World Iodine Deficiency Day is marked every year on October 21st, aiming to raise awareness around the importance of iodine for health, and the detrimental impacts of deficiency. Despite it being essential for health throughout life, research continues to demonstrate that the majority of the population do not consume enough iodine to meet their bodies requirements.
Iodine for thyroid health
Iodine is a trace element that our bodies need to make the thyroid hormones T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine), which are essential for good health. These hormones play a role in a number of vital functions within the body, including the maintenance of brain function and development and metabolic rate.
Because the thyroid needs iodine to function, iodine deficiency can lead to hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid). When iodine intake is too low and the thyroid is underactive, it can result in a number of unwanted symptoms including weight gain, tiredness and fatigue and brittle hair and nails.
Iodine for cognitive health
Since the brain is a major target organ for thyroid hormones, iodine deficiency disorders such as hypothyroidism can have a significant impact on cognitive function. Hypothyroidism can affect various aspects of cognition, including general intelligence, attention, concentration and memory [1].
What’s more, iodine deficiency disorders such as hypothyroidism can have a significant impact on mood. Research demonstrates that hypothyroidism is associated with an increased risk of depression [2] and, more recently, it has been concluded that low iodine levels may contribute to the development of anxiety and depression, independent of thyroid function [3].
Iodine for pregnancy
One of the major findings to come out of current scientific research is the effect that iodine deficiency has on foetal and early childhood brain development, with research suggesting that maternal iodine deficiency results in a lower IQ of the offspring.
One prominent study found that insufficient maternal iodine levels during pregnancy was associated with lower language skills in their children, up to 18 months of age [4]. Supporting these findings, another study found that 62% of 1040 mothers were deficient in iodine, with these mothers at an increased risk of their children being in the bottom 25% of IQ test results [5].
What is the extent of iodine deficiency?
Despite iodine deficiency being the most preventable cause of intellectual disability, around 1.9 billion people worldwide remain deficient in the mineral [6] – this corresponds to 31% of the world’s population. Deficiency does not only prevail only in developing countries, but remains a major public health challenge within developed countries too. In fact, the UK ranks seventh among the ten most iodine-deficient nations in the world [7]. Furthermore, in 2021 the Iodine Global Network reported that Europe is now an iodine deficient continent [8].
Those following a more plant-based diet have been identified as particularly at risk of experiencing iodine deficiency [9]. This is because the main sources of dietary iodine are from dairy products and white fish – food groups of which consumption is in decline, due to the rise in plant-based and flexitarian diets. With more and more people removing or reducing animal food sources from their diets, the issue of iodine deficiency is exacerbated.
The natural solution to iodine deficiency
As the only natural, plant-based source of iodine, seaweed offers a clean-label way to fortify products with the essential nutrition that they lack. PureSea® seaweed ingredients are measured every batch for iodine levels, with safe and consistent levels evidenced over many years of production. In addition to this, every batch is uniquely DNA authenticated to ensure full and transparent traceability.
Just 100mg of PureSea® is needed per serving to provide a good source of iodine and allowing for the use of six approved health claims, surrounding supporting normal:
- Energy-yielding metabolism
- Cognitive function
- Thyroid function
- Skin health
- Growth of children
- Functioning of the nervous system
PureSea® is available in a range of formats, allowing ease of use in a variety of applications.
Click here to view the full range, or contact us.
[1] Samuels, M.H. (2014) Psychiatric and cognitive manifestations of hypothyroidism. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity, 21(5).
[2] Thvilum, M., Brandt, F., Almind, D., Christensen, K., Brix, T.H. and Hegedüs, L. (2014) Increased psychiatric morbidity before and after the diagnosis of hypothyroidism: a nationwide register study. Thyroid, 24(5), pp. 802-808.
[3] Turan, E. and Karaaslan, O. (2020) The relationship between iodine and selenium levels with anxiety and depression in patients with euthyroid nodular goiter. Oman Medical Journal, 35(4).
[4] Markhus, M.W., Dahl, L., Moe, V., Abel, M.H., Brantsaeter, A.L., Oyen, J., Meltzer, H.M., Stormark, K.M., Graff, I.E., Smith, L. and Kjellevold, M. (2018) Maternal iodine status is associated with offspring language skills in infancy and toddlerhood. Nutrients, 10(9).
[5] Sarah C Bath, Colin D Steer, Jean Golding, Pauline Emmett, Margaret P Rayman, DPhil (2013) Effect of inadequate iodine status in UK pregnant women on cognitive outcomes in their children: results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). The Lancet, Volume 382, Issue 9889, P331-337.
[6] Pearce, E.N., Lazarus, J.H., Moreno-Reyes, R. and Zimmermann, M.B. (2016) ‘Consequences of iodine deficiency and excess in pregnant women: an overview of current knowns and unknowns’, The American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition, 104(3), pp. 918-923.
[7] The Lancet (2016). Iodine deficiency in the UK: grabbing the low hanging fruit. Diabetes & Endocrinology, 4(6) pp. 469.
[8] The Euthyroid Consortium (2018) The Krakow Declaration on Iodine: Tasks and responsibilities for prevention programs targeting iodine deficiency disorders. European Thyroid Journal.
[9] Weikert, C., Trefflich, I., Menzel, J., Obeid, R., Longree, A., Dierkes, J., Meyer, K., Herter-Aeberli, I., Mai, K., Stangl, G.I., Muller, S.M., Schwerdtle, T., Lampen, A. and Abraham, K. (2020). Vitamin and mineral status in a vegan diet. Deutsches Arzteblatt.