Why Don Bennett does not give out DIY (Do It Yourself) iodine information like he does with B12 and D

Getting enough iodine comes under the heading of getting enough of all the nutrients the body requires to give you the best odds of being as healthy as your genetics will allow. No argument there. And since iodine is one of the nutrients that most people are insufficient in, why don't I simply write one of my in-depth articles on how to deal with it, like I've done for D+ and B12?

To put the iodine assessment and correction issue in perspective, it is at the opposite end of the spectrum from B12. Meaning, you can't go wrong with B12 if you do your due diligence and follow a good DIY B12 article (the only way to go wrong is to not take enough, but follow-up testing would reveal this, assuming you do the testing). Iodine on the other hand has so many ways to "go wrong", and I have seen just about all of them:

* Those who simply buy an iodine product and take some (there are woo-woo iodine products, and how would one know how much to take even with a good product, and what forms of iodine does the product have, and there's so much conflicting dosage recommendations)...

* And there were those who understand the importance of testing first (even if they're sure they're probably deficient to some extent), but they do a test that's not diagnostically revealing, or they do a worthwhile test but don't know how much iodine to take based on the lab results, or they don't do both iodine tests so they can't know if they've got a false positive on the main test or if the mechanism that transports incoming iodine into the cells is functioning properly...

* And what about those who misdiagnose the symptoms they get after starting to take iodine, and they have no one to talk to about it, so they stop...

* And then there are those who didn't take all of iodine's co-factors so their body made too much hydrogen peroxide (which is not a good thing), and those who took some iodine for a while and decided they're now "fine" but they should have kept taking it, therapeutically, for another eight months...

Get the picture?

Even though iodine is a natural substance and not a pharmaceutical, it sort'a has to be treated as a prescription med in the sense that there is so much to know about it so that you get an outcome that is both effective and safe. The problem with traditionally trained doctors is that they are not taught anything about iodine. Which is why, when you go to see a doc and he/she suspects something is wrong with your thyroid, the tests they order do not contain iodine tests. And if you demand an iodine test, they will look at their list of tests, find an iodine test, and order it (maybe). The problem is, they are probably ordering an iodine spot test, and this by itself is not diagnostically revealing, yet they go by the lab's reference range which is not based on reality, so you may get an "okay" iodine result while your total whole body tissue sufficiency is low. This happens quite often with the B12 blood test (lots of false "okays"), but the docs aren't trained to do the MMA test instead. It has to make you wonder, if people like me know about the efficacy of the tests that are not routinely done as part of standard-of-care, wouldn't you think someone at the American Medical Association would know, and all they'd have to do is circulate a letter to all docs that says...

"When doing TFTs (thyroid functions tests) also do both iodine tests (spot and 24 hour loading), and when checking B12, do the uMMA test instead of the serum B12 test, and also, do a sHCY test when checking cardiovascular health, and stop doing the 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin-D test when checking vitamin D levels...and before you write a script for thyroid meds, try iodine therapy first..."

With what's known about these things, it almost appears as if the medical industry (not the doctors or nurses) is trying to keep the better tests (and iodine) from us. At the very least, it should make people go, "Hmmm" when exposed to this information. Oh, and by-the-way, if you do ask your doc to do iodine testing as part of the TFTs, you will most likely be told, in a stern manner, "there isn't any more iodine deficiency in this country!" And your doc is correct if the definition of deficiency is full-blown goiter (enlargement of the thyroid). But if we're talking about iodine insufficiency, there is tons of it, it's just that today's docs aren't trained to recognize it (but they were about 100 years ago... Hmmm).

The good news is that iodine is an OTC supplement (for now), and there are educators like myself who have acquired the knowledge necessary to make prudent, safe, and efficacious recommendations (but not all practitioners who do iodine testing do it the best way from a diagnostic perspective – if they intend to do only one iodine test, find someone else).

So this is why, while you will find me giving out DIY info on B12 and D+ (there are articles on D+ and B12 on my website that cover these handily), I can't in good conscience dispense in general terms recommendations for iodine tests, iodine supplements, etc... it would simply be irresponsible of me because of what I know can go wrong.

And yes, you can garner tons of iodine info from the Internet, but some of the people I've ended up counseling tried to do it themselves because they like taking a DIY approach or to save some money, but it didn't go well for them for one or more of the reasons stated above. The Internet has some great info, but it also has some incorrect info too, and often there is no way for the layperson to know the difference. This is what people like me are here for.

For an interesting article on iodine, click here.

If you're interested in iodine testing, you can find my counseling info at https://health101.org/counseling And for those who are of the opinion that the reason I won't readily dispense DIY iodine info is simply because I want to make money from iodine counseling, you need to read the above again with an open mind.

.Don

Don Bennett
Health101.org