Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

I was concerned about the amount of fluoride in dulse which I wanted to use as a source of iodine because it contains very little sodium. It is harvested from sea weed. While I went on the site of the Maine Coast product dulse, I discovered that it contains twice the amount of lead in ppm that is allowable for children. I do not know what the adult limit is. You just can't win.

Unlike most on this group, I eat a couple of ounces of wild caught canned sockeye salmon a couple of times a week. I seem to remember when I was young and in school, we learned that people got goiters in areas where there was no seafood consumed. I remember people with goiters when I was young and I assume that was well before mandatory addition of iodine to salt. However I would rather eat as little salt as possible because I found my blood pressure does stay low if I do not eat salt. I eat a little salmon and often if I make 12 quarts of soup in my largest soup pot, I add about two ounces of rinsed off canned clams to the pot and the pot of soup lasts me almost all week. I do not personally think that is excessive. That would make about 0.3 ounces of clams per day.

Didi

didi wrote:I seem to remember when I was young and in school, we learned that people got goiters in areas where there was no seafood consumed. I remember people with goiters when I was young and I assume that was well before mandatory addition of iodine to salt. However I would rather eat as little salt as possible because I found my blood pressure does stay low if I do not eat salt.

You really don't have to worry about iodine on a plant-based diet.

Food Sources of Iodine:

Asparagus
Dulse
Garlic
Kelp
Lima beans
Mushrooms
Seafood
Sea salt and fortified salt
Seaweed
Sesame seeds
Soybeans
Spinach
Summer squash
Swiss chard
Turnip greens

So no reason to eat fish.

You might want to check out these threads.

Thyroid (Iodine)
viewtopic.php?t=5618
viewtopic.php?t=6774
viewtopic.php?t=7362
viewtopic.php?t=7768

Since there was no question in your post - I'm not sure what the point was.

Fish is not considered appropriate on the McDougall diet.
http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_hot_protein.html

ETeSelle - your link didn't work for me.

Vic

Removed the link. It was an old one (pulled the whole thing off one of my older posts), so I guess it doesn't work. But iodine IS in all those things.

Anyhoo, as Dr. McD and Jeff say: If you eat sufficient calories to maintain a healthy weight, you will be taking in sufficient vitamins and minerals--B12 and D aside. D comes from sunlight and B12 needs to come from a supplement for vegans (due to our no longer getting that from soil).

ETeSelle,

So, you don't take a kelp pill or any other kind of iodine supplement?

I have been concerned about my iodine consumption because I eat a lot of broccoli and cauliflower, both of which can contribute to goiter.

Today I purchase some iodized salt and I will be adding a 1/4 teaspoon each day to counter balance all of the broccoli and cauliflower I eat.

From your comments, I don't need to do that. Interesting......

No reason to take an iodine supplement. Just eat a wide range of veggies, choosing some from list above. You'll be fine.

Actually ETeSelle in the discussions mentioned above it is implied that the iodine requirements would be met through table salt that has been iodized. Particularly because the amount of iodine in veggies is dependent upon the soil - if the soil is deficient the veggie won't have the iodine.

I did find them a little confusing to follow. But in this case I'm not sure the requirement is met from veggies alone.

Vic

The iodine issue is, in my opinion, one of the more confusing issues that we have to deal with under the McDougall plan.

On the one hand, we have learned that it is European vegans, not American vegans, who have been historically more "at risk."

On the other hand, we know that many of the foods we enjoy, like broccoli, can contribute to goiter and that goiter might not be noticed until much damage to the body is done.

It's a tough one.

I do eat some processed food, such as mustard and salsa, which I put on my baked potatoes sometimes. And I put soy sauce on my rice and broccoli. But although those foods have salt in them, it is not clear if this salt is iodized.

I'm really in the dark when it comes to whether I am getting sufficient iodine in my diet.