So I spent two decades living with acne, searching for the holy grail solution that would end my battle. And then I found it. I never realized the connection between iodine and acne, but as soon as I tried iodine for acne I realized this was a huge missing link.
I’m intimately familiar with acne. It’s been a constant companion (though not a welcome one) since I was twelve years old. I’ve spent almost two decades trying to get rid of my breakouts, without much success. Until now.
How I’ve Tried to Stop Acne
Off the top of my head, here are just a few of the things I’ve tried over the years to fight the acne dragon:
- benzoyl peroxide (ProActiv and many others)
- salicylic acid
- glycolic acid peels
- tanning way too much (sorry, skin)
- antibiotics
- charcoal mask
- harsh soaps
- no soap
- washing with honey
- washing with tea
- apple cider vinegar
- low-carb diet
- low-fat diet
- no sugar diet
- washing my face more
- washing less
- petroleum jelly (ew)
- coconut oil
- Vitamin A
- hormone replacement therapy
- tons of other vitamins, minerals, and herbs
I could go on, actually, but it’s starting to get ridiculous.
Not all of this stuff is bad. Things like a good DIY charcoal mask and coconut oil are still staples in my skincare regimen. And eating a generally balanced diet is always a good idea for your skin!
But the truth was, sometimes my acne would clear up for a few weeks for no reason. Even while I was eating junk food like crazy and barely taking care of my skin! And then it would return, also for no apparent reason.
Sometimes maintaining a low-stress lifestyle and decent eating habits really helped… sometimes not so much.
Operation Acne Desperation
Last year, I was at the end of my rope. I didn’t know what was going on with my skin. I was so, so, so tired of having acne all the time.
Plus, it was getting worse. Painful cysts were popping up all around my jawline. It was impossible to hide them with makeup, and they would hurt for at least a week. Every morning I’d wake up with a new, aching lump. It was miserable.
I did so much research on hormones and androgens and PCOS… I had a lot of puzzle pieces, but nothing would line up.
I was crazy desperate.
So I tried two things I never thought I’d go for:
- In late 2015, I started using Retin-A cream.
- In early 2016, I cut all dairy out of my diet.
Y’all know I love milk, right? I’m the milk diet lady, after all. But I didn’t even blink when I gave it up. I was willing to do anything (hence the so-not-natural Retin-A cream!!).
But even with these drastic measures, it maybe resulted in a 50% improvement.
All this, for 50% results?!
Ugh.
Enter an Old Blogging Buddy
By a stroke of luck, in February an old friend, Melissa Gardner, looked me up and sent me an email.
She said, “Hey, remember back when we were blogging buddies? I wrote this book on everything I researched and I’d love some feedback.”
I was excited for Melissa and decided to take a look. She warned me: it was a long book, so we agreed if it took me a few months to get through it, no problem.
The second I started reading, I couldn’t stop.
I flew through page after page, diving into more health information in a few days than I had in two years!
I emailed Melissa and told her, “This is amazing!! I’m making changes right now and will let you know how it goes.”
Here’s what I learned and what I did:
The End of Acne
I’m not one for conspiracy theories. I’m up for the occasional controversy, but evidence is a staple around here. That’s one of the reasons I found The Hidden Cause of Acne so compelling. To say Melissa did her research is a massive understatement. I was blown away (not a statement I use often) by the depth of the information in this book.
I can’t even begin to cover what I learned in this book, but I will try to give you the relevant cliff notes.
Melissa’s Story
Melissa is a researcher at heart and professionally. So when she noticed strange patterns in her breakouts, moods, and other symptoms, she just had to know why. It took her a long time to find the answer, but what she uncovered was HUGE.
She found that acne, hypothyroidism, and depression (as well as other health issues) all seemed to be linked to two halogens: fluoride and iodine. Or more accurately, too much fluoride and not enough iodine.
How do fluoride and iodine influence each other?
