Did you know that we’re exposed to radiation every day? According to the CDC, small amounts of radioactive fallout are still present in all parts of the world from nuclear weapons testing that happened in the 60s.
So, everything from the air we breathe to the water we drink exposes us to trace radiation levels on a daily basis.
Be that as it may, the human body does a fantastic job at repairing itself against damage caused by radiation. In most cases, it’s able to detoxify itself when exposure is minimal – like when getting an x-ray, for example.
Still, what about when the radiation is more severe — like if you’re exposed to nuclear fallout? Unfortunately, this is a growing concern worldwide.
It’s more or less the general opinion that the threat of nuclear war feels more real today than it has in almost half a decade. As a result, people have become interested in adding more iodine to their diets as a way to help the body eliminate radiation naturally.
Related: 16 Remedies for Radiation Exposure
In fact, people all over Europe are buying up large quantities of iodine due to fears of nuclear fallout from the war in Ukraine.
European iodine sales as a whole have skyrocketed since March of 2022 with many pharmacies already reporting low stock. One can only assume this rise in sales is a consequence of widespread fears of nuclear disaster.
For this reason, as soon as you know you’ve been exposed to radiation, you should act fast. Ideally, you will want to have enough iodine levels built up in your body before being exposed.
Still, if you haven’t been eating iodine rich foods for at least one year, several supplements can help prevent damage from radioactive fallout.
For example, one of the more popular supplements is KI03 potassium iodate (a stable form of iodine) which can offset the effects of exposure to radioactive iodine in the air.
However, as demand for iodine tablets or KI03 supplements increase, they will likely become harder to find. This is why getting enough iodine in your diet now will help your body to process and eliminate radiation to the best of its ability in the event of exposure.
How Does Iodine Help?
Iodine is a naturally occurring essential micronutrient that’s found in soils, ocean water, and certain types of food. This essential element is important for proper endocrine and thyroid function.
Consequently, it’s highly effective at protecting the prostate, thyroid, and other parts of the body from radiation damage.
This means that if you’ve been meeting your daily iodine dietary needs for some time, it can prevent your body from absorbing the radiation.
However, the human body doesn’t produce iodine on its own, so it’s important to get enough iodine-rich foods into your diet as a general practice.
How Much Iodine Do You Need Daily?
The daily recommended dose hovers around 150 mcg/day for adults. The maximum dose limit is around 1 mg/day.
Some doses can be much larger depending on the type of radiation emergency, your proximity to ground zero, and your iodine levels.
Related: What Is The Closest Power Plant To Your Home? Are You Living In The High-Risk Zone?
Unfortunately, this kind of health information can be hard to measure on your own. However, it is easy to meet your daily dose by adding certain foods to your diet.
Additionally, it’s important to note that although high doses of iodine are typically tolerated well by the human body, taking large doses when you already have thyroid problems can be dangerous.
I am not a doctor and the information presented in this blog are for information purposes only. Please consult your doctor before taking large doses of iodine or iodide, especially if you have thyroid problems or related medical conditions.
Since nutrients from whole foods are typically better absorbed by the body than supplements are, try including these 5 iodine-rich foods in your diet to help manage radiation effects.
Seaweed Kelp
Dried seaweed is probably the largest source of iodine from food. While different seaweed types have different levels of iodine, a one-gram sheet of dried seaweed kelp averages at about 3,000 mcg.
Related: 20 Stone Age Foods Every Prepper Should Try
Although this far exceeds the daily goal, some sources claim that you can cut the iodine content in half by boiling it in water for 15-20 minutes. To get even more use out of the remaining seaweed water, try freezing it for later to make iodine-rich soups and stews.
Those who prefer dried seaweed suggest grinding the sheets into a powder and adding ½ teaspoon or so to foods like smoothies and homemade salad dressing. While plenty of people eat dried seaweed sheets with no problems, not everyone will be able to tolerate such high doses.
