine detox

As we consume unrefined salt on our food, our body is able to pass any excess. But if we consume salt mixed with water, our body is forced to absorb more. This can come in handy for the right situations, but also carries the potential to cause offsets. Article Hightlights Unrefined Salt is important Salt…

Which iodine do I use?

Which iodine do I use?

There are various types of iodine. Some are used for healing and others are antiseptic or have other uses. We’re going to cover the ones used for health. There are two main “raw” forms of iodine used for health. Elemental iodine(I2) and potassium Iodide(KI). Any of the forms we want to use for healing are…

Nascent Iodine

Nascent Iodine

Available under several brand names, nascent iodine is sometimes referred to as: Nascent iodine is in an atomic form. This means it has an incomplete number of electrons, giving it an electromagnetic charge. According to some, this allows nascent to be absorbed and utilized easier by our body. I have yet to see any science that…

SSKI

SSKI

SSKI is distilled water with as much Potassium Iodide (KI) as the water can hold. It’s ‘Super Saturated’ due to the extra KI salt crystals that are not able to become suspended. Potassium Iodide AKA: KI SSKI Pima syrup ThyroSage ThyroShield. SSKI only contains Potassium Iodide(KI) and distilled water, and is clear/yellowish. Because it’s clear,…

Lugols

Lugols

Lugols Solution is part of The Iodine Protocol, and is a type of iodine that has been consumed since 1829. It is a deep red-ish/brown color and smells a bit like bleach to some people. I personally think it smells like pool or tap water. Lugols Recipe: Lugols was first produced by a French physician…

Kelp

Kelp

Kelp has small amounts of iodine, which can be used to help prepare or support our body for The Iodine Protocol. Article Highlights Kelp also has various other nutrients, including but not limited to: These additional nutrients can help our body utilize and process iodine. Kelp has a small amount of iodine, so the small…

Iodine Buyers Guide

Iodine Buyers Guide

Once we have a better idea which type of iodine we’d like to get started with, we have to figure out which one to order. If we’re still trying to figure out which iodine to use, we may want to read whyiodine.com/which-iodine Jump to: Quality control Proper storage Shipping cap Common brands for sale Quality…

What is Detox?

What is Detox?

To build a solid understanding of what detox is, we need a decent idea how the body works. In order to understand how the body works, we either need to do a bunch of studying, or find some decent resources that allow us to wrap our head around enough to start visualizing what’s going on….

How can I be toxic?

How can I be toxic?

Depending who you ask, toxicity and detox mean a lot of different things.  It’s a very generic term and I am going to explain it the way I see it, which is the way I see most people understand it. First you gotta be toxic Finally, something easy to accomplish! It would be impossible to not…

Cleaning up diet

Cleaning up diet

The fact that we need to detox means we have toxins. To have toxins, we need to be taking in more than we can filter out. So, reducing the amount of incoming toxins and increasing the rate in which we can filter them out, will help our health and the things we do to improve it, like slowly pushing out a ton…

Support Organs

Support Organs

This is part 3 of a small series about toxins. If you have not read What is Detox and How to Prep for Detox, start here I was 35 at the time I started iodine due to my health crashing. Before my crash, I assumed I was generally healthy. But I abused alcohol to an extent…

Adrenal Cocktail

Adrenal Cocktail

“Adrenal Cocktail” is the name of a recipe that people use to support the adrenal system. This drink is commonly recommended in a few health groups. I’ve included it in this section of the site because it is something you will most likely come across or hear about while starting iodine or healing in general….