“Iodine and fluorine are located at opposite ends of the halogen group. Since iodine is the heaviest of the halogens found in the human body (and the heaviest of all elements needed by living organisms), it loses out to other halogens that compete for the same receptors. When we have high amounts of fluoride in our diets, especially when iodine is lacking, our bodies absorb fluoride where they would normally absorb iodine.” – The Hidden Cause of Acne
The Fluoride Story
Most of us think of the fluoride in our water and toothpaste, but it shows up in all kinds of places. Like raisins and wine (from pesticides, believe it or not).
So although researchers have told us how much fluoride is “safe” in our drinking water, we can actually easily be exposed to an abundance of fluoride from our food and dental products, too. It all adds up!
I like to think of the body as being pretty adaptable, but too much is just too much. And Melissa convinced me that our bodies can easily be overloaded with fluoride from all these sources. She explained in great detail how common foods like milk, grains, and tea have become sources of fluoride because of modern farming and food production methods.
(If you’re curious which foods are highest in fluoride, check out this list. It’s easy to see how you can ingest WAY too much very easily. Consider that the World Health Organization notes 6mg/day of fluoride is enough to seriously increase risk of bone fracture — read more here.)
The Iodine Story
(I flipping love history, so this part of Melissa’s book fascinated me. I will try to remain calm and not get too geeky here.)
Long ago, when humans first decided to spread across the globe, they did so by following the coastline — and taking advantage of the rich sea life as a primary food source. Some researchers believe that eating all that awesome seafood is what helped the human brain develop into the intelligent machine it is today.
Seafood (and foods by the sea) are rich in many important nutrients, but in this discussion, one in particular stands out:
Iodine.
And, if you look at traditional diets over the entire planet, they all tend to be rich in iodine.
My point? Humans need iodine. Quite possibly a lot more than we’ve been recommending in recent years. (To learn more about the importance of iodine, I highly recommend the book Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It.)
Iodine and Acne: What I did
I could spend several thousand more words going into detail about the how and why of iodine, fluoride, and acne. But others have honestly done a much better job than I could. Definitely read The Hidden Cause of Acne to learn why I did the following crazy things:
I got a reverse osmosis filter for our drinking water.
I ordered a handy water tester after reading Melissa’s book. It doesn’t tell you how much fluoride is there, but it does tell you the level of “solids” in your water. I was curious to see how our numbers looked. Our tap water tested at around 290ppm (above 500 is considered unsafe). Then I tested our filtered water — 275ppm.
Then I got crazy and tested the water in our toilet and turtle tank — both were cleaner than my filtered water!!
I ordered a reverse osmosis filter right then and there. (This is the one I got.) After that, my water tested at 50ppm or lower, so I was happy.
I watched my intake of high fluoride foods.
Less wine, less tea, less fruit juice, and fewer raisins are in my life now. I actually eat more dairy, however. Earlier this year, I cut it out, but after reading Melissa’s insights on why dairy can be an issue, I’ve added more dairy back into my diet without issues (I just make sure it’s really high quality when I do).
I don’t obsess about avoiding fluoride in my food. Instead, I just cut back on obvious sources when I can, because I know even a little bit, makes a difference.
I started taking iodine supplements.
I had never fully grasped the connection between iodine and acne before reading this book. I’ve taken iodine before without side effects — I just never stuck with it — so I knew I wouldn’t have overwhelming detox effects (iodine displaces icky halogens like fluoride and bromide, which can sometimes lead to detox symptoms). I still started small, with 1/2 of an Iodoral tablet every day.
After some time I switched to Lugol’s 5% drops because it’s easier to regulate the dosage up and down each day. I put 1 drop in my coffee smoothie each morning. Every week or two, I started adding another drop, until I’d worked up to 4 drops each day (or 25 mg). I’ve stayed at this dosage for a few months now (more than that leads to detox symptoms for me).
For some reason, I feel the drops work better for me. I don’t know if they’re more easily absorbed or if it’s just easier for me to get the dosage right. Your mileage may vary.
