If you have been following any of my protocols for a while, you probably have been using iodine for some time.
Here is one of the many studies that shows some of the myriad benefits of iodine.
This study is all about how iodine opposes estrogen.
Estrogen is something that we all need in small quantities, but many of us have too much estrogen.
Fat cells often produce a lot of estrogen, even in men.
While estrogen is regarded wrongly as a “female hormone”, many men have higher estrogen levels than women.
And you really want to lower your estrogen level.
Testosterone is often turned into estrogen, which causes a lot of problems including gynecomastia, low motivation, and fat around the middle.
All this extra estrogen can also lead to cancer.
So here is a study that uses iodine to help combat the effects of cancer.
The authors of the study set out to show and prove that
iodine may inhibit cancer promotion through modulation of the estrogen pathway
And further, studies show that women with breast problems, and fibrocystic disease, can get relief from iodine.
Most importantly, I’ve also found that men can get relief from low testosterone and prostate inflammation partly from iodine as well.
It seems that both men and women can get amazing results from iodine.
When you take iodine, you have to take two kinds of iodine; iodine and iodide.
As this study shows, the metabolic pathways for iodine and iodide are different.
This is my least favorite kind of study.
Because they didn’t actually give people or rats iodine and see what happens.
Instead, they use what are called “cell lines…” basically, test tube cells.
And yet they can do a lot of discovery this way. And they do.
we found that iodine/iodide …down-regulated several estrogen responsive genes.
This may solve one of the puzzles of iodine.
A lot of men and women are not iodine deficient according to studies showing the minimum amount of iodine that we need our bodies.
But extra iodine seems to inhibit cancer, especially prostate cancer and breast cancer.
It may be that the mechanism is by down-regulating the production of estrogen.
What to do now?
You might want to use this data and increase your iodine consumption.
This study used Lugol’s solution, which is what I also use.
Lugol’s contains both iodine and iodide. And it has a long history of safe use.
Whatever you do, don’t drink anything that has iodine in it other than Lugol’s and be very conservative as to the quantities.
It can make you very sick if you have too much.
But here is a promising explanation of why extra iodine seems to be so beneficial for both men and women.
For men, it’s beneficial in increasing testosterone and reducing prostate size; and in women it’s useful in lowering their incidence of breast cancer and reducing their fibrocystic disease symptoms.
Citations
Iodine Alters Gene Expression in the MCF7 Breast Cancer Cell Line: Evidence for an Anti-Estrogen Effect of Iodine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2452979/
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