A recent round of accelerated hair loss sent me running to the doctor for some lab work to check my thyroid levels. Twenty-five years ago, I had a run-in with Graves' disease, an auto-immune disease that causes the thyroid gland to go crazy (think of flooring the gas pedal on a car) and the typical treatment is focused radiation with the intended result of killing the thyroid gland, thereby "stopping the madness." Unfortunately, a dead thyroid gland also means I rely on synthetic thyroid to keep things running forevermore. But hey, there are worse things, right? Sometimes, though, it gets off kilter in one direction or the other and, in extreme cases, I lose a bunch of hair (among other things). It's not a quick fix, but it's a relatively simple fix so I just learn to roll with it.
My M.D. isn't your typical pill-pusher and I love him for that. I usually walk away from an appointment with some enlightenment and this time his sage advice centered around, of all things, iodine. He asked me if I eat much shellfish or kale and suggested that I make an effort to add these and other foods that are high in iodine into my diet because research shows many (if not, most) Americans are quite deficient in this mineral that most of us know mostly nothing about.
Okay, so if it's true, why do I even care? When's the last time you saw somebody walking around sporting a massive goiter? Uh, never. Still, when my Doc brings it up, I go home and get to researching and this time I uncovered some very interesting information. A 2011 article published in Psychology Today claims that this new iodine deficiency epidemic is bringing with it much more than goiters (click on the link to read the entire article). Our bodies require it for healthy cellular and metabolic functioning and, in fact, this drop in iodine intake might be contributing to many major health problems including the most obvious thyroid conditions (including thyroid cancer) but also heart disease, breast cysts, breast cancer and even chronic fatigue syndrome.
So what I found is that a few quick adjustments could make a significant difference. First, I trotted right to the Teeter and picked up some good old-fashioned iodized salt. I had given it up in favor of fancy sea salt which may have been a hasty decision and not the BEST decision. I found other sources of iodine in other types of food but I hit the mother load when I discovered kelp noodles. Hear me out before you turn up your nose. These little zero cal/low carb/gluten and grain free gems are packed with minerals (including iodine) and, as an added bonus, each serving provides 15% of the calcium RDA. They require no cooking and they taste like nothing. NADA. No fishy taste and no slim. I have even started adding them to my homemade chicken bone broth (see my earlier post) and just about anything else that might be enhanced by the addition of noodles or something kind of crunchy.
Come on, take a trip under the sea and get yourself a healthy dose of iodized goodness.If it feels less risky to follow an actual recipe, try out this tasty Thai coconut curry I whipped up last week. Talk about an explosion of flavor in your mouth! It was a real hit with the husband and with me! So come on, take a trip under the sea and get yourself a healthy dose of iodized goodness.
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