If you don’t like the idea of eating seaweed or if you have an existing thyroid concern, it may be a good idea to take it slow or consult your doctor when adding this iodine-rich food to your diet.
Eggs
Preppers and homesteaders alike know how beneficial it can be to keep chickens. So, if you have hens, this will be an easy way to get more iodine in your diet.
According to the USDA, one large hard-boiled egg provides around 51.4 micrograms of iodine.
Related: How to Preserve Eggs with Waterglass
What’s more, if you keep your own egg-laying hens, you can increase the iodine content of their eggs by feeding them certain foods – like fishmeal or seaweed – over a prescribed period.
This allows you to harvest two-fold: the yolks and the shells.
So, not only do you get yolks with a boosted iodine content, but you can also use the enriched shells for things like DIY calcium supplements, compost, or soil additives.
Since iodine is present in all soil at various levels depending on your geographical location, using iodine enhanced eggshells for your soil could increase the iodine levels in your garden over time. This will help your plants fend off radiation and prevent trace amounts from being passed along to you.
Beef Liver
Beef liver is one of the most nutrient-dense organ meats.
It comes as no surprise that it’s also rich in iodine.
A 2 oz. serving of beef liver will provide you with around 20-35 mcg of iodine along with a full list of other beneficial nutrients.
Although there are a lot of other foods that have more iodine than beef liver, this organ meat boasts an impressive nutrient profile. It provides you with a good dose of B vitamins, Vitamin A, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc.
These nutrients work in tandem with iodine to prevent deficiencies and may lessen the risk of radiation effects as a result. Plus, you can use beef liver to make liver jerky which is a valuable survival food to have in your emergency food stockpile.
Related: The 10-Dollar Jerky Maker
Table Salt
Did you know not all salt has iodine in it? If you’re worried you’re not getting enough in your diet, try cooking with iodized salt.
Iodized salt, or table salt, is by no means considered a “healthy” mineral-rich salt by most people, but it’s an easy way to get your daily dose.
A single ¼ teaspoon of iodized salt has an average of 40-70 mcg of iodine which is about a third of your recommended daily dose.
Plus, whereas iodine from foods is only absorbed by your body up to a certain amount, iodine from table salt is almost 100% bioavailable.
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Of all the dairy products that you might find at your local shop, grated parmesan cheese has the highest iodine content. To be fair, adding any dairy product to your diet will provide you with a pretty good source of iodine. However, it’s important to remember that our bodies only absorb a certain percentage of the nutrients we consume.
Related: How to Make a Nutritious One-Year Shelf-Life Vitamin Bar for Your Stockpile
Therefore, choosing dairy products with the highest iodine content is your best bet at managing possible effects from radiation.
Parmesan cheese has around 78.3 micrograms per ⅓ cup or 100g serving. It is the easiest way to add more iodine from dairy to your diet.
Plus, this long-lasting cheese product will last for around 1-2 years if unopened and kept at room temperature.
Key Takeaways
At the end of the day, it’s a good idea to keep supplements like KI03 potassium iodate on hand to manage the effects of fallout in the event of a full-blown nuclear blast.
However, the most effective way to protect yourself against the effects of radiation in the long-run is to make sure you have high enough iodine levels built-up in your body over time.
This way, you can be ready way before fallout ever happens.
You may also like:
10 Medical Supplies You Need To Stock Up Before It’s Too Late (Video)
Improvised Suppressors When SHTF: Keeping Quiet When It Counts
How To Preserve Food With Duct Tape And Bentonite Clay
14 Plants You Can Turn Into Oil
…unless you have hyperthyroidism, in which case you should reduce or avoid iodine.
In the case of radiation exposure, which is the greater risk? I have hyperthyroidism. I’ll be taking iodine if I think I have been exposed to nuclear radiation.
