LowTE Florida Iodine+

LowTE Florida Iodine+

Iodine deficiency, one of the major causes of thyroid dysfunction, affects millions of Americans and, by some estimates, billions across the globe.

Unfortunately, iodine deficiency often goes undiagnosed or is mistaken for another condition.

If you are chronically fatigued, battling brain fog, or experiencing any of the wide-ranging and symptoms of iodine deficiency that we’ll discuss here, the root cause of your issues could very well be low iodine levels.

Take heart! The great news is that iodine deficiency is easily fixable with the right interventions — therapies that we specialize in at renowned anti-aging clinic LowTE Florida.

The shocking statistics on poor thyroid function may motivate you to put it into your daily regime.

As most mainline healthcare providers pay too little attention to thyroid health (and hormone health in general), many Americans aren’t aware that iodine deficiencies might be chipping away at their vitality.

Because detailed thyroid levels (not just the TSH) are rarely tested as part of routine health screenings, the exact number of Americans affected by thyroid dysfunction is difficult to ascertain.

However, by many estimates, just one form of thyroid dysfunction, hypothyroidism, affects as much as 20% of the American population — meaning tens of millions of people, most of whom are likely unaware of the condition.

“Hypothyroidism is a common problem. Population-based studies from more than two decades ago estimated that about 5% of the United States population was affected by overt hypothyroidism,” the American Thyroid Association reports. “When adding subclinical, or mild hypothyroidism, where the TSH level is high but the FT4 level is normal, the percent rises to 10-20%.”

Certain groups are at greater statistical risk of low thyroid levels than others.

The same report from the American Thyroid Association indicates that “The rate of hypothyroidism was highest among females and among those older than 60 years of age” — which is why I always home in on the thyroid when my patients present with any of the telltale symptoms of poor thyroid function.

What are the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction?

Because the thyroid hormones contribute to so many physiological processes, the symptoms of hypothyroidism — the clinical term for insufficient circulating thyroid hormones and the most common form of thyroid dysfunction — are widespread, generalized, and can include:

  • Mental health conditions like anxiety and depression
  • Cold intolerance
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Mood swings
  • Cognitive impairment, often called “brain fog”
  • Menstrual cycle irregularities
  • Unwanted weight gain
  • Chronically low energy levels (chronic fatigue)
  • Flaky, dry skin
  • Brittle nails
  • Thinning hair
  • Constipation

How does iodine help restore thyroid levels?

The thyroid is a small gland located in the center of the throat that punches way above its weight class in terms of its central importance to anti-aging health.

The most well-known physiological activity of iodine in the human body is the support of production of the thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) – we look at these in our lab studies.

Iodine is an essential cofactor in the production of these hormones, the lack of which in sufficient quantity led to the condition we’ve mentioned before called hypothyroidism, which has wide-ranging negative ramifications.

From Nutrients (emphasis extra):

“The thyroid gland requires iodine to synthesize thyroid hormones, and iodine deficiency results in the inadequate production of thyroxine and related thyroid, metabolic, developmental, and reproductive disorders. Iodine requirements are higher in infants, children, and during pregnancy and lactation than in adult men and non-pregnant women.”

The health benefits of enhanced thyroid function

When blood tests performed at our LowTE Florida clinic indicate poor thyroid function, our frontline therapies depend on individual factors such as the extent of the deficiency and its root causes.

Our go-to treatment options in most cases are:

  • iodine supplementation,
  • bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) with desiccated thyroid hormone (more details on that procedure coming up).

In some instances just combining BHRT with iodine supplementation may be appropriate.

Following treatment, my patients typically see numerous health improvements, some being quite dramatic.

The benefits of restored thyroid function with iodine supplementation and/or BHRT with desiccated thyroid hormone include:

https://youtu.be/u05luTa9woY?si=79dEdZtjf_tePDLg

The many additional health benefits of iodine

Iodine health benefits are by no means confined to increased thyroid hormone production.

More and more research over the past several years has documented myriad health benefits from iodine optimization.

