No, your iodine supplement does NOT need to contain I2 or iodide forms in order to be effective. In fact, inorganic forms of iodine (like I2 and potassium iodide - both found in Lugol’s Solutions) do not work as well as a chelated iodine supplement… no matter how you look at it.
Lugol's liquid iodine solutions were invented back in 1829 - intended to make a topical and water disinfectant (and antiseptic) for troops on battlefields. People started taking it internally because it was the only form of iodine available, and today we know of several predictable health problems associated with orally ingesting Lugol's liquid iodine.
I2 (the brown pigment in a liquid iodine solutions) is inorganic and has powerful disinfectant properties. When taken internally, it can cause an upset or aching stomach and behave like an antibiotic in the intestines. Long term use can cause chronic digestive problems.
Potassium iodide has almost zero disinfectant properties, it's an inorganic salt which is only partially absorbable by the body and absorption depends on many factors. The digestive system has to break the iodine off from the potassium and then attach it to a protein chain from other digestive contents. The type of protein which gets attached is highly dependent upon the pH as well as the food contents near the iodine. This is called naturally occurring chelation and it is very inefficient.
Chelated iodine is organic, the iodine is already pre-attached to an amino acid chelate protein chain - so your body can absorb all of it without any effort. This pre-chelated iodine has only recently became available to the public.
Until about 5 decades ago, all that was available for supplementing not only iodine but other minerals like calcium, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, and manganese were inorganic salts. Lugol’s iodine was invented back in 1829, and we've come a long way since then. When taken internally, ALL inorganic mineral salts come with bioavailability challenges, toxic effects and digestive upset problems. All of them. Iodine is also a mineral, and research shows that ALL mineral supplements need to be amino acid chelated for best absorption.
NOTE: New Iodine® is not manufactured by Albion Nutrition, this is simply the best video we can find to describe the natural process of chelation
About 50 years ago, a lesser known (yet truly brilliant) biochemist, named Dr. Harvey Ashmead, discovered the natural chelation process and pioneered our ability to mimic Nature's chelation process in the laboratory - and later also in manufacturing. He even attached radioisotope tracers to many inorganic forms of minerals as well as different organic amino acid chelates to see where they went in the body, how bioavailable they were and what toxicities and side effects were associated with different levels of supplementation. The amino acid chelates won hands down, and there were no negative side effects associated with them either.
Today, many companies are now making amino acid chelated minerals, and they are commonly known to be much better than inorganic forms. New Iodine® is the future of nutritional iodine supplementation across the world.
