You can find your thyroid at the front of your neck; it is a small, butterfly-shaped gland below your skin that helps manage your metabolism and growth by releasing thyroid hormone. When your thyroid doesn't release the correct amount of thyroid hormone, you develop thyroid problems. In some cases these problems can cause your thyroid to enlarge, and when it becomes large enough to easily notice, it is called a goiter. One of the major causes of thyroid problems is the inability to get the right amount of iodine in the diet.
Thyroid and Iodine
Your body extracts the element iodine from the food you eat and your thyroid combines the iodine with the amino acid tyrosine to manufacture thyroid hormone, KidsHealth.org says. The hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine are the two main forms of thyroid hormone. Your thyroid gland also produces the hormone calcitonin, which helps regulate the amount of calcium in your blood. The rate at which your thyroid gland produces and releases these hormones is controlled by your pituitary gland, which, in turn, is controlled by your hypothalamus.
Not Enough Iodine
While iodine deficiency is rare in countries where iodine is regularly added to table salt and other foods, people in developing countries can still suffer from it, especially if they live far from a source of seafood, from plants grown in iodine-rich soil or from plants that concentrate iodine, for example, seaweed, MayoClinic.com states. You can develop goiter if you are iodine-deficient because your thyroid gland enlarges in an effort to get as much iodine as it can. Eating a diet that is heavy in hormone-inhibiting foods such as cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower can also lead to iodine deficiency, MayoClinic.com says.
Too Much Iodine
Taking too much iodine, on the other hand, can also lead to thyroid disease, according to the "New England Journal of Medicine." High levels of iodine intake increase your risk of developing autoimmune thyroiditis, which causes hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is a condition where your thyroid gland is unable to produce enough of the thyroid hormones your body needs.
Just Enough Iodine
For those 10 and older, the recommended dietary intake of iodine is from 120 mcg to 150 mcg a day, the University of Maryland Medical Center says. For pregnant women, this requirement goes up to 175 mcg a day. Breastfeeding women need 200 mcg of iodine a day, while children from ages 1 to 10 need only 70 to 120 mcg a day. Infants from six months to a year old need only 50 mcg of iodine a day, while those younger than six months need only 40 mcg daily.
References
- KidsHealth.org: Thyroid Disease and Teens
- MayoClinic.com; Goiter - Causes; January 2011
- MayoClinic.com; Hypothyroidism (Underactive Thyroid) - Causes; June 2010
- "New England Journal of Medicine"; Effect of Iodine Intake on Thyroid Diseases in China; Weiping Teng; June 2006
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Iodine; Steven D. Ehrlich; June 2009
