Creativity may require adequate iodine

Includes a quote from Ravi Shankar's book Notes for the Journey Within.

How can we be creative if we are too tired, apathetic, and depressed? or if we are anxious, worried, and constantly spinning our mental wheels like we were a hamster on an exercise wheel. Time to think quietly is needed along with adequate rest in balance with exercise like yoga and an active life. From skills, creativity can more easily grow as well.

In order to have energy for an active physical and mental life, we likely need to have enough iodine and other vitamins and minerals. Iodine in particular is needed for a vibrant life. Lack of iodine can cause symptoms of apathy, depression, and physical symptoms of feeling cold too easily, fatigue, and constipation. Everything in the body is happening slower - energy is not being used efficiently and weight gain becomes very easy on not very many calories.

We all have a need for iodine in our diet and/or supplements, not just pregnant and lactating people. Someone with hyperthyroidism may need to avoid iodine rich foods however and choose supplements that do not include iodine - at least until the over-activity of the thyroid gland is normalized. Selenium is needed to prevent excess thyroid hormone from accumulating. Two Brazil nuts per day or ~ 200 mcg is a typical goal for selenium intake.

Iodine intake has a recommendation of 150 mcg/day which is very low. Minimally 250 mcg is recommended for pregnancy and lactation and that may be a better goal for everyone else - or higher. The average intake from seaweed in the Japanese diet is 13 mg - 1300 mcg. That is a big difference form 150 mcg but they have low rates of breast cancer in the average population and do not have excessive hyperthyroidism. So who is wrong? I think the US recommendation is wrong and have used a higher dose 12.5 mg Iodine/Iodide supplement called Iodoral.

~~~

37. Creativity, August 6, 2002, European Ashram, Bad Antogast, Germany

"Creativity brings a new beginning for "time". When you're creative, you break the monotony of time. Everything becomes fresh and alive. Creativity brings along with it a new round of enthusiasm. Both creative and procreative impulses in nature are associated with enthusiasm. When you're enthusiastic, you're closer to the creative principle of existence.

Deep silence is the mother of creativity. No creativity can come out of one who's too busy worried, over-ambitious, or lethargic. Balanced activity, rest, and yoga can kindle skills and creativity in you." - Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, (Notes for the Journey Within, page 162)

• The book Notes for the Journey Within - Essential of the Art of Living (2023) is a compilation of knowledge sheets written between 1995 to 2022 by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. (cavalierhousebooks.com)

Photo by Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash

Related links

• Iodine needs are discussed in the previous post: Iodine in pregnancy and lactation, also estradiol, anandamide and female tendency for a good mood. Iodine is essential for growth of the body and brain and the body preferentially uses a woman's iodine stores for her fetus and breast milk. Women can become depleted with each additional pregnancy. (deNutrients.Substack)

• More information about iodine and selenium food sources, and the issue of halides in hypothyroidism is on page G9. Iodine & Thyroid. (effectivecare.info)

Fullscript

Readers can order supplements at 20-25% off through a wholesale professional dispensary by signing up under my account. (Sign up here.) You will be able to order from protocols I have shared or order from the catalog. Products by Ortho Molecular Products will need a plan from me and the system notifies me if you want to order one. Look for a plan from me after you place the request - give me a day or two to get the email. Orders over $50 get free shipping.

• Thyroid Support & Iodine Protocol: This link should take you to a protocol for thyroid support which includes the high dose Iodoral and has examples of a few other things that can help including the B vitamin inositol and the medicinal mushroom cordyceps - which can also be purchased as a dried mushroom to add to soup. Delete any products you aren't interested and add others if desired. The

• Pregnancy Support Protocol: This link should take you to a prenatal protocol with product examples that you could order if desired. It includes a referenced protocol by Fullscript, to which I added additional iodine and a substitute prenatal multi that has less iron - still lots though.

