Dr. Weeks’ Comment: Many thanks to a fine colleague: Al Schaefer for these clarifying thoughts!
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IODINE
The very last word in Dr. Max Gerson’s book is Iodine. Page 419
When we talked about supplementing with iodine and potassium iodide, as Gerson recommended, George didn’t remember reading that in his book.
So when I saw an article by Guy E. Abraham, MD, in the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Dec. 2003, page 100 entitled The Wolff-Chaikoff Effect of Increasing Iodide Intake on the Thyroid and its conclusion, it seemed apropos to give a short review. These guys (W-C), after an experiment with rats defined the amount of intake of potassium iodide saying that an excess of it leads to iodide goiter. Their study was done in 1948. W-C were very concerned about goiter development if 6 mg/day were taken.
Guy Abraham, in dispute, says, “The W-C effect, combined with medical stupidity may have caused more human misery and death than both world wars combined by preventing meaningful clinical investigations of optimal levels of iodine on physical and mental health. Today, the optimal requirement of iodine for whole body sufficiency is still unknown. We have attempted to calculate this amount based on review of the literature and it turns out to be 100 times the RDA.” (Recommended Daily Allowance per FDA)
“The use of optimal amounts of iodine in the prevention of cancer of the female reproductive organs was proposed by Stadel, from the National Institutes of Health in 1976. . . . Doctor Eskin has attempted to reproduce in human subjects his excellent results on iodine and breast cancer observed in female rats. [1977] He proposed clinical studies in human subjects using Iodine in amounts based on body weight equivalent to those observed to be effective in rats. He was told this could not be done because of the W-C effect.”
Guy says, “We have given 50 mg iodine/[potassium] iodide per day for up to one year to normal subjects without any ill effect. Serum T4 levels did decrease but remained within the normal range. Serum TSH decreased in those with elevated levels, but not in subjects with TSH below 2.5 mIV/L.”
Contact Guy Abraham at optimox@iname.com
I shall bring a copy of the article to Group.
On page 126 Gerson (Don’t think this is all Gerson says about Iodine but this is a comparison:) “Almost all cancer cases showed an acceleration in the healing process when thyroid and Lugol’s solution [Potassium iodide/Iodine in water] drops were increased, . . . Where we could not verify the improvement on the reactions of the skin, longer, intensive and more frequent treatment with iodine (thyroid plus Lugol) and potassium compound were required.”
On the intensive program Gerson administered 18 drops of Lugol’s per day which provides 126 mg of potassium iodide/Iodine per day along with five grains of desiccated Thyroid. Maybe we should pass this along to Guy Abraham.
This is Max Gerson’s reply to the question, “ How can we prevent cancer?” [And the last paragraph in his book.]
“Cancer must be prevented by preventing damage to the liver. The basic measure of prevention is not to eat the damaged, dead, poisoned food which we bring into our bodies. Everyday, day by day, we poison our bodies. The older people still have a better liver and resistance from the food they had when they were young. The younger people get worse and the babies, now the second generation on canned baby foods, are still worse. They get leukemia. First of all, eat as much as you can of raw food, keep the potassium level up, and take some iodine.”
More info, different source
IODINE This newsletter (TLforD&P) has reviewed the relationship between Iodine and thyroid, and supplemental desiccated thyroid containing thyroxine. Self test: For hypothyroid use the underarm temp before you get out of bed. Should be above 97.4.
Claims are made for this test. Spread tincture of iodine on your under arm or belly. If it disappears in 4 hours you are probably low in iodine. The following are excerpts.
(This claim is disputed by Dr. David Derry in his newsletter. Article “Thyroid Disease” he says, “The ”˜test’ of putting Iodine on the skin to watch how fast it disappears in not an indicator of anything. The Iodine disappearance rate in unrelated to thyroid disease or even Iodine content of the body. Meticulous research by Nyiri and Jannitti in 1932 showed clearly when Iodine is applied to the skin in almost any form, 50% evaporates into the air within 2 hours and between 75 to 80% evaporates in the air within 24 hours. . . . The rest of the Iodine within the skin (8-11% is slowly released from the skin into the blood stream.” [Al adds: He is right. Spill Iodine on your sink, and you exclaim, “How am I going to get that stain out?” Not to worry. Go about your daily activities and in a day or two there is no trace. The Iodine is now in the air of your house enhancing the tissue of your lungs. It is called volatile.]
Dr. Wright: He uses a solution of Potassium iodide — Super Saturated Potassium (K) Iodide (SSKI) for personal use. SSKI rapidly accumulates in any and all body secretions, including the sinuses, where it inhibits or kills bacteria, viruses and fungi before they can cause an infection. Women with bladder infections, Dr. Wright gives them a small (30 cc) bottle of SSKI with instructions to take 10 – 15 drops in water or juice every 3 to 4 hours (while awake) until the infection is gone. SSKI is close to 100% effective in eliminating bladder infections.
End years of suffering with painful breast and ovarian cysts in as little as 3 months with SSKI. [Dr. Gerson in his cancer program uses Lugol’s solution which contains potassium iodide and Iodine in water, half strength.] SSKI helps your body to metabolize estrogen (a slightly carcinogenic human estrogen) into estriol, an anti-Carcinogenic form of human estrogen.
Dr. Rowen: “If nothing else works, try iodine’ was the adage in the 19th century. It is critical for your thyroid to be producing adequate hormones. So the thyroid is extremely adept at pulling iodine from your blood. The second largest concentration of iodine in the female body is in the breasts. To give you an idea of much iodine your body needs, the breasts must have 100 times as much iodine in the blood to have their fill. The same is true of endocrine glands, the prostate, stomach and white blood cells. While 150 mcg (the RDA) may prevent goiter, it might take 5 to 10 mg to fill up the breasts.” [1000 mcg divided by 150 mcg = 6.67 x the RDA.]
