[HN Gopher] Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive imp...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements:
       research (2013)
        
       Author : 1970-01-01
       Score  : 167 points
       Date   : 2025-01-29 18:06 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.discovermagazine.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.discovermagazine.com)
        
       | burnte wrote:
       | Public health generally works!
        
         | sitkack wrote:
         | > Iodine deficiency today is the leading cause of preventable
         | mental retardation in the world. It's estimated that nearly
         | one-third of the world's population has a diet with too little
         | iodine in it, and the problem isn't limited to developing
         | countries -- perhaps one-fifth of those cases are in Europe
         | (pdf), where iodized salt is still not the norm.
         | 
         | https://web.archive.org/web/20200820212020/https://www.who.i...
         | 
         | > The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for iodine is between
         | 220 micrograms (mcg) and 290 mcg in pregnancy, and 290 mcg when
         | breastfeeding. [1]
         | 
         | Iodine affects the thyroid which produces hormones that
         | regulate how the brain develops in the womb. If these T3/T4
         | hormones aren't strong enough, brain cells don't get into the
         | right places.
         | 
         | Apparently Iodine intake needs to be 50% higher than the normal
         | healthy level during pregnancy (and higher during breast
         | feeding). Taking prenatal vitamins now in case I get pregnant.
         | 
         | [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK582771/
         | 
         | [2] https://www.phind.com/search?cache=l34zoyrwfc8ocb3vcodcsc46
         | 
         | So when neurons form in the brain, they are born in a nursery
         | and then migrate to their final destination. Here is a movie
         | showing this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMYHx7dRe8g
         | 
         | Mapping Postnatal Neuronal Migration: A Late Path to
         | Neurodevelopmental Disorders
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4FZiv-rtTU
         | 
         | Neurogenesis in the mammalian brain
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2RINOAeONw
        
           | ed312 wrote:
           | This was both a new topic to me and a remarkably succinct
           | (and well-cited) comment. Did you happen to do this research
           | independently or do you reference a more comprehensive
           | source?
        
             | sitkack wrote:
             | I love doing research so I tried to answer the question for
             | myself, "why does iodine deficiency cause cognitive
             | impairment"? I have no background here.
             | 
             | Then I discovered that brain cells walk around during brain
             | formation. MindBlown!
        
       | gopalv wrote:
       | Burger King continued to use iodized salt consistently, while
       | McDonalds, Wendys etc have switched to flakier salts for their
       | fries which cuts total sodium overall by being flatter instead of
       | grainy, but without any iodine added to it.
       | 
       | The downward trend in fast food began in the 70s, once sodium was
       | seen as bad, so more salty tasting thin crystals were preferred.
       | 
       | [1] - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20634172/ (on researchgate)
        
         | erikpukinskis wrote:
         | I also prefer cooking with the flakier stuff because I can grab
         | a pinch of it and sprinkle it in a controlled way.
         | 
         | I try to use iodized salt when it's convenient: when salting
         | pasta water, in baking, etc... but I wonder if my family is
         | getting enough.
        
           | dkarl wrote:
           | When my wife's doctor recommended more iodine in her diet, I
           | was surprised how hard it was to find iodized flaky salt. I
           | only found one brand I could order, and it was extremely
           | expensive and didn't have a great texture for cooking with. I
           | keep iodized table salt around and sometimes use it for
           | salting soup, stock, or pasta water, but 99% of the time I
           | reach for plain old Morton kosher salt.
        
             | connicpu wrote:
             | It might just be easier and cheaper to take iodine
             | supplements. Humans need about 150mcg/day, just make sure
             | not to overdose on it. Vitamin companies love selling you
             | huge doses you don't need, but if you know what dosage
             | you're looking for you can usually find appropriate ones.
        
             | hansvm wrote:
             | Flaky salt is easy to make. You can adjust the texture as
             | desired. I usually start with a bucket of sea water, but
             | iodized salt works too.
        
