Your body requires many nutrients to function properly but some nutrients like iodine, play a more important role in keeping you healthy than others and are needed on a daily basis. Iodine also stands out because it is found in very few foods making iodine deficiency a fairly common health problem.

The importance of iodine in the environment and the human body is very well recognised. Iodine in the atmosphere plays a role in regulating our ozone layer, and a delicate cycle exists between iodine in the atmosphere, the ocean and the soil. In the human body, iodine is used to produce thyroid hormones, and thyroid hormones play a key role in metabolism and the generation of energy in the body. Women especially suffer from health problems related to an underactive thyroid gland. The common treatment for is to take thyroid hormone tablets for a lifetime, however, the cause of most cases of an underactive thyroid is iodine deficiency. Iodine is an essential and main component of thyroid hormones.

In the past, many people suffered from a severe form of underactive thyroid called goitre, which caused huge swellings around the neck and Iodine was introduced in salt and bread to eradicate this problem. Unfortunately, since the 1970s, iodine salts have been removed from bread and replaced by cheaper bromide salts that worsen iodine deficiency by displacing iodine from the thyroid gland. Moreover, nowadays people generally avoid salt including iodized salt, since it has been incorrectly linked to high blood pressure.

There is enough evidence to believe that iodine deficiency is on the rise, and responsible for the rising cases of underactive thyroid seen today. In the body, iodine is used to maintain the structure of glandular organs which secrete juices, and such organs include thyroid, pancreas, ovaries and breasts. A deficiency of iodine has been strongly linked to the formation of cysts, especially those of the breasts, ovaries, thyroids, as well as cysts of the kidneys and pancreas.

Iodine is not easily found in foods. Tiny amounts of iodine can be found in banana, spinach, barley, and peanuts. These foods provide less than 5% of your required daily allowance for iodine. The main sources of iodine are seafood, eggs and dairy. Strawberry also contains healthy amounts of iodine and can provide up to 15% of your iodine needs. Seafood such as scallops, oysters, seaweed and kelp can provide as much as 90% of dietary iodine. A single egg or half a cup of yoghurt will provide you with about 30% of your dietary allowance of iodine. Sea salt can also be used to add extra iodine into the body.

Sometimes it may be difficult to find good sources of iodine, and such cases taking a supplement will be the preferred option. The best supplement Iodine is nascent iodine. Nascent iodine is the best-absorbed form of iodine. Lugol´s iodine is another alternative, but it has a horrible taste and is not as well as absorbed as Nascent Iodine.