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Diet
& Nutrition Iodine
What
is Iodine ?
Iodine is an essential component
required for a healthy functioning thyroid gland. Milk is a major source
of iodine in the Western diet, mainly because it is prevalent in cattle
feed, lactation promoters and teat-sterilizing equipment. Seaweed is also
a plentiful source of iodine.
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Function
- Keeps skin, hair and nails
healthy
- Maintains healthy metabolic rate,
cell metabolism (conversion of food to energy) and strong connective
tissue
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Signs
of deficiency
- Listlessness (low levels of
thyroxine)
- Goitre (enlarged thyroid gland, a
condition which affects over 200 million people worldwide)
- Cretinism in neonates (in severe
deficiencies only)
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Best
sources
- Dairy foods
- Seaweeds
- Iodized table salt
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Notes
The Selenium content of foods is related to the Selenium content in the
soil in which the foods are grown. Some countries have been shown to
contain soil which has become severely deficient in selenium - these
include China, Finland, New Zealand, some areas in the United States as
well as central and eastern Canada, and some part sof Europe. In these
areas it is therefore advisable to take a nutritonal supplement containing
60-70 mcg of selenium.
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This page was last updated on 25 October 2006 15:44:35
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