There is something in your table salt!
A lot of what we eat has been fortified with nutrients. By fortified I don’t mean it was harvested in a fort! Food products have long been modified to include certain nutrients that are missing.
Food fortification adds vital vitamins and minerals to regularly eaten meals to prevent nutritional deficiencies. One of the most scalable, durable, and cost-effective approaches to fighting micronutrient deficiency is food fortification. These regularly eaten foods that can be fortified are referred to as vehicles since they “deliver” nutrients. Commonly used food vehicles are staple grains, oils, and condiments as they are largely and frequently consumed. For example, in India, rice is fortified with vitamin B12 and folic acid, edible oil with vitamins A and D, Wheat with vitamin B12, iron and folic acid, and milk with A and D. As salt is consumed daily by everyone, it has been used as a vehicle to fortify it with iodine.
Iodine is available in deep layers of the soil, however, due to afforestation, leaching, and exposed soil in mountainous ranges, chances of getting iodine through the diet remained slim. Iodine deficiency is a worldwide problem that causes a spectrum of diseases, including not just goiter, but also cretinism, intellectual impairment, and adverse obstetric outcomes (Pearce and Zimmermann, 2023). These spectrums of defects have been collectively named iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) particularly impacting pregnant women and infants. The public health strategy to improve iodine intake through salt is termed “Universal Salt Iodisation”, USI in short (Charlton & Skeaff, 2011). The human body cannot generate iodine and it is required to be consumed externally. This iodine is an essential micronutrient and plays a key role in the functioning of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is shaped like a butterfly, with two lobes joined by an isthmus below the voice box or larynx. This gland generates thyroid hormones, which influence or govern our body’s growth and metabolism. Iodine helps also in the production of thyroid hormones, it is a thyroid hormone regulator in and of itself (Bursuk, E. (2012). The principal thyroid hormones TSH, T4, and T3 are primarily responsible for the regulation of metabolism. These hormones have a significant impact on vitamins because vitamins are an important component of some enzyme or coenzyme that impacts thyroid hormone concentration. Excess thyroid hormone production can cause muscular weakness, while inadequate production might cause muscle sluggishness. Because these hormones are required for metabolic activities associated with bone production, the need for parathyroid hormone increases. It also influences gastrointestinal motility by increasing the rate of digestive juice release (Daher et al., 2009).
Such critical metabolic processes rely on this simple food that many people overlook in their diet. Vitamin and mineral shortages harm individuals all over the world, affecting their health and reducing their capacity to contribute to their communities and countries economic well-being. While the need for iodine and its fortification of it has successfully improved iodine status among populations and reduced its ill impacts, particularly in children and pregnant women; there is still much to do. The USI implementation, sale of iodized salt mandate across countries, and awareness of iodine nutrition especially before conception and delivery are important. The need for more effective delivery and coverage of these programs is to be regulated and mandated globally. The next time you grab your table salt, be sure that it is iodized. With looming problems of hypertension, make sure you restrict it to 5 grams per day. This is still enough to cover your day’s requirement of the simple yet essential nutrient- Iodine.
Sofia Rani Saggu, PhD
References:
· Bursuk, E. (2012). Introduction to Thyroid: Anatomy and Functions. InTech. doi: 10.5772/37942
· Charlton, K., & Skeaff, S. (2011). Iodine fortification. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, 14(6), 618–624. https://doi.org/10.1097/mco.0b013e32834b2b30
· Daher, R., Yazbeck, T., Jaoude, J. B., & Abboud, B. (2009). Consequences of dysthyroidism on the digestive tract and viscera. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 15(23), 2834. https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.15.2834
· Pearce, E.N and Zimmermann M.B (2023). The Prevention of Iodine Deficiency: A History. Thyroid.Feb 2023.143–149.http://doi.org/10.1089/thy.2022.0454