Iodine and Acne: My Results
For the past 18 years, my skin has never been more than 80% clear. Even that would never last long.
Now, I would consider my skin 95-97% clear most of the time. My worst days are 80% clear.
Before, I would experience at least one bad breakout every week. Just as it would start clearing up, I’d be hit with another wave of pimples. The older I got, the more these tended to be large and painful.
Now, I get an occasional pimple. They’re always small and never painful anymore. In the past 7 months since trying iodine for acne, I’ve had what I’d consider a “breakout” maybe twice. And even that was very mild in comparison to what I used to experience.
Makeup takes me about two minutes now because there’s nothing to worry about covering up. I’ve even been known to leave the house without makeup lately (NEVER would have happened before — and yes, those all-caps were necessary!!).
For the first time in many, many years, I love my skin. This feeling is unfamiliar and overwhelming to me, even though my skin has been clear for months now.
After two decades of acne, it’s really gone. I still can’t believe it.
And that’s why I had to share this with you.
Does Iodine Cause Acne?
There’s a pervasive myth floating around that iodine consumption causes acne. There’s a kernel of truth to this (more on that in a moment), but when you start gathering data, the opposite tends to be true. Unfortunately, no one studies this much anymore. But here’s an interesting piece of information:
“In 1961, about ten years after most cities in North Carolina started fluoridating their water supply, two researchers from the University of North Carolina conducted a study to compare the rates of acne between adolescents who eat a lot of seafood on the coast, and those in the mountainous western region of the state where a diet rich in seafood and therefore iodine is less common. The results of their study were not what anyone expected. The adolescents who consumed more iodine had less acne.” – The Hidden Cause of Acne
But some people do experience more acne when they start supplementing with iodine. Why?
Melissa’s studies led her to an important theory: as iodine naturally displaces the excess fluoride in our systems, symptoms of that fluoride can increase. That means you can break out when you start taking iodine.
And that leads us to an important tip: start slow!
If you want to try iodine for acne, you want to start at a very low dosage and slowly work your way up, backing off a little if detox symptoms start. What I started with might be too much for you. Be cautious and listen to your body.
You also need to be taking supportive nutrients like vitamin C, magnesium and selenium to assist this process. This is all described in detail in the book Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It.
Resources for using iodine for acne:
First and foremost, I highly recommend reading Melissa’s book The Hidden Cause of Acne. It’s a deep book, but oh so worth it. Plus, Melissa’s sense of humor (and love for Disney movies) really shines through and makes for an entertaining read.
Next, consider a quality reverse osmosis filtration system. They are much more affordable than they used to be, and make a huge difference in the quality of water you drink.
Then, get familiar with iodine supplementation with the book Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It. I don’t recommend jumping into taking iodine without knowing the details first.
Last, check out the testimonials about Iodoral tablets and Lugol’s solutions. Then you can make an educated decision about whether iodine is right for you. Consider talking with a physician who’s well-versed in iodine therapy. It can really help to have a professional guiding you along the way.
This is a really unique approach to resolving acne, so I encourage you to be informed and follow your intuition as you learn more.
Do you have a victorious story about conquering your acne? Tell me in the comments below!
More of our best posts:
- Does coconut oil REALLY help with acne?
- Raw Honey Mask for Acne
- DIY Charcoal Mask to Detox Skin
- Best DIY Toner for Acne Prone Skin
- Turmeric Milk Soap Recipe
- How to Make Healing Calendula Oil
- Homemade Mouthwash
- DIY 1-Ingredient Cough “Syrup”
That is so cool Elizabeth!! Thank you for sharing. I’ve always been the same…acne up and down for no reason. And always painful/cystic. I’m sure I could use more iodine. And our water is horrible. I have Logol’s in my cupboard 🙂 I need to start using it again. We are moving to a 10 acre farm in 2 months…and one of the things on the top of the list is a whole house water filter 🙂 Do you add minerals back to your water? That is always my concern with RO.
