One of the confusing aspects to iodine is the fact that it comes in several forms & blends. But I think by just seeing most of the common forms and understanding a little about each, makes the situation pretty simple. If these (KI) and (I2) labels are confusing or overwhelming, just skip past them for now and try to remember them by the sound they make etc. We don’t need to know these details, but being aware of the different forms and names makes learning other aspects to iodine much easier.
There are two main “raw” forms of iodine used for health. Potassium Iodide(KI) and elemental iodine(I2). Any of the forms we want to use for healing are going to contain either or both of these with distilled water.
Elemental Iodine(I2)
The term iodine is used to refer to a lot of different forms of iodine, which adds to the confusing. But iodine is an element, and technically iodine is I2 which is two molecules of the element I which has an atomic number of 53 on the periodic table. Then if we add potassium to some I2, we can make Potassium Iodide(KI).
Potassium Iodide(KI) and SSKI
Potassium Iodide is just elemental iodine bound with potassium. This just happens to be a stable form that iodine can hang out in and our body can utilize. SSKI is Super Saturated Potassium Iodide and is just a mixture of water and enough Potassium Iodide(KI) to keep the water suspended with as much of this stuff as possible at different room temperatures.
Forms of iodine commonly used
- Lugols Liquid
- Lugols pills
- SSKI
- Nascent
- Kelp
Lugols Liquid
- First blended by a guy named Lugol in 1829
- Most commonly used form of iodine
- 1 part Elemental Iodine, 2 parts Potassium Iodide and distilled water
- Contains both forms of iodine our body prefers
- Strength of solution can be adjusted with amount of water vs total iodine
- Has an orange-brownish color that increases with strength
- Usually most economical
Lugol’s Pills
- Same 1 part Elemental Iodine, 2 parts Potassium Iodide
- In a pressed pill form
- Usually more convenient than liquid
- Bypasses our thyroid
- Also bypasses our stomach
- Some people with poor digestion pass the pill still whole
- Usually one of the more expensive forms
SSKI
- Approximately 50mg per drop, which makes it economical
- Yellowish, but clear on the skin compared to Lugols
- Only contains one form of iodine compared to Lugols
- Commonly used to avoid radioactive fallout
Nascent
- Claims to be better by being “Activated”
- Only has one form of iodine
- Usually has fillers or additives
- 2-3 times as expensive as Lugols
Kelp
- People claim its toxic, apparently forgetting which planet we live on
- Has small amounts of iodine, which are handy for getting started
- Has small amounts of various nutrients
