Some experts have estimated that 70% of females and 50% of men have an underactive thyroid.  An underactive thyroid can cause a variety of symptoms, while not life threatening, that can make your life miserable.  For more on the symptoms including a symptom survey, on my website in the archived section of the newsletters, search iodine or hypothyroidism.  Blood tests have proven to be very inaccurate in determining the activity of the thyroid.  Patients are put off way too long when they complain of the many symptoms associated with an underactive thyroid and/or including cysts, nodules and goiter of the thyroid.  All the symptoms including cysts, nodules and goiter are the result of a deficiency of iodine.  Doctors have a fear or phobia of prescribing iodine.  I think they only know the destructive, toxic side effects of radioactive iodine which is a drug and cannot be compared to the mineral iodine.  They prefer to suggest a synthetic hormone which eventually will shut down the thyroid completely.  In the case of cysts and nodules, the doctor frequently prescribes radioactive iodine to destroy the thyroid.  Only in an iodine deficient thyroid will radioactive iodine destroy the thyroid.  If it’s possible to destroy the thyroid with radioactive iodine, the conclusion is the person is deficient in the mineral iodine.  The thyroid cannot function to its peak optimal level without iodine and the amino acid L-tyrosine.  These two natural nutrients combine in the thyroid to produce thyroxin naturally.  Another case where drugs are unnecessary.  90% of Americans are deficient in iodine to the point where the thyroid suffers the consequences.  I have recently written of how researchers discovered that vitamin D3 provides significant health benefits at higher dosages that were once thought to be sufficient.  Many health conscious Americans exceed the FDA’s recommendation of 400 IUs of vitamin D3 daily and are now taking 3000 to 5000 IUs of vitamin D3 daily.  The same is true today of iodine.  The FDA’s recommended daily allowance of iodine is 150 mcg daily which may support the thyroid, but again, experts have found higher levels of iodine to be more effective to prevent cysts, nodules, goiter and thyroid cancer.  In the last 30 years, thyroid cancer has become the 7^th most common cancer and has tripled in the same time period.  Researchers have found from studies that 12.5 mg of iodine daily is significantly more effective for the thyroid than 150 mcgs daily.  Cultures around the world who consume high levels of iodine have less breast, prostate and thyroid cancer than in America.  Not only does the thyroid require iodine, but every cell in the body has a receptor site for iodine, particularly the breast, ovaries, uterus, and in men the prostate.  Many alternative physicians are treating these conditions with high levels of iodine.  Iodine has antibacterial, antiviral, and anticancer properties.