Leaving the Northern Hemisphere with your Iodine stockpile would be your best option to survive a nuclear holocaust. Where in the Southern Hemisphere you go would also be a priority. Make your bug out plans now before the nukes and NBCs in general start to fall. Last man standing wins.
Roy, if a full on worldwide nuclear war takes place, then the entire planet will be affected, some places sooner, some later, but the radiation will eventually spread via the atmosphere and water to everyone everywhere.
According to a movie I saw a long time ago, Australia was the last refuge after a world-wide nuclear conflagration. Even so, everyone still died. It wasn’t a fun movie.
Good to know this stuff. I know I subscribe to this for a reason, and the reason is the info is pure gold!! Worth more than gold, you can’t spend gold if you die. Keep on doing the good work!!!
I do not know if the iodine in foods like salt, fish, and eggs will block radiation from attaching to the thyroid receptors, but according to medical experts the KI03 potassium iodate does. I bought a couple bottles of KI03 170mg 60 tablets a few years ago for about $15.00 per bottle on walmart.com, EXP 10/2025, and I’m glad I did because when I search now, it is hard to find, and there is a lot of price gouging on the internet.
I did find the exact same KIO3 bottles I have:
https://acmeapproved.com/products/nuclear-anti-radiation-tablets-kio3-170-mg-potassium-iodate?msclkid=6ef0577bbcf911ec8174903d0959c182
No conclusive evidence exposure to radioactive iodine from fall out causes thyroid cancer. Drs. treating thyroid disease with radioactive iodine found that small doses could cause thyroid tumors, large doses did not, so there may be some risk from fall out.Taking iodine pills for a couple weeks after a nuclear accident may help avoid thyroid cancer years later but it could also harm you, some people suffer significant side effects. More likely to die of blood cancer arising from radiation damage to the leg bones.
Arse, a very appropriate name for you. You can play at “doctor” on a blog but in an NBC situation, I’ll rely on my training and advice from real-world medical practitioners to try and reduce exposure as much as I can for those I care about.
First of all, taking Potassium Iodide in a nuclear emergency will probably do no harm, but if I was planning to give it to family members I would do a test run under normal conditions. Possible side effects could require a Dr’s care, not easily found after SHTF, side effects could be confused with various symptoms of radiation poisoning.
It is odd to me that so many won’t wear a mask or take a vax but are happy to take a pill because Authority recommends it. Nobody actually knows if I-131 in fallout causes Thyroid cancer, the possibility is there and statistical research shows a noticeable increase in Thyroid cancer among Hiroshima/Nagasaki long term survivors but correlation is not indicative of causation. It’s hard to study a nuclear disaster, maybe the Japanese will produce some good data from the Fukushima meltdowns.
“Take a pill you’ll be ok” sounds to me like advice from Nanny Doctors who work for our Nanny State and prefer we not worry about things like impending thermonuclear war.
Arse, your statement “It is odd to me that so many won’t wear a mask or take a vax” shows how ignorant you are about medical facts about virus transmission, and these experimental mRNA spike protein “gene therapy” cocktails that continue being falsely propagandized as vaccines – they are not vaccines, they do not stop or even reduce anyone from contracting or transmitting COVID or any other virus. The pores in N95 masks are many times larger than a SARS virus so the viruses can just pass right through from an inhale and from an exhale, so the masks also don’t work. So, what’s your next favorite Libtard Kool-Aid flavor this week?
Arse, this is another Ask a Prepper article about things to take that might help for radiation exposure.
https://www.askaprepper.com/16-remedies-radiation-exposure/
As well as the KIO3 potassium iodide tablets, we also have plenty of multiple vitamin & mineral supplements, additional supplement tablets such as potassium, magnesium and turmeric, powdered sulfur, food grade activated charcoal, olive and coconut oils, and brewer’s yeast, so if we do suspect we might have radiation exposure, we may decide to ingest a lot of these. Will it work? We won’t know until we try it, but it’s better to try and have a chance than be a Libtard sheeple believing in false propaganda.
