The IQ Belief : The Truth About Iodine and Intelligence

I was listening to someone yesterday in our little discussion and he mentioned that he had to correct a person who said he was going to be eating a lot of salt since it contains iodine and that iodine salt increases the IQ score of people by over 10 points. So he had to do a little nutritional science class where he explained a few things and encourage that salt should be eaten in moderation.

You may have seen posts claiming that iodine makes us smarter from newspapers, magazines, and blog posts which one of the claims from Iodeal brands claiming that it is good for us because it makes us smarter. Since a lot of us has seen this, it now brings the question; is iodine actually going to make us smarter or are we being payed to buy what we do not need for the sake of sales.

So it is clear, let's state it that iodine is an essential micronutrient needed by our body, and about 70% of it is stored in the thyroid which is found below the Adam's Apple. It is useful as a precursor to hormones produced in the thyroid gland which helps in metabolic activities, digestion, heat production, and fertility. It's job is not limited to that as it also has its function in the brain as it plays a role in affecting the hippocampus which is responsible for memory and emotions, myelin, and neurotransmitters. So this tells how important it is in the body.

According to the WHO it is estimated that around 35% to 45% of people suffer from iodine deficiency, and such deficiency can lead to Goiters which is as a result of enlarged thyroid glands and this leads to reduced breathing, decrease in IQ, and an lead to a condition known as Conggenital Iodine Deficiency Syndrome. In pregnant women, it can lead to low birth weight, and decreased survival rate in infant. In children below two years, iodine deficiency can lead to speech disorder, reading and learning disorders as well as behavioral disorder. As children growing up, lack of iodine can affect motor function, and reduced intellectual function.

When did we start looking into iodine? It happened in the 1830s where Jean-Baptiste Boussingault a french chemist noticed that people who lived in regions where iodine wasn't naturally occurring in their salt suffered goiters and advised that iodine be added as supplements to salts.

In 1924, adding iodine to salt industrially became a thing. So people started to research about the effect of iodine on the brain. It was seen that men born before 1924 in goiter belt regions were usually assigned as ground troops as a result of their intelligence while people born after 1924 were assigned to air troops as a result of higher intelligence. This was credited to iodine at the time but in recent times, different researches are ongoing on this case.

Another study in China look two set of children with one set being iodine deficient and the other not being Iodine deficient. The researchers saw that children who had iodine had a 9.1 point increase in IQ than people who didn't eat iodine but when iodine supplements were added for the children who were deficient, their IQ increased by over 7 points. The result showed that the effect of iodine deficiency can affect the cognitive function and so consumption of iodine can help with not losing cognitive functions. Remember that IQ isn't a function of intelligence but rather abstract reasoning ability, and working memory capacity.

We could say that we are removing the negative effect of cognition when consuming iodine than increasing ones IQ. While iodine is crucial for preventing cognitive decline, it doesn't necessarily make us smarter. Instead, it helps eliminate the negative effects of iodine deficiency on cognition. So, while it's important to ensure adequate iodine intake, remember to consume salt in moderation and maintain a balanced diet.

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_{Post Reference}

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_{https://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/44285
https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/hormonal-and-metabolic-disorder
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25880137/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15734706/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/goiter/symptoms-causes/syc-20351829
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3509517/
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/health/16iodine.html
https://foodandnutrition.org/from-the-magazine/micronutrients-iodine/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4152423/
https://som.yale.edu/news/2009/11/why-high-iq-doesnt-mean-youre-smart}

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_{Image Reference}

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_{Image 1 || Needpix || Salt Salt Pans Mallorca
Image 2 || Pickpik || white salt on brown wooden mortar and pestle}