Iodine: The Mineral Everyone Forgets About
The more I started learning about iodine, the more I realized how easy it is for women to unknowingly end up low in it.
This is not an article about fixing your thyroid issues with iodine. It’s about iodine. There are more components to having a thyroid issue than just an iodine deficiency.
It started almost 20 years ago. I was following all the wellness advice I heard about and read about. I was eating my “healthy fats” and I had replaced my table salt with Himalayan or sea salt. I was making the ‘better choices’ that the latest marketing hype told me to do.
But along the way, something also started to change with my body.
I was feeling so tired. My eyes were frequently bloodshot. I even fell asleep in the middle of a conversation with a friend. That’s when the idea of a sluggish thyroid came up, and I went down the rabbit hole of learning more about the trace mineral called iodine.
When You’re Running Low
I learned that too little iodine doesn’t always have obvious symptoms. A lot of the time, it’s very subtle.
Fatigue can be a big clue but fatigue can have many other root causes too. Low iodine can be connected to things like cystic acne or those strange ganglion cysts that seem to appear out of nowhere. And without enough iodine, the body literally can’t produce thyroid hormone properly. (You do need other cofactors to make thyroid hormone but iodine is definitely important.)
Research has also linked iodine deficiency to changes in breast tissue and a higher risk of breast cancer. It’s also important during pregnancy and fetal development.
Iodine matters, even if hardly anyone seems to be talking about it anymore.
The Problem Is…
The more I started learning about iodine, the more I realized how easy it is for women to unknowingly end up low in it.
We no longer get enough iodine because it’s another one of those minerals that are deficient in our soil. And the fluoride in some tap water and the bromine in bread compete for absorption of iodine in the body.
TOO LITTLE can eventually lead to symptoms.
But TOO MUCH iodine can also cause unwanted reactions. I’m not trying to scare you here because iodine is important but trust me you want to respect iodine. Too much iodine can not only leave you on the couch for a day (it happened to me personally), but it can also negatively affect your thyroid and I’ve seen it leave someone with a detox skin rash that took months to go away.
Your body does best with steady, small balanced amounts of iodine, not mega-doses.
Iodized table salt provides a very small amount of iodine. It was originally added to deal with a rise in goiter issues. And some people prefer not to consume salt.
Sea salt and Himalayan salt offer more minerals than refined and processed table salt, but sea salt and Himalayan salt contain very little if any iodine.
So What Do We Do?
Adding in more foods that naturally contain iodine can be a gentler and safer approach to getting sufficient iodine. Here are some foods that can provide a source of naturally occurring iodine:
Sea vegetables (dulse strips or flakes, nori, kelp, wakame)
Crunchy seaweed snacks may contain some iodine (check with the manufacturer)
Seaweed wraps may contain some iodine (again check with the manufacturer)
Spirulina powder (start with tiny amounts)
Cranberries
Potatoes
Navy beans
Sprouts
Onions
Dandelion
Parsley
Lettuces/Leafy Greens
My favourite ways to incorporate iodine:
- adding a sprinkle of spirulina powder to my green smoothies.
- adding a small strip of dulse seaweed to my smoothies (not just green smoothies)
- adding 2-3 dulse strips to my slow cooked or pressure-cooked homemade soups and stews
As a Sidenote
One thing I will mention is the old “paint iodine on your skin” test that many people have heard about. It can be somewhat helpful but if you really want to assess your own iodine status, there is another way.
There is an assessment test referred to as an iodine loading test, which can often be done from home over a 24-hour period and then mailed to a lab for analysis. It’s something you may wish to explore with the guidance of a knowledgeable natural health practitioner if you suspect iodine deficiency or want a clearer picture of your levels. I took this test myself 20 years ago.
Obviously, if you have a thyroid concern, or are taking any medications that might interact, please use your own good judgment or obtain the advice of a health practitioner before making any changes. And again, if you have a thyroid issue, there is usually more going on than an iodine deficiency.