No Researcher Knows So Much About Iodine And Human Evolution As The Italian Dr Sebastiano Venturi

nigma

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translated by googles AI from German.

What you certainly did not know about iodine
A surprising statement about the underrated trace element iodine .

Author: Kyra Kauffmann, non-medical practitioner

As a child I used to pull my nets through the undergrowth in our area and looked for tadpoles in the ponds. I loved these tiny, lively larvae that turned into frogs or toads after a few weeks. Like then I am still fascinated today.
What I did not know at the time was that tadpoles need iodine-rich water for this metamorphosis to take place. Only tiny amounts of this trace element are sufficient, but if they are missing, the development to the frog is omitted.
Today we roam through nature with our sons - tadpoles and frogs - forty years ago at home everywhere - are unfortunately a rarity today.

metamorphose-frosch-kaulquappe-entwicklung-470x315.png


For the metamorphosis of the frog, iodine is essential - and for us humans?

To understand the importance of iodine in our health , it's worth taking a quick look at human evolutionary biology.
No researcher knows so much about iodine and human evolution as the Italian doctor. Sebastiano Venturi. We talked to him:

Professor Venturi, you have researched iodine and thyroid hormones for many decades. Through your work, we now know a great deal more about the role that iodine has played in the evolution of vertebrates, and therefore humans as well. Please tell us a bit about your findings. What role did iodine play in evolution?

The element iodine is very interesting and played a crucial role in evolution. We found out that iodine was the first inorganic antioxidant in the cell. Antioxidants are very important to protect the cell from free radicals that constantly accumulate in the cell. In particular, the cell membranes, which consist of polyunsaturated fatty acids, are very susceptible to damage by free oxygen radicals.

Iodine was the first element that could protect early cell formations, especially cell membranes. Research has shown that 500 million years ago, the first primitive intestinal cells of the vertebrate animals developed the first primitive thyroid cells through the uptake and storage of iodine.

In parallel, under the "protective coat" of iodine and fatty acids - we call them also iodolipids - undifferentiated cells have developed into nerve and brain cells, which was another way of adapting to the environment. In this way, iodine also indirectly supported the developmental stage of life from water to land.

Iodine lipids occur in the thyroid gland as well as in the central nervous system and in the mammary gland. We can rightly say that iodine was crucial to human evolution. Without iodine, evolution would not have been possible, neither the development of the vertebrates nor the development of the brain in humans. It is a fact that for the expansion and evolution of the human brain in particular, iodine and fatty acids were the crucial elements.

source
Source: Jod key to health, Systemed Verlag Lünen, 4th edition 2018
jod-in-der-evolution-464x315.png


So, iodine has played a prominent role in human evolution. Thanks to numerous researches, we now know that many of their body cells have their own small iodine transport locks on their membranes, with which they pump iodine into the cell (so-called sodium iodide symporter).

These locks are similar to those of algae, which trap the iodine from the seawater and store it inside. By the way, algae are the highest iodine content of all living things and foods.

The following organ cells have their own iodide symporter
  • chest
  • Ovaries and fallopian tubes
  • prostate
  • salivary glands
  • Gastrointestinal tract
  • skin
  • blood cells
  • Parts of the brain
  • and of course the thyroid , which has about 50% of the total body iodine requirement. The other half is needed by the above mentioned organs.
The tadpoles need iodine to mature into frogs.

What role does iodine play in human metamorphosis?
Iodine is of immense importance to us from the first second of our existence. For in the first six weeks of our existence, the central nervous system is formed - at a time when many women do not yet know that they are pregnant.

Our "larval stage" does not last four but 40 weeks and takes place within the womb. Our pond is the amniotic fluid. During this time, the fetus relies on the supply of nutrients by the maternal organism. If the mother ingests iodine (and of course other nutrients) through the diet, the fetus is first supplied with iodine via the bloodstream or later via the placenta.

"Iodine deficiency is the world's most prevalent, yet easily preventable, cause of brain damage" (World Health Organization)
What extreme (!) Causes iodine deficiency in pregnancy , shows the now extinct in Europe disease of cretinism: mental retardation and severe physical deformity with and without goiter. And that only because a trace element in the first 9 months of life was missing! These damage caused by iodine deficiency can not be repaired once the child is born.

As I said, cretinism is extinct in Europe. World-wide, however, iodine deficiency is still considered the main cause of congenital nonsense, and the WHO is trying to raise the supply of iodine to at least a minimum standard through elaborate programs in Asia and Africa.