         | FriedPickles wrote:
         | Hmm, why don't they make iodized flaky salt?
        
           | gopalv wrote:
           | > why don't they make iodized flaky salt?
           | 
           | They'll figure out a way eventually, but it is definitely
           | harder.
           | 
           | It is always easy to grow something uniform as a pure
           | crystal, without fault lines on them causing crumbling.
           | 
           | As a kid who spent a lot of time with chemistry, it used to
           | fascinate me that you can crystallize out a clean salt
           | crystal out of a mix of potassium permanganate and salt, the
           | salt grain will grow pretty much pure salt on it without a
           | hint of purple (also burned my nose skin off collecting
           | chlorine from the exercise, talk to your local chemistry
           | teacher and find out why).
           | 
           | I never succeeded in making a colored salt transparent
           | crystal.
        
           | ufo wrote:
           | I think it's a United States thing. There are other countries
           | where all salt meant for human consumption must be iodized.
        
             | Spooky23 wrote:
             | Almost all table salt is. Flake or kosher salt has become
             | fashionable for various reasons.
             | 
             | You'll not see any change for awhile, as the same clowns
             | who are against fluoridation and vaccination also want to
             | enjoy the freedom of a life without iodine.
        
         | ak217 wrote:
         | > downward trend ... sodium was seen as bad
         | 
         | Excess sodium intake is associated with cardiovascular disease
         | and heart failure. Salt is also an opportunistic carrier for
         | iodine supplementation. So to call it good or bad, you'd need
         | to either come up with an epidemiological study of the two
         | diseases relative to each other, or maybe propose an
         | alternative carrier for the iodine supplementation.
        
       | jeffbee wrote:
       | Iodized salt, sanitary sewers, and _shoes_ are the showcase
       | achievements of public health, aside from vaccines and whatnot
       | that people associate with progress in medicine.
        
         | fodkodrasz wrote:
         | I agree, but not forget washing hands and using antiseptics
         | where it makes sense.
        
         | shortrounddev2 wrote:
         | Fluoridated water too
        
           | PKop wrote:
           | Nope. Trivial benefit while marginally lowering IQ.
           | 
           | Fluoride Exposure and Children's IQ Scores A Systematic
           | Review and Meta-Analysis [0]
           | 
           | [0] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullartic
           | le/...
        
             | 6SixTy wrote:
             | You linked a study saying that under 1.5mg/L, fluoride is
             | safe. EPA maximum is 4.0, but secondary standard is 2.0.
             | Current recommendations from the Dept. of Health and Human
             | Services are at 0.7mg/L.
        
               | PKop wrote:
               | There's no point, why risk it, for what benefit? Just
               | brush your teeth and apply topical fluoride periodically.
               | It's not hard. Is it for you?
               | 
               | Even a tiny negative impact on IQ is a dumb thing to
               | accept in service to some nonsense rationale for your
               | teeth. Accepting this tradeoff is an IQ test itself. I'm
               | with Europe on this one.
        
               | shortrounddev2 wrote:
               | I believe that you've selected a single study based on
               | your existing biases and are basing your entire opinion
               | off of it, rather than having done an honest amount of
               | research into the nuances of the issue
        
               | sysworld wrote:
               | Back when I looked into fluoride in water, my take away
               | was that for adults it has little impact on IQ, but may
               | have more on younger people. Research was still ongoing.
               | 
               | From my understanding, fluoride in water was more a thing
               | done for poorer communities (or people with bad oral
               | heath routines, aka not brushing your teeth), and the
               | cheapest, most effective way to help these people is to
               | put it in everyones water.
               | 
               | But from personal standpoint, the best way to look after
               | your teeth is to brush with fluoride toothpaste, twice a
               | day (ideally w/ electric brush), and floss once a day.
               | 
               | Fluoride mouthwash is also a good idea (but look up what
               | a good mouthwash is, you don't want one with alcohol in
               | it). Though using mouthwash isn't as important as
               | brushing/flossing.
               | 
               | Personally, I'd rather not have fluoride in water until
               | we have more conclusive reliable research on it. But
               | having said that, I understand why it's often put in in a
               | cost-benefit view point.
        
