Iodine, a natural substance found in large amounts in the sea, is known to be an essential nutrient for the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland requires iodine (and tyrosine) to manufacture thyroid hormones like T3 and T4.
Countless thyroid supplements currently on the market contain iodine as it has been well researched to help thyroid gland function. And, many patients over the years have used iodine in hopes to improve their thyroid symptoms.
The problem is that if you have the autoimmune form of thyroid disease known as Hashimoto's (if you have hypothyroidism and live in North America there seems to be about an 80-90% chance that you have Hashimoto's), using iodine may increase the autoimmune response and eventually worsen thyroid symptoms!
In this video I explain in more detail how iodine works and why it may need to be avoided if you have Hashimoto's, at least until your antibodies have reduced enough to be in "remission".