Thanks, Mary! 🙂 I don’t add minerals to my water, but only because I already make sure I’m getting a lot of minerals in my diet and I do add trace minerals and sea salt into my recipes often. I typically drink my water around meals, so I think I’m keeping a good balance overall.
Thanks!
Hi, Mary! We DO add minerals back into our water. We buy powdered versions of Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, D-Ribose, Glutamine, Vitamin C to a gallon jug of filtered water. We also add some liquid silica, too. We get them all at a great price at Vitacost.com. No, I don’t work for them, don’t receive a commission. I’m just super frugal! Oh, I should mention we buy the Magnesium Citrate powder.
Hi Elizabeth! Thanks so much for sharing all of this information!! I am looking forward to reading both books you mentioned to learn more. I have a couple questions, not sure if you’ll have the answer but thought I’d ask! 1) does eating the organic versions of the foods listed in the high fluoride list make a difference or are organics equally high? 2) Would the iodine supplementation help possibly help my 16 year old son with hormonal breakouts?
Thanks again, so much for sharing!!!
Organic may help to some extent, but not always. There are still natural pesticides approved for organic labeling, so it depends largely on what’s used. Melissa mentioned in her book that organic tea has not been shown to have less fluoride than non-organic (not herbal tea, but organic black, green, and white tea, etc. — herbal teas are pretty safe). Same for raisins. The overall farming methods are way more important than the organic label. I’m disappointed about that because I really wanted “organic” to mean “safe” — not just for fluoride but in every way. It’s not always the case, unfortunately.
Flouride in organic foods may come from the water they use. It’s not like they are going to use an osmosis filter for watering their fields. Not much they can do about that, sad to say.
True. But unfortunately, National Organic Standards do allow practices that include high-fluoride products, such as bone meal: https://www.organicconsumers.org/old_articles/toxic/flouride.php
Does topical iodine offer any extra help? i’m terribly intrigued by this as somebody United Nations agency has suffered with unhealthy skin since i used to be twelve. i’m planning to obtain iodine tomorrow however have some povidone iodine answer in my cabinet. Also, however long before you saw improvement? Thanks
Topical iodine is moderately helpful for me. With the Lugol’s iodine, it took about 4-6 weeks before I started really seeing a difference in my skin.
Hi Elizabeth! Did you break out a little more when you first started using iodine? I am — deficient as of the years ago and no one told me to take it. My skin has been breaking out for years.
I tried to start low, so I didn’t get much of an initial breakout. Melissa definitely recommends very slowly tapering up until you get a feel for how your body reacts to the iodine. If it’s releasing fluoride from body tissues, it can make things worse if you do that too quickly.
I posted a comment earlier, but it seems to have not appeared. Does this also work for back acne? and shoulder acne? Or juts face acne??
Sorry about that! It can take me a little while to approve comments. This absolutely works for acne everywhere! I forgot to mention it in the post, but I also had acne on my chest, shoulders and back — the same large, painful cyst-like pimples. Not fun at all! Those breakouts have also resolved and I feel much more comfortable wearing tanks tops, etc. now.
Does topical iodine provide any additional help? I am very intrigued by this as someone who has suffered with bad skin since I was 12. I am going to pick up iodine tomorrow but have some povidone iodine solution in my cupboard. Also, how long before you saw improvement? Thanks so much for posting.
Topical iodine did help me to some extent. I use a cotton ball or brush to apply a layer, and leave it for about 10 minutes as a mask (it’s drying and a little staining to leave it on for longer periods).
Iodine supplementation is what made the real difference for me, though, probably due to the internal benefits (such as thyroid balancing — which may help balance other hormones as well — and displacing fluoride/bromide accumulation). I believe it hit the root issue of my acne.
(You probably know this, but povidone iodine is not meant to be ingested! I had to say it, just in case.)
