WEIGHT LOSS: HYPOTHYROIDISM, THE UNDERLYING ISSUE: IODINE GLUTTONY

Iodine is the most critical element in the thyroid hormone itself. The body contains about 25 milligrams of iodine, 20 percent of which is in the thyroid. According to Elson Haas, author of Staying Healthy with Nutrition, the concentration of iodine in the thyroid gland is more than one thousand times that found in the muscle. Approximately one-fourth of the body's supply of iodine is found in T4 and T3. Thyroxine (T4) is nearly two-thirds iodine. So we see the importance of this trace mineral in the production of these critical hormones.

The best source of organic iodine is the consumption of sea vegetables such as kelp. A diet rich in these foods could supply the body with sufficient quantities and the right type of iodine to supply the thyroid.

However, in an attempt to go one up on nature and reduce the incidence of goiter (an enlargement of the thyroid gland caused by iodine deficiency, leading to hypothyroidism) in the central sections of the United States, inorganic iodine was added to table salt and by 1940 was in general use throughout the United States. While iodized salt may have solved some of the problems of iodine deficiency, such as goiter and cretinism that are epidemic in some parts of the world, it may have caused its own share of problems with the thyroid, including—you guessed it— hypothyroidism. In other words, both a deficiency and an excess of inorganic iodine causes thyroid deficiency!

Hand in hand with increased incidence of thyroid disease is an enormous increase in the consumption of iodine.10 We only need about 100 micrograms per day of iodine, but Dr. Ross I. McDougall estimates that Americans consume from three to five times the amount required to sustain a healthy thyroid gland, well in excess of 500 micrograms of iodine per day.

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With the extended and excessive consumption of salted foods, junk foods from fast-food chains, and salty snack foods, we are consuming enormous amounts of salt, most of which is laced with huge amounts of inorganic iodine, certainly enough to weaken the vitality of the thyroid. The iodized salt we're encouraged to purchase contains potassium iodide: inorganic iodine. One gram of salt contains about 76 micrograms of iodine, and the average person consumes at least three grams of salt per day, exceeding by over one-third the amount needed to produce thyroid hormone. If the iodine in the salt were organic, thyroid hormones would receive the iodine they need to synthesize the iodine within the hormone. But who knows the effect of these large quantities of inorganic iodine on our bodies? Could it be causing subclinical hypothyroidism?

Dr. Haas writes that "excessive quantities of iodized salt, taking too many kelp tablets, or overuse of potassium iodide expectorants such as SSKI can cause some problems, but regular elevated intake of iodine is needed to produce toxicity.

Parenthetically, Dr. Haas notes that "goitrogens are substances that can induce goiter, primarily by interfering with the formation and function of thyroglobulin. Some natural goitrogens are soybeans, cabbage, cauliflower, and peanuts, especially when they come from iodine-deficient soils. Millet has recently been described as having goitrogenic tendencies."

This isn't good news for diet-conscious vegetarians! More frightening, however, is the effect of both low-level radiation and high-level radiation on the thyroid gland.

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