American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 14, 186-192, Copyright © 1964 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Dietary Sources of Iodine

¹ From the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, Epidemiology and Biometry Branch, National Institutes of Health, U. S. Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Bethesda, Maryland

The iodine content of meals served to eleven patients on metabolic diets, to nineteen patients on regular house diets and of seven categories of foods are reported. The range of iodine intake from these diets was wide, and distributions were highly skewed. Metabolic diets could have furnished 15 to 219 µg. per day, depending on the amount of eggs and milk in the diet. Regular house diets could have furnished 65 to 529 µg. per day, the principal contribution of iodine being from vegetables and dairy products. Sea food and eggs had high iodine content, but these foods were not favored by subjects studied. The median salt added at the table by the subjects was 1.59 gm. per day. If this was iodized, an estimated 122 µg. of iodine per day would have been added to their diets. Analysis of food composites by category showed that sea food and vegetables had the highest median concentrations of iodine. Lowest iodine concentrations were found in fruits and the bread and cereal categories. The method of processing diets for iodine analysis and the implications of the data are discussed.