Iodine is supposed to be secreted by the mucus membranes. It helps act as an antiseptic. Iodine deficiency is another one of those common deficiencies of civilization. We had it on lock down by iodizing salt and using iodine based dough conditioners in our bread. Now days most people avoid salt, and those that don’t are using fancy uniodized salts. Modern dough conditioners are bromine based, and bromine is not only not iodine, but it displaces iodine in the body.
I used to regularly get terrible sinus infections that would often go down into my chest. More than once it has turned into full blown bronchitis. These sinus infections were usually preceded by a day or two of sinus pain. I would use a neti pot to try and nip it in the bud, but it didn’t always work. I added tea tree oil to my neti pot, and that helped, buy still didn’t always work. Then I started adding xylitol to my neti pot. It breaks up biofilms kind of like soap, but unlike soap, there is no risk of permanently losing your sense of smell. Then I finally added some povidone to this concoction. This helped quite a bit, but still not 100%.
After having done keto for awhile I got a wicked sinus infection. It was very painful, and had taken hold particularly strong in the back of my sinuses above my soft palate, making swallowing very painful. My neti concoction was doing diddly. I ended up going to the Dr. and getting antibiotics for it. It was strep. Instead of strep throat, I had strep nose.
Anyway, to make a long story even longer, after that I looked into iodine supplementation yo see if it would help me lose weight faster, what with thyroid hormone containing iodine and all. That’s when I learned about how our mucus membranes secrete small amounts of iodine as an antiseptic. I’ve been taking 12.5mg a day ever since, and knock on wood, I have not had even a twinge of sinus pain since then. 12.5mg is what the average Japanese person gets with their high sea food diet. If I eat a significant amount of t of seafood, I’ll skip that day’s dose. Taking too much iodine can cause it’s own problems, so I’m playing it safe. Some people take up to 50mg a day! That’s asking for thyroiditis if you don’t have a special need for large amounts of iodine. Women can probably get away with somewhat larger doses, as breast tissue needs plenty of iodine, but 12.5mg seems to be plenty for the ladies in Japan.
