Thursday, June 9, 2011

Is Your Diet Lacking Iodine?

At the moment I am laying out and reading one of the most hilarious books I've ever read;


If you're looking for a funny read, I suggest this one! It's about a women who was thrown off a cruise ship by her greedy and quite idiotic husband. He meant for her to die, obviously, but she survived. The entire book is about her plot at getting back at her husband, and I'll leave it at that. Read it!


I also wanted to share with you this article I recently read about certain populations (mainly vegans) who may not be getting enough iodine in their diets.


From the article:

According to the World Health Organization, the general recommended range of iodine concentrations per liter of urine is between 100 and 199 micrograms, and between 150 and 249 micrograms per liter in pregnant women.


Leung and her colleagues calculated an average iodine level of 147 micrograms in vegetarians and 79 in vegans - those who avoid not just meat but eggs and dairy products as well.




So, why is iodine so important? See the following from Thyroid.org




Iodine is an element that is needed for the production of thyroid hormone. The body does not make iodine, so it is an essential part of your diet. Iodine is found in various foods (see Table 1 below). If you do not have enough iodine in your body, you cannot make enough thyroid hormone. Thus, iodine deficiency can lead to enlargement of the thyroid (goiter – see Goiter brochure), hypothyroidism (see Hypothyroidism brochure) and to mental retardation in infants and children whose mothers were iodine deficient during pregnancy.


The article talks about how it's super important for women of childbearing age, especially those who are vegan, to take an iodine supplement. It wasn't mentioned in the article, but I tend to believe that many people who are vegan are also very health conscious, and therefore they may be restricting their intake of salt. Salt, which is sodium chloride, has been fortified with iodine for years now. With the latest research saying that we consume too much salt, I believe some people are restricting their intake too much. This is not to mention the fact that many health-conscious (and even not-so-health conscious) individuals are using sea salt instead of iodized salt. Most sea salt is not fortified with iodine, but iodized sea salt does exist, and I would definitely suggest this for vegans who think they aren't getting enough iodine.


To learn more about iodine and vegans diets, read this from VeganHealth.org.


QUESTION: Do you use sea salt or iodized table salt? I use sea salt sometimes, but most of the time I used iodized table salt.

QUESTION:
Do you have any good book recommendations for me? I've heard a few great recommendations recently, but I love to read so the more I hear the better!

19 comments :

  1. I use reduced sodium sea salt but ihace high BP and water retention issues, so I believe I get enough iodine, but I'd like to have it checked one day.

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  2. I've read that book! It's a fun beach read :)

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  3. good things to keep in mind! i eat eggs and some dairy, so i think i'm covered, but i would recommend a multivitamin for vegans. and interesting that sea salt is not fortified. thanks for the info!

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  4. That book sounds funny!! I'm a table salt person at heart!

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  5. Thanks for the book recommendation! I've been looking for some fun books to read!

    I use both sea salt and iodized salt but sparingly. I used to have high blood pressure, and I've learned to love foods without salt (which is shocking to me since I used to love salt). My multivitamin contains 100% of the daily value for iodine.

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  6. I use both iodized and sea salt and think posts like this are so important and I thank you!

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  7. Interesting- Eric puts our salt in a big container so I'll have to look at that haha.


    On the book front, I've been reading some really good Lisa Gardner mystery books lately. Now I'm reading "Secret Daughter."

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  8. Thanks for the book rec! Sounds pretty cute:)

    I don't often think about getting enough iodine. Glad you brought it up!

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  9. That book sounds hilarious! I'm going to have to get my hands on a copy for the long flights we have coming up!

    That's interesting about vegans and iodine deficiency. I would've never guessed that was a deficiency that would pop up in the US, even among vegans. Great post!

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  10. oh, I've been meaning to read that book! Thanks for reminding me.

    I highly recommend The Vampire Chronicles. It's such a classic...not at all like Twilight. I think they are more intense and actually really deep in its own way.

    My mom always tells me to eat more seaweed for iodine. It's not easy to get iodine from other foods.

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  11. I use iodized salt but have been considering implementing sea salt.

    I havent read any Carl Hiassen yet but I hear he's hilarious.

    The last good book I read was "One Day" by David Nicholls. "The Help" is another one I enjoyed.

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  12. I usually use iodized table salt.

    I just finished Poser by Claire Dederer and really enjoyed it!

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  13. I mainly use sea salt. If you each meat and eggs but use sea salt how do your iodine levels turn out?

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  14. If I use salt, I use sea salt. I try to cut down on sodium as much as possible. I'm going to look out for that book, sounds fun! Have a great day.

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  15. Wow. I'm leaning very much toward vegetarian, so this is super important for me to know. Thanks, chickie!

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  16. It's interesting you brought this up--I'm at a Food as Medicine conference right now, and this was definitely discussed! I also have three clients right now who are trying to balance their thyroid function (as naturally as possible), and we're working on iodine intake.
    I don't ever use iodized salt, and do use sea salt or himalayan crystal salt. My iodine comes from seafood and I eat sea veggies, plus have dulse flakes and kelp flakes that I add to a lot of veggie dishes.
    I do know that when I suggest eating kelp to my clients, I often get the "you're crazy" look :) So...I try and tailor the advice to the level of readiness, and also making sure they understand the importance of iodine (it's pretty easily ignored, I think).
    Thanks for talking about this!

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  17. hahah i'm thinking i need to read this book! thanks for the rec lady :) i just took out the book "call me irrestible" from the library and then i bought the book 'the help' today! i'm not a good reader but i'm making a solid attempt to read more haha

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  18. Great post, I'm going to share it to my friends :))

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  19. Great post, I'm going to share it to my friends :))

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