Low-salt Diet & Iodine Deficiency

Iodine is an essential trace mineral that your body requires for the formation of thyroid hormones. Iodine deficiency is only half as common as it was 10 years ago, but 54 countries remain iodine deficient, according to the World Health Organization. The addition of iodine to salt has been the primary mechanism used to combat iodine deficiency in many nations. Now, with health experts recommending lower salt intakes, you may be concerned that you aren't getting enough iodine.

Thyroid Hormones

Your thyroid gland is in the front of your neck, just beneath your Adam's apple. It produces two principal hormones -- triiodothyronine, or T3, and thyroxine, or T4 -- both of which contain iodine that thyroid cells obtain from your bloodstream. T3 and T4 help to regulate most of the metabolic processes in your body, and inadequate thyroid hormone levels are associated with significant health problems, such as mental retardation in newborns, growth delays and learning disabilities in children and weight gain, constipation, cold intolerance, cognitive impairment, menstrual irregularities and congestive heart failure in adults.

Goiter

If you don't get sufficient amounts of iodine from your diet, your thyroid gland enlarges in an effort to capture as much iodine as possible from your bloodstream. This condition, called goiter, was once common in areas of the United States where soils were iodine-deficient. In his book, "Staying Healthy with Nutrition," Dr. Elson Haas reports that 40 percent of people in Michigan had goiter in the 1930s because of inadequate iodine. The introduction of iodized salt essentially eliminated iodine deficiency and goiter in the United States.

Low-Salt Diets

Excessive salt consumption has been linked to high-blood pressure, which increases your risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and heart failure. The most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend a maximum daily sodium intake of 2,300 mg for the general population and 1,500 mg for special populations, which include African-Americans, those over 40 and those who already have hypertension. Your total daily sodium intake includes that acquired from all dietary sources, including added salt.

Iodine Needs

Dietary recommendations for iodine vary from 110 mcg daily for infants to 290 mcg for nursing mothers. Adults who aren't pregnant need 150 mcg daily. Iodized salt contains 76 mcg of iodine per gram of salt. If iodized salt is your sole source of iodine, you need to consume 2 g daily -- from all sources -- to acquire 150 mcg. Because table salt is 40 percent sodium by weight, this supplies 800 mg of sodium, or about one-third to half of your daily sodium allowance.

Considerations

Iodized salt, which is added to many processed foods and widely used as a condiment, is an important source of iodine for many people. Those who eschew iodized salt or are on low-salt diets can still obtain iodine from other sources, such as seafood, marine vegetables, milk, whole-grain breads, eggs, onions, mushrooms, leafy greens, green peppers, strawberries, cheddar cheese and peanuts. However, iodine concentrations in foods vary widely, and you may have to take an iodine supplement to ensure adequate intake if you are on a low-salt diet or avoiding iodized salt. Ask your doctor if you should take extra iodine.