Iodine and MS

July 26, 2009
Update
Iodine

Over 70 percent of Americans do not take in a sufficient amount of iodine in their diet to meet the daily recommended dietary allowance for Iodine. This is because the North American soils are Iodine depleted and we physicians have advised our patients to not use table salt. Since most of us were getting our daily Iodine through the use of Iodized table salt instead of consuming sea weed, the majority of Americans now consume less than 1/3 of the recommended daily intake for Iodine.

That is important for those who suffer from MS because Iodine is an important nutrient for making myelin. It is also an important nutrient for removing toxins.
The best food sources for iodine include sea weed (especially kelp), iodized sea salt, sea salt and iodized salt. Also because kale and other cruciferous (cabbage family) vegetables compete with iodine receptors - those of us who eat a lot of cabbage family vegetables need to eat more iodine than those who do not. I can't find a specific dietary recommendation on how much much iodine we need however. My personal approach has been to add a teaspoon of powdered kelp to my kale salads.

Ideally to determine whether or not one has iodine deficiency would be to work with a physician who is expert in Iodine. More information about iodine can be found at http://iodine4health.com/