A latent iodine deficiency in pregnancy also has massive effects on the function of the thyroid gland and the development of cognitive function of the central nervous system and may be associated with an IQ loss of up to 13 points. Iodine deficiency has proven to be stupid!

But iodine can do even more: it can protect the neonate's brain from the negative effects of toxic substances to which every mother is unfortunately inevitably exposed.

So it is enough - as many doctors advise pregnant women - to take 150 mcg of iodine daily?
No, according to the intake recommendations of the German Nutrition Society, pregnant women should administer at least 200 mcg of iodine daily, breastfeeding even 260 mcg. This is the basic care for the prevention of iodine deficiency-related damage to the child.

How do I get iodine?
Best with knife and fork, for example:

  • Algae - the best source of vegan iodine: There are a variety of delicious, edible algae and companies like Kulau, Algamar and Ark Naturkost ensure that they can be enjoyed in the best possible, pollutant-free and ecological quality.
  • Sea vegetables, like the native Queller. If you live near the East or North Sea, you are sure to know this delicious plant, which is a treat both raw and cooked.
  • Seafood and sea fish: Not everyone's thing, but these sea creatures are top suppliers of iodine. But: always pay attention to the quality (origin, sustainability).
  • Beef liver: Not only an excellent source of iodine, but also a source of other important micronutrients such as Vitamin A and Zinc. Best of all once a week from the Biometzger. (In pregnancy, the consumption of liver is not recommended because of the high vitamin A content!)
Incidentally, fruit, vegetables and cereals do not contain significant amounts of iodine.


Wakame

fish

samphire
Even if you are not pregnant, you should be fed on iodine, as you now know that many organs rely on iodine for proper function.

Did you know that iodine has been proven to support the following in the body (according to Health Claims of the European Food Authority EFSA):

  • Contributes to a normal energy metabolism
  • Contributes to a normal function of the nervous system
  • Contributes to normal production of thyroid hormones and normal thyroid function
  • Contributes to the maintenance of normal skin
  • Contributes to normal growth of children
and…

  • Contributes to a normal cognitive function
Almost anyone balancing their iodine balance reports better cognitive abilities, such as increased concentration, increased memory, or simply "shedding the brainfog," which the Americans describe as " boeing effect ." Clearer and more alert - thanks to iodine .

In addition, this trace element together with fatty acids seems to play an important role in the prevention and treatment of tumor diseases.

Most people - pregnant or not - do not pay attention to adequate iodine supply. You are just as unaware of how vitamin D was not an issue for many people just a few years ago.

What is a sufficient amount of iodine?
The German Nutrition Society states that one adult requires at least 200 mcg of iodine per day. This information is derived from the WHO recommendations for the prevention of thyroid disorders.

General statements about micronutrient requirements are generally difficult. The need for iodine depends on the lifestyle ( stress / intense sports), medications (hormones, "pill", certain psychotropic drugs), exposure to pollutants (smoking, toxic metals), thyroid volume, pregnancy / lactation ... just to name a few factors.

Everyone has to find out for himself how much iodine he needs. An iodine urine test, which many laboratories now offer, is helpful for this.

Fact is tadpoles need iodine, people need iodine. And every day.

Although we do not know exactly why the Neanderthals eventually died out, one hypothesis is that iodine deficiency has put an end to their evolution.


*************************
Dr Venturis website:
Iodine Investigation by Sebastiano Venturi
 
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nigma

nigma

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Also..
upload_2018-10-1_10-26-40.png


His papers are great reading. Grafting an additional thyroid gland must be the ultimate biohack!

I find his view on DHA interesting, does anyone know if we can synthesize it ourselves?

