While getting myself out of an autoimmune disease, I learned that depression is not only a mental issue. Deficiencies, invisible infections, chemicals in products as well as bad conditions in the body can be the cause.
Some of my resources like Dr. John Bergmann, Dr. Axe and Dr. Probst have allowed me to learn and then make my own experience by experimenting.
Why is this so important, especially as a creative?
It’s because we depend on our minds to create things.
Don’t we take breaks when our heads heat all up? Don’t we all have days when we feel sluggish or nothing good seems to come out of our minds?
So I asked myself… How can I decrease my breaks, or better formulated how can I increase my focus, thinking speed, and motivation even?
I have experienced that fasting is a good support. Supplementing with vitamins and minerals is also great, and supplementation with iodine is something else.
Example to how it affects me :
Currently, I took a two-day break from supplementing with iodine. That’s because iodine is detoxifying, and setting toxins free too fast in the body is unhealthy. It’s essential to give the body time to flush toxins out over time. Otherwise, we might find ourselves struggling with detox symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, edema and, etc.
I need to admit that I had to give myself an extra push to get started with my duties today earlier. My emotions were annoyingly unstable as well.
I did a water fast not too long ago and that’s why I’m sensitive to deficiencies at the time.
After supplementing with iodine, I was able to write three blog posts and start another three drafts in a not too long amount of time.
And of course, my mind was clear and my emotions were stable throughout the whole day, I had no negative thoughts at all.
This is what I want!
(Disclaimer: Under no circumstance is this blog post medical advice but I’m only sharing with you my personal story. I’m not taking any responsibility for anyone’s trial and fail in their own health matters. Please consult with a professional doctor!)
The following books are good guidelines to dig much further, in case you want to know more :
“The Iodine Crisis” by Lynne Farrow
One of the passages that grabbed me the most in this book, was a reply the author did to a doctor who told her to take it easy.
She said : “…if I took it any more easy than I was doing now, I might as well
go and lay in my coffin right away. I started to cry out of frustration (first time I did that; I never cried).”
How often I have come across feeling as helpless as this. There are stories and reviews from other iodine users in this book, and many people came to a point like this before discovering iodine.
“Iodine: Why You Need It Why You Can’t Live Without It” by David Brownstei, M.D.
This one I’m still reading but here is an interesting quote I stumbled upon already :
“When I was a medical student, iodine in the form of KI was the universal medicine. Nobody knew what it did, but it did something and did something good.
We students used to sum up the situation in this little rhyme… If ye don’t know where, what, and why; prescribe ye then K and I…
Our medical predecessors, possessing very few and crude instruments only, had to make use of two given by nature (the use of which has since gone out of fashion): eyes and brains. They were keen observers and the universal application of iodide might have been not without foundation.”
Tip! I bought the kindle versions and was able to copy and paste information easily for personal use. I advise you to keep notes of the most important information because you will forget them after you are done reading!
Iodine supplements :
There are several iodine products out there that exist for supplementation.
Also there are iodine products mixed with chemicals and that are definitely not made for consumption! So caution here please!
Mainly the iodine protocols are referring to KI (potassium-iodine).
That only in the form of Lugol’s iodine and Idoral, which is the tablet form of Lugol’s. Most people use Lugols in 5%. One drop has about 6,5mg of elementary iodine and Idoral has 12,5mg of elementary iodine.
The difference is that many people seem to not be able to take Lugols Iodine on an empty stomach. It seems to cause irritation. Idoral in the contrary is said to go easy on the stomach. Additionally, I think it’s also a matter of preference.
How I supplement with Iodine :
I personally take Lugols in a 00-size empty capsule. Also I’m one of those that can’t take it on an empty stomach, therefore I take it directly after a meal. However, I can still feel its benefits that way.
I haven’t tried Idoral yet but since I love to fast until evening, it would make sense for me to try that out at some point.
Co-Components :
Iodine has co-components. It is necessary to take the co-components so this mineral can be properly utilized in the body.
Those would be… Selenium, Vitamin B2, B3, Magnesium and 1/4 unrefined salt like sea salt or pink salt.
The salt is supposed to help the body bind and flush out toxins much faster. Otherwise one could struggle with some detox symptoms.
I take it with the co-components which I mentioned above, plus all the other B Vitamins, Vitamin D3, K2, and Iron also.
How much do I take?
There is no specific amount set on how much to take when it comes to the iodine protocols. 50mg is often talked about, though everybody takes a different amount. I have often heard of numbers between 12.5mg to 1g of iodine intake.
One needs to work themselves up to higher amounts though. With anything, we don’t want to set free too many toxins all at once. So it’s also recommended to take breaks for that reason.
I observe how I feel and supplement according to that. I have taken a long break from iodine but since I started taking it again I keep it at around 100mg – 300mg.
Benefits I experienced with Iodine :
- Stable emotions.
- There is literally no space of negative feelings, I feel content and satisfied. Thoughts that I keep hearing on repeat are “I’m happy, I’m proud, I love myself”. Let me emphasize, I hear them I don’t think them. NOW I understand how it feels like to feel safe and to be able to trust life. I really got to know, how it feels like, to feel enough.
- More active lymph system.
- I had two swollen lymph nodes under my chin. They used to swell through certain foods. These days they’ve become much smaller and even close to their normal size. When I was trying to find the real cause, I had stopped all supplementation for a while and I didn’t expect my nodes to get smaller this time.
- Clear mind, more creativity, and better focus.
- This is what many iodine reviews report. A good remedy against brain fog and the end of “the feeling of being underwater”. This is how it was described in the book “The Iodine Crisis”. It’s a turbocharger, the boost it does to my brain is what I love the most, I can be much more productive this way. Someone has described it as a more healthy form of “caffeine”, since it normally does not cause the heart to race. I would say caffeine makes the body believe it has energy, which it doesn’t, so one feels more tired after the caffeine is used up. But iodine feeds the body with energy, so it feels more pleasant.
- The Body warms up
- No more cold feet.
- Less sleep
- I need less sleep to feel recharged. 6hrs is often enough for me. Occasionally I do sleep more, though.
There are more benefits reported, and a good number of them are talked about in the books I mentioned earlier.