           | ramon156 wrote:
           | Most european countries would like to disagree
        
             | shortrounddev2 wrote:
             | They should catch up to us then
        
           | timewizard wrote:
           | I can get non-iodized salt, use a septic tank, not wear
           | shoes, and skip vaccines (and home school) if I so choose to.
           | I can't choose to get unfloridated water from the public
           | system. It's a little odd that a public health intervention
           | has been prescribed to everyone en masse.
        
           | sysworld wrote:
           | I think that's a bold statement. I'd say the jury is still
           | out on that (especially for pregnant women and babies).
           | 
           | Though I will agree with fluoridated toothpaste. I would
           | rather the govt gives out fluoride toothpaste to people, then
           | force everyone to drink it, which research is still ongoing.
           | Or offer discounted fluoride toothpaste / mouthwash.
           | 
           | From my understanding, fluoride works best when put directly
           | on teeth (e.g. toothpaste / mouthwash), and doesn't work so
           | well if you drink it.
        
         | eptcyka wrote:
         | I wouldn't put _vaccines_ in the same pot as _whatnot_ s.
        
         | bregma wrote:
         | But aside from the iodized salt, sanitary sewers, shoes,
         | vaccines, and whatnots what have the Romans done for us?
        
       | duskwuff wrote:
       | See also: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3800113/
       | 
       | TL;DR: hookworm eradication in the American South substantially
       | improved school attendance and educational outcomes in children,
       | and may have had a nontrivial positive effect on the overall
       | economy of the region.
       | 
       | (In case you don't see the connection, some children had such
       | severe hookworm infestations that they were too anemic to focus
       | in school, or even to attend at all. Teachers' accounts
       | specifically remark on their students' newly "rosy cheeks" -
       | because they're no longer anemic.)
        
         | throw745859 wrote:
         | But hookworm recently returned. There are also all sorts of
         | parasitic worms that coexist with men. Pets require periodic
         | vaccination, but most owners are deniers or just do not care!
         | 
         | Remember that, next time you step into dog shit!
        
         | FuriouslyAdrift wrote:
         | Hookworms and the Myth of the "Lazy Southerner"
         | 
         | https://www.pbs.org/video/gross-science-myth-laziness/
        
       | zwieback wrote:
       | I grew up in Germany where iodized salt and flouridated water
       | aren't the norm. Now I have bad teeth and can't wrap my head
       | around the latest changes in the C++ language...
        
         | jeffbee wrote:
         | Switzerland is the exemplar of a place without environmental
         | iodine, right?
        
           | greenavocado wrote:
           | Any landlocked country without access to ocean water for
           | irrigation and drinking. Heck, even the American midwest is
           | notorious for having little iodine in its soil.
        
         | spacemanspiff01 wrote:
         | Can't comment on the bad teeth, but I don't think iodine is
         | causing your c++ issues...
        
         | cgh wrote:
         | Denmark iodizes its salt. Therefore, C++ is unnecessarily
         | complex.
        
         | eddythompson80 wrote:
         | I guess there is a reason Germans blamed the Jews for all their
         | bullshit.
        
         | virtualritz wrote:
         | 10 out of 10! :D
        
         | carlmr wrote:
         | Iodized salt is quite the norm in Germany. You can buy the non
         | -iodized version which is better for bread baking. But most
         | everyone I know has iodized salt at home.
         | 
         | Also doesn't water fluoridation cost a few IQ points? In the
         | end I could imagine the effects cancelling each other out.
        
           | WorkerBee28474 wrote:
           | > Also doesn't water fluoridation cost a few IQ points?
           | 
           | Yes
           | 
           | https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/whatwestudy/assessments/noncancer/.
           | ..
        