upload_2018-10-1_10-52-45.png


Some of his main ideas are:
-Iodine as a catalyst for evolution of life.
-Iodine is required for amphibian metamorphosis and possibly all life in a similar way.
-"Algal phytoplankton, the basis of marine food chain, are biological accumulators of iodides, selenium, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (Venturi and Venturi, 1999; Cocchi and Venturi, 2000, 2007; Küpper et al., 2008). Brown algae (seaweed) accumulate iodine to more than 30,000 times the concentration of this element in seawater, up to levels as high as 1–3% of dry weight (Colin et al., 2003; Teas et al., 2004)."
-"Iodine concentration decreases stepwise from seawater to estuary (about 5µg/L) and river sources (less than 0.2µg/L in some Triassic mountain regions of northern Italy)"
-PUFAs are protected by iodine as it binds to the chemically reactive double bond (you could almost call these pseudo-saturated fatty acids).
-Iodine is the first (evolutionarily) and most potent antioxidant, being stronger than vitamin C and glutathione. It is used by life to counter the high amount of reactive oxygen species that occur as a byproduct of higher energy metabolism where oxygen is used as the terminal electron acceptor.
-Iodine can modify the autoimmune response to dietary proteins by linking to the problematic areas of a protein molecule. This is done first in the saliva as iodine is concentrated in the salivary glands.
-Extra thyroidal uses of iodine are important.


Some of my own thoughts:
-Perhaps PUFAs are not as damaging when consumed together with iodine as they could be iodinated before digestion, would like to look in particular at the most damaging PUFAs like AA.
-Iodide (I-) is a large atom with a single negative charge, which makes its charge/mass ratio very low, and therefore "soft and flexible" chemically and therefore quite versatile if wanting to spread negative charge over an area. Continued consumption of something like potassium iodide would make an organism more "saturated" with less effects of ROS contributing to aging.
-Its very helpful seeing iodine separate to thyroid hormone
-Iodine accounts for 65% of the molecular weight of T4 and 59% of T3

T3
220px-Liothyronine2DCSD.svg.png
219px-T3-3D-vdW.png




T4
220px-Levothyroxine2DCSD.svg.png
219px-T4-3D-vdW.png
 

Hugh Johnson

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Nathan Hatch is a big fan of iodine supplementation. I have been vary because many claim it can damage the thyroid tissue.

What are iodolipids? Hatch mentioned iodine saturating PUFA, so are they similar to SFAs?
 

LeeLemonoil

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Bump. Though I‘d like to say that phylogeny-based rationals of substances in human health are more often than not highly speculative
 
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nigma

nigma

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Nathan Hatch is a big fan of iodine supplementation. I have been vary because many claim it can damage the thyroid tissue.

What are iodolipids? Hatch mentioned iodine saturating PUFA, so are they similar to SFAs?

Below is AA becoming AA-Iodolactone, not sure you'd call that saturated, but it is more saturated than before the conversion as it has one less double bond.

upload_2018-10-12_20-42-56.png
 

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nigma

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Its interesting that so much ends up in the mitochondria. I know Ray Peat's view is that ROS is not always bad so I wonder what it is doing here? perhaps it is only found in PUFA rich mitochondria?
 

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LeeLemonoil

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RP is not infallible. Threads like theses are very valuable when new point of views, even when not so peaty, are substantiated like nigma does.
I‘m sorry for yet another Tag for @Travis , but the iodolipid and AA-iodolactone stuff is surely of interest
 

Fexxx

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Iodine is great, yes!
But Megadosing with it is like solving Problems with a Hammer.
 

Travis

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RP is not infallible. Threads like theses are very valuable when new point of views, even when not so peaty, are substantiated like nigma does.
I‘m sorry for yet another Tag for @Travis , but the iodolipid and AA-iodolactone stuff is surely of interest
That's the thing: I don't think a person can make so many statements about so many diverse topics without making an error, and some of the greatest chemists surely had their share of inaccuracies—e.g. Pauling's dNA triple helix, Szent–Györgi's superconductive proteins. Simply being popular can make a person a veritable popinjay for criticism by attracting thousands of readers, and not many people take the time to meticulously-examine the articles of every blogger/writer. Moreover, biochemistry is inherently somewhat ambiguous because there are so very few absolutes: Most of physiological chemistry is about balance, and in most instances people speak about what cannot even be see directly. Interpretations and inferences lie on a spectrum of epistemological veracity and certitude, and the body of published science is so large that I dare say nobody could possibly read it all; there are literally millions of biochemical articles in print, and reading merely 1% of them is no small task. There is also what I consider the 'guru's burden,' which I define as: The reluctance of admitting a mistake, inaccuracy, or omission in order to maintain the impression of omniscience attributed by your audience.
 

Travis

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Below is AA becoming AA-Iodolactone, not sure you'd call that saturated, but it is more saturated than before the conversion as it has one less double bond.

