IodineThyroid probs due to move to CH, Vegans, sea salt use, Swiss babies, pregnancy

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
Hello,

I've noticed a health correlation which I thought I'd pass along ...

Since arriving in CH, eating my fashionable sea salt, on my dark green smoothie kick, my thyroid has been slightly under active (perhaps not enough iodine).

Then I learned that:

Switzerland soil (and thereby Swiss produce) is among the most iodine deficient in the world (due to ice age and not being next to an ocean for many eons). 1-200 years ago they had an enormous problem of iodine deficiency which led to iodine being put in table salt.

Sea salt has next to no iodine compared with iodized table salt.

Many dark greens bind iodine.

Vegans have a problem getting iodine. (Don't get any from milk)

Infants in CH might have trouble getting iodine because they tend not to be fed much salt. (very important for brain development)

Also overall iodine deficiency is back on the rise because processed food salt is not iodized, manufacturing of milk and bread no longer incorporates iodine, chlorine and flouride put in water (in US) binds iodine.

So I am starting to wonder if my move to CH, these other factors and my start of hypothyroid are related.

See more below.

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Iodine Deficiency in Vegans:

http://www.bastyrcenter.org/content/view/795/

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/iodine

Iodine Deficiency in Sea Salt:

http://www.listener.co.nz/lifestyle/...iodine-please/

http://thecaregrouppc.net/blog/2012/02/rethinking-salt/

Lack of Iodine in CH produce:

http://curezone.com/forums/am.asp?i=1899475

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2028234

http://www.eje-online.org/content/123/6/577.abstract

Iodine in Babies and Pregnant Mothers in CH:

http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/95/12/5217.full

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_ne...l?cid=32214458

General Iodine and Thyroid:

http://www.womentowomen.com/hypothyr...oidhealth.aspx

http://blogs.webmd.com/integrative-m...gh-iodine.html

2
It's possible to get iodised sea salt, or you could always add a little extra seaweed to your diet.

Actually, my brother managed to get iodine poisoning and hyperthyroid from being poisoned by a soy milk with added seaweed extract...

Do you know for a fact that you have an iodine deficiency ? Do you take a multivitamin ?

3
Infants drink a lot of milk which is the main source of iodine so this is not really an issue unless they are breastfed and the mother has an iodine-poor diet.

4
I looked up symptoms for iodine deficiency, and apart from a goiter, I guess Hypothyroidism is a common result. Signs and symptoms may include: Fatigue Sluggishness Increased sensitivity to cold Constipation Pale, dry skin A puffy face Hoarse voice An elevated blood cholesterol level Unexplained weight gain Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness Pain, stiffness or swelling in your joints Muscle weakness Heavier than normal menstrual periods Brittle fingernails and hair Depression

5
I'm not sure if this is so much an issue in CH. As far as I'm aware, bread and processed foods are made with iodised salt in Switzerland, but imported goods aren't. Iodine isn't added to milk at all is it? Doesn't it come from the feed which the cattle eat, meaning it's fluctuates with the seasons in Switzerland. In the summer when they're in pastures they have relatively little iodine, in the winter they get given feed with iodine in it. And I don't think that they put fluoride in water in Switzerland, or do they?

6
I read that dairy products are one of the best sources of iodine, which made me wonder how a deficiency could be so common here in the Land of Cheese.

7
Maybe that only applies to dairy which is farmed in iodine-rich areas? There's not much naturally occurring iodine in Switzerland so it doesn't get into the food chain.

8
Maybe should have eaten more salt when you were baby ?

9
My goodness, I don't even have the time to imagine what kind of insufficiencies I might have. Put iodized salt on your veggies, and if you have a thyroid problem, see your doctor.

10
Basel did it from 1962 until June 30, 2003. I do not know if other cities did it too, but Basel was the very, very last one to abandon this practice.

Back to salt: You can get Swiss salt in three varieties . Plain salt (blue), Salt with iodine (red), and salt with iodine and fluoride (green).

I do not think that you need salt with fluoride, as you get more than enough fluoride while brushing your teeth.

11
This is very interesting to read as I think I may have hyperthyroidism since moving to CH. Whther its related to moving here, I have no idea but never been an issue before. I have put on unexplained weight in the last few months and am on super strict diet with exercise yet no weight loss at all, it has even gone up! It is seriously stressing me out as I usually can lose weight pretty easily.

I have been googling frantically and I seem to have all the symptions for hyperthyroidism. i.e Sluggishness, dry skin, etc.. Going to doc to check it out. It would be interesting to see whether if this is something that can be attributed, in part to living here.

12
Nadia, you might be confusing hypo- and hyperthyroidism. What you are describing - the weight gain, the lethargy, etc, are symptoms usually attributed to hypothyroidism (too little), not hyperthyroidism (too much).

In any event, if you suspect something is wrong - please see your doctor. He/she will do the preliminary tests, and if your values do indeed indicate a problem will refer you to an endocrinologist.

I've learned the hard way that Google is not always your friend. But your doctor can set you on the right road.

Wishing you all the best.

13
Thanks! I was definitely getting confused between the 2. You are right being a google MD is not always a good idea.. I have been convinced on more than 1 occasion that I have a life threatening illness because of self-analysis.. Going to check it on Friday and hopefully its nothing serious..

14
It's a weird fish, though. I have been diagnosed as hypo but suffered more symptoms relevant to someone with hyperthyroidism. My endocrinologist said this isn't uncommon. The symptoms are very wide and can often easily be mistaken/interchanged with other conditions.

It is impossible to self-diagnose so it's best to go and get checked out.

15
Eggplant is also a good source of iodine.

Its hard to determine whether you have an underactve thyroid, unless your doctor requests you to get your levels checked. Having said that the symptoms described above are on par and if you have Heshimoto's thyroditis then you might have to take a dose of "oroxine" on a daily basis.

Should you fall pregnant and normally have an underactive thyroid then you must tell your practioner as the levels drop down further and it needs to be compensated.

Sometimes when you catch a cold you can correlate how imbalanced your thyroid levels are as you can really determine how swollen your thyroid gland gets. It is a horrible feeling as if you have something stuck in your throat all the time.

Visit the doctor!

16
I based this statement on the fact that the Swiss have made a concerted effort to solve their unique iodine problem since the 1920s and they have been doing studies to monitor it's effectiveness. They have some specific studies mentioned above focused on infants as a possible at risk group compared to toddlers.

17

My point is that fluoride binds iodine and reduces uptake. Some people who are iodine deficient cut out their fluoride toothpaste.

18
Out of everything above, I found the most interesting the findings of people traveling through CH a couple of hundred years ago:

http://curezone.com/forums/am.asp?i=1899475

Apparently the huge iodine deficiency is particular to CH soil.

Travelers and Napolean's army would come through a remote valley and notice that a big portion of a village were cretans (little people w stunted growth due to iodine deficiency).

The article has cartoons drawn by travellers of people with enormous goiters around their neck.

Apparently it was standard practice to make clothes with bigger necks to accommodate all the people with inflammed thyroids due to lack of iodine.

19
I read somewhere that iodized salt loses it's iodine after sitting in the box over four months.

I do not know whether this is true or not.

Apparently, they estimate that most people in the US are iodine deficient .... however, this is probably a minor concern when it comes to Americans and their nutrition.

20
Does anyone have personal experience with a good endocrinologist in ZH for thyroid?

I have done a search on other posts and thought I'd ask here as well to see if anyone had any new recommendations to add.