Do you know anything about chelating? That is also something to do some valid factual research prior to SHTF for “just in case”.
Followed the suggested link, Interesting article, you seemed a bit skeptical in the comments, interesting journey as your thinking broadens. Person could spend some interesting evenings investigating all the knowledge in that article. Earlier in his career the diet Dr, Dr. Atkins, wrote a fascinating book about alternative healing, Dr. Atkins Health Revolution. Lots of info on chelation therapy, think you’d groove on the book. Haha, is it really so obvious I’m a Libtard?
Arse, what your Libtard perspective may deem as skeptical is actually an honest and practical common-sense approach based upon real-world training and experience, not from some hacks using their PHD’s to sell products. I do have some real-world knowledge about medically monitored chelating to remove heavy metal toxins, which is a much more detailed topic than taking supplements and enhancing your diet on your own volition if exposed to excessive radiation. Early in my military career I was sometimes required to wear a dosimeter that was regularly checked and documented in my medical records, have you ever been required to wear a dosimeter?
For reference, this is what I posted on the other article:
“Back when I was active duty we were trained some basics about Nuclear/Biological/Chemical (NBC) contamination and how to decontaminate, which was mostly how to strip naked and avoid contaminating more skin area that was not already exposed, depositing your contaminated clothes in a designated container that can be sealed for transport and disposal, and removing visible contaminants by scraping and/or wiping, and then thoroughly showering and rinsing well, often twice and making sure you cover all areas including your entire earlobe and hearing canals, armpits and groin, between your fingers and toes, and especially all areas with hair where contaminants tend to stick even more than on bare skin, then making sure you do not re-contaminate yourself when moving further into a protected area where you then dry off and redress with clothing that was not in any way contaminated.
There are KIO3 tablets to help prevent radioactive iodine isotopes from sticking to your thyroid, but I am not sure about the other supplements described in the article. I would say that if you think you may have been exposed, a very basic common sense approach would be to take multivitamin / mineral supplements but be sure not over do it. My brother-in-law in the Philippines was in the hospital and was prescribed a potassium IV, but the staff screwed up and gave him over 100 times the amount he should have been given and it killed him in.”
Saying you were skeptical is a Libtard compliment, meaning it looks to me you reacted to info in the old post by seeking further knowledge, reflected in your current posts. Just as your info gives me some things to read about. Not sure if I have the story exactly right but in the aftermath of the Chernobyl explosion the Soviets treated victims of acute exposure with chelation therapy, an American team was allowed in to treat with bone marrow replacement. The chelation therapy was much more successful, in fact I believe all the marrow transplant subjects died.
Never had to wear a dosimeter, sounds like something you’d need after a wild night at the old Pollera in Pieces Negras.
Piedras Negras, the Mexican border town, danged racist auto complete.
I ate enough lead paint that I already block radiation.
I picked up enough asbestos from 60s brake linings that I’m fireproof. Then around 64 they told us we couldn’t make snow ice cream because of the fallout. Recipe, one bowl of snow, add sugar to taste.
To all, I have been reading this posting for over 3 years now and will agree that I have learned so much from a lot of the posters here and I thank all of you for that,
however I can’t say I’m impressed with all of the unnecessary name calling and the callous responses for most topics that now post to this board.
I’ve seen this same kind of progression in a lot of other sites and boards and it just keeps getting worse and worse, there is so much more that everyone can do to make this change to the positive board that it used to be.
My father used to say “if you don’t have or can’t think of something positive to say than don’t say anything at all.
I have no interest in responding to any comments and I certainly won’t be checking this board again for a while as Im sure there will be a ton of negativity about my posting…further proving my point of the unnecessary show of ignorance that seems to be considered so normal now…it’s a damn shame that society has not only allowed this to happen but now seen to accept it as normal behaviour.
I just want to wish everyone a HAPPY EASTER!! and remember… don’t eat the chocolate jelly beans.