Dr. Peterson: If your thyroid is saturated with good iodine it will never uptake any of the bad radioactive iodine or inactive radiation coming from sources like computer, TVs etc.
Rose Williams: Manmade compounds [drugs] assault the thyroid gland.
Fluoride: “Statistics show that populations drinking fluoridated water have universally lower thyroid levels” per Jerry Mittelman, DDS
Cigarette smoke contains thyocyanide, a strong thyroid inhibitor . . .
Soy and other foods: Some foods including soy, walnuts, cabbage, cauliflower, and kale can contribute to low thyroid function if eaten frequently, and in large amounts. Soy has been known to interfere with thyroid function for over 60 years. The soy industry acknowledges that soy can depress thyroid function, but only where there is lack of Iodine. [Soy interferes with enzyme function.]
Radiation: The connection between radiation exposure and thyroid cancer is well established. [See Peterson above.]
Gerson gives seriously ill cancer patients 5 grains (65 mg ) of desiccated thyroid during the day; 18 drops of Lugol’s solution, half strength, divided into 6 of the juices per day. This number of drops per day supply 86.4 mg of elemental Iodine and 21.6 mg of elemental Potassium
This statement makes me wonder about my bald head. “The birth of hairless pigs has been caused experimentally by feeding brood sows diets low in Iodine and prevented by supplying Iodine compounds, seen immediately in the following generations .” p 181
Wise Max Gerson in his book A CANCER THERAPY The result os 50 cases is my nutritional bible. You can buy it at www.Gerson.org. Or the Gerson Institute is 619-685-5353. He says more than the above: “If we contemplate the mineral metabolism as the basis for the construction of cells, we have to look into an invisible mineral circulation with a great storage power of the minerals of the potassium group [by Sodium] glycogen in the live and equally for Iodine and the minerals of the sodium group in the thyroid gland. If these minerals are displaced [by Bromine, Arsenic or Fluorine for the Iodine] as we see in most acute as well as chronic diseases, we find simultaneously lower electrical potential in the tissues and serum. Consequently, the storage power is smaller and the flow from the storage magazines is greater as the cells lose their normal attraction power with the lowered potentials. This smaller attraction power results in reduced storage of glycogen in liver and muscles and also in fewer minerals of the potassium group, while in the thyroid, the skin and other mainly negative tissues, the iodine and extracellular elements, show deficiencies of displacements. . . .
“Behind the metabolism of minerals of matter there is power of energy, an electrostatic and an electrodynamic one, . . . One should not think of mater in quantities or qualities only but also should take into account of the quantities of energies which radiate from ionized minerals, and should stimulate and keep all important and vital functions of the cells active.”
Iodine Expanded Chemistry by Al Schaefer August 15, 2009
Reserve that Al is a ex-chemistry professor, recovered cancer patient using the Max Gerson nutritional program. I consider the book A CANCER THERAPY: The Results of Fifty Cases as my nutritional bible. So far I have found no later data (after 1958) to contradict what Gerson wrote in his book. (Available at Gerson.org, 619-685-5353) I like to answer questions but frequently I get verbose.
Some quotes from Gerson: “According to Holler and Singer, iodine invades cancer tumors when inflamed, not otherwise.” p205 “(The findings of both authors are thus confirmed by my clinical observations.) It is assumed that Iodine is necessary in the control of normal cell differentiation.” [Gerson is talking elemental Iodine. The Potassium iodide in Lugol’s solution serves only to get Iodine into solution in greater concentration than if water only were used. – Al] “The majority of newer studies using radioactive iodine have come to the conclusion that Iodine acts directly on the thyroid cell . . .” p. 205 “I learned first through the so-called Gudenath tadpole experiment that Iodine is necessary to increase and help the oxidation ability [of the cells]” p. 409
Percentage-wise there is more Iodine in SSKI (Super Saturated Potassium Iodide) than an equivalent volume of Lugol’s. In 100 ml of SSKI there is 75.45 gm of Iodine attached to potassium making a salt. In 100 ml of Lugol’s there is 5.06 gm of Iodine, 2.0 of which is elemental Iodine. This says nothing for the reactivity of the two solutions. Keep your eye on elemental Iodine. [Some of you have used elemental colloidal Silver as an adjunct to recover from an infection. – same principle for the Iodine. -Al]
OK so lets’ taste Potassium iodide. Not as pronounced a taste as Sodium chloride or Potassium chloride. And for sure, I don’t want to taste Potassium or Sodium Fluoride. Let’s taste Potassium Bromide. It’s somewhere between the iodide and chloride. That experiment gives us a qualitative measurement of the reactivity of these salts. Fluoride will crowd out chloride in a cell. Chloride will push out bromide in a cell and it in turn will crowd out iodide. So Fluoride or Chloride in your drinking water will push out iodide. This biochemical reaction accounts for hyper- and hypothyroidism that is so common in our people. Lugol’s is a preventative for Mono, and a multitude of other physical maladies.
So I put a speck of Iodine on a silver coin, as well as a solution of Potassium iodide, as well as a drop of Lugol’s. The silver coin was tarnished by the iodine and the Lugol’s but not the solution of Potassium iodide. The Potassium iodide did not ionize enough to allow the Silver to displace the iodide – no tarnish.
These crude examples, added to Gerson, et al, give credence to why Lugol’s became the solution solution to get elemental Iodine into the body’s cells. The Potassium iodide alone won’t cut it no matter what the SSKI proponents purport. Outside these simple experiments and logic a course in Chemistry plus one in Biochemistry and Gerson’s book one can learn how to keep healthy. The latter is a beginning.
See how the professor shines through? 536 words later.