An interesting iodine article came into my inbox this morning,
Is nascent iodine really "nascent" / monatomic?
There is a lot of good, healthy discussion about whether there really is any truly "nascent" iodine being sold today. As a science-based food researcher myself, I actually agree that this needs to be investigated further.
Based on the scientists I've hired to research this issue so far, it is my belief that all "nascent" iodine products really revert into some proportion of diatomic iodine and don't remain 100% monatomic iodine. So far, nobody in the world seems to have a laboratory process by which this could be measured, so validating claims of "monatomic" iodine is currently impossible to my best knowledge.
So the most likely truth of the matter is that all "nascent" iodine products are really some combination of monatomic and diatomic iodine by the time you take them. Regardless of the molecular form, of course, they all deliver the promised concentration of iodine, and your body knows what to do with it from there.
As with all iodine products, be cautious to follow the label instructions. Like all minerals, iodine can be toxic if taken in VERY high doses, so you should take care to work with a holistic health practitioner who understands your particular iodine needs.
Beware of wild, unsubstantiated claims of iodine vs. radiation
Finally, in the interests of public safety, I want to urge health-conscious consumers to avoid being swayed by wild, unjustified health claims that are sometimes made by iodine promoters.
Iodine does not make you bulletproof against radiation. In fact, it does absolutely nothing to protect most of your body from the ionizing effects of radiation. The only organ it protects from radiation is your thyroid, and it only protects that organ from the short-lived radioactive isotope known as Iodine-131, which has a half-life of around seven days (and so decays relatively quickly after a nuclear accident).
Dietary iodine does nothing to protect you from radioactive cesium-137 or cesium-134, both of which can be found incorporated into foods grown in areas affected by radiation fallout. About a week ago, I announced the
final development of a dietary formula that can block cesium isotopes in the digestive tract. That formula is not yet commercialized but we are working to release it as quickly as possible.
Please do your homework when you purchase dietary supplements or superfoods of any kind. Be an informed consumer and know what you're buying. Know a supplement's strengths and limitations, and always ask about its heavy metals composition.
My goal as the Health Ranger is to share this philosophy with an ever-expanding number of health-conscious consumers so that we can all enhance and support our own health (both mentally and physically) with honest, safe, and efficacious foods, superfoods and dietary supplements.
FACT #1) All the nascent iodine products we tested were
remarkably clean of toxic heavy metals, across all brands. Personally, I find this quite remarkable, and it's good news for consumers who buy iodine supplements. Here at Natural News, we test every incoming batch for heavy metals using ICP-MS instrumentation just to make sure ours is the cleanest it can be.
FACT #2) All alcohol-based nascent iodine products have a very long shelf life, essentially equivalent to the shelf life of a bottle of alcohol (which is easily a decade or more). Because there's nothing to go bad in a tincture of alcohol and iodine, it essentially lasts for as long as the bottle and lid last. For glycerin-based iodine tinctures, I honestly don't know what the shelf life is for glycerin.
FACT #3) All iodine tincture *droppers* (the little glass dropped with the rubber squeeze ball at the top), on the other hand, have a very limited shelf life. The rubber dropper might typically go bad in just two years. So if you're going to store iodine for long-term preparedness, you actually want to keep that iodine in
bottles that DON'T have droppers. Instead, you want metal screw-on caps.
FACT #4) Alcohol-based iodine tinctures have far higher iodine potency than the glycerin tinctures available today. The glycerin tinctures simply don't pack as much iodine into each bottle. For example, just one bottle of Health Ranger Original Nascent Iodine delivers
960 servings of 506 micrograms each! Ounce for ounce, alcohol iodine tinctures are many times more potent and far more cost effective than glycerin tinctures, regardless of the brand.