Are Iodine Supplements Critical for Your Health?
Any assessment of whether iodine supplements may be necessary must begin with a view of whether we believe our iodine intake is already sufficient to support our health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) published a report in 1960 on the incidence of iodine deficiency and goiter throughout the world across 115 countries. This report brought to attention the size of the problem of iodine deficiency worldwide, and the health disorders associated with a deficiency. However it took two decades before any real commitment to eliminating the problem began in terms of all affected countries setting policies to try to control iodine deficiency.
Following that in 1993 the WHO published another report based on data about iodine deficiency from 121 countries, most of which put plans in place to control the problem. Further surveys carried out up to 2003 were then published by WHO. Here is an analysis of some of those developed countries where data was available from that WHO report.
In this partial list of countries the WHO report classifies them as countries where iodine intake is insufficient:
Australia
Denmark
Fiji
France
Hungary
Indonesia
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Malaysia
New Zealand
Philippines
Poland
Russion Federation
Vietnam
The reason I have made a selection of just a few countries is to show that the problem is indeed very surprising and affects many different types of countries and regions. I personally would not have thought countries such as this would have this problem.
I then searched for any recent government studies in the developed countries where one would expect iodine deficiency would not be a problem. Top of mind was New Zealand which I thought would be a perfect example, being sparsely populated, rich in natural flora, perhaps less polluted than most other developed countries, and mostly populated in coastal areas providing easy access to seafood (which is generally richer in iodine). So my following list of recent government studies begins with New Zealand. I have given external links which will open in a new browser page in case you wish to read the reports for yourself. Some of these links are to PDF files so they may take a while to open.
- New Zealand – This is a report from the Ministry of Health in which they state that according to confirmation from a number of studies the iodine status in their country is declining to the stage where intervention is now required.
- Australia – This report published in the Medical Journal of Australia was based on an analysis of school-children across five states. Its conclusion confirmed inadequate intake of iodine in the population.
- United Kingdom – A study funded by the Clinical Endocrinology Trust presented at the Society for Endocrinology in April 2011 was based on analysis of 14-15 year old girls from 9 centres throughout the UK. It concluded that the UK population is iodine deficient, and expressed concern to rectify the situation as a matter of urgency.
- United States – A report from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2004 found that 37.2% of pregnant women were deficient in iodine. This is a very serious situation as iodine deficiency can cause irreversible problems to the developing fetus and newborns. The NHANES 2005–2006 report showed that some groups of women had an increased risk of iodine deficiency.
So it does appear that several developed countries have iodine deficiency conditions throughout the population today. This is by no means a new problem. Iodine deficiency has existed throughout history. Our contemporary society’s approach to fixing the problem has primarily been to add iodine to salt, and in some countries to commercially produced bread and milk. This seems to have solved the problem during the 20th century but the problem has recurred once again. The main reasons for this recurrence are as follows:
- it is no longer mandatory in some countries for iodine to be added to salt
- iodine is no longer added to bread as bromine has been substituted
- iodine is no longer used as a disinfectant of milk cans in the milk industry
- many people eat out at restaurants, and most restaurants do not use iodized salt
- people are consuming more processed foods, many of which are not made with iodized salt
- medical authorities have initiated public health campaigns advising people to dramatically reduce salt intake
- soils where food is grown have become iodine deficient
- pollutants in the form of chlorine, bromine and fluorine have increased substantially in our diet, water supply, and many other products we use. These particular pollutants actually compete for the same space in our cells as iodine.
Of course all of these country analyses test iodine levels against the level regarded today as the recommended daily allowance (RDA) which is 150 micrograms of iodine. So in many countries the population is not consuming that level as part of their diet.
Therefore there is sound logic to consider the use of iodine supplements. If we consider further that the present RDA is essentially based on studies back in the 1940’s which several more recent studies indicate were invalid. Many doctors today believe that the daily allowance should be increased to 12+ mg based on what they know today about the important role of iodine in the body and its support in all the body cells and systems, not only the thyroid. Factor in also that the Japanese population has had a daily average iodine intake of 25mg for generations, and they are regarded by many as being the healthiest people in the world.
I have been taking iodine supplements for quite a long time as in my mind there is no doubt iodine supplements are necessary to support health in our contemporary society. I also encourage you to read my articles – Iodine Supplements and Cancer, and Iodine Supplements and General Health.
