What are the health benefits of iodine?

Foods rich in iodine can help your thyroid to function properly, says nutritionist Kimberly Snyder. To find out how to get more iodine in your diet, watch this video.

Transcript

00:00

Iodine is best sourced-- one of the best sources is sea vegetables-- obviously, vegetables from the sea. But they're fantastic, nutritious

00:06

foods that are very low in calories. [CALMING MUSIC]

00:19

Iodine is a really important element. It's actually not a vitamin or mineral, although it's often confused as being either.

00:26

It's a chemical element. And it's important for thyroid health and keeping your thyroid functioning at optimal levels.

00:34

Iodine is best sourced-- one of the best sources is sea vegetables, which are fantastic, obviously vegetables from the sea, but they're fantastic,

00:42

nutritious foods that are very low in calories and nowadays are easy to find in either Asian market or the Asian section of health-food stores.

00:50

Now the recommended daily amount for iodine is 150 micrograms a day. And in just 1 gram of certain sea vegetables,

00:58

including kombu and kelp, you get three times the recommended daily amount in just 1 gram. So what you want to do with the sea vegetables-- again,

01:06

they're pretty inexpensive. You can keep them at home. They come dried. Soak them first right before you use them for maybe an hour or two just to soften them up,

01:13

and then you can cook with them. Iodine is not destroyed by heat. So you can definitely cook with it, throw it in stir-frys, throw it in soup, throw it on salads.

01:20

It's actually delicious and will add an interesting flavor to your dishes. [CALMING MUSIC] [AUDIO LOGO]