Ali Le Vere – Iodine is a hot topic of debate in the thyroid conversation. Here are the facts behind the iodine/thyroid connection.
Bring up the relationship between iodine and thyroid disorders, and people inevitably put the gloves on and get scrappy—not just an intellectual back and forth banter, supported by exchange of peer-reviewed scientific studies and empirically validated literature—but a throw-down, knock-out fight, where claims are made on the basis of anecdotal evidence based on what so-and-so blogger said, without a single primary or secondary source citation. This, I cannot endorse.
Despite clear trends in the scientific literature, there is rampant misinformation in the integrative medical community when it comes to iodine supplementation for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in particular. I have heard many high profile functional medicine leaders advocate consumption of iodine-rich seaweed or high dose iodine supplementation for those of us with Hashimoto’s…without a single evidence-based resource to substantiate their recommendation.
Because one autoimmune condition can beget another, it is reckless and irresponsible to give recommendations to autoimmune cohorts without so much as a literature search. Thus, a disimpassioned examination of the science is warranted. Continue reading