In particular, the three underappreciated anti-aging benefits of iodine supplementation include:

  • Iodine exerts powerful antioxidant activity as a reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger. Oxidative stress, studies consistently show, is implicated in a wide range of chronic diseases, including but not limited to neurodegenerative conditions (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, etc.), diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, heart disease (cardiovascular disease), cancer, and obesity. Iodine supplementation controls and limits oxidative stress.
  • Iodine possesses antiviral, antibiotic, and antifungal properties. Iodine assists the immune system in purging an array of harmful pathogens that we are routinely exposed to in everyday life.
  • Iodine is a natural antineoplastic agent — the term for therapeutics that neutralize or kill cancer cells. Unlike the sometimes-severe side effects that often accompany pharmaceutical chemotherapy drugs, iodine carries much less risk. In fact, oncologists often use molecular iodine supplementation in conjunction with chemotherapy, as the combination has been proven maximally effective in modulating the immune system to target tumors, per medical journal Molecules,

From the Nutrients medical journal (emphasis extra):

“Historically, the only biological function attributed to iodine concerned its incorporation into thyroid hormones (THs), synthesized by the thyroid gland. THs, namely T4 (3,5,3′,5′-tetraiodo-L-thyronine) and T3 (3,5,3′-triiodo-L-thyronine), are characterized by the presence of four and three iodine atoms within the molecule, respectively, and play a prominent role in human body development and homeostasis. In addition, over the last two decades, additional physiological roles of iodine have emerged. Specifically, iodine is thought to represent one of the oldest terrestrial antioxidants used by living organisms due to its significant activity as a scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Moreover, iodine oxidation to hypoiodite (IO−) possesses strong bactericidal as well as antiviral and antifungal activity. Finally, iodine has been demonstrated to exert antineoplastic effects in breast cancer, and in human melanoma- and lung cancer-derived cell lines.”

LowTE Florida Iodine+ packs a trio of powerful iodine compounds in industry-leading formulation

We include three different forms of iodine for maximum absorption and efficacy in LowTE Florida Iodine+:

  • 2.5 mg potassium (from potassium iodide USP)
  • 12.5 mg iodine (from potassium iodide USP)
  • 5 mg iodine (from free iodine USP)

Each LowTE Florida Iodine+ capsule is:

  • Gluten-free
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Soy-free

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy with desiccated thyroid hormone

At LowTE Florida, we specialize in another powerful, yet more involved, therapeutic approach to treating thyroid dysfunction called bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) using desiccated thyroid hormone.

The research indicates that BHRT with desiccated thyroid hormone produces superior results compared with more conventional and common treatment modalities using the synthetic form of thyroid hormone thyroxine (T4) called levothyroxine.

American Thyroid Association (emphasis extra):

“Some individuals prefer desiccated thyroid extract as a more “natural” thyroid hormone. In addition, some patients who continue to have symptoms of hypothyroidism when taking levothyroxine report improvement in these symptoms when switched to desiccated thyroid extract…

This was a study of 70 patients with hypothyroidism who were treated with either desiccated thyroid extract or levothyroxine for 12 weeks followed by a switch to the other option for another 16 weeks. The participants were “blinded” during both phases – they did not know the type of pill they received. After each treatment period patients were weighed, had blood tests, underwent psychometric testing and were asked which therapy they preferred. The researchers report that 49% of the patients preferred desiccated thyroid extract, 19% preferred levothyroxine and 23% had no preference. Desiccated thyroid extract use was also associated with more weight loss.”

In my well-reviewed new book on everything hormone therapy, Are You Hormone Curious?: The Science of Hormone Therapy for Men and Women Explained, I delve into the enormous therapeutic promise of desiccated thyroid hormone at great length.

If you’re suffering from iodine deficiency, when you visit our LowTE Florida clinic, we’ll perform a comprehensive review of your case and determine if iodine supplementation, BHRT, or a combination of the two is the best option for you.

Everyone’s physiology is unique, and so all of our treatment protocols at LowTE Florida are individualized for maximum efficacy.

Comments or questions about LowTE Florida Iodine+? We’re here to help!

We love to hear from our current and future patients alike.

To learn more about LowTE Florida Iodine+ — or our myriad other industry-leading anti-aging services and products — please see our online contact form, choose the most convenient way for you to get in touch, and we’ll respond to your inquiry ASAP.

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