Electrolytes

Electrolytes

Electrolytes are a group of nutrients that are important for several types of cellular function. There are a bunch of them, but the main four are Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium and Calcium. These four are what most people refer to when saying electrolytes. Electrolytes carry electrical charges and play a key role in helping regulate nerve and…

How I make Sauerkraut

How I make Sauerkraut

Not much more than 100 years ago, we didn’t have refrigeration and other modern preservation methods available to out fingertips. Salt used to be well known for it’s food preserving abilities and was used in several ways. If fermented foods were a big part of our diet not that long ago, the fact that we don’t consume…

Vitamin K2

Vitamin K2

Another rare vitamin missing from our diet today that you won’t hear about in the mainstream. Back in 1929, vitamin K was found to be essential in allowing blood to clot. We’ve also learned some pretty awesome stuff about it since then. K1 Phylloquinone is found in leafy greens This one allows the liver to make…

Boron

Boron

Boron is not part of the iodine protocol… but maybe it should be. It may help some people absorb and utilize natural vitamin D It helps magnesium absorption into our bones, where 60% of our magnesium is found Studies show safe and effective use towards osteoarthritis Allows some people to quit using their pain killers…

Heart Health and Iodine

Heart Health and Iodine

Every 36 seconds someone in the US dies of cardiovascular related issues which is 1 in 4 deaths. Iodine deficiency may cause bradycardia which is an abnormally slow heart rate. This may cause the feeling of weakness, fatigue, dizziness and possibly cause fainting. Iodine is known for cardiovascular disease prevention From: Is low iodine a…

Iodine, the most effective agent for killing viruses

Iodine, the most effective agent for killing viruses

Updated March 24, 2020, to include more information about nebulizing. After an estimated 30 million people died in the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, governments around the world spent 25 years studying influenza viruses looking for the best agent to kill the viruses. Iodine incorporated into masks, solutions, aerosols, and oral preparations could help to kill influenza…

What is hashimotos

What is hashimotos

The most common thyroid condition in America impacts at least 14 million Americans, Hashimoto’s was originally discovered in 1912. It is named after the Japanese physician Hakaru Hashimoto. Hashi’s is also the most common cause of hypothyroidism. Although some people have Hashi’s without hypothyroidism or vice versa, these conditions have so many similarities that we might be able to look at them…

Mainstream’s idea of Hashimoto’s

Mainstream’s idea of Hashimoto’s

If anyone in mainstream does actually acknowledge the markers which indicate Hashimoto’s, almost all of them will claim there is nothing we can do. The idea is that our immune system is attacking our thyroid for unknown reasons and all we can do is supplement thyroid hormones. This page is an extension of my main…

Dogs need iodine too

Dogs need iodine too

A dog’s metabolism is not much different than ours. They also depend on a thyroid and liver and all that fun stuff. Although there are some various foods and nutrients that can be dangerous, a little research can go along way with these guys. I mention a few books I read in Cookie’s story which…

Bromine

Bromine

When starting The Iodine Protocol, or just increasing our unrefined salt intake, we may find ourselves dislodging and detoxing bromine. Bromine is iodine’s evil sibling that makes it harder for our body to remain saturated with iodine. Today’s environment of new products gassing off, medications and food ingredients etc are overloading us with bromine while…

Iodine pregnancy

Iodine pregnancy

Infertility is a serious situation that affects approximately one of every six couples who are trying to get pregnant. There are just under 4 million babies born in the US each year. A sixth of 4 million is just over 500,000. Over half a million couples suffer from infertility. That’s over 1 million Americans every…

My experience with Low and Slow vs High Dose

My experience with Low and Slow vs High Dose

Watch me read this page and elaborate a bit here https://youtu.be/PBsMaeZS-Xo As someone begins to research iodine supplementation, they will most likely notice that there are about 2 main approaches. The “main protocol” is usually referring to Dr. Brownstein’s protocol that he uses with his patients, his protocol can he seen here. And a term “low…

Children and iodine

Children and iodine

As with anything on this site, this is not medical information in any way, its just some information to help point someone in the direction they may need. I’m not going to mention methods or dosages etc. I’m going to explain how I see and would handle the situation. The main differences between us and…

Pets need nutrients too

Pets need nutrients too

Our pet’s metabolism is not much different than ours. Cats have a few more things to worry about than dogs, but dogs are a lot more similar to us than most realize. I’ve helped a handful of dogs recover from illness or carry out long term detox the same way I recovered my own health,…