Iodine deficiency ! - falling intakes - goitregens - competition bromine and fluorine

[R.B.]

'Lizabeth

I am sure you are aware that "cabbage, broccoli, kale, spinach" are brassicas and so goitrogens.

They are of course healthy, cooking reduces the goitrogenic effect it is said, but it appears does not entirely mitigate the goitrogens, and in some cases makes them more effective (see post below).

But their goitrogenic effect will not generally be a problem if your iodine intake is adequate and goitrogen intake modest; how much iodine is adequate if you are eating loads of goitrogens, and how much goitrogenic food is too much; are questions that needs answering.

(I have just seen a post from somebody who drank a lot of cabbage juice, which "laid them out" and reduced their body temperature; ok anecdotal but flags up that care may be required particularly in those who may have thyroid issues)

Wikipedia lists goitrogens here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goitrogen

Apparently according to Chris Masterjohn some other fruits are also goitrogens http://chriskresser.com/chris-master...disease-part-3

He also mentioned canola oil as a possible goitrogen. I have checked this as a possibility and the oil apparently does contain isothiocyanates so might be. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1152977

The point is that there are lots of healthy foods that happen to be goitrogens; add to that fluoridated and chlorinated water; those who are low in iodine will be much more susceptible to the effects of these goitrogens. The goitrogenic effects of food have been seen in ruminants for example fed too much kale - they start to experience thyroid and other health problems; so these are 'real' rather than hypothetical issues.

Does iodine lower LDL (see Chris Masterjohn link) - it is not something I have looked at but did come across this which is intriguing - a company developing an iodine based mouthwash for oral health found it lowered LDL ! http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-...22-906366.html At least some of the iodine in their product probably will be absorbed which raises a raft of issues I surmise - did improved iodine status effect LDL levels - thought provoking!

Does LDL carry iodine? (along with other vehicles) An old paper suggests it does indeed, on which basis it is possible to postulate on mechanisms by which iodine could conceivably effect LDL uptake rates . . . The delivery to cells of iodine by LDL I suggest opens up thinking about their being a whole raft of as yet unconsidered mechanisms by which iodine plays important roles in cellular function . . .