Iodine Rich Foods

The other day, Robin,40, father of Mark,12, was explaining the importance of balanced diet to his son, who was not at all interested in eating vegetables and fruits. Once while browsing over the Internet, he searched for balanced diet deficiency results and co-incidentally found some iodine deficiency pictures. He therefore showed all the related iodine deficiency pictures to his son and also explained how lack of iodine affects the body! On seeing those pictures and hearing the hazards of iodine deficiency, Mark agreed to eat vegetables and fruits and follow a balanced diet hereafter. But, Robin found many other food items rich in iodine. Well, what were those? Read on to know...

Iodine is an important trace mineral, which is required in sufficient quantities for the proper mental and physical growth of the body. Iodine is required in small amounts for the synthesis of thyroid hormone, like triodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). It is also required for strengthening the immune system. Most of the iodine content in the body is situated in the thyroid gland and the rest of it gets dispersed to other locations in the body, such as, blood, salivary glands, mammary glands, etc. Read more on thyroid problems.

Traces of iodine can be found in soil and salt. However, until the twentieth century, not much was known about iodine rich salt and therefore there were many cases of hypothyroidism in the United States and Canada. But now, with the use of iodine rich salt, the scenario has changed completely and now very rarely, you would find any such iodine deficiency case. Speaking of iodine deficiency, it is caused due to lack of intake of iodine, through diet. Although, the use of iodine rich salt has completely eradicated it from the developed countries, people from many underdeveloped nations are still deprived of iodine rich salt or iodine rich foods in their diets. Iodine deficiency symptoms include, hypothyroidism, goiter, retarded mental and physical growth etc. Therefore to avoid all these symptoms, it is necessary that along with iodine rich vegetables and fruits, one also includes other iodine rich foods in his/her diet!

But, what are the foods rich in iodine? To answer in short, some of the best sources of iodine, other than iodine rich salt are, sea food, eggs, cow milk, breads and cereals etc. But, the table below would respond to your query in a better way.

List of Foods Rich in Iodine

The table below does not just provide an iodine rich foods list. Rather, it also acquaints you with the iodine content present in each of the food stuff in micrograms (mcg).

Food Item	Quantity	Iodine Content
Iodized Salt	100 grams	3000 mcg
Cereals and Breads	100 grams	10-11 mcg
Meat	100 grams	26-27 mcg
Vegetables	100 grams	32-33 mcg
Fruits	100 grams	4-5 mcg
Haddock	100 grams	Almost 300 mcg
Malt bread	100 grams	29-30 mcg
Haddock	100 grams	300 mcg
Jaffa cakes	100 grams	More than 32 mcg
Naan Bread	100 grams	28-29 mcg
Trifle	100 grams	60 mcg
Mayonnaise	100 grams	35-36 mcg
Cod	100 grams	More than 90 mcg
Boiled Egg	1 egg	23.76 mcg
Low Fat Yogurt	1 cup	87 mcg
Strawberries	1 cup	13 mcg
Kelp	0.25 cup	415 mcg
Cow Milk (2%)	1 cup	58-59 mcg
Gouda Cheese	40 grams	13.6 mcg
Raw Oyster	13-14 grams	21-22 mcg
Ice Cream	45-50 grams	9.6-9.7 mcg
Cheddar Cheese	1 ounce	5-20 mcg
Cottage Cheese	Half cup with around 2 % milk fat	25-70 mcg

Some Other Foods High in Iodine

From the above table, you have seen that there are many iodine rich foods. However, apart from these foodstuffs, some other iodine rich foods include,

• Dulse
• Kombu
• Arame
• Wakame
• Hijike
• Nori

So with the above mentioned table of iodine rich foods, you've must have understood that there are many such foods rich in iodine, that can be easily included in the regular diet. All the above said foods are usually safe to eat in sufficient quantities. However, if you have a pre-exisiting allergy for any of the food items, do consult a doctor and get a better alternative prescribed for yourself. Eat Healthy Stay Well!!!