What if you no longer have a thyroid? I was recently told my hasimotos and subsequent thyroid cancer could have been caused by an undiagnosed iodine deficiency. I believe no thyroid, no iodine uptake?
From what I’ve read, although a large portion of iodine is used by thyroid reuptake, it’s still required by other parts of the body. I definitely recommend reading the iodine book by Dr. Brownstein.
Great article! Thank you Elizabeth. I think you forget to get to include Aloe vera in your list. Aloe vera can be used with other things to fight acne, but it’s a good thing on its own as well.
Aloe is awesome! I use it all the time. 🙂
Hello Elizabeth! 🙂
I was wondering how your skin is doing now. Also, I have heard a lot about supplementing with iodine, and how it should only be taken short term, not long term. What are your thoughts?
My skin is still doing really well. Not perfect all the time, but still way better than it’s been in years. From what I’ve read, if you’re supplementing with the upper limits, that should be temporary. But many people have a maintenance dose of 12-25mg that they take long-term. Obviously, I recommend doing your research and being in tune with your body’s response.
Hey there. Do you supplement Selenium with the Lugol’s solution? If you do, how much and which brand do you use? What do you recommend for the dosing of the solution to start out with?
I take a potent multivitamin/mineral that covers my selenium needs while using iodine. Here’s the one I use: http://amzn.to/2kkC5O0
Hi Elizabeth,
Your article is very interesting. It seems intuative that impaired thyroid function from lack of iodine may cause hormonal imbalances and subsequently excess sebum production. It would be interesting to test the universablity of Mellisa’s iodine method among various types of acne.
Thanks for a great read!
James
Glad you liked it! I’d definitely be interested in hearing more experiences with iodine and acne.
I would like to know with this very long list of high flouride foods whether the element of organic produce was introduced and if the impact was lessened. Most of my produce is organic but Recently have been eating a lot of conventional raisins in my oatmeal and have had an outbreak that won’t heal. Thoughts please and thank you.
Apparently organic produce can have less fluoride, but it completely depends on what products are used on the plants. There are organic-approved products that contain fluoride, too. I just try to avoid the worst offenders, because it’s a little too easy to become overly stressed about this.
Hi there! I love this article. I started taking 2% lugol’s solution last month and am up to two drops a day. I recently got up to 3 drops but have started breaking out around my chin and forehead with hard, painful pimples. I increased my dosage because I kept getting extreme lethargy around 2-3 pm. Do I keep up with the 3 drops per day or divide the drops to 1 1/2 in the morning and 1 1/2 at night or go back to 2 drops a day?? I am at a lost because it was going to so well but I thought I needed more iodine to kick my thyroid in gear and instead, I am breaking out. Please help!!
Two drops is still not a bad dose! I got the same reaction when I take too much. One thing you can do is take 2 drops most days, but once a week take three drops. Then you can slowly work up to 2x a week until you eventually take 3 drops daily. Let your body guide you here, because it’s really tempting to take too much too fast.
I just bought some Nascent Iodine from infowars – that stuff is strong strong stuff. I actually broke out in a bit of painful acne when I first started, but over the weeks it cleared up quick now my skin is holy cow clean of acne! Very happy, wasn’t sure if that was normal but it makes since with the fluoride. Stuff is nasty nasty stuff, they also found through a study that people gained 10-15 IQ points when consuming iodine over long periods of time… might have had something to do with the salt?
One interesting theory is that seafood had a big impact on our intelligence and ability to develop as a species because of the iodine present in the food. Of course, essential fatty acids are thought to play an important role as well, and there are a lot of nutrients in seafood. But iodine is only present in large amounts in seafood, so it definitely makes you wonder.
Hi,
I read Melissa’s book and after cutting out all the flouride of my diet I’d like to supplement with iodine to get rid of the rest of my acne.
Now I’ve read that high dosages of iodine can cause a thyroiddysfunction and I would like to now If you experienced something like that.
