Fortify yourself

Iodine is an essential mineral for our metabolism but opt for bread and milk rather than salt to get an adequate dose.

- JENNIFER BOWDEN

QUESTION:
My GP recommended about 30 years ago that I cut out salt and salty foods from my diet, which I did. Now I don't like the taste of salty foods. Am I at risk of not having enough iodine in my diet?

ANSWER:
In decades past, iodised table salt was a staple on the Kiwi dinner table, providing the much-needed iodine lacking in our local produce and meats because of New Zealand's low soil-iodine levels. However, subsequent public health campaigns to reduce our copious salt intake had the unfortunate side effect of lowering our iodine intake. This led to iodine deficiency re-emerging in the 1990s. Fortunately, in the past decade matters have been improved since bread has been fortified with iodised salt.

Iodine is an essential mineral that the body cannot make so we need a regular supply in our diet. It is an integral part of thyroid hormones that maintain our body's metabolic rate and support normal growth and development in children and infants. Low soil and groundwater levels of iodine are common throughout the world and result in diets that are low in iodine.