This was a very interesting article that I read and I thought I would share it with you from The Woman's Health Institute Of Texas Newsletter .

Fibrocystic Breast Disease

One of the little known benefits of iodine supplementation is that it is extremely effective in treating and eliminating fibrocystic breast disease.

What is fibrocystic breast disease?

Fibrocystic breast disease is a condition where your breasts develop numerous (oftentimes painful) cysts within the breasts. Nearly two-thirds of women develop suffer from fibrocystic breast disease.

The cysts within fibrocystic breast disease are hormonally influenced and change size and shape according to your menstrual cycle. They literally enlarge and swell up and become most painful just prior to menses and are part of the PMS paradigm of symptoms.

Usually fibrocystic breast disease is thought to be a benign condition although there is some concern about them being a pre-malignant condition. Breasts with extensive fibrocystic breast disease make it very difficult for radiologists to interpret mammograms to screen for breast cancer. Their presence can hide suspicious pre-malignant lesions from being discovered until a much later date.

Estrogens are known to increase the size and proliferation of fibrocystic breast disease. Although controversial, birth control pills have been given in the hopes of shrinking the cysts. In my experience, birth control pills make fibrocystic breast disease much worse.

Fibrocystic breast disease caused by iodine deficiency

What is not known – in fact, virtually unknown in mainstream medicine – is that fibrocystic breast disease is almost always associated with significant iodine insufficiency. Furthermore, supplementation with iodine can completely reverse and eliminate fibrocystic breast disease!

What is also unknown is that the female breast requirement for iodine is actually as much or higher than your thyroid’s requirement. It is not a coincidence that women who are hypothyroid usually have fibrocystic breasts. Iodine deficiency is a body-wide condition. If your thyroid is lacking in iodine, so are your breasts.

Breasts need a lot of iodine

This also explains why women seem to be affected more often than men by hypothyroid symptoms. The physiologic fact is that a woman’s breasts require nearly twice the amount of iodine supplementation on a daily basis more than the average man.

Another organ that requires a lot of iodine is the ovary. I observation I have made over the years is why do women seem to develop a rapid presentation of hypothyroid symptoms just after childbirth?

Iodine used up during pregnancy

I think the reason is that the ovarian consumption of iodine goes way up during pregnancy. Because Nature is intent on preserving the fetus at all costs, iodine gets drained from other sources during pregnancy. Once you give birth, then the body is totally depleted of its iodine stores. Add on a nursing mother’s breast (which have greatly expanded during pregnancy) demand for iodine and bingo – overt hypothyroid symptoms develop.

You can now see the complex interaction of female physiology on something as simple as iodine. If you start out with minimal stores of iodine to begin with, fail to add sufficient iodine over the years and then navigate the female requirements for iodine to thyroid, breast and ovarian tissues, then it should not come as a surprise that most women are moderately to severely deficient in iodine.

Keep in mind that most men are deficient in iodine, just not as markedly as women.

Iodine completely reverses fibrocystic breast disease and more

The good news is that these conditions are rather easily treated with iodine. Do remember that iodine is just one of many deficiencies that the modern woman is experiencing.

Andrew Jones, M.D

Thyroid and Your Weight

Your thyroid is one of the most powerful glands in your body. It lives in your neck, just below your Adam’s Apple. You can feel it by placing your thumb and fingers over the front surface, just beneath the Adam’s Apple. If you swallow, you can feel the gland move along with the Adam’s Apple.

So what does the thyroid do?

The thyroid gland manufactures four different basic compounds, only one of which is the active thyroid hormone. This hormone, called T4, or thyroxin, travels to all parts of your body and affects every one of your trillion or so cells.

But your thyroid cannot make any thyroid hormone unless sufficient levels of iodine are present. You can have the healthiest thyroid in the world, but if your body is starved of iodine, it will be impossible for your thyroid gland to make the necessary thyroid hormones.

Or if you are continuously exposed to iodine leeching agents like fluoride, chlorine or bromine, then your thyroid will not work. Fluoride is in the water supply. Chlorine is found in thousands of chemicals and swimming pools. Bromine is present as a food additive in wheat products like pasta.

Fluoride, chlorine and bromine displace iodine from the body. It is simple chemistry that these other chemicals (called halides) kick out iodine from chemical reactions leaving your body devoid of iodine.

Without iodine your thyroid gland becomes useless

The thyroid controls many body functions. One of the primary functions of the thyroid is metabolism regulation. It does this by affecting the mitochondria inside cells. The more thyroid hormone that circulates, the more your metabolism increases. Your metabolic rate determines whether you gain or lose weight.

Think of your body as an engine. Metabolic activity generates heat. The higher your metabolic rate, the warmer your engine. Too much activity leads to overheating. Too little activity leads to a cold engine.

Body temperature is the key

This is why Dr. Jonathon Lee many decades ago recommended that you measure your body temperature. Body temperature is a fabulous way of determining your metabolic status – and therefore, your thyroid status. If your body temperature is low, then almost by definition, you are hypothyroid (under active thyroid).

Simple physiology dictates that if you are having trouble losing weight or continuously gaining weight despite what appears to be good habits on your part – diet and exercise; then it is reasonable to conclude that the problem lies with your thyroid gland.

If your thyroid cannot function properly because it does not have the necessary fuel (iodine) to manufacture thyroid hormone then your body metabolism slows down, your body gets cooler, you feel “cold-natured”, frequently get cold hands and feet, require blankets to sleep (even in the summer), get muscle cramps at night and worst of all – gain weight.

Supplement with iodine

This is not rocket science. Give your body what it needs – iodine. Most of the world’s population has been proven to be deficient in iodine. It is likely you are, if you haven’t started gaining weight yet.

The good news is that the process is reversible and solvable. Simply supplement with iodine. If your body is merely deficient in iodine, supplementation will work. If your body has an overabundance of fluoride, chlorine and bromine, iodine (in sufficient doses) will overcome the halide chemicals.

So start revving up your metabolism and get on the iodine train. This is the safe and effective way of getting your thyroid back on track. There is basically no upper limit on the amount of iodine you can take. And you don’t have to worry about prescription thyroid hormones getting out of control which potentially could have serious adverse effects.

Andrew Jones, M.D

**This was a very interesting article that I read and I thought I would share it with you from The Woman's Health Institute Of Texas Newsletter .**