Safe forms of Iodine?

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guitararvin
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Safe forms of Iodine?

Post by guitararvin »

What are the safest ways to get Iodine into one's diet? Please remember this is a philosophy forum so be objective and don't say "who cares about lead, think of the animals". I posit that this is a dark secret about being vegan
inator
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Re: Safe forms of Iodine?

Post by inator »

guitararvin wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 8:44 am [...] don't say "who cares about lead, think of the animals".
Don't worry, this is not that kind of forum.

I personally use iodized salt and my multi contains some iodine too. I also don't avoid seaweed too obsessively, because from my understanding (although I haven't done extensive research on this) even a more than occasional consumption of common seaweed would not come close to the tolerable upper limit of heavy metals recommended by WHO. I'd avoid the kelp based iodine supplements though.
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Lay Vegan
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Re: Safe forms of Iodine?

Post by Lay Vegan »

We take questions about personal health and nutrition seriously on the forum.

The RDA for Iodine is relatively small, at 150 micrograms. For vegans, the most reliable sources of iodine are iodized salt and iodine in the form of a supplement. Though some vegans believe sea vegetables and seaweed are reliable sources, amounts can vary widely. Also, there have been cases of iodine toxicity from eating too much kelp and kelp tablets.

By sprinkling 1/4th teaspoon of iodized salt into your diet daily, you can meet your needs this way.

If you’re monitoring your sodium intake or you don’t want to be bothered with measuring your salt consumption, I’d take an iodine supplement or a multivitamin providing 75-150 micrograms. Supplements (non kelp-based) are the safest and most reliable way to meet your daily needs for iodine.

https://veganhealth.org/iodine/#sources
Jamie in Chile
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Re: Safe forms of Iodine?

Post by Jamie in Chile »

I've actually been using iodine to purify the unsafe tap water where I live, so I'm easily covered. I'm more likely too high than too low. I also use iodized salt. Iodine needs more attention in the vegan community and when new vegans are coming on board, a lot of vegans don't even realise but it's probably in about the top 4 or 5 most important things to consider, maybe even top 2 or 3, in terms of possible nutrient deficiencies.

I also ate cranberries and strawberries partly because I saw them mentioned in lists of high-iodine foods.
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Re: Safe forms of Iodine?

Post by guitararvin »

Jamie in Chile wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 7:57 pm I've actually been using iodine to purify the unsafe tap water where I live, so I'm easily covered. I'm more likely too high than too low. I also use iodized salt. Iodine needs more attention in the vegan community and when new vegans are coming on board, a lot of vegans don't even realise but it's probably in about the top 4 or 5 most important things to consider, maybe even top 2 or 3, in terms of possible nutrient deficiencies.

I also ate cranberries and strawberries partly because I saw them mentioned in lists of high-iodine foods.
What would you say are the top 5? I'd message you but i'm too new a member
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Jebus
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Re: Safe forms of Iodine?

Post by Jebus »

I take a third of a teaspoon of iodized salt each day. This is enough to cover my iodine needs without going over my sodium limit.
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Safe forms of Iodine?

Post by brimstoneSalad »

Jebus wrote: Wed Mar 07, 2018 10:46 am I take a third of a teaspoon of iodized salt each day. This is enough to cover my iodine needs without going over my sodium limit.
I hope you use it to flavor food rather than just eating it directly. Seems like a waste of your sodium budget to not use it on veggies or something to make your food more delicious.

It's also good to space our your sodium consumption; that's more important than a daily limit. You can eat more in a day if you space it out and have water and other foods with it.
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Jebus
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Re: Safe forms of Iodine?

Post by Jebus »

brimstoneSalad wrote: Wed Mar 07, 2018 1:51 pmIt's also good to space our your sodium consumption; that's more important than a daily limit. You can eat more in a day if you space it out and have water and other foods with it.
I didn't know that. The salt goes into my evening nut mix.
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Safe forms of Iodine?

Post by brimstoneSalad »

Jebus wrote: Wed Mar 07, 2018 3:18 pm I didn't know that. The salt goes into my evening nut mix.
There are basically three effects of salt:

1. Short term spike in blood pressure due to fluid retention. This only matters if you're at high risk. It goes back down after you urinate a couple times, basically, assuming you drank anything.
This is the main basis for longstanding recommendations, because this does reduce risk in people who are high risk.

2. It can create an electrolyte imbalance, since the sodium-potassium ratio is important. This is less important for people who eat more potassium from food. If you're using lite salt (which contains potassium chloride) it probably matters not at all in this sense since it's already more or less in a pretty good balance in that salt mix, and your body is able to excrete more sodium.
Sodium/potassium ratio is apparently actually a better predictor of risk than sodium alone, and that seems to make sense.
The more vegetables you eat (or if you're eating lite salt) the more salt you can eat and stay in the same general risk category. Or it might be due to confounding variables too (like that vegetables are healthy).

3. If it hits your stomach in a concentrated form, it can increase the risk of stomach cancer by making some kinds of bacteria more pathogenic; it apparently forces them to burrow deeper into the walls of the stomach or something. This is a matter of ongoing research. Apparently potassium chloride doesn't have this effect? Unclear.
As long as you're drinking enough water with your salty stuff, it probably doesn't matter, because it will be diluted in your stomach and won't aggrivate the bacteria that may or may not be there depending on whether you've been exposed.

The evidence on salt is pretty poor. It really only comes down the the mechanistic knowledge we have on blood pressure.

HOWEVER, there are a LOT of confounding variables.
Saltier foods are more delicious. They can make vegetables taste good to get you to eat healthier, OR they can compel people to eat more by making something hyper palatable.

If you're otherwise eating well and your blood pressure is OK, I would not worry about sodium intake within reason.
Cirion Spellbinder
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Re: Safe forms of Iodine?

Post by Cirion Spellbinder »

For reference, what foods containing iodine contain a considerable amount of lead?
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