In response to the current nuclear reactor catastrophe in Japan, Holistica Integrative Care wants to share some strategies for prevention of exposure.  No one can confirm the amount of risk we face and government officials are claiming that the exposure is likely low.  US citizens aren’t buying it. Instead, they are buying foods, nutritional supplements and natural medicines to counter the effects of radiation, to the point where these products are out of stock in many stores throughout the West.

Why should we take iodine?

One of the elements released in a nuclear reactor mishap is radioactive iodine-131 and it can definitely cause cancer. When radioactive iodine comes into contact with the human body, it goes to the thyroid gland to make thyroid hormone, which then travels throughout the body.

Your thyroid gland absorbs nearly all of the iodine in your blood. When enough radioactive iodine is taken into the body, it can destroy the thyroid gland and any other cells that take up iodine or use thyroid hormone.

The body can’t tell the difference between stable and radioactive iodine.  Taking stable iodine tablets can protect the thyroid from injury by “filling up” the gland and preventing it from taking up radioactive iodine.

Dietary sources high in iodine  to include in your diet frequently over the next several weeks:

•    Buckwheat and brown rice
•    Seaweeds rich in iodine and microminerals, such as Hiziki, found in macrobiotic or Asian food sections
•    Wheatgrass and barley grass
•    Sulfur-rich vegetables including broccoli, cabbage and mustard greens
•    High-pectin foods including carrots, sunflower seeds and apples
•    Liver-cleansing foods such as artichokes, beets and radishes
•    Fermented foods such as miso and unpasteurized sauerkraut
•    Nutritional yeast
•    Garlic, burdock, dandelion, milk thistle seed, nettles and yellow dock
•    Echinacea
•    Green and black tea
•    Eleuthero
•    Vitamin A, Beta-carotene, B-complex and Vitamin C; and zinc, calcium and magnesium

Supplements:

  • Vitamin C protects against ionizing radiation – 3-5 grams per day
  •  Zinc increases Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) – 25-50 mg per day (taken with food)
  • Dismuzyme Plus (SOD) by Biotics Research – 150 mcg/day
  • Lugol’s iodine (if you can find it) – 4-5 drops per day will be taken up by the thyroid leaving the radioactive iodine unable to be absorbed.

In consultation with J. Satti, PhD (a radiation physicist and homeopath), Dana Ullman  created a homeopathic protocol for helping to prevent absorption of radiation.  Homeopathic doses of potassium iodide (Kali iodatum 6C and 30C) are recommended, 3 pellets twice per day. This is available in our office.

While there is a feeling of helplessness for all of us watching this tragedy unfold, it is time for us to focus our thoughts on a positive outcome and resolution to stabilize the reactors.  It is amazing that despite the great distance between the U.S and Japan, the events unfolding there can impact us significantly. We share this earth, after all.  Eat well, stay hydrated, exercise and replace worrying with stress reducing techniques such as yoga, meditation, or prayer.