A recent study conducted by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has found that 43% of Australians do not receive enough iodine, while 70% of women of child-bearing age and about 10% of children between the ages of two and three are iodine deficient.

FSANZ performs an Australian Total Diet Study (ATDS) every two years. it assesses dietary exposure to food chemicals, includingfood additives, nutrients, pesticide residues, contaminants and other substances. The 22d ATDS focused on dietary intakes of a number of trace elements including iodine.

The thyroid gland requires iodine (as well as tyrosine, selenium and zinc) to make the thyroid hormones, T3 and T4, and although we need only trace amounts of this mineral it is, as the above study confirms, still often found to be lacking in the diets of many. And to make matters worse, the soils in a considerable number of countries in the world are iodine, not to mention zinc, deficient. A mild iodine deficiency results in sluggish metabolism; hardly surprising a large percent of Australian children and adults are overweight. A visible sign of iodine deficiency in its extreme is the goiters seen on the necks of those in some iodine deficient
areas of the world.

Due to this study FSANZ is introducing mandatory fortification of iodine in bread through the use of iodised salt, from September 2009. This is mad! Surely the answer is not to increase our sodium intake for the sake of overcoming an iodine deficiencncy! We should be enhancing our diets with iodine-rich foods. Iodine is especially concentrated in seafood, saltwater fish and kelp.

Clients of mine, who I suspect are sluggish in the thyroid department, are immediately asked, (no negotiation entered into!) to sprinkle their vegetables with a generous teaspoon of kelp granules. A fantastic way to supplement with iodine, without the bother of taking yet another tablet. (If trying this at home, be careful not to use kelp powder, very green, very powdery, very sticky on the palate and teeth. If a therapeutic sprinkling of kelp granules does not hit the spot, and you prefer the tablet option,(which would be a 1000–1200mg dose size), be sure to take it with plenty of water.