             | mdemare wrote:
             | " It is important to note that there were insufficient data
             | to determine if the low fluoride level of 0.7 mg/L
             | currently recommended for U.S. community water supplies has
             | a negative effect on children's IQ."
        
             | alistairSH wrote:
             | That's not what the link claims.
             | 
             | The combination of flouridated water, tooth paste, and
             | other sources, etc can lead to levels that can cause
             | problems, but it's not as simple as "fluoridated water
             | bad".
        
               | lukan wrote:
               | "The NTP monograph concluded, with moderate confidence,
               | that higher levels of fluoride exposure, such as drinking
               | water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per
               | liter, are associated with lower IQ in children. "
               | 
               | So maybe not exactly "water fluoridation cost a few IQ
               | points" in a broad sense, but close enough.
        
               | vel0city wrote:
               | > such as drinking water containing more than 1.5
               | milligrams of fluoride per liter
               | 
               | > The PHS panel that provided the recommendation
               | considered all sources of fluoride intake and recommended
               | 0.7 mg/L as the concentration that maximizes fluoride's
               | oral health benefits while minimizing potential harms,
               | such as dental fluorosis.
               | 
               | 1.5mg/L was where effects could _possibly_ start to be
               | detected. That 's over twice the recommended
               | concentrations.
               | 
               | https://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/about/community-water-
               | fluor...
               | 
               | From the NIH source above posted by WorkerBee:
               | 
               | > It is important to note that there were insufficient
               | data to determine if the low fluoride level of 0.7 mg/L
               | currently recommended for U.S. community water supplies
               | has a negative effect on children's IQ.
               | 
               | https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/whatwestudy/assessments/noncanc
               | er/...
        
           | jandrewrogers wrote:
           | > Also doesn't water fluoridation cost a few IQ points?
           | 
           | No, it does not. This is speculation based on a poor
           | understanding of the actual science.
           | 
           | Most of our fluoride exposure comes from eating normal food,
           | water fluoridation is a small fraction of that. There are no
           | measurable cognitive effects in the many developed parts of
           | the world with natural fluoride levels far higher than used
           | in municipal fluoridation. Furthermore, there is no plausible
           | mechanism of action for how this would cause a cognitive
           | deficit. Fluoride toxicity is well-understood because it has
           | an unusually simple biochemical mechanism. Therefore it isn't
           | surprising that the handful of low-quality studies that show
           | a weak relationship to IQ loss don't replicate.
           | 
           | As someone who actually worked on fluorine chemistry, it is
           | disappointing to see how credulous even many people with a
           | STEM background are on this topic. The absence of a plausible
           | mechanism of action alone should raise serious questions.
        
             | ifyoubuildit wrote:
             | > The absence of a plausible mechanism of action alone
             | should raise serious questions.
             | 
             | I'm just a layperson, so forgive the possibly dumb
             | question: why would this be weighted so heavily?
             | 
             | I read it as "we can't think of how this could work, so we
             | should assume it doesn't". But that just seems like hubris
             | to me.
        
         | Night_Thastus wrote:
         | I think you have it backwards. If you _can_ easily wrap your
         | head around the latest C++ changes, _then_ you should be
         | concerned.
        
         | pentacent_hq wrote:
         | That's not true. Iodized salt is the norm in Germany. I
         | couldn't find data more recent than 2018 but according to this
         | paper, "iodized and fluoridated salt has a market share of
         | 80-90% among salt sold to private households":
         | https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de/items/fcd6e613-49a9-414b-a4...
        
           | blargpls wrote:
           | I think you made a typo. Your source says it's 70-80%.
           | 
           | > So liegt der Anteil von jodiertem und fluoridiertem Salz in
           | Haushaltsgebinden seit Jahren zwischen 70 und 80 %
        
             | pentacent_hq wrote:
             | Yes, that was a typo, thanks for the correction!
        