I’ve read conflicting reports on this. Dr. Brownstein and other iodine experts disagree with the low iodine recommendations and the claims that higher doses of iodine cause thyroid problems. After doing my own research, I tend to agree. I haven’t experienced any negative thyroid effects personally.
Hi Elizabeth,
I, too, suffer from cystic acne all the time. I get like 2 or 3 lumps in a month, and it always hurts like crazy. I’ve done a few natural masks here and there, and it does help me speed up the healing process, but it hasn’t stopped my face from producing acne. I was advised to stop consuming dairy and wheat products, but it didn’t change anything. I love sea foods, and I eat fish 90% of the time, so I think my iodine level is good. I am getting a doctor’s appointment, and hopefully, find something that will help me. Thanks for sharing!
Hi,
Interesting article.
I have also suffered from cystic acne on the face, back and chest. I was wondering whether having a particular blood type that is susceptible to hypothriodism (Blood group O) cause acne?
I’m not sure if blood type has an influence, but there is certainly some kind of underlying connection between what’s going on in the body and what happens in our skin.
I just wanted to add that I tried this (lugols 5%) and I too has cleared my skin up 97% when NOTHING else worked.
Amazing!
I’m wondering what this means? Why did iodine work for me? Asking because I’m also battling unexplained inferrtilirt and maybe there is a link here that I can continue on to healing. Thanks!
So many answers and questions! I definitely feel that way. I really want to see more research on this idea, but so far the results are speaking volumes for me. I’ve started my daughter on the protocol since her skin is acting up now.
Did this help your daughter? I have a 17 year old with acne and have done so much research trying to help her! Her acne is mostly on the cheeks. Just curious how old your daughter is and if it helped.
My daughter has noticed a difference (she’s almost 14 right now), but I will say that avoiding excessive fluoride seems to be an important component as well as the iodine.
HI, I realise this is an old comment, but there is definitely a link between iodine and fertility.
WIthout adequate iodine you can not produce adequate thyroid hormone.
Without adequate thyroid hormone you can NOT produce adequate amounts of progesterone
Lack of progesterone / excess estrogen will cause all sorts of issues related to fertility.
Its certainly the cause (IMO) of endometriosis.
If you sort out your thyroid, further endometriosis symptoms will melt away.
The third largest requirer or thyroid after the thyroid and breasts are the ovaries.
I am allergic to shellfish. Will iodine be okay for me to take?
They are not usually connected. Here’s an interesting post on the subject: https://www.wildmed.com/blog/q-is-there-a-connection-between-shellfish-allergies-and-iodine/
I’m 38 yrs old and I have a hypothyroid that has caused my skin to break out, feel dry and have an extremely dull appearance. I’ve tried everything under the sun for over a year hoping to find a fix. I have been getting some relief with some natural products. The one that worked the best was the Citrus Clear Grapefruit Spot Treatment – I tried it for one week, and my acne is almost gone. I have a glow again and my face looks fresh! If you have hypothyroid like me with acne, definitely look at the Citrus Clear products – all natural, and they work for acne.
Hi,
I have just recently read Melissa’s work and just started actively avoiding fluoride in the past couple of weeks. If I would like to try the iodine supplement, could I start that now, or is it more advised to wait a few weeks into avoiding fluoride and see where that takes me?
You can start, but I would just start very slowly and listen to your body.
Thanks, I might try that.
Do you think conventional dairy products are a big source of fluoride?
Also, do you have any idea why Melissa’s book is not available ANYWHERE?
I do think commercial dairy can be a source of fluoride in the modern diet. Melissa got a publishing deal so her book isn’t available for the time being — exciting news but I definitely can’t wait till it’s available again!
Uh bro the fluoride from food and water are totally different things.
That’s not what’s being said. There are two different forms. But this article is referring to when food has been contaminated with fluoride through its preparation or exposure i.e. through the water sprayed on plants and crops, through the farming and agricultural methods, and through its pre-washed, cosmetic state, y’know.