Raise World's IQ: Canadian Initiative on Micronutrients

[baywax]

From the New York Times, Dec. 4, 2008

Raising the World’s I.Q.

Travelers to Africa and Asia all have their favorite forms of foreign aid to “make a difference.” One of mine is a miracle substance that is cheap and actually makes people smarter.

Unfortunately, it has one appalling side effect. No, it doesn’t make you sterile, but it is just about the least sexy substance in the world. Indeed, because it’s so numbingly boring, few people pay attention to it or invest in it. (Or dare write about it!).....

“Probably no other technology,” the World Bank said of micronutrients, “offers as large an opportunity to improve lives ... at such low cost and in such a short time.”

Yet the strategy hasn’t been fully put in place, partly because micronutrients have zero glamour. There are no starlets embracing iodine. And guess which country has taken the lead in this area by sponsoring the Micronutrient Initiative? Hint: It’s earnest and dull, just like micronutrients themselves.

Ta-da — Canada!.....

There is talk that President-elect Barack Obama may reorganize the American aid apparatus, perhaps turning it into a cabinet department. There are many competing good causes — I’m a huge believer in spending more on education and maternal health, in particular — but there may be no investment that gets more bang for the buck than micronutrients.

So, yes, salt iodization is boring. But if we can add 1 billion points to the global I.Q., then let’s lend strong American support — to a worthwhile Canadian initiative.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/opinion/04kristof.html

The iodine suppliment program started here in Canada with the Lions, the Rotary Club and other charitable organizations donating the time and resource to the poorer nations of the world.

 

[Proton Soup]

i wasn't aware of iodine being a strong factor in IQ. B-12 is another one.

bigger issues may be cultural, though, like consanguinous marriage. check out this map and see if you think there is correlation. http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence

 

[baywax]

That or big cultural issues are a direct result of the lack of micro-nutrients.

Edit: There may be cultural reasons for consanguinity but I think it may be the case that people can't afford to move out of village let alone out of country to mix it up. So, what's available to marry is what's available. I'm pretty sure I saw an article about a woman marrying a goat or a cow in India so you see what I mean. If you look at the map you see all this consanguinity taking place in some of the least economically stable regions of the world. This makes me think the condition is a result of immobility of the people due to poverty. With the potential offered by an overall boost to their IQ in those regions, its quite possible we'd see those numbers decrease as more and more people became students, business owners or tradespeople... etc...

 

[baywax]

A look at iodine... this is a PDF which can be downloaded from

http://www.jpands.org/vol11no4/millerd.pdf


Extrathyroidal Benefits of Iodine
DonaldW. Miller, Jr., M.D.

ABSTRACT
In addition to being an essential element in thyroid hormones,
iodine has many biological functions. The recommended dietary
intake of 100–-150 mcg is perhaps 100 times too low. Potential
benefits of higher amounts include enhancement of immune
function and reducing the incidence of breast cancer. Older studies
of therapeutic benefits, particularly with respect to fibrocystic breast
disease, need to be updated and expanded.

Most physicians and surgeons view iodine from the narrow
perspective of its use as an antiseptic that disinfects drinking water
and prevents surgical wound infections, and its presence in
thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). They consider iodine’s
sole function in the body is to be organically bound to the phenyl
ring of tyrosine in thyroid hormones. The thyroid gland needs only
a trace amount of iodine, 70 mcg/day, to synthesize the requisite
amounts of T4 and T3 used to regulate metabolism and ensure
normal growth and development.

Everyone agrees that a lack of iodine in the diet causes a
spectrum of disorders that includes, in increasing order of severity,
goiter and hypothyroidism, mental retardation, and cretinism.

 

[Astronuc]

From the New York Times, Dec. 4, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/opinion/04kristof.html

The iodine suppliment program started here in Canada with the Lions, the Rotary Club and other charitable organizations donating the time and resource to the poorer nations of the world.

A couple of years ago, I heard about the impact of iodine in Afghanistan during a presentation by Dr. Peter Salama MD - Chief, Child Survival and Immunization, UNICEF. He mentioned identifying some strange symptoms in Afghan patients, which had not seen in modern times in the industrialized nations. Many people, particularly children, where severely malnourished and were suffering from scurvy and other diseases due to vitamin deficiencies. Iodine was also one critical element that was lacking, and that had been a chronic problem in Afghanistan.

In the early part of this decade in Afghanistan, the following statics were measured:

• Under five mortality: 257/1000 LBs (1 in 4 children die by age of 5 - diarrhea kills 1/3 of this population, measles about 1/4)
• Infant mortality: 165/1000 LBs (16% infant mortality)
• Maternal mortality ratio: high
• Malnutrition prevalence: high
• Incidence communicable diseases: high
• Life Expectancy: 45 – 47 years

Some progress has been made. Iodized salt is being distributed, but there are significant problems with distribution in remote areas, such as Badakhshan and areas where Taliban and al Qaida operate. And there is the problem of government corruption.

 

[Evo]

I posted here about the impact of iodine on IQ 4-5 years ago. It's long been known, but not much has been done in impoverished countries.

 

[baywax]

I posted here about the impact of iodine on IQ 4-5 years ago. It's long been known, but not much has been done in impoverished countries.

