Obtaining Sufficient Iodine from Iodine Poor Soil.

[230gr]

Obtaining Sufficient Iodine from Iodine Poor Soil.

It has occurred to me that in a truly long term EOTWAWKI  event, once your year’s worth of stored foods have been used up, you would be completely dependent of your iodine deficient foods raised from your iodine deficient soil. What can be done to mitigate the possibility of future iodine deficiencies in your group’s diet?

First, how much iodine do you actually need? The iodine required per day varies with your age and condition:
Adults-                             150 mcg
Pregnant Women-           200 mcg
Breastfeeding Women-   200 mcg
To meet your daily requirement of 150 micrograms (mcg, μg) (only about 20,000th of a teaspoon) is not always simple unless you have access ocean products. According to the World Health Organization, iodine deficiencies exist in 54 countries, almost 48% of world population. Even in the USA, a sample of US women found the average concentration of iodine excreted in breast milk to be 114μg per day while this more than meets the adequate intake requirement of 110μg per day for infants up to 6 months old but falls a little short of the 130μg per day requirement for infants from 7 months to 1 year.

In general, plant and animal foods from the sea contain the most iodine, followed by animal foods, then plant foods. Egg and dairy products can also be good sources.
Of all foods, seaweed (like kelp), is the most well known and reliable source of natural iodine.

Some vegetables can absorb and concentrate iodine from even poor soils. Brassica napus (Rutabaga, Siberian kale, Chinese cabbage, turnip) shows a good ability to take up iodine, as, to an lesser extent, does Lycopersicon esculentum (Tomato).

Interestingly enough though, there are iodine antagonists components in soy, flax seeds, and raw cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage) that counteract iodine absorption. These goitrogens components can cause an enlarged thyroid gland (called a goiter). Thus, large amounts of soy, raw cruciferous combined with inadequate iodine intake can exacerbate iodine deficiency, however, the goitrogenic activity of soy isoflavones can be at least partly “turned off” by cooking or fermenting such as tempeh, soy sauce, miso, and natto. These methods of processing soybeans alter the activity (goitrogenicity) of the phytochemicals they contain. If you do eat whole soybean foods such as edamame or tofu, eat them cooked or steamed. Similarly, cruciferous vegetables should be steamed or cooked, as the heat alters the isothiocyanates’ molecular structure and eliminates the goitrogenic effect. Small amounts of goitrogenic compounds are also present in peanuts, pine nuts, millet, peaches, strawberries, and spinach which should be consumed in small quantities raw or cooked (roasted) before eating.
Food iodine content, other than fortified salt, can vary widely and this table should be taken as a rough guide. Note the best are sea products or have been fortified artificially.
Food   Serving Size   Iodine
Dried Kelp    1 tablespoon   2000μg 
Cod   3 ounces*   99μg     (66% DV)
Iodized Salt (Fortified)   1 gram   77μg     (51% DV)
Baked Potato with peel   1 medium   60μg     (40% DV)
Milk   1 cup    56μg     (37% DV)
Turkey,  baked   3 ounces   34μg     (23% DV)
Navy beans, cooked   1/2 cup   32μg      (21% DV)
Egg, boiled   1 large   12 to 14μg      (8%  DV)
Beef, muscle, cooked 100g   10 to 14μg
Liver, beef, cooked   100g        32 μg

In iodine poor soil gardens, it becomes very important to recycle nutrients as efficiently as possible. The very richest source to do this is compost humanure because it the richest in nutrients, especially, micronutrients.  The simplest and safest way is to recycle urine.   Males aged 6 years and older had a median urinary iodine concentration of 164 mcg/L while women of reproductive age had median urinary iodine concentration of 133 mcg/L. This is much too much iodine to not recycle in itself not to mention the potassium, phosphate, and high quality nitrogen (enough for one adult male to fertilize an acre in a year’s time).