• A new feature offered by Fullscript is the ability to enter all of your current supplements and the total amounts are added up for a grand total of them all. That can be nice in case mixed products are leading to too much of a good thing - too much of some nutrients can become a negative. It would also allow me to see what you are using if you wanted my input. (Add your supplements here.)

The science… not Trademarked…is enlightening.

Dopamine and thyroid hormone are closely linked - each can affect levels of the other. Increased levels of dopamine will lead to a reduction in Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and then less thyroid hormone would be produced. (Kaptein, et al., 1980) Higher levels of thyroid hormone, T3 and T4, stimulate induction/growth of dopamine producing neurons which would lead to more dopamine being produced, (Lee, et al., 2019), …and possibly more creative thinking.

During prenatal and early infancy, low level of thyroid hormone are devastating to long-term mental health and cognition because of the role it plays in development of brain cells. Elevated levels seen with hyperthyroidism can also cause permanent problems for a developing fetus and is linked to epilepsy in the child. (Alcaide Martin and Mayerl, 2023) Excess thyroid hormone would be over-stimulating production of dopamine producing neurons within the fetal brain, and then the child might have too much dopamine chronically. *Yes, lots of Google search results - too much dopamine is linked to epilepsy and with schizophrenia.

“[Thyroid Hormone] TH and TH signaling components as a proxy for TH action have been unraveled in the embryonic brain at very early stages. T3 (3,3′,5-triiodothyronine) and its receptors have been detected in the human brain from the 10th gestational week (GW10) onwards—hence, even before the onset of endogenous fetal thyroid gland function in the second trimester in humans and at embryonic day 17 (E17)-E18 in the rat [5,6,8,9]. Thus, TH acts on brain development already when the fetus fully depends on maternal TH supply.

Consequently, impaired maternal thyroid function compromises embryonic brain development and culminates in a low IQ, cognitive impairments, or behavioral problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the offspring [10,11,12,13,14]. Moreover, maternal hypothyroidism has been linked to neurological disorders in children, including autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety, increased seizure susceptibility, and epilepsy. Maternal hyperthyroidism, likewise, results in an increased risk of developing epilepsy for the child [11,12].”

Since dopamine is increased with addictive behaviors including use of Social Media, video games, or other highly stimulating media, then those activities could be leading to a chronic reduction in TSH and reduced production of thyroid hormone. And low thyroid hormone levels can lead to depression and apathy, and maybe reduced decision making or clarity of thought . . . even if we had enough iodine. Lack of iodine would add to the risk of hypothyroidism. (Alcaide Martin and Mayerl, 2023)

Low iron levels and possibly an imbalance between thyroid hormones T3 and T4 and the dopaminergic system may be factors in Restless Leg Syndrome. The restlessness tends to be worse when dopamine levels are higher. (Pereira, et al., 2010) Dopamine is an excitatory brain signaling chemical (neurotransmitter).

Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and the information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes.

References

(Alcaide Martin and Mayerl, 2023) Alcaide Martin A, Mayerl S. Local Thyroid Hormone Action in Brain Development. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Aug 2;24(15):12352. doi: 10.3390/ijms241512352. PMID: 37569727; PMCID: PMC10418487. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/15/12352

(Kaptein, et al., 1980) Kaptein EM, Spencer CA, Kamiel MB, Nicoloff JT. Prolonged dopamine administration and thyroid hormone economy in normal and critically ill subjects. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1980 Aug;51(2):387-93. doi: 10.1210/jcem-51-2-387. PMID: 7400302. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7400302/

(Lee, et al., 2019) Lee, EH., Kim, SM., Kim, CH. et al. Dopamine neuron induction and the neuroprotective effects of thyroid hormone derivatives. Sci Rep 9, 13659 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49876-6 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49876-6

(Pereira, et al., 2010) Pereira JC Jr, Pradella-Hallinan M, Lins Pessoa Hd. Imbalance between thyroid hormones and the dopaminergic system might be central to the pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome: a hypothesis. Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2010 May;65(5):548-54. doi: 10.1590/S1807-59322010000500013. PMID: 20535374; PMCID: PMC2882550. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2882550/