When you hear of iodine, you probably think about the thyroid.
It's true that iodine is necessary for thyroid health - but it's not just the thyroid that requires iodine.
Our breasts also require iodine, as do our ovaries, stomach mucosa, salivary glands, joints, and kidneys also require iodine.
Iodine protects the breasts from fibrycystic changes, most likely due to its role in estrogen regulation. The more breast tissue, the more iodine required to protect the breasts from these changes.
But here's the thing...
The body prioritizes the thyroid, when it comes to iodine (for good reason). What this means is that if iodine intake is sub-optimal, and there's only enough for the thyroid, the breasts and ovaries miss out, which can lead to cystic changes, potentially even those associated with polycystic-ovarian syndrome, and fibrocystic breasts.
When iodine intake is adequate, about 75% of iodine goes to organs and glands outside the thyroid.
But if intake is inadequate, the thyroid takes up most of the iodine, at the expense of other organs.
What this means is that thyroid changes (swelling, goiter, hypothyroidism, etc) due to lack of iodine are probably a very late sign of iodine deficiency, that occurs after the breasts and ovaries have already been affected.
Now...here's the other thing.
Average iodine intake in the West has declined by some 50% in the past few decades (yes, even with iodized salt), but breast size has increased (from a 34B average in the 1950's, to a 36DD average today). For us Aussies, that's an increase from a 12B average, to a 14DD average.
Some of that increase in average breast size, is due to the popularity of breast implant surgeries, but it is mostly due to an increase in average BMI and bodyweight in the population.
All of this does not bode well for 'the boob', which requires adequate iodine to be healthy.
Other iodine deficiency risk factors include:
- Living inland
- Living in iodine-poor areas (this includes some areas of Australia)
- Avoiding fish and other seafood
- Using non-iodized table salt
- Being repeatedly exposed to fluoride and chlorine (public water supplies) or bromine (often used as flame retardant on new bedding and clothing).