What is the difference between nascent iodine and potassium iodide? There are very distinct differences between nascent iodine products and the potassium iodide products like Lugol’s iodine. Usually, people are most familiar with Lugol’s iodine and iodoral as the potassium iodide form of an iodine supplement. People typically ask us what the the difference is between a nascent iodine product and a potassium iodide product and which one is better. We believe that a nascent iodine product is superior to a potassium iodide product for a few reasons.
- A nascent iodine product usually uses pure forms of iodine such as USP grade, or pharmaceutical grade, iodine crystals and a potassium iodide product like Lugols does not. For example, Lugols consists of iodide bonded to potassium which is noted as (KI) but also includes some free iodine noted as (I). This particular form of iodine is less pure than the USP grade iodine typically used in a nascent iodine product.
- When the supplement you are taking is the potassium iodide form, your body must do additional converting of this supplement in order for your thyroid to utilize it which can make the product’s absorbability and bio-availability less than that of a nascent iodine supplement. Also, the break down and separation of the potassium from the iodide, when the body is metabolizing the product, can cause a buildup of potassium in the thyroid which leads to an enlarged thyroid known as thyroiditis.
- You may notice that the potassium iodide supplements give their dosing in milligrams which is much larger than the dosing that you will find on nascent iodine supplements, which is in micrograms. We believe that potassium iodide supplements must be delivered in large quantities to the body in hopes that some of it will be absorbed and utilized. However, a small amount of a USP grade nascent iodine supplement will be very effective. We urge users of lugols iodine to be very careful of the dose they are taking because the potassium iodide (KI) dissociates when metabolized creating a concentration of potassium (K) and iodine (I). In addition, there is already free iodine (I) in the lugols solution, so as stated by an article on the National Institute of Health’s website, it is possible that a toxic amount of iodine can be absorbed leading to an iodine overdose which can cause metabolic acidosis, renal failure, hypotension, circulatory collapse, and even death. Furthermore, a toxic amount of potassium can be consumed which can also lead to extreme irritation of the mucosal membranes. In order to better control for these concerns a nascent iodine product’s dosing is given in smaller quantities and only consists of high quality pure iodine.
- Lastly, our USP grade iodine is much more efficient at dissolving into our solvent. In fact, products like Lugols must include potassium-iodide in order to make the iodine more soluble which only then allows it to dissolve.