I heard about this sort of program when I was a kid. Its on-going today even in developed countries like Switzerland.

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/82/2/388

Pakistan is still trying to update in this regard.

Social Marketing Helps Eliminate Iodine Deficiency in Pakistan
http://www.psi.org/resources/pubs/salt.html

Looks like Americans have been into the frey from the start

David Marine (1880-1976) is the "father" of iodized salt in the United States; fortifying salt pioneered the approach of adding nutrients to foods. As the result of research on endemic goiter and iodine deficiency by Marine and co-workers research, the Michigan State Medical Society, in 1924, launched a goiter prevention program using iodized salt. It was the first example of a designed "functional food." Medical science since has identified a far more serious threat than the cosmetic problem of goiter -- mental retardation. The "hidden hunger" of iodine deficiency causes a 10-15% reduction in a population's IQ capability, mental retardation and cretinism.

http://www.saltinstitute.org/37.html

Japan used to be ok for iodine since they eat kelp and other seafood high in iodine content. This is changing with a move toward western dietary practices.

 

[baywax]

A couple of years ago, I heard about the impact of iodine in Afghanistan during a presentation by Dr. Peter Salama MD - Chief, Child Survival and Immunization, UNICEF. He mentioned identifying some strange symptoms in Afghan patients, which had not seen in modern times in the industrialized nations. Many people, particularly children, where severely malnourished and were suffering from scurvy and other diseases due to vitamin deficiencies. Iodine was also one critical element that was lacking, and that had been a chronic problem in Afghanistan.

In the early part of this decade in Afghanistan, the following statics were measured:

• Under five mortality: 257/1000 LBs (1 in 4 children die by age of 5 - diarrhea kills 1/3 of this population, measles about 1/4)
• Infant mortality: 165/1000 LBs (16% infant mortality)
• Maternal mortality ratio: high
• Malnutrition prevalence: high
• Incidence communicable diseases: high
• Life Expectancy: 45 – 47 years

Some progress has been made. Iodized salt is being distributed, but there are significant problems with distribution in remote areas, such as Badakhshan and areas where Taliban and al Qaida operate. And there is the problem of government corruption.

Thank you Astronuc

Looks like UNICEF is working on iodizing Afghanistan

MI Facilitates Workshop with UNICEF on Universal Salt Iodization (USI) Legislation in Afghanistan

January 2008

http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cach...+iodizing+afganistan&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca

I don't see where a rise in communicable diseases is related to iodine deficiency. Although it is mentioned on several pages that iodine does bolster the immune system.

I think that we humans, being spawned in the ocean like pretty well all living creatures, will experience this deficiency more the further we get from the ocean.

Although it is rare in the solar system and Earth's crust, the iodides are very soluble in water, and the element is concentrated in seawater. This mechanism helps to explain how the element came to be required in trace amounts by all animals and some plants, being by far the heaviest element known to be necessary to living organisms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine

 

[Evo]

The concern about the iodine I was referring to was in poor African countries.

Everything you wanted to know about iodine deficiency programs worldwide.

http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/iodine_defiency_pub/en/index.html

 

[Raizy]

The recommended dietary
intake of 100–-150 mcg is perhaps 100 times too low.

Is it even possible to get that much from natural foods alone?

 

[Evo]

A good article on iodine.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es0719071

 

[Proton Soup]

A good article on iodine.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es0719071

*fixed*

edit: and i just skimmed that article evo, but one anecdote i wanted to mention. I've been told by someone that works in the food industry that although iodized table salt is common in the US now, salt in prepared foods is not required to be iodized. perhaps someone else here with some inside knowledge could comment (i'm not even sure how to go about verifying that), but considering that more americans are now relying on manufactured instead of home-cooked meals, it could add considerably to the deficiency problem.

 

[Evo]

*fixed*

edit: and i just skimmed that article evo, but one anecdote i wanted to mention. I've been told by someone that works in the food industry that although iodized table salt is common in the US now, salt in prepared foods is not required to be iodized. perhaps someone else here with some inside knowledge could comment (i'm not even sure how to go about verifying that), but considering that more americans are now relying on manufactured instead of home-cooked meals, it could add considerably to the deficiency problem.

That's discussed in the article. I know it's long, but it's very informative.

Thanks for fixing the link!

 

[Proton Soup]

That's discussed in the article. I know it's long, but it's very informative.

Thanks for fixing the link!

ah, thank you! i gave up too soon.

Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of salt in the U.S. diet is not iodized. Approximately 70% of the salt is used commercially−virtually none of the salt used by the preprepared or the fast food industry is iodized.

 

[baywax]

Am I supposed to know why my post was deleted?

 

[Evo]

Am I supposed to know why my post was deleted?

You didn't receive the message I sent you? Your link wasn't to a valid source.

 

[baywax]

You didn't receive the message I sent you? Your link wasn't to a valid source.

Sorry everyone. I linked you to a nasty naturopathic doctor who's trying to sell salt.

At one time it was worth a pretty penny. Today, not so much... yet anyway!

I just found some iodized salt at a normal super market. Just as I went for it this Ismiley Muslim dude was buying Kosher Salt. I asked him why Kosher... he said it wasn't as salty!