A
team of researchers from the Childhood and Environmental Project (INMA) has
recently studied the consequences of iodine supplementation in pregnancy and
found that iodine nutritional status should be one of the essential nutrients
monitored for optimal brain development in the growing fetus.
The research, published in the journal Epidemiology, evaluated dietary iodine
sources and the content of iodine excreted in the urine of 1844 pregnant women
in two Spanish provinces between 2004 and 2008. Just under half of the women
received dietary iodine through salt and the remainder took multivitamins or
specific supplements containing iodine. The women showed ioduria within
appropriate levels for the general population, but slightly below the levels
recommended for pregnancy by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Pregnant women require between 220 and 290 micrograms of iodine a day, according
to the Institute of Medicine. Many brands of prenatal vitamins in the United
States do not contain all of the iodine that they claim according to testing
completed on over 300 brands by ConsumerLab. The findings, published in the New
England Journal of Medicine, discovered 60 brands of both over the counter and
prescription prenatal vitamins that did not contain as much iodine as listed on
the label.
Iodine is an essential mineral for synthesizing thyroid hormones. Natural
sources are found in seafood, dairy products, and bread. Much of the table salt
in the United States has iodine added.
Good iodine status both before and during pregnancy is essential for the
mother’s thyroid function as well as encouraging healthy brain and psycho-motor
development in the child, according to Mrisa Rebagliato, lead author of the
study and researcher at the INMA Project. Iodine deficiency affects more than 2
billion people worldwide, and is one of the leading causes of mental
retardation. It has also been implicated in decreased fertility and increase in
the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth.
"When women begin pregnancy with sufficient levels of iodine through having
previously taken iodine in their diet and iodized salt, the iodine reserves in
their thyroid glands are sufficient to ensure proper synthesis of thyroid
hormones, and pharmacological supplements are not recommended", says the
scientist.However, “epidemiological monitoring of nutritional iodine status
should be carried out on this population [pregnant women] before making any
automatic recommendations about taking iodine supplements during pregnancy.”
Source : www.emaxhealth.com
