Monthly Archives: September 2010

Iodine – A Necessity for Life

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As I was researching iodine, I was amazed at the similar path of deficiency to vitamin D that I found.  Here is an absolutely necessary mineral for a healthy life that has not been given enough emphasis.  One of the really interesting things was the DRI that is specified by our health organizations.   The amount of 100 to 150 micrograms per day (depending on sex and age) defies the mass balance of iodine output in the urine as defined by the World Health Organization.

WHO defines deficiency as less than 100 micrograms of iodine per liter of urine.  It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that with one to two liters of urine output per day that this value is too low.  It is no wonder that women in particular have such a large problem with healthy thyroids.  Iodine is easily depleted during pregnancy as the fetus uses large amounts for cellular differentiation of developing cells. One common disease is cretinism when the fetus does not get enough iodine.  Iodine deficiency as stated by WHO is the leading cause of preventable brain damage.  For more information on this here are the specifics from Oregon State University.

Iodine is responsible not only for cellular differentiation but also for cellular death and is very important for people who have cancer to help reduce tumor growth.  Tumors are immature cells that continue to grow because the mechanism for cellular death has failed.  Iodine and vitamin D in combination assist or provide the mechanism for this action to occur.

The thyroid uses iodine to make very powerful neural transmitters and hormones that drive the energy cycle of the body.  For more on this read what Dr. William Davis that writes the Heart Scan Blog has to say about iodine.

Depression, brain damage, heart disease, obesity, cancer, and many other diseases are related to iodine deficiency.  We are awash in a world of toxic halogens that displace the important actions of iodine.  Whether fluorine that is put into our water or bromine that is placed in our bread, these toxins displace the iodine needed for health.  Before immediately going on a course of very powerful substitutes for thyroid hormones, be sure that you are replete in iodine and vitamin D.

My heart breaks at the seriousness of these diseases and the modern treatment procedures that typically ignore the basics of nutrition.  My prayers are for you – Pandemic Survivor

Solving Obesity – Magnesium

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Taking one substance will not make you well either nutrient or pharmaceutical.  Having a complete balanced nutritional diet will go a long way to protect you against the many intrusions to health.  Environmental factors that we deal with whether man made or natural occurrences can create serious disease issues regardless of how healthy you are and how well you maintain nutrition.  In general if you consume a diet that is an abundance of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and enough protein and fats (please note grains in moderation) you will be among the healthiest.  Not having enough of the nutrients that our bodies require will lead to disease states whether there are environmental factors or not.

In my many years of researching the essential nutrients, I have found that the balance of the nutrients is the necessity for health. These items work together in ways that are so complex that we most likely will never be able to completely define all the interactions.  However, there are some essentials that we do not get with our present diets in the US.  These are vitamin C, vitamin D, iodine, and magnesium.  You can add potassium to this list if you do not eat enough leafy green vegetables.

Magnesium is extremely important in our biological reactions.  There are more than 350 biological reactions that magnesium has been identified with.  I believe that two of the most important are the control of cellular membrane potential and magnesium as the molecule of choice for our energy storage – ADP to ATP.

About twenty five percent of the energy that is used for our bodies is the balance of calcium and magnesium and another twenty five percent is for potassium and sodium balance.  This leads directly to how important the minerals are for maintaining a healthy weight.  These important ions maintain the body electrochemical functions.  If we are deficient in any of these then the ‘body electric’ starts to short circuit.  I know an unusual term to describe what is going on with biological health but yet very accurate.

The balance of these minerals is extremely important for the electrical function of the heart.  The heart is made up of over sixty percent neural cells just like what is found in the brain.  These cells function through a cascade of reversing potentials by a balance inside and outside various membranes of potassium, sodium, magnesium, and calcium.  Magnesium deficiency is one of the leading causes of sudden heart failure in young healthy adults.

Magnesium can be used up at a significant rate when you become vitamin D replete.  It is extremely important to be sure to get enough magnesium when increasing your vitamin D levels.

How much magnesium is ill defined but falls in a range of 2.5 to 4.5 mg per pound of body weight per day.  The good thing about supplementing with magnesium is that you reach bowel tolerance before you reach a level that is too much for the body.  Magnesium is an excellent laxative.  Nuts and beans appear to be the richest in magnesium of anything that we consume. A quarter cup of almonds contains 99 mg of magnesium and 257 mg of potassium.

For more information on magnesium check this nutritionist website: http://www.krispin.com/magnes.html

For the science this excellent website shows the diseases and gives you an opportunity to review the many papers on magnesium:  www.mgwater.com