The Thyroid Gland: What's Iodine Got to Do With It?!

Jen Merrill November 22, 2013

When Babies are first born, they usually have a newborn screening. We got the results of mine when I was nine days old. What we found out about me through these tests that I was positive for congenital hypothyroidism. Yes, I was born without a thyroid gland. Now, eighteen years later, I am in a biology class in college, which is where we started talking about iodine and how the thyroid gland absorbs it in order to make thyroxine. This discussion made me begin to wonder if I even needed iodine at all; if so where does it go? Maybe it just goes straight to waste if I take it in. With this thought in my mind, I went home and decided to do some research on the subject. First of all, what is a thyroid gland and what does it do? A thyroid gland is an endocrine gland that wraps itself around the trachea in the lower neck. It secretes the thyroxine hormone into the bloodstream, which regulates metabolism in the body. Part of what makes up this thyroid hormone is iodine. If the human body doesn't get enough iodine, the production of the hormone will decrease, which will cause the thyroid gland to work too hard and it will start to swell; this is called a goiter. When there is too much iodine in a person's system, there is a good chance that they would develop hypothyroidism. When I look at the symptoms of the deficiencies and toxicities of iodine for a normal person, it makes me question if there is even a way that I could get too much or too little iodine. In my research, I found an article, written by Dr. Joseph Mercola, about a presentation on what the lack of iodine can do to you by Dr. Jorge Flechas, M.D. In this presentation, Dr. Flechas explained that the lack of iodine could not only contribute to the development of hypothyroidism and goiters, but it could also cause mental retardation, cretinism, and certain forms of cancer (Mercola). According to Lynne Sheldon of the Live Strong Foundation, only 70 to 80 percent of the iodine taken in is located in the thyroid gland. That means that 20 to 30 percent still goes somewhere else in the body. After I read this, I went on to see where else in the body it goes. Dr. Flechas, in his presentation, gives a few places in the body where you might find iodine. First, he says that the ovaries are capable of making the thyroid hormone, so iodine is needed in the ovaries. He also tells about how the white blood cells of the bone marrow absorb iodine in order to make the thyroid hormone. After he explains these two things, you might think that's all there is to it, but no, there's more. Without iodine, your salivary glands aren't able to produce saliva, your sudoriferous glands can't produce sweat, and your skin becomes very dry (Flechas). Also the brain needs iodine because it is one of the biggest factors to keeping your brain awake and alert (Flechas). There are also a few more places that Dr. Flechas talked about that need iodine. These places include: the breasts, the pancreas, cerebral spinal fluid, the stomach, the muscles and the thymus. When the breasts don't get iodine and iodide, they tend to lose function and/or develop breast cancer. The pancreas needs iodine because without it, Type 2 diabetes could form. The cerebral spinal fluid needs iodine in order to metabolize. The stomach uses iodine to make the amount of gastric acid it needs in order to digest food in the way it is meant to do. If the muscles don't get enough iodine, it can cause fibromyalgia. The thymus is where the iodine concentrates in thyroid carcinoma. From Dr. Flechas' presentation, I have learned that indeed, I do still need iodine in my system for the function of other body parts, even if I don't have a thyroid gland. Even though this is true, there is still a question hanging in my mind: how much iodine do I need to take? If I still need it, there must still be a deficiency for me. Also where there is deficiency, there is most likely a toxicity. So what is my limit?

According to Chris Kresser, the most accurate way of finding out what your iodine status is, is not through a blood test as expected. The best way to figure out your iodine status is actually through a 24-hour loading test. "This involves taking a large dose of iodine and collecting your urine for 24 hours afterward. If you are iodine deficient, youll retain more of the ingested iodine than you should and the level of iodine excreted in the urine will be lower than expected" (Kresser). Kresser also says that if your practitioner does not order one of these tests for you, you can start taking a low dose of iodine and increase the dose at a very slow rate. Now that I have found this, I want to know how I can obtain iodine in my system. I was actually talking to my endocrinologist a few months ago and iodine came up in our conversation. I had asked him if I even needed iodine and he told me he didn't really know, but he knew that there was iodine in the levothyroxine that I am taking. So for me, there is one of the sources from which I get iodine. The foods where iodine can be found include sea vegetables, cranberries, organic yogurt, organic navy beans, organic strawberries, Himalayan crystal salt, and potatoes (Group). According to Dr. Group, the ocean has most of the iodine foods stored in it. He says that Kelp, Arame, Hiziki, Kombu, and Wakame are sea vegetables that are good to eat for getting iodine. Dr. Group also says that out of these sea vegetables, kelp has the highest amount of iodine out of these sea vegetables. They all contain lots of iodine, which is why we should use them. He recommends that we sprinkle any of these items on our soups or salads. Dr. Group also talks about cranberries containing iodine. He states that about 4 ounces of cranberries have about 400/mcg of iodine. He recommended buying fresh berries or juice. However, he says that if you buy juice, you need to be aware of the amount of sugar in the drink. Another good source of iodine is in organic yogurt (Group). One serving of this yogurt, has more than half of the human body's daily needs in it. "One cup contains approximately 90/mcg of iodine" (Group). Other than yogurt, there are many other probiotic foods to consider for health benefits. Dr. Group also explains that many beans are good sources of iodine, but navy beans are the biggest source of iodine out of all the other beans. In 1/2 cup of these beans, there is around 32/mcg of iodine. Not only do they have a lot of iodine in them; they also are very high in fiber. So if you are in need of a lot of fiber and iodine, eat navy beans. Strawberries are a good fruit that has up to 10 percent of our daily iodine needs in one serving. One cup of these fresh berries has about 13/mcg of iodine (Group). I also happen to be slightly anemic, so I personally know that strawberries a good source of iron. So if you need both iron and iodine, eat some fresh strawberries. Himalayan crystal salt, also known as gray salt, is a great source of naturally-occurring iodine (Group). Many types of table salt are definitely enriched in iodine. However, "they are also stripped of all their natural health properties and are chemically processed" (Group). This is why Himalayan salt is better for you. Dr. Group said that only one gram of Himalayan salt has around 500/mcg of iodine. So use Himalayan salt, but not too much. You wouldn't want to make iodine toxic for yourself. Potatoes have iodine in them as well; especially when they still have the skin on them. They are one of the richest vegetables in iodine. It is mostly the skin of the potato that has iodine in it. So if you leave the skin on, one medium baked potato contains 60/mcg of iodine. So if you don't like potatoes already, change your mind; you like potatoes now. In all my research, I have learned many things about iodine. I have answered my question of whether I need iodine or not. Also, I have covered how to find out how much iodine

a person needs. I have also learned about many food sources for ways to get iodine into the system. I am glad that I didn't just assume that I didn't need iodine since I lack a thyroid gland. My body needs iodine for many other functions than just creating the thyroid function.

Works Cited
Group, Dr. Edward F. 7 Foods Rich in Iodine. 18 January 2011. Web. Kresser, Chris. Iodine for Hypothyroidism: Crucial Nutrient or Harmful Toxin? 5 July 2010. Web. Mercola, Dr. Joseph. How Iodine Deficiency May Affect Your Child's Brain Function and IQ. 4 May 2013. Web. Sheldon, Lynne. Can Too Much Iodine Cause Hypothyroidism? 10 July 2011. Web. Total Body Iodine Sufficiency. Perf. Dr. Jorge Flechas. 2012. Web.