iodine deficiency a possibility in USA
Skipperbeers
Maybe it's because I live in the USA's goiter belt, but I get annoyed at
hearing there can be no iodine deficiency here. So below is one link that
suggests a possibility by the CDC, a rather conservative governmental health
organization. If 20% of the population is low in iodine, that means our diets
and the resulting intake of iodine are not all the same. My contention is I
probably get enough salt, even though I'm not so sure of that since I have cut
my intake since my adrenals were treated, and get very little from other
sources (except Lugol's iodine solution), and it is possible there are others
like me who could potentially have a low intake.
Anyway, just because there has been "little or no" iodine detected here,
doesn't mean it didn't simply go unrecognized. Particularly if physicians have
that Americans can't possibly have an iodine deficiency attitude. I saw my
mother waste away with all the symptoms I know now to be hypothyroidism,
including what looked to be a goiter on her neck and the doctors never bothered
treating that either. In effect, she died young after suffereing many years
from thyroid problems because after 1973 the doctors assumed you couldn't be
hypo if your TSH was normal, so they took away her Armour Thyroid and she
didn't have the knowledge or will power to fight them.
Skipper Beers
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/ad981001.htm
<Quote>
The study, "Iodine Nutrition in the United States: Trends and Implications,"
based on CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES),
found in a 1988-1994 sample of the U.S. population that nearly 12 percent of
Americans had low urine iodine concentrations, an increase from three percent
of the population in 1974. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines iodine
deficiency as a public health problem when levels this low are found in 20
percent or more of the population.
Iodine is a crucial nutrient for production of thyroid hormone, which plays an
essential role in brain development, metabolism, and other bodily functions.
Proper iodine intake is a difficult balance, because excessive iodine can also
cause health disorders.
Iodine intakes should be closely monitored to determine whether this decrease
is a "one-time drop or a continuing process," said Dr. Joseph Hollowell of
CDC's National Center for Environmental Health. He indicated that iodine
excretion and dietary intake should be routinely measured in health and dietary
surveys of the population as part of an early warning system to prevent
reemergence of either deficiency or toxicity in the United States.
"Lack of iodine is the world's leading cause of preventable mental retardation
and can cause population-wide drops in IQ in areas where deficiency is common,"
said Dr. Glen Maberly of Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.
"It is important to monitor this balance."
In the United States, the use of iodized table salt has been the major public
health approach to controlling iodine deficiency. "For the last 50 years,
physicians in the United States have seen little or no iodine deficiency;
however, we cannot assume that it can no longer happen here," said Dr. Richard
Jackson, director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health. The recent
increase in prevalence of iodine deficiency in Europe has prompted public
health officials there to increase the iodine level of salt and to improve
monitoring.
celine....@sympatico.ca
Very interesting reference, thank you. Do you know where I could find the
Canada's goiter belt ?
Many years ago I was told not to take salt because of water retention.
And I know a lot of women do the same to prevent water retention.
Ironically, there is no relationship in my case ( no salt equals water retention
even so)
This is really very sad for your mother, I have no words to express what
you make me feel.
Celine
Skipperbeers
>Do you know where I could find the
>Canada's goiter belt ?
>Many years ago I was told not to take salt because of water retention.
>And I know a lot of women do the same to prevent water retention.
I can't tell you precisely where the goiter belt is in Canada, but there's not
much iodine away from the ocean. Many people say a normal diet has enough
iodine in it, but that depends on a lot of factors, like salt intake, how much
iodine is in the local milk, which depends on sanitation procedures, and Dr.
Derry, in Canada lives on the Pacific coast and still says it's a good idea for
everyone to take a little daily Lugol's solution to be sure they get adequate
iodine intake.
I believe since salt is a required element in your body, it's not a good idea
to be at too low a level, even if it weren't for the iodine factor.
Skipper Beers
celine....@sympatico.ca
Thank you for your reply. I live far away from ocean, and I will see
if I can find Lugol's solution in Quebec at my drug store. I also stayed away many
years
from cow milk and only drank soy milk without much supplement.
Do you know if my taking of daily Synthroid include iodine? I presumed
that everything was included in this pill? or is this a naive assumption...
Celine
Paquerette
>
> Do you know if my taking of daily Synthroid include iodine? I presumed
> that everything was included in this pill? or is this a naive assumption...
>
> Celine
Synthroid's only T4. T4 contains 4 iodine molecules. However, if your
body is to produce any T4 on its own, it's going to need more iodine.
Unless you are on a full replacement dose, hopefully your thyroid is
making at least some T4.
What exactly is "everything" that you thought was in the pill? Did you
think it was all the thyroid hormones (it isn't), or something else?
Jeni.
Skipperbeers
>Date: 12/7/2002 12:08 PM Eastern
> I also stayed away many
>years
>from cow milk and only drank soy milk without much supplement.
Uh-oh, soy milk is not good for the thyroid, no soy product is. It is a known
goiter causing substance and in addition some say acts as an anti nutrient that
keeps you from absorbing some of the minerals you need to.
Others will tell you about the danger of the high aluminum content.
Either soy or lack of iodine can make you hypo, and in either case if that is
the cause is correctable.
I get Lugol's from www.jcrows.com.
Skipper Beers
roxanne vogenitz
Skipperbeers
>What does soy do to the thyroid? or not do?
It's sad when we try for a healthy diet and are mislead. You can find a lot of
sources on the Internet that tell you soy is bad, and of course, money is at
the root of all evil. Soybeans is a big industry. A few years ago I would
have been a lot more skeptical than I am now about the possibility of nutrition
and diet facts being driven by money.
However, here are some points, which I believe are probably true. Point number
1 is known to be true, you might want to do research about any of the other
ones to verify or disprove.
1. This isn't speculation, it is known to cause goiter. That is, just as
iodine does, it will cause the thyroid to enlarge. In fact, I read a paper
once comparing what happens with soy to what happens with iodine deficiency and
they are pretty much the same. Presumably, the thyroid swell up for the same
reason, it can't satisfy the bodies need for thyroid hormone so it works a lot
harder and becomes bigger in the effort to produce more.
2. Soy is an estrogen. (If you were male, I would ask why you would possibly
want to take female hormones.) This may also cause irritability, mood swings,
fat gain from the waist down, fibrocystic breast disease (something known to be
prevented or cured by iodine), and maybe estrogen dominance, whatever that is.
3. Isofavones decrease thyroid hormone production.
4. Female children fed the estrogens in soy formula and products hit puberty
very early, sometimes as young as 6 to 8.
5. Soy contains phytin which takes essential minerals such as iron, zinc, and
magnesium out of the body before they can be absorbed.
One site is www. totalityof being.com/id58_m.htm
There are many others.
Skipper Beers