Iodine and The Thyroid — Worth A Second Glance

womentowomen on November 20, 2013

Thyroid Iodine Deficiency Mother DaughterIodine deficiency may often be overlooked because the symptoms overlap with those of other illnesses, perhaps masking the problem. The 2004 National Health and Nutrition Survey helped dispel the assumption that iodine deficiency in women is a myth. Although there was some leveling off of the drop in overall intake, more than a third of women of childbearing age had insufficient iodine levels. From thyroid issues to breast concerns to cognitive function, this could have serious implications for women’s short- and long-term health as well as that of their children. In my clinic, I’ve noted marginal levels in my patients and am seeing a distinct downward trend of levels in new patients.

8 dietary sources of iodine:

The sea is where it’s at when it comes to iodine. Seafood and seaweeds (sea vegetables) are excellent sources.

Best by far…                                                           Thyroid Iodine Deficiency Sea Vegetables Seafood Sushi   

  1. Sea vegetables
  2. Saltwater fish and other seafood
  3. Iodized sea salt

 

Thyroid Iodine Deficiency Eggs Dairy ProductsFoods that contain some iodine…

  1. Eggs, Dairy Products
  2. Onions
  3. Radishes
  4. Watercress

Remember, even iodized salt is not as high in iodine as you may think. Also look for iodine in your daily multivitamin-mineral complex.

From intake to uptake — why are some of us so iodine-deficient?

One-third of the world’s population lives in iodine-deficient areas: very little of the earth’s iodine is found in top soils, and even where this mineral is present, it may remain tightly bound up in soil particles. This is the main reason why land vegetable crops are generally not good dietary sources. Women with symptoms of hypothyroidism should have their iodine levels evaluated, especially if they don’t eat many iodine-containing foods (See the list above for good dietary sources of iodine).

Thyroid Iodine Deficiency No Salt UmbrellaBut even while we humans have lived for millennia in an iodine-poor environment, the more pressing problem may be the novel burdens our modern surroundings are placing on our systems. Together with our lack of understanding, factors that make it harder than ever to acquire and retain enough iodine include toxic halide chemicals in our environment filling the iodine void in our bodies; the “demonizing” of salt; over fishing; and ocean pollution.

Iodophobia.  Iodine is one of the essential nutrients that you can get too much of.  So both excess iodine and iodine deficiency can impair thyroid function and lead to elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. But it’s likely that if you are iodine-replete, you’re less sensitive to excess iodine than people with chronically depleted levels.

In the US, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for iodine for adults is 150 mcg/day and 290 mcg/day for lactating women. More and more researchers are saying that increasing the RDA would greatly benefit breast, thyroid, and nervous system health in women and infants. Our current RDA is well below the US Food and Nutrition Board’s “upper limit of safety” for iodine (UL = 1100 mcg), which is even lower in Europe (UL = 600 mcg), where iodine deficiency is more common. In Japan, however, where diets include lots of iodine, consumption is about 25 times more than the median intake here, yet the Japanese do not have more thyroid iodine toxicosis.

Individual sensitivity to iodine varies widely, but in the past 10–15 years, experts have found that overall, we are “remarkably tolerant to high intakes of iodine.” It appears that low or high iodine intake is something we get used to over long periods of time — though we’ll always need a certain amount. People living in some coastal regions of Japan regularly consume as much as 50,000–80,000 mcg of iodine daily!

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