Second Nature Care Blog

Your Body Needs Iodine

[fa icon="calendar'] Feb 26, 2015 9:00:00 AM / by Dr. Isadora Guggenheim

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Mountains do move. Last week, the dietary-supplement trade association called for a new recommendation to add iodine supplementation to all prenatal vitamins for pregnant and breastfeeding women. 

The American Thyroid Association agreed with the recommendation and added that pregnant and breastfeeding women should take a daily multivitamin that contains 150 ug of iodine.  

This is good news because it protects developing babies from permanent neurological damage. Modern foods have removed iodized salt and certain vegan diets don't supply enough iodine.

Two billion people worldwide are iodine-deficient.  Are you one of them?

Half of pregnant women have decreased urinary iodine concentrations below 150 mg/dL. Pregnant women need more iodine for proper thyroid function, kidney stress during pregnancy and fetal iodine requirements. Deficiencies lead to mother and baby goiters, mental retardation, intellectual impairments, hypothyroidism in the baby and increased pregnancy loss and mortality. 

A US prenatal multivitamin brand study in 2009 found that only 51% of the brands tested contained any iodine and many did not match values on the label.  

What are the recommended daily safe levels?

  • Adults 150 ug
  • Pregnant women 220 to 250 ug
  • Breastfeeding 250-290 ug

The upper safety limit is 1100 ug/day.  Unregulated kelp supplements can contain hundredfold greater amounts of iodine which can cause excess iodine conditions. 

Second Nature Care Iodine testing and treatment

You need iodine supplementation because you can't get standardized doses in your food.  I recommend Xymogen's iodine formula InSea with 150 mg of absorbable iodine.  We offer iodine testing if you're not sure what your levels are from Dr. Data. 

Don't guess or leave it up to chance.  Iodine is critical for your thyroid function.  Test today. 

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 Your Hypothyroid and Naturopathic Medicine

 

 

Topics: Healthy Living, Body Health, Women's Health

Isadora Guggenheim, ND, FNP, RN, MS, CNS, LMT, owner of Second Nature Naturopathic Care, LLC
For all appointments: Tel: 845 358-8385 Fax: 845 358-2963 drguggenheim@msn.com