How Iodine Affects the Heart and Circulatory System
It is extremely uncommon for doctors and other health care professionals to know about the connection between iodine deficiency and poor heart health. This article explains how to heal heart disease fast using the Iodine Therapy Protocol.As it turns out, iodine deficiency causes thyrotropin / Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) to increase. When this hormone increases, it stimulates the thyroid gland to absorb iodine. Studies have shown that patients with moderate to severe iodine deficiency have elevated TSH levels which in turn can lead to the development of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries due to cholesterol and calcium buildup). Patients with high cholesterol who are given iodine supplements are able to lower their cholesterol levels. Scientists who have studied this phenomena have noted that iodine supplementation would act as a nutrient to both treat and prevent high cholesterol levels.
This isn’t surprising data given that there are iodine receptors in the gallbladder and in the liver iodine is metabolized as a component of bile. Cholesterol is another major component in both bile and gallstones, so the connection between cholesterol and iodine is not hard to stitch together or understand which brings us to the connection between thyroid and heart health.
The Iodine- Vitamin K2 - Cholesterol Connection: How to Treat High Cholesterol Naturally with Nutrients
It’s important to mention here that one of the most powerful natural treatments for high cholesterol is vitamin K2 / Menaquinone-7 (MK-7). Vitamin K2 is one of the core nutrients that must be taken with Lugol’s iodine 2% in order for the body to be able to absorb and use iodine. That’s because vitamin K2 is an essential part of calcium metabolism and it is a nutrient that has been purposely removed from the food supply. Click here to read more about how and why genetically modified foods no longer contain vitamin K2 / MK-7.Scientists have studied the connection between vitamin D and cholesterol with great fervor and much funding only to find that vitamin D supplementation can have mixed effects on cholesterol. Tons of funding is thrown at vitamin D studies and the mainstream media pushes out several pro-vitamin-D-supplement articles every day. But vitamin D really shouldn’t be a “vitamin” at all given that the definition of a vitamin is that it is an essential nutrient not produced naturally in the human body. Vitamin D doesn’t meet these specs as a vitamin because it is produced naturally in the skin in response to sunlight exposure (as long as the person is not wearing sunscreen). And the thing is, without vitamin K2, vitamin D can’t do its job properly. Vitamin D is a nutrient that people take without realizing that it hurts them over the long-term if they don’t take a balanced dose of vitamin K2 along with the vitamin D. The negative effect of vitamin D supplementation are insidious and they take shape over the course of a long period of time. As a result, the media is able to encourage people to harm themselves with vitamin D supplementation without ever becoming liable. And tons of scientific funding is thrown at studying this non-nutrient that our bodies produce naturally if we’re exposed to the full-spectrum light of the sun.
But wait…let’s back up…we need to talk about calcium…
Click here to read more about the harmful effects of supplementing with vitamin D without also supplementing with vitamin K2.
High Calcium in the Blood Equals Low Iodine Levels
Calcium buildup inside the blood vessels captures cholesterol as it passes by causing a buildup of plaque made up of a combination of calcium and cholesterol. Without high levels of calcium in the blood supply, cholesterol doesn’t stick to the inside of the blood vessels in the same way. But what causes calcium levels to get abnormally high in the blood supply?When you eat leafy greens or any number of other fruits and vegetables, they contain calcium. Calcium is prolific in natural foods and most people do NOT need to take a calcium supplement for this reason. Calcium supplements have a similarly negative effect on the body as vitamin D. Indeed, calcium and vitamin D work together. Both are necessary, but not in supplement form. After you eat a high calcium food, the calcium is shuttled across the intestinal wall into the bloodstream by an activated form of vitamin D. Without vitamin D, calcium can’t be absorbed through the intestinal wall and without calcium, our energy levels are negatively impacted and the structure of our body (our bones and teeth) start to disintegrate.
An inactive form of vitamin D is normally produced in the skin when the skin is exposed to sunlight. This inactive form of vitamin D is then partially activated in the liver and it then moves to the kidneys where it becomes fully activated and ready to start shuttling calcium from the intestines into the blood supply.