           | zwieback wrote:
           | Good to know, must have gone up since I moved away in '92
        
         | cubefox wrote:
         | Iodized salt has been the norm for a while in Germany...
        
         | pessimizer wrote:
         | According to the current best guess, fluoridation lowers IQ
         | scores:
         | 
         | https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/...
         | 
         | Taylor KW, Eftim SE, Sibrizzi CA, et al. Fluoride Exposure and
         | Children's IQ Scores: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
         | JAMA Pediatr. Published online January 06, 2025.
         | doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.5542
        
       | jrootabega wrote:
       | > Iodine is a critical micronutrient in the human diet -- that
       | is, something our bodies can't synthesize
       | 
       | For this I am thankful. If your body DOES start synthesizing
       | iodine, you and those around you probably don't have much longer
       | left to live.
        
         | frabert wrote:
         | I long for the day when my liver can also act as a particle
         | accelerator
        
           | xattt wrote:
           | The kidneys? A pair of calutrons.
        
             | burnished wrote:
             | Uhm, yes, is this where the line for the beta test starts?
        
               | fch42 wrote:
               | You don't want either alpha or beta in your kidneys, not
               | even for a test. The radiation could cause cancer.
        
           | altairprime wrote:
           | _smiles in katalepsis_
        
         | blueflow wrote:
         | Explanation: Iodine is a molecular element, it consists out of
         | only one type of atom. Atoms being synthesized implies some
         | nuclear reaction or decay going on, both would cause radiation.
        
           | iugtmkbdfil834 wrote:
           | Thank you. For the life of me I could not figure out why that
           | is true.
        
           | MawKKe wrote:
           | I mean, it's _possible_ that at some point evolution produced
           | such nuclear reactored individual, but who got  "naturally
           | selected" rather quickly for obvious reasons
        
         | cubefox wrote:
         | Yeah, from Wikipedia:
         | 
         | > An essential nutrient is a nutrient required for normal
         | physiological function that cannot be synthesized in the body
         | (...) The nutrients considered essential for humans comprise
         | nine amino acids, two fatty acids, thirteen vitamins, fifteen
         | minerals and choline.
         | 
         | While some of these can be synthesized by other animals, this
         | is not the case of minerals like iodine. I believe only organic
         | compounds can be synthesized by animals.
        
           | SAI_Peregrinus wrote:
           | Our bodies can synthesize several inorganic compounds, and
           | other organisms can synthesize even more. There are
           | biological sources of $H_{2}O$, $NH_{4}^{+}$, $NO$,
           | $HCO_{3}^{-}$, $HPO_{4}^{2-}$, and (traditionally considered
           | inorganic despite having carbon) $CO_{2}$. Iodine is an
           | element, not a compound, and can only be synthesized through
           | nuclear processes, not chemical ones.
        
             | morjom wrote:
             | What is this kind of notation from/based on? e.g $H_{2}O$
        
               | varenc wrote:
               | Looks like LaTeX syntax.
        
               | wizzwizz4 wrote:
               | LaTeX would be \\(H_{2}O\\) - or, more likely, \ce{H2O}
               | or \ch{H2O}.
        
               | wizzwizz4 wrote:
               | That's TeX. Every time Donald Knuth gets distracted from
               | writing _The Art of Computer Programming_ , he makes
               | another piece of load-bearing infrastructure. (TeX came
               | about because the second edition of Volume 1 didn't look
               | as nice as the first edition.)
        
             | lgeorget wrote:
             | The definition I remember from my chemistry class is that
             | organic compounds are those having at least one C-H bond.
        
               | gilleain wrote:
               | It's a reasonable definition, especially when classifying
               | biochemicals, but there are always edge cases.
               | 
               | For example : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carborane
               | that definitely do have C-H bonds but are mostly B-B,
               | B-C, B-H.
        
