Worldwide, iodine deficiency is a serious public health crisis. Approximately 40% of the world’s population is at risk of iodine deficiency. Society’s ambitious control over everyday living, and our individual choices – determined by our Acquired Self – are the main reasons for iodine deficiency.

Risk factors For Iodine Deficiency

The main reason for iodine deficiency as outlined below:

• Societal Control Over Every Day Living: Chlorine, Fluoride and Bromide compete for iodine to enter the cell, which leads to deficiency of iodine at the cellular levels. Chlorine is extensively added to public water supplies worldwide. Fluoride is added to public drinking water in the US. Bromine is used in a wide range of industries, including home furniture and appliances, textiles, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas drilling, food and beverage, electronics, and construction etc.
• Commercial farming
• Avoiding seafood
• Vegan and Vegetarian diets
• Salt-free diet
• Diets restricted on salt intake because of high blood pressure and congestive heart failure.
• Chronic kidney disease
• Chronic diarrhea and malnutrition
• Pregnancy

Consequences Of Iodine Deficiency

Iodine is vital for the normal functioning of our endocrine system. Therefore, iodine deficiency increases the risk of:

• Underactive Thyroid
• Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
• Thyroid cancer
• Breast cancer
• Fibrocystic breast disease
• Ovarian cancer
• Ovarian cysts and acne
• Prostate cancer
• Low testosterone

How To Diagnose Iodine Deficiency

More than 90% of iodine is excreted through urine. Therefore, you can determine whether or not you have an adequate level of iodine by checking how much iodine you excrete in the urine. The more iodine deficient you are, the more your body will hold onto iodine, which will result in lesser amounts of iodine excreted in the urine.

Tests For Iodine Deficiency

There are various tests to check for iodine deficiency. These include:

• Spot urine test for iodine
• 24-hours urine collection for iodine
• Iodine-Loading Test

In the Spot Urine Test and 24-hour Urine Collection Test, iodine deficiency is defined as follows:

Iodine Loading Test

In the Iodine-Loading Test, you ingest 50 mg (milligrams) of iodine/iodide and collect your urine over the next 24-hours for iodine. If you excrete less than 45 mg (90%) of the ingested dose, you are low in iodine.

What Are the Natural Sources of Iodine?

Iodine is present in soil and seawater. Animals and plants “eat up” iodine from earth and seawater. Humans get iodine by eating these animals and plants.

Seafood has the highest amounts, followed by animal foods. Plants (except seaweed) have the lowest amounts of iodine.

The iodine content of foods varies depending on the farming practices. In general, soil is depleted of nutrients including iodine, thanks to commercial farming.

Good Dietary Sources Of Iodine:

• Seaweed
• Fish
• Shrimp
• Turkey
• Potatoes with peels
• Milk

How Much Iodine Do You Need?

In the USA, the recommended daily amount of iodine is 150 micrograms, although there is mounting evidence to show that you need more than this recommended dose for your overall health.

The recommended daily amount of iodine as 150 micrograms per day was developed to prevent goiter (enlarged Thyroid). It appears that you need much more iodine for the optimal health of thyroid, breasts, ovaries, adrenals and prostate. Currently, this is a new horizon of clinical research. The best clinical evidence is the Japanese population, who have the lowest cancer rates in the world. Their diet is rich in iodine, which may be a significant factor for low cancer rate. On an average, a Japanese consumes iodine in the amount of 3,000-12,000 micrograms per day, in the form of seaweeds.

For the general population, a daily iodine intake of 3,000-6,000 micrograms appears to be optimal as well as safe. You can get it in the form of seafood, seaweed, iodine supplements, etc.