14 Feb Is your metabolism sluggish? It could be sub-clinical Hypothyroidism.
Thyroid health is a huge issue in Australia, as it is deficient in our soil and food. When we first discovered that many pregnant women were iodine deficient we decided to add it to table salt. The Heart Foundation then advised us all to stop eating salt. Currently around 90% of patient’s I test using the iodine excretion method test deficient.
The thyroid hormones are required for normal growth and development of tissues such as the central nervous system and have a broader role in maturation of the body as a whole. They are important for energy production and oxygen consumption in cells thereby helping to maintain the body’s metabolic rate. For pregnant women, severe deficiency can result in major effects on the foetus such as congenital abnormality.
The Goldilocks Dose – Getting it Just Right
The Australian RDI for Iodine is between 150 and 270 mcg per day depending on pregnancy and lactation. However a lot of health practitioners would disagree with this. The World Health Organisation estimates that up to 40% of the world’s population is deficient in Iodine. The RDI is based upon an individual having sufficient iodine to begin with. It is a recommended daily intake based upon a reasonable start point.
Are you Iodine deficient?
What is the best way to know what dose you need?
Several indicators are used to assess iodine requirements, including urinary iodide excretion, thyroid hormones in plasma or serum and assessment of thyroid size. We use an iodine loading test via Nutripath as well as TSH, T3 and T4 serum tests. This not only tells us what dose you may need to use but also whether you are actually absorbing it.
What can go wrong with absorption?
Absorption depends not only on gut function but also on what is in the way and the list of these potentials is long.
- Bromine exposure: When you ingest or absorb bromine (found in baked goods, plastics, soft drinks, medications, pesticides and more), it displaces iodine, and this iodine deficiency leads to an increased risk for cancer of the breast, thyroid gland, ovary and prostate — cancers that we see at alarmingly high rates today
- Declining consumption of iodine-rich foods, such as iodized salt, eggs, fish, and sea vegetables
- Soil depletion
- Less use of iodide in the food and agricultural industry
- Goitrogens such as cruciferous vegetables.
- Fluoridated drinking water
- Rocket fuel (perchlorate) contamination in food
Where to start?
- Do this thyroid test to see if you might be iodine deficient
- Book in for a thyroid check with your practitioner today
