Are the supporting nutrients required?

As Dr. Brownstein has helped his patients with the iodine protocol, he found a set of nutrients that helped their body restore iodine levels properly. Although these extra nutrients can make starting iodine a little more confusing, they can be very important in several ways. The commonly recommended amounts of each of these can be found at whyiodine.com/iodine-protocol

First and potentially most controversial to some is Unrefined salt. Without enough sodium, we cannot transfer most of our nutrients into our cells, which causes a lot of what we’re doing to go to waste. Unrefined salt also contains an important building block to our stomach acid creation, and without proper stomach acid, we might as well be driving around with a leaky fuel tank in our vehicle. One of the most important aspects towards the iodine protocol is the chloride in salt’s ability to bind with bromine we will most definitely be knocking loose. Some people benefit by increasing their unrefined salt intake for several weeks before starting iodine. Unrefined salt is not the same thing as refined table salt, and there are plenty of resources to help us understand the confusion and health benefits associated with salt intake. Read and learn more at whyiodine.com/salt.

One of the most important, as well as the most confusing, is  Selenium. Just about any information about iodine that tries to highlight issues surrounding iodine, does not include selenium. All three types of thyroid hormone activating/deactivating enzymes contain selenium. Thyroid hormones are made of iodine, so without selenium, iodine cannot function properly. During thyroid hormone creation, hydrogen peroxide is created, and selenium is required to reduce this back into water. Selenium also connects glutathione, our master antioxidant, and our oxygenation system, which includes iron, copper and others. So long story short, selenium is a very important nutrient. Read more about selenium, various forms its available in, safety precautions and how I supplement it at whyiodine.com/selenium.

About as important as selenium is Magnesium. One of the most important processes our body performs, is converting protein into the various substances our body uses to thrive. One of the first steps in this process uses magnesium to energize the protein we digest so it can begin it’s journey through our methylation system. Magnesium influences or is a major part of anywhere from 300 to 700(depending on the source of information) enzymes our body depends on. It has connections to Depression, Type 2 diabetes, Lower blood pressure, Anti-inflammatory benefits, Migraine prevention, Reduced insulin resistance, Improved sleep quality, Osteoporosis, Restless leg syndrome and so much more. Read more at whyiodine.com/magnesium.

Possibly the easiest nutrient to add, due to its popularity, is Vitamin c. This is handy because it can help us clean up a lot of what iodine can allow our body to start doing again. I like to aim for vitamin c from whole food sources and then I try getting a powdered ascorbic acid form to see if my body seems to need more. The only precaution we want to take is not mixing it with iodine. If we mix iodine with vitamin c or juices etc that contain vitamin c, part of the iodine is reduced, which wastes its function. This issue may not exist once we consume the substances, so as long as we don’t mix them before consuming them, we should only need a few seconds/minutes between consuming each. Any nutrient can push us backwards if we consume more than our system can handle, and vitamin C is not excused from this. If I do not notice my body doing anything different from a nutrient, I might continue to take it but I likely won’t take much of it. I want to make sure my cells have access to it but are not overwhelmed. Read more at whyiodine.com/vitamin-c.

Dr. Brownstein sometimes recommends a Vitamin B2/B3 combo to help iodine get into the cells. Sometimes people do not require these nutrients, but Imo most of us can benefit from a well balanced B-complex. I take this B-complex from Seeking Health about once a week.

That’s only the bare minimum though

It’s kind of blatantly obvious once we realize this but I didn’t realize I’m literally made of earth till a few years into learning how to balance my nutrients. The earth and sunlight grew food, my mom ate it, made me and then I started eating the stuff. But everything that I am made of is earth.

The nutrients that foods have are in those foods because the food was using them for life. A healthy plant or animal is loaded with good nutrients and less than healthy ones have less nutrients and more toxins. Toxins are toxic because they work against life. Nutrients are required to make whatever this is.. function.

We are so much more than iodine and a handful of supplements. It’s bad enough we have to use supplemental forms of these important nutrients, but we’re sort of going through some things on a global scale so we’re stuck depending on supplements for now. We still need to eat good food, but food alone is not enough if we want to get ahead of the situation. I use food as a base and push my system into overdrive with small amounts of the right supplements.

But what I’m trying to say is we need more than just a handful of supplements. Some people are trying to add just iodine as they continue to swim in toxicity daily. Even if someone eats clean, not only is their idea of eating clean potentially flawed, but the food is only a shell of nutrition these days. We are literally made of these components and we’re consume tons of toxins, not nutrients.

I know it doesn’t really make a difference to say this but I just want to remind anyone that I’m not a supplement pusher. Most of the links on this site are to Amazon, which pays me 1% on health items. I promise I’m not telling you to buy more supplements for 1%. I own about $4,000 worth of supplements but most of them are 90% full. I want to provide my system with the building blocks its made of. It has worked very well for me and I’m just trying to share my journey with others. By just glancing at my videos at methylate.me should help anyone see that I understand nutrients pretty well.

This is a lifestyle change

I used to put off a new supplement because I wanted to spend my money on pot or alcohol or other things that either aren’t for my health or actually work against it. But eventually as I started to feel better I couldn’t help but shift my attention and resources to making even more progress. I still mess around with things I shouldn’t at times but I look at life differently.

I was broke when I started this. I lost my job as my health crashed because I was a zombie. But this gave me plenty of time to research which led to me building a wish-list of supplements. Then as I had a few extra dollars I would order a $20 bottle, try a new supplement and eventually started feeling better as I found more things my system needed.

By now, after years of successfully detoxing and balancing my nutrients, I have a completely different outlook on life. My time and resources go to health first. It was not easy and it took a while to find a good balance but I have slowly made my way to replacing the majority of my daily life with healthier options.

There is a bit more to this than just nutrition. We have to expose ourselves to a proper environment which includes things like light, air quality or anything else that can cause stress. If we can’t handle each of these properly, we have to try harder with the others or work on getting to a place in life where we are able to handle them better.

This can be overwhelming

Do what you can. Over time it gets easier as we understand more and have more energy from slowly moving forward.

If the idea of learning about these nutrients is too much, start with kelp. Read more at whyiodine.com/kelp

The many, many, hours I’ve invested into all of this is an attempt at helping you wrap your head around all of this. Keep reading and watching as you have time.

Visualizing these nutrients

I’m working on resources to help show how these nutrients function inside our metabolism.

Although this adds complexity in ways, visualizing it can help a lot of people simplify things.

Visit my other site www.methylate.me for a few videos