A large percentage of American women and a smaller percentage of men are taking prescription medication to improve the underactivity of the thyroid otherwise known as hypothyroidism.  The real cause of hypothyroidism is a lack of iodine.  Iodine, along with an amino acid L-tyrosine, are required to produce the thyroid hormone, thyroxine.  There is no way to have a normal thyroid function without iodine.  A simple blood test does not provide the answer as to whether or not the thyroid is functioning normally.  BBT (body basal temperature) is probably more accurate to determine thyroid function.  You can learn more about this technique by going to my website at www.TerryTalksNutrition.com, to the newsletter archive section and search, “hypothyroidism”. 

If you are experiencing the major symptoms associated with an underactive thyroid, you are probably correct in assuming your thyroid is not functioning, at least to its optimal level.  If you are cold while others are comfortable, or you experience cold hands, cold feet, gain weight easily even when cutting down on your calories and you are exercising, have high cholesterol, and are constipated, fatigued, you have brain fog, are not an early morning person, and you arise with stiffness, swollen ankles, puffy face, swollen eyelids, large calves, somewhat normal upper body but you tend to blossom out from the waist down, have a large buttocks and thighs, and the outer third of your eyebrows are missing, taking 12.5 mg of iodine daily will change your life.  For those who have a more serious thyroid deficiency, taking 15 mg of iodine with L-tyrosine can work miracles.