The Importance Of Iodine

Iodine is a mineral once present throughout soil and water.  However, as the geology of the earth has evolved, much of the iodine once present in the soil has been, through erosion and glaciation, washed into the sea (which is why iodine is so prevalent among seaweed and shellfish) leaving fewer traces of iodine in foods grown in soil (particularly in mountainous regions).

Iodine helps protect hormones in the thyroid gland. These hormones have many functions but are essential to physical and mental health. While the most obvious result of reduced thyroid hormones is an enlargement that manifests itself as a goiter, the greater damage is done to the brain, which relies on these hormones for proper development. The most vulnerable time is during the formation of the fetus and can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and other congenital anomalies.

While over 70% of the world is now protected from iodine disorders, that still leaves the poorest 30% of the world unprotected.

Iodine deficiency is easily solved through food fortification, and costs about two cents per person annually. While other programs that raise the education of children in the developing world are equally important, the most cost effective means of improving IQ and increasing cognitive development is through iodine intervention.

Learn more about iodine deficiency:

The Micronutrient Initiative
http://www.micronutrient.org/

The Network for Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency
www.iodinenetwork.net/

The International Council for the Control of Iodine Disorders
http://iccidd.server295.com/index.php

World Health Organization
Worldwide Iodine Status (downloadable pdf)

UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_iodine.html