When people take calcium supplements, calcium levels can get too high in the blood supply, but this is also true when people take vitamin D supplements. You see, if a person takes only vitamin D without vitamin K2 to balance its effects, calcium moves from the digestive system into the blood supply and then the calcium lingers there, unable to find its way into the bones and teeth. Vitamin D and vitamin K2 were designed to work together in the human body, like members of a relay team. While vitamin D moves calcium from the intestines into the blood supply, vitamin K2 / MK-7 takes over from there and moves the calcium into bones and teeth.
When calcium levels are high in the blood supply, the body can’t absorb iodine. This is also true of iron. Abnormally high calcium lingering in the blood supply due to a deficiency of vitamin K2 causes the body to reject minerals like iodine and iron. And a deficiency in vitamin K2 also causes calcium to build up on the walls of the blood vessels because this vital nutrient is key to making sure that bones and teeth are the final destination for calcium. In other words, if you have a deficiency of vitamin K2, you likely also have a deficiency of iodine and possibly also iron. And if you have a deficiency of vitamin K2, your body is simultaneously afflicted with calcium deposits in the blood vessels (atherosclerosis) as well as weak bones and teeth (osteoporosis and poor dental health). Some people with vitamin K2 deficiency end up with calcification of soft tissues like the pineal gland or the breast tissues (calcification of breast tissues is often misdiagnosed as cancer).
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Click here to read more about how to decalcify the pineal gland.
Click here to read more about how to get rid of breast calcifications naturally.
Interestingly, vitamin D is made naturally in our bodies in response to sunlight exposure, but vitamin K2 belongs to a class of compounds known as “quinones” that make up the substance chlorophyll in plants. Chlorophyll is the light-capturing compound found in plants and each of the quinones is brightly colored to absorb and/or reflect a different wavelength of sunlight. Indeed, melanin is the light capturing/reflecting substance in the human body. Our melanin molecules are hardwired into the autonomic nervous system via tiny nerves that directly connect to the sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for regulating whether or blood vessels are dilated or constricted so here we have yet another connection between iodine levels and heart health. Iodine is one of the ingredients used to make melanin. Indeed, iodine (as well as sulfur) helps to deflect negative forms of radiation and soak up positive, healing forms of radiation from the sun. Not getting enough sunlight can, as such, lead to the development of disease. And not eating enough foods that contain healthy quinones that absorb light from the sun (non-GMO foods, to be specific), can also lead to the development of disease.
Click here to read more about melanin.
Click here to learn more about light therapy and how skin color impacts how our bodies interact with sunlight.
As I noted above, vitamin K2 is a nutrient that has been systematically removed from the food supply, so this is a common nutrient deficiency. A deficiency of vitamin K2 can cause high cholesterol via its impact on the body’s ability to absorb iodine. Normal iodine levels change the constituency and metabolism of cholesterol in the liver to directly lower cholesterol levels. But vitamin K2 also works to lower cholesterol naturally in the blood vessels by ensuring that the body can properly process calcium and place calcium in the bones and teeth where it belongs. Normally, the body will take calcium out of the bones and teeth as needed if the bones are properly charged up with this mineral. Calcium is not meant to linger in the blood supply where it causes disease; it is meant to settle in the bones and teeth to keep the structure of the body strong and functional.
Click here to read more about how to remineralize the teeth naturally.
Click here to read more about how to remineralize bones and cure atherosclerosis at the same time.
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The Thyroid and Heart Rhythm and Rate
In addition to playing a vital role in cholesterol levels and general circulatory health, iodine also impacts heart rhythm and rate through its action on the thyroid gland. Indeed, Lugol’s iodine also contains potassium as potassium-iodide salts. Potassium is a natural treatment for heart arrhythmia and many drugs that purport to treat heart arrhythmia seek to mimic the action of these two nutrients: iodine and potassium.Below we talk about the separate roles that iodine and potassium (derived from potassium-iodide salts found in Lugol’s iodine 2%) have on the heart.