             | gilleain wrote:
             | I feel your use of TeX (or whatever that notation is
             | precisely ...) is far too clear.
             | 
             | Possibly use InChI instead, so instead of "$HPO_{4}^{2-}$",
             | use "InChI=1S/H3O4P/c1-5(2,3)4/h(H3,1,2,3,4)/p-2". Or, more
             | concisely, just use the key, which is "NBIIXXVUZAFLBC-
             | UHFFFAOYSA-L". :)
             | 
             | (from :
             | https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chebi/searchId.do?chebiId=43474)
        
               | capitainenemo wrote:
               | Or just unicode. Standard digraphs ftw (xcompose,
               | wincompose...). It's even typed in the same way (_4 ^+
               | etc) - and maybe there's tex tools that output unicode
               | these days where possible?
               | 
               | H2O, NH4+, NO, HCO3-, HPO42-
        
               | gilleain wrote:
               | Yes, that's pretty good ... but - the charges on [NH4]+,
               | [HCO3]-, and [HPO4]2- should be above the subscripts on
               | their last atoms. Minor point really.
        
               | capitainenemo wrote:
               | true, true... I wonder if that's even possible to do in
               | unicode. maybe some combining char thing. I certainly
               | wouldn't be able to type a digraph of it from memory if
               | it is. But, I feel it's still more readable this way
        
               | cubefox wrote:
               | Or Hacker News could finally add support for LaTeX and
               | markdown...
        
           | mr_toad wrote:
           | Does respiration count as synthesis?
        
           | freehorse wrote:
           | Minerals (as the term is used in nutrition, not in mining)
           | are chemical elements, not "compounds". They are part of the
           | constituents that can be synthesised into compounds. Usually
           | our bodies obtain them in some form of organic or inorganic
           | salts, which are compounds, so we obtain them as parts of
           | compounds. To synthesise compounds that contain iodine, you
           | need iodine in some form. As we are not talking about nuclear
           | reactions through which elements are synthesised through
           | other elements, there is no way humans, animals or plants
           | synthesise any minerals like iodine, we all obtain them from
           | some source. The original sentence is weird, because it talks
           | as if iodine can be synthesised somehow chemically but just
           | our bodies are unable to.
        
       | MichaelNolan wrote:
       | Further reading from Gwern - https://gwern.net/iodine
        
       | davidgay wrote:
       | https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n23/jonah-goodman/a-nati...
       | is a pretty good article describing how a Swiss doctor showed
       | experimentally that adding iodine was a cure for goitre and the
       | associated mental handicaps (Switzerland is highly deficient in
       | iodine in many areas, because glaciers in the last ice age
       | removed most top soil).
        
       | kazinator wrote:
       | > _something our bodies can't synthesize_
       | 
       | Iodine is an element! As such, it cannot be produced by a
       | chemical reaction and so isn't synthesized in _any_ living
       | organism.
       | 
       | It's produced in supernova explosions, by the rapid neutron
       | capture process.
        
       | hilux wrote:
       | Iodine is also found in seafood and dairy and eggs, which may
       | have been less common in the American diet a century ago,
       | especially among the poor, but are widespread today. Americans no
       | longer need iodized salt. (Not sure about vegans.)
        
         | 6SixTy wrote:
         | Vegans should already be extremely watchful of their nutrition,
         | as there's for example B12 in a lot of animal products, where a
         | B12 deficiency means you are getting nerve damage.
        
         | cogman10 wrote:
         | It's definitely in seafood. Dairy and eggs depend on what the
         | cows and chickens have been fed. In regions with low soil
         | iodine content, you can expect the eggs and milk to also be low
         | in iodine.
         | 
         | Vegetables and grains also have a significant amount of iodine
         | in that sort of soil (it's where the cows and chickens get it).
        
       | hiroshi3110 wrote:
       | In Japan, iodized salt is banned as a food additive. because we
       | can take it from see weeds like kombu.
        
         | ycombinatrix wrote:
         | Why would that be a reason to ban iodized salt?
        
