Is seaweed the key to boosting children’s health and helping iodine deficiency?
For any parent or guardian, our children’s health is always our number one priority. We want to ensure that our little ones grow up happy, healthy and safe. Boosting children’s health is a proiority but with so many different factors to consider, it can be difficult to know the best diet, nutrients and lifestyle to follow.
The same can be said for expectant mothers who can find all kinds of advice online today (often conflicting) about ways to stay healthy during pregnancy and protect baby during all three trimesters.
One key aspect of children’s health that often gets overlooked is sufficient iodine – an essential nutrient for skin, hair, thyroid health and more. While iodine makes it into conversations about nutrients less frequently than more widely acknowledged vitamins and minerals, the benefits of iodine are undeniable. Meanwhile, the dangers of iodine deficiency can be significant.
Why is iodine important?
Fundamentally, the body needs iodine to make thyroid hormones, which are critical to the maintenance of a healthy metabolism. A sluggish metabolism makes it more likely that an individual will suffer weight gain. The health benefits of iodine for children are particularly important in this context because a healthy metabolism in childhood can help to combat childhood obesity, as well as having have long-lasting benefits into adulthood.
These thyroid hormones also have a role to play in brain development and bone health during pregnancy and infancy. In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates mental impairment, due to iodine deficiency, affects more than 2 billion people worldwide. This accounted for 35% of the entire global population at the time.
Iodine deficiency symptoms
So, what happens if you do not have enough iodine in your diet? As iodine is essential for foetal brain development, in some instance evidence shows that children born to mothers with iodine deficiency can have a lower IQ. There is even evidence to suggest that certain behavioural conditions may be linked to this deficiency, such as ADHD, and in cases of extreme deficiency, the child may be at risk of cretinism.
Research has shown that, in the very first stages of development, the foetus is solely dependent on the mother’s supply of iodine until its own thyroid is developed and able to supply the necessary hormones. As a result, it is advisable that pregnant women pay close attention to their own iodine intake and supplement if their diet is not providing enough.
Even after the early stages of pregnancy, babies still require a sufficient iodine source in order to do produce hormones effectively and this dependence continues into breastfeeding. European guidelines recommend 150 microgram per day for an adult, and a further 50-100 micrograms for those who are pregnant and/or lactating. At these levels it is believed that sufficient iodine is available to support thyroid health, normal cognitive function, and a healthy nervous system.
A plant-based or vegan diet makes it particularly difficult to get sufficient iodine – which is more commonly found in dairy products and white fish. Therefore, expectant or new mothers following this diet can find our own seaweed capsules a viable natural alternative to potassium iodide which is commonly found in supplements.
Child growth and iodine deficiency treatment
Once born, one might think that a child would be able to readily access sufficient iodine by following a typical Western diet and consuming a combination of dairy, fish and seafood. However, recent studies suggest that the average adolescent in the UK is classed as iodine deficient.
There is also evidence from surveys that imply white fish consumption is low, especially in girls, and drinking milk is also becoming less common as mike substitutes grow in popularity.
As already mentioned a plant-based or vegan diet presents the greatest challenge and, in fact, seaweed is the only natural vegan source of iodine available.
Seaweed as an iodine deficiency treatment
Seaweed is naturally rich in iodine, which means that children and adults alike only need to consume a small amount to achieve the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). Boosting children’s health is easy… taking just one to two of Doctor Seaweed’s Weed & Wonderful seaweed capsules a day can provide enough iodine to prevent deficiency.
Our seaweed is organic, vegan, and kosher certified, too, making it an easy for choice for advocates of any diet or lifestyle. For those who find it difficult to swallow tablets, our capsules, can also be opened and the pure seaweed powder added to smoothies, soups, sauces and more. This makes it particularly easy to hide these nutrients in foods of all types for even the fussiest of children.