Iodine
Iodine impacts the heart in large part via its effects on the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland (located at the base of the neck), controls both the force and the speed with which your heart beats. Thus, the thyroid gland plays a major contributing role in blood pressure levels. So thyroid problems, which are usually caused by iodine deficiency, can look like and be misdiagnosed as heart disease which, in turn, can make it impossible for patients to heal (since doctors almost never recommend that patients take Lugol’s iodine to cure heart disease naturally).Some people with iodine deficiency develop hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) while others develop hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). Both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism is caused by iodine deficiency or from a deficiency of one of the nutrients that supports iodine metabolism. Click here to read more about the supportive nutrients that should take with iodine to ensure proper iodine metabolism.
Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism is more common than hyperthyroidism. Symptoms of hypothyroidism include:- Fatigue
- Weight gain and an inability to lose weight even with diet or exercise
- Intolerance to cold temperatures
- Constipation
- Dry skin
Hypothyroidism or underactive thyroid causes the following heart-related problems:
- Slow heart rate
- Arteries that are less elastic
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Muscle aches
- Muscle weakness
- Atherosclerosis
- Osteoporosis (weakening of the bones and teeth)
Many patients have noted that there’s a connection between osteoporosis and thyroid health, but the connection seems obscure if they dare to ask their doctor about it. Doctors might notice this thyroid-osteoporosis connection as well, but few understand the connection as doctors are trained to treat the different systems of the body (in this case, the endocrine system and the skeletal system) separately using different pharmaceuticals.
This thyroid-osteoporosis connection is not obscure or hard to understand at all if the patient knows just a few key facts about nutrition. As we discussed in the section above, the connection between thyroid health and osteoporosis to do in part with vitamin K2. But here, in this section, we can see how low iodine levels (which can be due to vitamin K2 deficiency in addition to low iodine intake) can cause serious heart problems that mimic heart disease and high blood pressure. A hypothyroid patient who is deficient in iodine might go to the doctor and be diagnosed with high blood pressure. High blood pressure medications are some of the most commonly prescribed medications on the planet. In conventional medicine, high blood pressure medications are like a gateway drug that initiate patients onto the drug treadmill where they become sicker and sicker over time (thus requiring more drug prescriptions, making the patient more “profitable” for Big Pharma). The inelasticity of the blood vessels caused by low iodine levels, low vitamin K2, and calcium buildup is the culprit in this case. Rather than going on high blood pressure medications, a patient could, instead, do the Lugol’s iodine Protocol and heal completely from the problem. Click here to read how to do the Iodine Therapy Basic Protocol.
Statin heart medications are often prescribed for high cholesterol which can cause patients to develop muscle pain and tightness. I’ve observed this in my own father twice when he was prescribed statin medications on two different occasions. His skin became dry and gray and his muscles became tight and fragile. Both times, my father didn’t want to believe that the drugs were making him sick. He liked the quick fix that pharmaceuticals seemed to promise. But while statin drugs make the high cholesterol problem better while causing general health decline, Lugol’s iodine and supportive nutrients can often cure high cholesterol permanently without causing serious health issues like chronic muscle weakness and achiness. Muscle tissues, including the heart muscle, suffer as a result of iodine deficiency. An untreated iodine deficiency combined with statin drug use is a recipe for poor health over the long-term.
Essentially, iodine deficiency can cause the heart rate to slow, the muscles of the heart to become weak, and the blood vessels to become inelastic (causing high blood pressure to develop). Iodine deficiency also plays a big role in causing high cholesterol levels. If you look at these facts in one place, it’s hard not to ignore the fact that the heart and blood vessels suffer a great deal when iodine deficiency is a problem. Many patients with heart and circulatory disease could certainly turn the disease problem around with daily doses of Lugol’s iodine 2% with supportive nutrients if only they were aware of how nutrition impacts heart health.
Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism or overactive thyroid is less common than hypothyroidism. Symptoms include the following:- Heat intolerance
- Excessive sweating
- Unexplained weight loss
- Extreme hunger
- Diarrhea
- Forceful heartbeat
- Fast heartbeat / tachycardia
- Angina
- Abnormal heart rhythms including:
- Atrial fibrillation
- Palpitations
Both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can be caused by iodine deficiency. Once again, I reference my father who developed high cholesterol levels at a young age. His doctor prescribed statins and despite my efforts to have him take iodine instead, he continued with his doctor’s treatments. Later, he had a heart attack and heart surgery and was put on amiodarone to prevent atrial fibrillation. Note the “ioda” in “amiodarone”. This heart drug acknowledges the role of iodine in the treatment of heart disease, but it does not contain a natural or healthy form of iodine so it won’t help patients cure atrial fibrillation naturally – to cure a disease, after all, is not profitable for Big Pharma.
After about 2 years of amiodarone therapy, my dad had two strokes and his nervous system health has been in rapid decline since that time. This is a common trajectory for patients to take when they have heart disease caused by iodine deficiency. Doctors believe that iodine is toxic though this nutrient-medicine was once the most widely prescribed “drug” in the early 1900s before the rise of the American Medical Association. Though some doctors know that radioactive iodine (which is indeed toxic) impacts the thyroid gland negatively, most doctors are not taught to make the connection between thyroid health and heart health or between natural, healthy nutrient iodine and heart health. As a result, patients with heart-related issues almost never receive advice to take Lugol’s iodine and supportive nutrients to resolve their problems. If they do, they’re told to take doses that are far too low to actually help them heal their bodies completely. Even well-meaning naturopathic practitioners or alternative healers who are aware of iodine have been led astray by thing like the Wolff-Chaikoff effect which seems believable (mostly because of how the material is presented) and yet that makes no sense logically (or practically in real-world application, as it turns out). The Wolff-Chaikoff effect is one of the most famous “fake” scientific studies that was staged to steer doctors and patients away from iodine as a nutrient that heals many diseases. Even today, practitioners who have observed the healing effects of high dose iodine (50-100 mg per day) on themselves or their loved ones still shy away from prescribing the full therapeutic dose for fear that the Wolff-Chaikoff effect is a real thing. I suppose for professionals who haven’t seen the array of different “faked” scientific studies that have been concocted over time by Big Pharma to prevent the public from becoming aware of natural cures for disease, it might be hard to believe that something as simple and mundane as iodine could be scandalized with such vigor. Nonetheless, it’s common for both patients and health professionals who are in-the-know about the healing effects of iodine to still be afraid of prescribing high doses of this nutrient on account of the Wolff-Chaikoff propaganda campaign that was contrived to manufacture and perpetuate this exact response.
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Potassium
Lugol’s iodine contains both molecular iodine and potassium-iodide salts. This is worth mentioning in regard to heart health because potassium is the primary go-to nutrient for heart arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, and palpitations. Potassium supplements can be administered to control heart rhythm and rate naturally. When taken in Lugol’s iodine and supportive nutrients, patients feed their thyroid gland the vital nutrient it needs to be able to properly control heart rate and rhythm via thyroid hormones.SIDE NOTE: Magnesium is well-known as a natural treatment for a-fib and it is one the supportive nutrients in the Lugol’s Iodine Protocol. When magnesium levels go up in the body, potassium levels also go up. So, taking magnesium as a supportive nutrient with Lugol’s iodine helps the body get the most out of those potassium-iodide salts.
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Potassium prolongs the amount of time that the heart rests between beats (the refractory period). The higher the levels of potassium, the more time the heart spends resting between beats. On the other hand, low potassium levels cause short refractory periods which can lead to atrial fibrillation.
As one of the most important electrolytes in the body, potassium levels impact heart rhythm, muscle contractility, alkalinity levels in the body and more. Potassium works with other electrolytes and trace minerals (such as sodium, calcium, bicarbonate, chloride, magnesium, and phosphate) in sea water supplements or shilajit to maintain general heart health in addition to pairing up with iodine atoms in Lugol’s iodine solutions to create a super-bio-available salt that heals. As an electrolyte, potassium plays a vital role in producing the electricity, chi, or prana that animates the body and that keeps cells functioning at optimal levels.