           | xiande04 wrote:
           | Even without iodized salt, Japan is one of the highest
           | consumers of iodine worldwide. [1]
           | 
           | But I agree. Even though iodized salt is pointless in Japan,
           | so is the law banning it (assuming OP is correct, and it is
           | in fact banned).
           | 
           | [1]: https://anaturalhealingcenter.com/documents/Thorne/artic
           | les/...
        
           | slongfield wrote:
           | Too much iodine can lead to thyroid problems, and this has
           | been a problem in some subgroups in Japan:
           | https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/107/6/e2634/6516999
        
       | tguvot wrote:
       | need to cook food for dog due to medical reasons, and one of
       | ingredients is iodized salt. so i had a quick look at this topic.
       | so, as far as i remember:
       | 
       | - different brands have different amount of iodine
       | 
       | - iodine dissipates from opened salt container, with speed of
       | dissipation been dependant on temperature and humidity
       | 
       | - if you cook with iodized salt, most of it iodine disappears
       | (depends on brand. some retain more )
        
         | puzzledobserver wrote:
         | I had never thought about point 1, and never knew about points
         | 2 and 3.
         | 
         | Growing up in India, iodized salt was the norm. Given that I'm
         | vegetarian, now that I have moved the US, I have continued to
         | use iodized salt for my own cooking. Whatever Morton / Kroger /
         | other grocery store brand is most readily available. I usually
         | keep it stored in an airtight plastic jar but use it for
         | cooking like normal.
         | 
         | Should I be worried about iodine loss during cooking?
        
           | tguvot wrote:
           | depends on amount of salt that you use and your nutritional
           | requirements...
           | 
           | for my dog I add salt after cooking. she won't know the
           | difference
        
       | joseph_b wrote:
       | I wonder if I got my share of iodine growing up, or maybe too
       | much, while playing with nitrogen triiodide?
        
         | speed_spread wrote:
         | Considering a clear distinction between "slowly growing up" and
         | "quickly expanding in all directions", that you managed to grow
         | up at all proves that you didn't have too much.
        
       | taeric wrote:
       | This has me curious on how I would know if my family needs more
       | iodine? We have largely been on kosher salt for a long long time.
       | It is just more pleasant to use while cooking.
       | 
       | I could, I think, just switch a lot of what we do back to iodized
       | salt? Feels pointless if not needed, though.
        
         | 29athrowaway wrote:
         | You likely eat other kosher products that do not use "kosher
         | salt".
         | 
         | Using "kosher salt" is not always a requirement for a product
         | to be kosher. Technically all salt is kosher if it is produced
         | under kosher supervision, even if it's not "kosher salt".
         | 
         | (And some salt labeled as "kosher salt" can also be not
         | actually kosher!)
         | 
         | "Kosher salt" should be rather called "koshering salt", which
         | is the salt you would use for koshering meat.
         | 
         | And like most people, you likely eat more salt than strictly
         | needed because there's salt in everything. So consuming more
         | salt should be of least concern.
        
           | taeric wrote:
           | Oh, I should have been clear there, I don't do kosher because
           | it is "kosher." I just like the larger flakes and it is
           | easier to cook with from familiarity. I'm assuming with time
           | I could get used to iodized again, but not at all clear if I
           | need to.
           | 
           | And we have actually been doing quite well with not eating
           | out too often. Literally less than 5 times all month. Such
           | that I am not at all worried that we are getting too much
           | salt.
           | 
           | Though, that starts getting at the general question. How
           | often should I get blood work for nutritional analysis?
           | Because.... I don't know that I've ever done that.
        
             | 29athrowaway wrote:
             | I see. Most sea salt also has no iodine if that's a
             | concern.
        
               | taeric wrote:
               | I was never concerned about iodine. A chef suggested
               | kosher salt as being easier to use and I switched a long
               | time ago. If anything, my concern now would be if I
               | should make sure we are not lacking in iodine.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2025-01-29 23:00 UTC)