Why Gwyneth Paltrow’s advice to take iodine is dangerous

Gwyneth Paltrow has given plenty of health advice from ‘clean sleeping’ to leaving an egg in your vagina.

But her latest nugget of wisdom is to make sure your body is getting enough iodine – a chemical that plays a role in thyroid function

The actress, and founder of lifestyle blog goop, has enlisted the help of self-described ‘medical medium’ Anthony William. 

William claims he ‘was born with the unique ability to converse with a high-level spirit who provides him with extraordinarily accurate health information that’s often far ahead of its time’.

Meaning he speaks to ghosts to make health recommendations.

Medical professionals claim his advice is not only incorrect, but deadly.

Gwyneth Paltrow, actress and founder of lifestyle blog goop, has recommended to her readers that they get enough iodine in their diets. But too much can actually be dangerous, experts say

In a retort to the goop article, Dr Jen Gunter, an OB/GYN and pain medicine physician, on her website, spoke with board-certified endocrinologist, Dr Elena Christofides, to stress the point that William’s advice is not an accepted scientific method.

He has no medical training and has not published any data.

The medical-medium claims that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a herpes virus, causes 95 percent of all thyroid conditions, including hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and thyroid nodules, tumors, and cysts.

Meanwhile the other five percent is due to radiation exposure. 

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He claims because iodine is an antiviral agent, it reduces any sort of viral load in the thyroid and the rest of the body, as well as protecting the thyroid from radiation.

Dr Gunter calls this advice b*******. 

She said: ‘There is no possible way a single virus could cause all of these conditions and guess what, there are no studies supporting this assertion. My son has congenital hypothyroidism and it wasn’t caused by EBV or x-ray exposure so where does he fit in this rubric?’

‘To blame 95 percent of thyroid conditions on EBV and the rest on radiation is to have no understanding of modern medicine beyond evil humors.’

Dr Gunter also found issue with William’s reasoning for why iodine is so important. 

He claims it’s because the immune system relies on this mineral to function and that iodine is a natural antiseptic.

WHAT IS IODINE? 

Iodine is a chemical element. The body needs iodine but cannot make it. The needed iodine must come from the diet or through supplements. 

The thyroid gland needs iodine to make hormones. If the gland doesn’t have enough iodine to do its job, feedback systems in the body cause the thyroid to work harder.

Iodine can be used for:

• Iodine deficiency
• Radiation exposure – Taking iodine by mouth is effective for protecting against exposure to radioactive iodides in a radiation emergency
• Thyroid conditions – Taking iodine by mouth can improve thyroid storm and hyperthyroidism
• Leg ulcers – Research suggests that applying cadexomer iodine to venous leg ulcers, along with compression for four to six weeks, increases the healing rate

While iodine is important, we need very little of it because it’s a micronutrient. Too much iodine could actually kill you.

Excessive iodine with a normal thyroid actually blunts the thyroid and actually causes hypothyroidism.

But Dr Gunter explained, rather, the body needs iodine because ‘without it, you can’t make thyroid hormone, which could kill you’.

She said that the thyroid gland is the only tissue that takes up and holds onto iodine.

Iodine’s primary function is in the production of thyroid hormones. It only supports the immune system because a functioning endocrine system supports the immune system.

And while iodine is a topical antiseptic, thinking of oral iodine as a ‘guided missile for bacteria or viruses’ is unsafe therapy, she says.

William also claims that many people are iodine deficient, Dr Christofides says she’s only seen one case in 19 years of iodine deficiency.

While iodine is essential, we actually need very little of it because it’s a micronutrient, and both Dr Christofides and Gunter worry many will read the goop article and take more of the supplement when they should.

Adults only needs less than half a teaspoon a day of iodized salt. Dairy foods, eggs, fish, and meat are also good sources of dietary iodine. 

According to Dr Christofides, taking excessive iodine with a normal thyroid actually ‘blunts the thyroid and actually causes hypothyroidism.’ She has even seen women take so much iodine that they give themselves the condition.

Taking too much iodine, therefore, can actually cause the problem William says it will prevent.

‘Almost everything in this article is wrong and potentially dangerous,’ wrote Dr Gunter. 

‘We need very little iodine, that little bit is important but if you eat a healthy diet and have a little iodised salt here and there you will be just fine.

‘If you take iodine supplements when you do not need them you could actually cause hypothyroidism, develop an autoimmune condition, or even get cancer.’