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Tim's Log
Quote from tim on August 5, 2020, 3:57 am
I do take a small amount of taurine since that helps actual vA excretion, I'm easing up on that now though since I'm eating plenty of meat. Riboflavin is involved in excretion too, perhaps I could take that but I won't. I've explained previously why I think that speeding up liver conversion of stored retinol to retinoic acid is a bad thing. I'm mainly interested in making sure excretion is working well. My diet contains whole grains, beans and mushrooms to help excrete vA too.
Thyroid function is a big determinant of how fast one depletes vA. I am avoiding fluoridated water and have sufficient iodine and selenium in my diet.
@tim-2 Hi Tim can you please give me some advice on getting enough iodine. I realize I am currently getting pretty much zero. I'm worried about supplements because I once tested for an overactive thyroid, but that sorted itself out on its own. But I don't want it to be overactive or underactive. So I'd like to get any iodine from natural sources. I know you've said fish, but can you tell me which fish you'd recommend. Thank you! Do you think it would be so bad if I went for a glass of semi skimmed milk every few days? They are not fortified here.
Hi @neil,
My advice for iodine probably isn't too different from what you'll find on gov nutrition websites. I don't have a big problem with foods fortified with iodine like salt and bread but I think it's a good idea to not rely on fortified sources. So seafood, egg yolks and low fat milk/yoghurt are good sources.
As far as I know most seafood is a good source, unless you know a particular seafood is high in vit A, I wouldn't worry too much about the vit A content, with seafood the main thing to avoid is mercury which is why you shouldn't eat much tuna.
I personally can't drink milk and don't seem to thrive on dairy at all but if dairy works for you then I think some low fat milk/yoghurt is fine in terms of vit A.
Egg yolks are a powerhouse of nutrition, I try to eat about half a dozen a week. This is not likely to slow down vA depletion much at all.
Quote from tim on January 5, 2021, 4:34 amHi @neil,
My advice for iodine probably isn't too different from what you'll find on gov nutrition websites. I don't have a big problem with foods fortified with iodine like salt and bread but I think it's a good idea to not rely on fortified sources. So seafood, egg yolks and low fat milk/yoghurt are good sources.
As far as I know most seafood is a good source, unless you know a particular seafood is high in vit A, I wouldn't worry too much about the vit A content, with seafood the main thing to avoid is mercury which is why you shouldn't eat much tuna.
I personally can't drink milk and don't seem to thrive on dairy at all but if dairy works for you then I think some low fat milk/yoghurt is fine in terms of vit A.
Egg yolks are a powerhouse of nutrition, I try to eat about half a dozen a week. This is not likely to slow down vA depletion much at all.
I said it before. I think now int this polluted world everyone should supplement with iodine. At least 1mg. I have lugol solution 1 drop is 1.3mg of iodine. Isn't it better to take one drop a day and not think about if I have enough of this important micro nutrient? You really think that there is some danger taking 1-2mg of iodine a day?
My intuition on iodine is you need it in trace amounts, but if a person had a reason to take more, on the order of what Jiri suggests, I wouldn't *start* there, I would work up to it VERY slowly, you might get some strange detox from it (of other halides for instance) and I've seen that people online do some things like extra salt and vitamin C to help with that. There used to be an iodine forum...
I brought up my basal temp long ago with a daily kelp pill, don't know how many carotenes would have been in it. (it didn't help my cold intolerance (which is probably more adrenal), but rather my waking temperature(which is probably more thyroid)). I've always liked fish and seafood, so I don't think I was ultra low. Probably the "fish on fridays" routine is a good one for the family.
I thought that the apoptosis aspect of iodine was important and not really considered much. Many people on the iodine list were using it to help fight cancer. (apoptosis is about proper cell death). Another important thing that it can do is help straighten out women's cycles, you need it for fertility.
Regarding smoking a close family member who has kidney issues similar to Grant (and so I suspect is a person who tends toward VA toxicity) has always smoked, and the addiction was VERY strong. This family member did end up with lung cancer.
You might be right @jiri. It's been a while since I researched iodine in depth but what I wrote above is the conclusion I came to. What you wrote is the sales pitch used for hundreds of different supplements. I agree with you though that iodine is one of the most important nutrients to be aware about. But we are talking about a trace element and trace elements tend to be harmful in excess or out of balance with other nutrients.
I'm skeptical that iodine is that protective against other halogens. Skeletal fluorosis is a big problem in many parts of the world. If iodine supplementation is so effective at preventing fluoride toxicity why don't governments give out iodine tablets instead of spending millions removing fluoride from the water?
I believe that avoiding fluoride by buying bottled water is the only sensible response to water fluoridation.
That is an interesting point, @tim-2.
From what I learned on the iodine group is the theory is that when we are low in iodine the body will make do in it's work with another halide, and then when the iodine finally comes along the switch is made, and the other halide is tossed.
Regarding the government, I've become quite jaded about their motivations when it comes to our health.
Hi @lil-chick,
Yeah the problem with that idea though is that the main use of iodine is for thyroid hormone and I haven't heard of other halogens being used for it. Could be some validity to it though.
Why you think something like 2mg a day is too much? Because RDA is like 120mcg? Why you think it's correct when in Japan their intake was always in mg not mcg(5-10mg for sure) and it looks like it worked for them.. I don't care what is RDA according to some people in power. Like low iodine, high calcium, high vit A, low vit D etc. etc.. Everything backwards and I think it is for a reason.. So people are stupid, sick and do what they are told.. Iodine is the first supplement I would recommend. Especially for pregnant woman and kids.. Girl from our apartment building has a goiter and both kids are basically retarded..
If you are Japanese it is probably a great idea to load your diet with iodine foods. Maybe if you are from any island or coastal people. I seem to be from internal-to-europe stock.