[Quiz] Are You Missing This Key Mineral?
You won’t hear doctors or nutritionists talk about it much, but it’s hard to overstate the importance of the mineral iodine.
Iodine is absolutely essential for heathy thyroid function. If you’re not getting enough, your thyroid can’t produce enough hormones, and can that wreak all kinds of havoc on your health.
That’s because iodine—and healthy thyroid function—are necessary for everything from brain development and growth, to healing and energy metabolism.
And there’s a good change you’re not getting enough.
To find out if you’re in this category—and what to do about it if you are—here are 9 key signs that you are deficient in this important mineral.
- Weight gain. Lack of iodine leads to hypothyroidism, which slows down your metabolism. A slower metabolism means you’re more likely to store fat than burn it.
- Weakness. This is another issue that occurs due to a sluggish metabolism. Burning fewer calories for energy means your muscles don’t work as efficiently.
- Tiredness. Once again, this is another symptom of a slow metabolism, brought on by a sluggish thyroid…caused by not getting enough iodine.
- Feeling cold. A slower metabolism means you’re producing less energy, and energy is necessary to warm up your body.
- Hair loss. Thyroid hormones are responsible for renewing your hair follicles. Hair falls out all the time, but when your thyroid is healthy, it replaces the lost hair follicles. If those follicles aren’t replaced as quickly as they fall out, the result is thinning hair.
- Dry skin. Another job of the thyroid hormones is to help with cell renewal. If the thyroid hormones aren’t doing their job, dead skin cells can build up, leading to flaky skin.
- Slow heart rate. Once again, this is due to a sluggish metabolism.
- Memory problems. Thyroid hormones are intimately tied to brain development and function, so it makes sense that not getting enough iodine can have negative effects on memory. One study even showed that people who had low thyroid hormones (caused by iodine deficiency) had a smaller hippocampus—that’s the part of the brain that affects memory.
- Swollen neck. This is one of the most obvious physical signs of iodine deficiency. That’s because when the thyroid gland isn’t getting enough iodine, it tries to absorb more from your blood. The result is a swollen thyroid—and a swollen neck.
Keep in mind that any of these symptoms could be completely unrelated to iodine deficiency. But if you read this list and felt like I was talking about you, then chances are pretty good you’ve got an iodine deficiency.
To find out for sure, go to your doctor and ask for a urine test.
In the meantime, work on incorporating more iodine-containing foods into your diet. A few of the best include cod, tuna, eggs, shrimp, yogurt, and seaweed.
To a brighter day,
Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.
