A Perspective on High Dose Iodine Supplementation – Part VI – Basics Concerning Iodine Absorption, Metabolism and Their Impact on Thyroid Function

In concluding the last installment of this series, I stated that this installment would be devoted to discussions of research on dose, efficacy, and side effects in western societies. Stated more simply, I would be addressing the major controversy concerning milligram dosing of iodine; whether or not it truly causes thyroid related side effects in a significant amount of patients. However, it has occurred to me that this discussion may be a bit premature at this point. Why? It is my belief that this discussion will have the most value if it is understood how supplemental iodine, very specifically, might cause these problems. Ironically, though, in today’s world of research and information overload relating to clinical nutrition, iodine occupies a somewhat unique niche. As we all know, discussions of virtually all vitamins and minerals are incomplete unless information concerning digestion, absorption, and tissue uptake are included. Therefore, we can turn to almost any quality text or article in our personal libraries and find outstanding descriptions of digestion, absorption, tissue uptake, and metabolism of nutrients such as vitamin C or magnesium. Can the same be said about iodine? After a fairly extensive examination of several high quality textbooks and papers on micronutrients, I was very surprised to find out that the answer to this question is “No.”