HEALTH BENEFITS OF IODINE AND ITS NUTRITIONAL SOURCE

The need to eat nourishing foods in order to enjoy unbroken cycle of good health cannot be overemphasised. While some people make do with all sorts of supplements, experts advise that we get the larger percentage of our nutritional needs from the food we eat. Apart from vitamins and minerals, another important nourishment we must derive from our foods is iodine, a trace element that is naturally present in many foods. It could also be added to others, while it is also available as a dietary supplement. http://bodychemist.blogspot.com/2014/01/healthy-foods-that-prevent-mental.html

When a woman is pregnant, the foetus requires iodine for proper development of the skeleton and the central nervous system. And even after the baby is born, as an infant, he still needs this all-important mineral for the development of the brain; otherwise, the growing baby might develop cretinism — a thyroid-hormone deficiency resulting in stunted physical and mental growth.

Iodine deficiency is one of the leading causes of preventable mental handicaps, and it is needed for normal metabolism of cells.

Humans need iodine for normal thyroid function and for the production of thyroid hormones. Without enough iodine, the thyroid cells and the thyroid gland become enlarged, and that is why we encourage people to take diets that are rich in iodine.

Iodine deficiency happens more often in women than in men, and is more common in pregnant women and older children.

Indeed, scientists at Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, USA, contend that globally, iodine deficiency is now accepted as the most common cause of preventable brain damage!

As humans, our bodies need sufficient quantity of iodine for our thyroid gland to function optimally. The thyroid gland controls how quickly the body uses energy, makes proteins, and controls how sensitive the body is to other hormones.

Iodine plays a huge role in regulating our immunity to diseases; and for women, it can help in staving off certain breast conditions which, though are not necessarily dangerous but can be painful and inconvenient.

According to experts at Washington University School of Medicine, one of such breast issues is fibrocystic breast disease — a non-cancerous condition in which a woman has painful lumps in her breasts. They warn that although fibrocystic breasts are not dangerous, the condition can make the detection of breast cancer more difficult.

 The other one is mammary dysplasia, a common condition marked by benign changes in breast tissue. These changes may include irregular lumps or cysts, breast discomfort, sensitive nipples, and itching.

As important as iodine is to human existence, it is even present in the soil; and where the soil is iodine-deficient, people who eat foods harvested from such soils will develop diseases that result from iodine deficiency, such as fatigue, high cholesterol, lethargy, depression, and swelling of the thyroid gland (goitre).

That is why many countries — including Nigeria — have embarked on salt iodisation programmes in a bid to reduce the possibility of iodine deficiency.

But then, we’ve also been warned to minimise our salt consumption in order to reduce incidence of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Yet, when you don’t have enough iodine in your body, it affects the way your thyroid gland (found in the neck) functions. It can lead to quite a lot of diseases, such as hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and thyroid cancer. Jump here http://bodychemist.blogspot.com/2014/01/healthy-foods-that-prevent-mental.html to read further about the nutritional source.