What time of day should I take iodine and other nutrients?

We’re all different. Different body weight, activity level, lifestyle, diet, levels of health etc etc. This makes iodine work completely different for us. Some of us are taking maintenance doses of iodine, some are slowly moving up in dose, and some are taking mega-doses. All of these variables cause it to be just about impossible to come up with any type of standards.

Iodine tends to be energizing to most people, so they try to take it earlier in the day. This allows us to possibly cut back on coffee to get our day started, and allows us to make use of the energy iodine is providing us.

Some people notice iodine works better for them if they break their dose up and spread them out throughout the day. Sometimes this can allow us to avoid detox reactions, and sometimes it can help us keep a steady level of energy throughout the day.

Some, including myself, have noticed iodine helps sleep, so I tend to take it not long before bed.

With or without food

Most nutrients will mention if they should be taken with food. When a nutrient mentions this, its most likely due to a lot of people experiencing some type of discomfort if they were to take it on an empty stomach. The reason for this discomfort can be a wide range if things, including our current nutrient balances as well as our stomach acid levels.

I try to get various nutrients with or without food and at different times of day to attempt gaining a better idea how my body handles it.

For example, there have been times when my stomach acid was not in good shape, and taking magnesium would cause my stomach acid to go even lower and I would feel a lot of low stomach acid symptoms. I noticed if I would take my magnesium in the morning as I was drinking coffee(which is acidic), I would feel the benefits of magnesium better and would not notice the low stomach acid feeling. My coffee habit most likely had something to do with my low stomach acid issue, but it helped me realize that my magnesium pill seemed to lower my stomach acid, which helped me realize the acid was low, and that magnesium worked better for me either with a meal due to my body generating extra stomach acid, or as I was drinking my coffee. Situations like this can help us reverse engineer what our body is up to and where it needs support, because without proper stomach acid, we’re going to end up going in circles trying to regain our health. Read more about stomach acid on my other site at http://sickoftired.com/stomach-acid

Try not to overcomplicate things

Imagine if our the fuel gauge in our vehicle were broken and we had to judge how far we could go before getting fuel. By researching the capacity of our fuel tank, miles per gallon and logging how many gallons we purchased, we could watch our odometer and have a pretty good idea when we need to stop for fuel. Or we could just drive till the tank is empty and notice the car starts to sputter, and eventually stops and make a mental note of how many days it takes this to happen.

But a poor method of making sure we have enough fuel would be to stop at the gas station 3 times a day and make a methodic schedule that has us purchasing less than a gallon of fuel. This is how I see some people handling their supplements. Instead of testing to get a decent idea how much they need, or using trial and error to see how their body feels with and without each nutrient, they turn it into something like stopping at the gas station several times a day and topping off $1.30 worth of fuel. Think of your routine with supplements and imagine someone stopping for fuel 3 times a day, and checking their watch all the time worried about their fuel tank which is most likely 97% full.

One of the best things I did in my healing journey was accidentally learning a method called Pulse Dosing¹ which is the idea of taking enough of a nutrient to feel it’s benefits and then stopping that nutrient till feeling like we need more of it. Over time I was able to judge how much of each nutrient my body enjoyed, and I was able to begin realizing if my body even needed a nutrient or not.

Sometimes I drink a tea designed to help support our liver and wake up the next morning with very dry eyes for a few hours but then my eyes feel much better later that day. This tells me my body was able to make use of this tea and I should probably continue using it. But then I realized if I drink this tea every single day or night, I don’t notice continued dry eyes in the morning with benefits later in the day, which indicates I don’t need that much of the tea. Why ‘waste’ my expensive tea if my body doesn’t seem to make use of that much? Why not only drink the tea once or twice a week so I feel the benefits but don’t burn through it? I look at this as judging how much fuel my vehicle uses vs methodically stopping at the gas station 3 times a day while frantically checking my watch.

Don’t overcomplicate things, this is a lifestyle change that can benefit drastically by tuning in with our body.

Does magnesium give you energy, or help you sleep? Take it accordingly.

Does iodine give you energy, or help you sleep? Take it accordingly.

Do you feel anything when you take selenium daily? Maybe you don’t need to take it daily.

Does a random multivitamin make you feel weird? Maybe your body doesn’t like part of all of that blend.

Does Seeking Health’s multi help you feel better as it supports your methylation system as designed? Maybe your body enjoys it and likes getting the right nutrients in a proper blend. Does a well balanced multi like this over stimulate you? Maybe your body is still trying to catch up and just needs to go slower while spending more time in a natural environment, which includes proper sleep, hydration, physical activity, lack of stress including artificial light etc etc.

Selenium was one of the first nutrients I realized how to do this with. Read more about my experience at https://whyiodine.com/selenium-continued

1. Supplemental Pulsing – an Overview – https://education.seekinghealth.com/what-is-supplemental-pulsing/