When iodine is too short, we immediately think of an underactive thyroid gland. Iodine is the key to a healthy thyroid and efficient metabolism. Iodine is an essential mineral and is only needed in small trace amounts in the body.
What is an underlying cause of your thyroid problems?
By the way, did you know that shield clay is almost never a primary cause of your health problems?
- That's right!
Your thyroid is the last instance of your system saying, "Now you need to do something urgent for your body!"
From my practice it seems that many underlying causes are:
- intestinal complaints (IBS, leaky gut, etc.)
- adrenal exhaustion (a lot of stress etc)
- bacteria, parasites present
- unprocessed emotions (think throat chakra, problems with speaking). The energy flow (Qi) cannot flow freely because there are blockages on the energy channels in the body.
Some characteristics of an iodine deficiency
Iodine deficiency symptoms
Slow thyroid
The thyroid gland needs iodine for normal production of thyroid hormones. These hormones regulate metabolism and drive growth processes. The symptoms of someone with a slow thyroid gland can vary from weight gain to feeling cold (especially hands and feet), fatigue, constipation, digestive problems, depression or difficulty concentrating.
Concentration problems
Iodine deficiency is the leading cause of brain damage in childhood.
Stomach and digestive problems
A lack of iodine in the stomach tissue can lead to a stomach acid deficiency.
Gastric acid is necessary to digest food, so that nutrients are properly absorbed by the body. But why is iodine needed for that? The stomach cells use iodine to bind chloride. If too little chloride is available, not enough stomach acid is produced. When this situation persists for a long time, stomach upset and digestive problems arise.
Dry skin, mouth and eyes.
- Did you know that up to twenty percent of all iodine in our body is stored in the skin? A lack of iodine in the sweat glands manifests itself in dry skin and very difficult or inability to sweat.
- Iodine is also present in the glands that lubricate the eye. It aids in tear production. Therefore, dry eyes can indicate iodine deficiency.
- The glands in the mouth also need iodine for saliva production
Frequent inflammation.
- Also consider a possible iodine deficiency in the case of chronic bladder infections.
- Small cherry red 'pinheads' on the trunk often indicate an overload of bromium: this leads to an iodine deficiency.
Test iodine deficiency yourself
The method described below gives a good indication of your iodine level. Apply an iodine solution (betadine) to an area the size of a golf ball on your skin. The inside of the upper arm, in the elbow or on the wrist works best.
Do not allow clothes and other materials to come into contact with the solution, as it will leave aggressive stains.
In case of iodine deficiency, the orange-brown color disappears within two hours. If you may have a temporary deficiency, the stain will fade in two to four hours. If you're likely to get enough iodine, the stain will last up to 24 hours afterwards.
There is another test with urine, you can order it yourself and have it measured.
Natural sources of high iodine content: seaweed, fish and shellfish
An adult needs 150 to 200 micrograms of iodine daily. Children a little less, women who are pregnant and women who breastfeed need more. We get about half of our iodine intake from bread.
Beware! For people with Hashimoto, be careful with iodine!
Lab exam
The stool examination
- I work together with a lab and I recommend that you have stool tested. What do I see? That most women with thyroid problems have disturbed intestinal flora, parasites, leaky gut or inflammation.
- These have enormous influence on a weak organ, in this case the thyroid gland.
- If the immune system is activated by parasites, infections, etc., there is a high chance of an autoimmune disease.
- To treat an autoimmune disease, start with your gut!
The blood test
- To see a correct picture of the thyroid gland, I would like to check the following: TSH, T4, T3 (active cells), TSH (receptor antibodies), TPO autoantibodies and Tg autoantibodies.
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In the autoimmune disorders Graves' disease (hyper) and Hashimoto's (hypo), antibodies are produced against the thyroid gland, anti-TPO and anti-Tg.
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These TPO and Tg antibodies attack the own thyroid cells. The antibodies thus destroy the thyroid cells, causing the thyroid gland to produce too little or no hormone. Hypothyroidism develops, as in Hashimoto's disease.
You can request this through your GP, otherwise through me. I'll be happy to help you 🙂
Experience from my park
- I often see in practice that people with long-term conditions or autoimmune diseases have a link with digestive problems.
- If you do not have intestinal complaints, it does not mean that you are free of complaints. One in 8 people (statistic from the lab studies) suffer from abdominal pain. The other 7 have no intestinal complaints but they are linked to the functioning of the intestines.
- Suppose you have skin conditions or constant itching, is it from your skin? No, from the inside! Bacteria, parasites or fungi create waste products. If your secretory organs (liver, kidneys, lungs) are not able to remove waste products properly, they will look for another way, through your skin.
- Do you often feel like carbohydrates such as bread, cookies, crackers, etc? Chances are that yeast overgrowth is present. They need sugars to grow. Because, our body makes sugars from carbohydrates!
- Do you have an autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto's? So, your own cells attack your thyroid. With the help of studies, I often see that these people have inflammation in their gut and/or parasites or overgrowth of bacteria such as helicobacter. A cause can of course be a virus or stress. If your immune system is strong enough (because 80% from immune cells are produced in your gut), you will be able to tackle those pathogens in time.
- Do you have a long-term illness or condition? Don't wait, get help to find the cause!
14 thoughts on “Heb je jodium tekort?”
Good morning,
Can You Take Iodine If Your Kidneys Are Not Working Properly?
Sincerely
Janny Koopmans
Hi Jannie,
I see no problem if you absorb iodine through your skin.
Hi, my thyroid is showing subclinical hypothyroidism, but in the last few years it's getting a bit more hypothyroid. I am now taking 25mcg levothyroxine as a trial. Tsh falls but ft4 remains unchanged. Now I wanted to try with iodine to test little bit. I have now ordered capsules of minimum daily amount. But don't dare to use it because it is said that these supplements are seen as an overdose by your thyroid while you want to help your thyroid with the deficiency without drugs. There are no antibodies in the blood, which indicates Hashimoto's. Because when the doctor says there is nothing wrong with the thyroid, but I see the values that he does not respond to the medication what the tsh does, I think maybe iodine supplementation is a solution?
Hi Jacqueline,
It's hard to say what's what. I would like to see the studies first and then discuss your complaints with you individually
and the solutions.
Hi Jacqueline, I have exactly the same TSH right but th4 too low.
In this case ladies I would like to know how is it going with anti-TPO, antibodies against thyroid?
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Just add that the thyroid problem is not a primary cause of the complaints. The cause must be deeper, such as conversion of T4 to T3, which happens in the liver; leaky gut or inflammation in the gut. Our immune cells are made 80% in our gut. If intestines do not work properly, resistance is automatically low.
I do a lot of stool tests on women with thyroid problems and most of them have disturbed intestinal flora, leaky gut or inflammation. This is where you should start!
I do almost nothing with the thyroid, I help to restore intestines 🙂
I think I have a slow thyroid. Can you help me?
Is it possible to make an appointment online? I live too far away from Maastricht.
Yes Josian,
I have sent your email with a link 🙂
Greetings
Elena
Hi Elena,
I would like to make an appointment.
If I schedule an appointment, can this be reimbursed from my health insurance?
Best regards,
asha
Sure, you can 🙂 My consultations are reimbursed by most health insurance companies 🙂
I just sent you email.
Greetings
Elena