Click here to read more about how trace minerals and electrolytes energize and electrify the body to cure major diseases.
Click here to read more about how doctors are using electricity to heal the body.
When trace minerals/electrolytes are in balance, blood pressure levels tend to be stable, the heart rhythm is normal, and muscles, including the heart muscle, function as they should. Potassium as an element, belongs to the same family/column of elements as cesium, lithium, and rubidium and as an alkalizing mineral in the body, it works similarly to cesium and lithium salts (the natural, non-pharmaceutical form of lithium) to cure cancer. The presence of alkalizing potassium might explain to some extent why high-dose Lugol’s iodine ranks so high as a cure for cancer.
Click here to read more about Dr. Keith Brewer’s studies on how to cure cancer using cesium, rubidium, lithium, or potassium.
Click here to read more about Iodine Therapy as a cure for cancer.
As a natural cure for atrial fibrillation, potassium paired up with iodine (to produce the Lugol’s salt known as potassium iodide) is the perfect medicine. Iodine feeds the thyroid gland so the thyroid hormones stay balanced which regulates metabolism and thus heart rate. Meanwhile, the potassium levels regulate the length of time between heartbeats. One important study that looked at the relationship between potassium levels and stroke and heart disease found that 1600 mg per day of high potassium intake lowered the risk of stroke by 21%. Most Americans need even more potassium daily to achieve the daily recommended intake (5000-7,000 mg per day depending on levels of potassium in the patient’s diet and the health of their kidneys).
Indeed, high blood pressure and low potassium levels are correlated. Taking a potassium supplement can reduce blood pressure naturally by dilating blood vessels and stimulating the secretion of sodium from the body.
Note that taking too much potassium can be fatal so stick to the recommended daily dose of potassium in supplement form in addition to taking Lugol’s iodine each day. Eat a healthy diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables to make up the additional daily need for potassium for optimal heart health.
Summary
If you are looking for a natural cure for heart disease, how to lower cholesterol naturally, make healthy diet changes for high blood pressure, or if you’re looking for a way to control a-fib naturally, the Lugol’s iodine Protocol is the right place to start. Though most doctors are clueless about the role of iodine in healthy blood pressure, heart rate, heart rhythm, and heart muscle contractility, this nutrient can begin healing the heart right away.Click here to learn how to do the Iodine Therapy protocol.
Be aware that many people who are iodine deficient are also bromine and fluorine “toxic”. Click here to read more about how to detoxify the toxic halides (bromine and fluorine) and what to expect during the first part of the Iodine Therapy process. You’ll need to know a thing or two about salt-flushing and salt-loading to navigate the detoxification process. Click here to learn about salt-loading and salt-flushing.
The AlivenHealthy Iodine Bible - Everything you need to know to get started taking iodine and more!
Resources:
• Herter-Aeberli, I. et al. (2015). Iodine Supplementation Decreases Hypercholesterolemia in Iodine-Deficient, Overweight Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Retrieved August 6, 2023 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26203098/
• Ahad, F. & Ganie, S. A. (2010). Iodine, Iodine metabolism and Iodine deficiency disorders revisited. Retrieved August 6, 2023 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3063534/
• Harvard Health (2022). Thyroid hormone: How it affects your heart. Retrieved August 6, 2023 from https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/thyroid-hormone-how-it-affects-your-heart
• Delitala, A. P. et al. (2020). Thyroid Hormone Diseases and Osteoporosis. Retrieved August 6, 2023 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32268542/
• Rosman, N. P. et al. (1978). Muscle weakness caused by an iodine-deficiency diet: investigation of a nutritional myopathy. Retrieved August 6, 2023 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/632848/
• Van Slooten, T. (n.d.). Potassium and Atrial Fibrillation: What Every Afibber Needs to Know. Retrieved August 6, 2023 from https://www.livingwithatrialfibrillation.com/3094/potassium-and-atrial-fibrillation/