View attachment 10931

The in vitro inhibition of breast cancer cells by iodine (I₂)—yet not iodide (I⁻)—has been explained by the reduction of prostaglandin E₂ synthesis consequent of membrane arachidonic acid iodination. I'd bet that I could find that study again if you'd like to read it.

I just found it anyways because it had been so easy: All I had to do was type-in 'iodine arachidonic acid iodination breast cancer' into the Google-Scholar search box, and the article in reference had been the second result:

Arroyo-Helguera, O. "Uptake and antiproliferative effect of molecular iodine in the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line." Endocrine-related cancer (2006)

'The administration of non-radiolabeled I₂ and 6-iodo-5-hydroxy-8,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid (6-iodolactone, an iodinated arachidonic acid), but not KI, significantly inhibited proliferation of MCF-7 cells. Proliferation of NIH3T3 cells [these are normal cells] was not inhibited by 20 μM I₂. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that I₂ uptake does not depend on NIS or PDS; they suggest that in mammary cancer cells, I₂ is taken up by a facilitated diffusion system and then covalently bound to lipids or proteins that, in turn, inhibit proliferation.' ―Arroyo-Helguera

'Prostaglandins are produced from AA [arachidonic acid] by the enzyme cyclooxygenase, indicating the presence of high levels of AA in breast tumors. It is possible that these high levels of AA, and the iodolipids formed from them, may explain the specific effect of I₂ in tumoral cells. This hypothesis is being explored in our laboratory.' ―Arroyo-Helguera

This study is why Dr. David Derry, a marketer of Iodoral™, claims that the body needs both forms of iodine (I₂ and I⁻). Yet up until a few hundred years ago, humans had only been exposed to molecular iodine (I₂)—a purple gas—near the ocean as formed by sea iodide (I⁻) and ultraviolet light. Moreover, taking an oral supplement such as Iodoral™ will do nothing for breast iodine concentrations. For this to happen: the di-iodine would have to dodge all vitamin C, unsaturated lipid, and phenol molecules that react with it.
Iodoral™ is also absurdly overpriced, and in my view simple potassium iodide is safer and just as good. Although perhaps something good can be said about lipid iodination, the amount of iodinated product combinations potentially formed is inconceivable. I avoid linoleic acid nearly completely so I'm not worried about it, and likewise I don't feel the need to take cyclooxygenase inhibitors either.
 

LeeLemonoil

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View attachment 10933

Its interesting that so much ends up in the mitochondria. I know Ray Peat's view is that ROS is not always bad so I wonder what it is doing here? perhaps it is only found in PUFA rich mitochondria?

Understanding Iodine’s role in the mitochondria marmbranes and how and if it affects electron transport should bring us much closer to a definitive judgement about Iodine.
Mito Health and function is probably the one most „upstream“ basic function of a functional, healthy metabolism and is, as haidut recently linked up, even more „decisive“ to health than genes
 

Makrosky

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Thanks @nigma I didn't know about this iodine doctor!!! Just knew all the famous ones like Brownstein, Abrams, Flechas, Dach, etc... it is good to have proiodine doctors in Europe also :)
 

Makrosky

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I am reading some of Dr Venturi papers. Look at this :
Contrary to the amphibian metamorphosis, in mammals and humans the thyroidectomy and iodine deficient hypothyroidism might be considered as a sort of metabolic and phylogenetic regression to our antecedent reptile stage.Indeed, many symptoms of the hypothyroid humans seem to be reptile-like: dry, hairless, scaly, cold skin with a general slowdown of metabolism, digestion, heart rate, nervous reflexes, lethargy and hypothermia (6)
:eek
 

LeeLemonoil

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„Iodine and PUFA“ and „Iodine and human brain development“ by him ... got to read that
 

LeeLemonoil

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Fishing for iodine: what aquatic foraging by bonobos tells us about human evolution

Abstract
Background
Expansion of brain tissue and development of advanced cognitive skills are characteristic traits of human evolution. Their emergence has been causally linked to the intake of nutrients that promote brain development and iodine is considered a critical resource. Rich sources of iodine exist in coastal areas and evolutionary scenarios associate the progressive development of brain size and cognitive skills to such landscapes. This raises the question of how early hominins living in continental areas could have met their iodine requirements. One way to explore this question is to use information from hominoid primates as a proxy for the nutritional ecology of early hominins. Bonobos are particularly interesting in this context as they are restricted to the central part of the Congo basin, an area considered to be iodine deficient based on human standards.
 
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