Iodine is not salt

12. May 2009 William Davis (3)
I've noticed a point of confusion recently, something I hadn't noticed in my patients before: Because of the public health advice from the FDA, American Heart Association, and Surgeon General's office to reduce sodium/salt intake, people have thought this meant reducing iodine, too.

I believe that people have drawn an equation in their minds:


Sodium = iodine


Of course, they are two entirely unrelated things.

Recall that the only reason iodine is added to many (not all) salt products is because it was a public health solution to solve the substantial nationwide iodine deficiency prevalent during the 20th century. But it was a solution conceived in 1924, when the FDA thought this was the best way to get iodine into Americans. And it worked.

Unfortunately, sodium does indeed present adverse effects in some people. As a result, "get your iodine from salt" has evolved into "reduce your sodium intake." Everyone forgot about the iodine: They forgot about the large disfiguring goiters, the poor school performance in iodine-deficient schoolchildren, the mentally-impaired offspring of iodine-deficient mothers.

So don't confuse sodium with iodine. You may need less of the former, but more of the latter.

For more on this, see "Help keep your family goiter free."
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Comments (3) -

  • dotslady

    5/12/2009 3:37:00 AM |

    Here's a story.  During my teen years I was introduced to David's sunflower seeds and enjoyed them during summertimes.  As I aged into late 30s/early 40s I got up to eating a pound a day some days given the opportunity to be a couch potato.  

    I also craved ice, and now think of both as pica from undiagnosed celiac disease dx at around age 45.  I was diagnosed hypothyroid around age 35/36.  I craved salt (this was the first health questionnaire to ask) so my GP ordered the TSH.  She said I did it to myself with the salt, but since the CD dx I think I was instinctively trying to get iodine and minerals to feed my starving bod.  

    At the time, I even called David's Seeds to see if there's iodine in their salt (there is).  I couldn't eat the whole bag without ripping up my mouth, so oftentimes I'd rinse them w/water (what a person'll do to feed a need!).

    Sometimes I wonder if the salt I craved helped create my mild cardiomyopathy?

  • Anonymous

    5/13/2009 9:42:00 PM |

    I don't use much salt because I don't seem to want it, but, ever since I visited friends in Japan, I eat nori (seaweed) because it's a fun, crunchy way to get my iodine.
    Jeanne

  • buy jeans

    11/3/2010 3:04:56 PM |

    Recall that the only reason iodine is added to many (not all) salt products is because it was a public health solution to solve the substantial nationwide iodine deficiency prevalent during the 20th century. But it was a solution conceived in 1924, when the FDA thought this was the best way to get iodine into Americans. And it worked.

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