Iodine-deficiency should be addressed 2 years before pregnancy
If you are planning to become pregnant and live in an area where you may be considered “iodine deficient,” or you can’t get enough iodine from your foods, you should increase your iodine intake with iodized salt for at least 2 years before you become pregnant.
What is iodine?
Iodine is a mineral that your body needs to help the thyroid function properly. Iodine is needed to metabolize (convert) food into energy.Your thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped organ just below your voice box. It is in the the thyroid that hormones that regulate body growth and other important functions are produced.
How do you get iodine?
In North America, table salt is iodized, which means that iodine has been added. Other foods that provide iodine are seafood, kelp, dairy products and plants that are grown in iodine-rich soil.
How can someone be iodine-deficient?
In North America, iodine deficiency is not common but it does happen in areas where the soil does not contain enough iodine. This then doesn’t provide iodine to the growing vegetables so it can’t be obtained that way. This is most common in higher altitudes, usually inland, away from the seacoast. In other countries where salt is not iodized, this is also a problem.
Researchers at the University of Messina in New York looked at the thyroid function in 100 pregnant women who came from a mildly iodine-deficient area. These women had normal thyroid gland function when they were 6 to 9 weeks pregnant. According to the article, Iodized salt urged for women in iodine-poor areas, “Sixty-two women had regularly consumed iodized salt for at least 2 years prior to becoming pregnant, whereas 38 did not start using iodized salt until they became pregnant.” The major finding of the study was that the researchers “found that the rate of thyroid failure was nearly 6-fold higher in short-term users of iodized salt compared with long-term users.”
This is a very important finding because low levels of iodine in pregnant women can affect the baby’s brain development and cause long-term problems for the child. The study’s conclusion recommends that pregnant women who live in areas that are even considered borderline deficient for iodine take prenatal vitamins that contain iodine, as well as using iodized salt.
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Tags: pregnancy blog, iodine in pregnancy, iodine deficiency
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