Consult with Dr Flechas about Iodine Loading Test

[Guest guest]

Yesterday, I had my free phone consult with Dr Flechas to talk about my Iodine Loading Test. It was very worthwhile. I strongly recommend to everyone that, when they order an iodine loading test, they ask for the free consult with Dr Flechas. Then, prepare your list of questions to talk with him about. If we each ask questions and share the answers with the group, I think we'll learn a lot.

First, I asked about my own test. Why was my iodine sufficiency still under 50% given that I had been taking 50 mg Iodoral for over three months? He said I probably had a defect in the NIS transporter, and that I needed to take 3 grams of Vitamin C per day. When I told him that I have been taking about 8 grams of Vitamin C for over three years, he was puzzled and told me to phone Dr Abraham and ask him what is going on. (He gave me the phone number and said Abraham was available every day but Friday.) He said I should have reached saturation by now.

I then asked him about the various factors that affect iodine absorption. I mentioned those that we have talked about here: fat in diet, body fat of individual, size of breasts, spacing the dosage (e.g., 25 mg twice daily), formulation (e.g., Iodoral vs....), Body toxins (e.g., halogens, smoking). He said the only other thing he could think of was the increased absorption in pregnant women -- iodine absorption is affected by oxytocin, prolactin, and progesterone -- all of which increase iodine absorption.

He pointed out that the body has approximately 1,500 mg of iodine. Of that, only 50 mg is in the thyroid. The skin has 20% of it.

He said that iodine is not well absorbed through the skin. Only about 7% is absorbed, the rest evaporates. His reference for this was the article at the bottom of the optimox site.

I asked about mercury and other toxins. He says he has been collecting a lot of data on this since he does a heavy metal urinalysis on about six people every day. He is planning on writing an article on what he has found this fall. Mercury, arsenic, lead, tungsten, aluminum, and others are greatly increased in their excretion when supplementing with iodine. He gave me an example with arsenic, in which the excretion was about 5 units before taking iodine and about 135 units when taking iodine.

I asked about autoimmune issues and iodine. He says he has measured antibodies on lots of people before and during iodine supplementation and that their antibody levels stay the same. He thinks the most important research in this area is on gene silencing and methylation. He explained that a methyl group is one carbon with three hydrogens. He told me to google "DNA methylation gene silencing autoimmune thyroiditis twins" to find a seminal article written within the past five years. I tried to find it, but have not been able to. I emailed him this morning to ask for an exact reference.

He said that for Alzheimer's in women, it is a methyl group deficiency of DNA. Same for lupus. Women have an extra x chromosome, which is why they have more autoimmune problems. With age, there is decreased methylation of the DNA.

He was not clear on the relationship of iodine and methylation. Said that iodine helps avoid free radicals. [The toxic metals may be important, too.]

I asked about Iodoral and constipation. He said iodine should not cause constipation, that the problem is diarrhea. When I insisted that several people on our group had experienced constipation, he was surprised but interested. He said that iodine helps in the absorption of magnesium and that people need to be taking 500-1000 mg of magnesium. And he told me I should include this question in my phone call with Abraham.

I asked what the evidence was for a statement on the one-page reference sheet that comes with the iodine loading test: "All body tissues that absorb iodine/iodide perform best when saturation is at 90% or above." He said that was based on Abraham's observation that people report a sense of well being when they reach 90% saturation.

He was very personable on the phone and available. He said he had been to our iodine4health website a few days ago and said some nice things about it. He gave me permission to share anything we talked about with the group. He is clearly convinced of the safety and benefit of iodine!

I highly recommend getting the consult! And have a good list of questions!

Zoe