Nutrient requirements Iodine

Iodine is a required human nutrient and is a component of thyroid... 

Iodine is an essential nutrient element required for thyroid gland. It is added to salt and to animal feeds for the prevention of goiter. In medicine it is used as a therapeutic reagent for the treatment of various thyroid-related diseases. It also is used as an antiseptic. Radioactive isotopes of iodine are used for treating thyroid cancer, heart diseases including tachycardia, and as a tracer for diagnosing certain diseases. 

Carbohydrates are more plentiful and constant in food supplies throughout the world when compared to other nutrients, such as proteins, vitamin A, folic acid, and iodine. A naturally occurring deficiency specifically in carbohydrates is im-known. However, deliberate omission of carbohydrates from the diet with continued consumption of fat as an energy source can lead to specific problems. Glucose is required as an energy source by the central nervous system. When there is a deficiency of glucose, the body adjusts its metabolism to provide ketone bodies, nutrients derived from fat, which can be utilized by the brain and other parts of the central nervous system. However, excessive production of the ketone bodies can result in acidosis, a lowering of the pH of the blood, which is potentially toxic. 

In order to improve the state of health and growth of domestic animals, their diet must be well balanced, therefore basic feed often needs to be enriched with respect to trace and minor elements. Such additions are made on the basis of results of analysis of the raw material, e.g. hay. A hay powder reference material has been considered necessary as being complementary to the rye grass material described in section 6.3. The EC Directive 79/373/EEC prescribes the determination of the nutrients Ca, P and Mg S and N are also important elements since they are used as indicators of the availability of proteins finally the administration of iodine to growing animals requires that this element be carefully monitored. Consequently, the hay powder CRM 129 was certified for its contents of Ca, K, Mg, P, S, Zn, I, N and Kjeldahl-N [10,11]. 

Iodine is a mineral that is required for the proper function of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland extracts iodine from nutrients and incorporates it into various hormones. The once-common condition of goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland, is an abnormality that results from an effort to compensate for low iodine intake. Goiter can be prevented if iodine is included in the diet. Seafood is one of the best sources of iodine. In areas where seafood is not available, dietary iodine is easily obtained in the form of iodized salt, found in most grocery stores. 

Plant cells and animal cells share most of the same metabolic systems, and with a few exceptions, plants require the same array of nutrients as animals. Most of this overlap occurs in the macrominerals and some microminerals. But plants also have their own special needs for elements that our livestock cannot use, like boron, which is involved in fiber metabolism, and molybdenum, which is used in nitrogen metabolism and nitrogen fixation. But what about the three minerals that plants don t need—iodine, cobalt, and selenium ... 

Although iodine is an essential nutrient that is required for proper prenatal development, infants are reported to be particularly sensitive to the effects of iodine (Baker 2004), and cases of infanf goiter after maternal use of iodine during pregnancy or lactation have been reported (Pennington 1990). Also see Editors Notes for this entry. 

These are nutrients that are present in the body, and required by the body in minute quantities, ranging from millionths of a gram (microgram) to thousandths of a gram (milligram). Examples are vitamin B-12, pantothenic acid, chromium, cobalt, copper, fluorine, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, silicon, and zinc. Their minuteness in no way diminishes their importance to human nutrition-many are known to be absolutely essential. 

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