If you are American or Canadian, you may pick up a container of iodized salt, a pack of strawberries, or a carton of milk at the grocer’s, unaware that you hold in your hands an essential building block to your health. Evidenced by the health issues of countries and communities without access to iodine enriched foods, this mineral has been revealed to be vital to thyroid functioning and capable of keeping thyroid-related maladies like depression, fatigue, goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland), and weight gain at bay.
Since iodine functions as an element of the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), iodine is necessary for human life. Hormone synthesis is impossible without iodine; deprived of that synthesis, cells will not metabolize and physiological functions will deteriorate. Iodine deficiency may eventually lead to hypothyroidism, or hyperthyroidism. Pregnant women who are iodine deficient run the risk of repeated miscarriage or delivering infants with cretinism, a condition responsible for mental retardation, stunted growth, deafness, and spasticity.
To avoid devastating health repercussions, ensure that you get the appropriate amounts of iodine in your diet. Be sure to prepare food correctly to obtain optimal benefits. Sea vegetables, yogurt, cow’s milk, eggs, and strawberries are excellent sources of iodine. It is difficult to ingest too much. Toxicity is rare unless you have an autoimmune thyroid disease like Graves disease or Hashimoto disease. The Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences recommends the following iodine dietary allowances:
• 0-6 months: 110 mcg
• 7-12 months: 130 mcg
• 1-8 years: 90 mcg
• Boys 9-13 years: 120 mcg
• Girls 9-13 years: 120 mcg
• Boys 14-18 years: 150 mcg
• Girls 14-18 years: 150 mcg
• Men 19 years and older: 150 mcg
• Women 19 years and older: 150 mcg
• Pregnant women 14 years and older: 220 mcg
• Lactating women 14 years and older: 290 mcg
Read the full article here: Iodine
