Iodine?

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-03-2004
Iodine?
7
Wed, 07-28-2004 - 10:21pm
I'm confused. Is Iodine good for someone with a hypoactive thyroid and Hashimoto's? I just bought a vitamin tonight from Whole Food's because it didn't have iodine. I thought you are supposed to avoid it with hypo/Hashimoto. I still have the receipt and can return it tomorrow.

Also, soy is also bad? I just heard on the PCOS board that soy is not good for me because of the PCOS. Is it also bad for hypo?

Thanks so much for any advice!!

Shannon

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2004
In reply to: ssheena
Wed, 07-28-2004 - 10:49pm
I'm certainly not an expert,and this may not have to do with thyroid disease, but i know a woman who had thyroid problems (not sure if she was hyper or hypo), and her parents said she was allergic to iodine. Her doctor gave her an iodine shot anyway, not sure why, and she went into anyphalactic shock and died. This may have only been because she was allergic, but i would check with your doctor before you take iodine. I'm hyperthyroid myself and my doctor told me to avoid sea kelp. She said it is sold in health food stores and marketed as being helpful to the thyroid, but could actually be dangerous to one who is hyperthyroid. I would check with my doctor before i took anything like this.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
In reply to: ssheena
Wed, 07-28-2004 - 11:11pm
Hi Shannon - There is a chance iodine would be ok for you to take and a chance that it wouldn't. It would depend on your own system as to how you reacted. iodine is what your thyroid uses to manufacture thyroid hormone. But what has happend is that we get way too much iodine as it is. Think of whatever salt you use and imagine the salt that is in whatver processed or snack foods that you might eat and you can see tht you wouldn't need an iodine supplement!! In my own opinion, I odn't know why they would even include it in a multivitamin anymore. It makes no sense. Here's what They Thyroid Solution, by Dr. Ridha Arem, says about it: Too much iodine in your diet will cause iodine to be trapped by a liarge protein found in the thyroid gland called thyroglobulin. The process of manufacturing thyroid homron takes place in this protein. High amoounts of iodinated thyroglobulin propmt the immune systme to react and to cayse an unfalmmation fo the thyroid, characteristic of Hashimotos' thyroiditis. Animal research has demonstarted that the severity of autoimmune thyroiditis is increased by high iodine intake. High iodine can also cause iodine to be stored in the fat tissue. The constant release of iodine intot the bloodstream from the fat stores can cause an underactive thyroid or overactive thryoid among healthy people as well as those with a preexisting thyroid disease."

So it's a fairly bad thing, in my opinion. And I think you amde the right choice. I know that some people who are hypo and have taken it feel a thyroid "crash" similiar to what you feel if you need more thyroid medication. It's not anything I want to possibly create in myself. It's bad enough when it happens on its own!! Hope this helps. Cathy :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
In reply to: ssheena
Wed, 07-28-2004 - 11:17pm
I forgot about the soy. yes, soy is bad for you unless it is processed by heat before you eat it. Soy contains antithyroid ingredients which block the absorption of thyroid hormone by the thyroid and other systems. In case you haven't heard yet about tea - that's also not good for you if you're hypo. All tea naturally contains floride, which block iodine receptors in the thyroid, slowing the production of thyroid hormone.

There are also a class of foods that are called goitrogens. They can cause goiters in even healthy thyroids if eaten raw. Cooking removes the effect. These include all the cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts and peanuts, pine nuts and millet.

I think that's just about everything you should avoid. Hope this helps. LOL! Cathy :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2004
In reply to: ssheena
Thu, 07-29-2004 - 12:21am
Isn't floride in most of our tap water in the U.S.? What about tea or soy in hyper individuals?
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
In reply to: ssheena
Thu, 07-29-2004 - 8:56am
Yes, unfortunately, floride and chlorine are in our drinking water. It's not a good thing! I drink only bottled water now that I'm not drinking tea. I don't know if boiling would get rid of the floride in our drinking water. I'd have to look that up. I was thinking about that - tea or soy for hyper people - when I woke up this morning!! LOL! The tea might be a natural way to slow their thyroid. And the soy might be a natural way to slow the thyroid's production of thyroid hormone. I would have to check into it and I suppose a good holistic doctor would know more about it. Cathy
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-03-2004
In reply to: ssheena
Thu, 07-29-2004 - 2:21pm
Thanks everyone for your replies! It sounds like I did the right thing in buying a iodine-free multivitamin. Unfortunately, it also excludes iron. Iron is good for us hypos, right? I guess I could just take an iron suppliment.

I also bought flaxseed oil at Whole Food's last night. How does everyone take this?

Thanks!

Shannon

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
In reply to: ssheena
Thu, 07-29-2004 - 2:25pm
Hi - Iron is good. I take my flax seed in a pill as oil. I've read that you need to grind flax seed up to get the benefits of it. Cathy :)