Iodine Protocol

Iodine is a necessary mineral for the human body, which we need at every stage of life; our thyroid, reproductive system and breast health all depend on it. We do not get enough iodine in our diet and our iodine receptors are forced to compete with our environment of toxic halides.

Iodine is very safe, even though beginning an iodine protocol can be intimidating.

Resources

• David Brownstein, MD: Iodine: Why You Need it, Why You Can’t Live Without It
• Sarah Myhill, MD: Iodine: What is the Correct Daily Dose
• Lynne Farrow: The Iodine Crisis (also available as a pdf)
• Facebook Group: Iodine Truth

Acquisition

Lugol’s - which is a type of iodine and not a brand - is used for supplementation.
It is a mixture which our body can recognize and utilize, composed of iodine and iodide.
We buy in bulk.

There is a way to make it but we haven’t yet found it to be more cost-effective than just buying the liquid.

Method of Application

The taste of liquid iodine is unpleasant, so another option is to take it in pill form. The pills are called Iodoral, and they are more expensive than the liquid form. Some “paint” iodine on their skin, and this is the way that is suggested by Campbell-Mcbride in the GAPS protocol.

The level of deficiency is often how practitioners end up determining whether iodine is dosed internally or externally, as painting more than 20-30 drops can soon become impractical. Choose whichever option works best for you.

The Protocol

There are many iodine supplementation protocols. The resources above will explain a few of the choices for supplementation. The protocol we use for our family is as follows:

• Before beginning the protocol - daily, for two weeks - we took:
  • 200 mcg selenium, with
  • 1 t mineral salt
• Begin the iodine therapy with a single drop in a glass of water.
• Continue taking the salt and selenium, but isolated from when the iodine is taken
  • Iodine is isolated from any other food, beverage, or supplement using a 40-minute window
  • Iodine is isolated from vitamin C using a 2-hour window
• Increase iodine by one drop every three days at most
  • The iodine is taken daily, but is only increased every third day
• We stopped the salt loading after a couple of months but continued with the selenium¹

Signs for when to stop increasing the dosage:

• Iodine painted on the skin does not absorb for 3 days
• No hair was shedding
• The basal body temperature² should be 97.8-98.2°F. 
• We looked out for a dry cough or excessive green mucous
  • Becky Plotner had told us that this meant we had gone up too high and were detoxing through our lungs
  • We wanted to avoid this as it would mean starting over from drop one to allow the body to recuperate

Going beyond the number of drops we should be taking could cause us to experience:

• Irritability
• Rapid heart rate
• Feeling as if we had taken no iodine
  • i.e., low energy and feeling poorly.

Conclusion

We cannot heal without iodine. It is a supplement that is not only GAPS-approved but also recommended.