1mg
Iodine Deficiency
Iodine deficiency has risen fourfold in the last 40 years. People have been reducing their salt intake for health reasons, and iodized table salt was the main source of iodine for most Americans. In recent years many have also made the switch to Himalayan or pink salt, which contains only traces of iodine. This is a major problem because iodine is so important for our health. In addition to its role in Thyroid hormone production, iodine supports breast health.
Breast Tissue Concentrations
Human breast tissue and breast milk contain higher concentrations of iodine than the thyroid gland itself, which contains just 30% of the body’s iodine stores. Breast tissue is rich in the same iodine-transporting proteins used by the thyroid gland to take up iodine from the blood.21
Seaweed and Iodine Supplementation
Japanese women consume a diet high in iodine-rich seaweed, which provides them with an iodine intake 25 times higher than the average American woman’s.22 Japanese women also have breast health issues roughly one-third of those found in American women, a difference that disappears in Japanese women who immigrate to the US, where they consume considerably less seaweed.23-25
20. Adv Exp Med Biol. 1977;91:293-304
21. J Mammary Gland Biol N. 2005 Apr;10(2):189-96
22. Altern Med Rev. 2008 Jun;13(2):116-27
23. J Natl C. Inst. 1993 Nov 17;85(22):1819-27
24. J Mammary Gland Biol N. 2005 Apr;10(2):189-96
25. C. J Surg. 1993 Oct;36(5):453-60