Is it worth switching to non organic milk for iodine?

[Peony88]

I have underactive thyroid and take medication sodium levothyroxine.

For many years I have been using Tesco semi- skimmed Organic Milk, and apparently organic milk contains far less iodine than the standard milk. This was mentioned to me by the cashier at Tesco store.

There is no information how much iodine per 200ml contains.

Cannot take kelp supplements as it may have too much iodine. Milk products is the only way that I will need to make sure there is some iodine in the diet. Has anyone else switched from organic milk to the non organic for iodine and has it helped make a difference to their health.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Organic supposedly has 40% less iodine than conventional milk. 200ml of conventional milk contains between 50-80mcg iodine, organic milk contains between 30-65mcg iodine depending on the season, more iodine in the winter apparently. Adults need 150mcg iodine daily. I can't link to the source of information for this as it is a PDF bit if you Google "how much iodine is in milk" and scroll to the link for BDA Food Fact Sheet it is on the BDA.UK.com website.

I have only had organic semi skimmed milk for more years than I can remember. I have just done a urine iodine test with Genova and my result came back right in the middle of normal. I don't particularly eat an iodine rich diet, don't eat red meat just chicken, turkey and fish, and my milk intake is not particularly high, probably less than one pint a day.

I wont be swapping back to conventional milk.

If you're worried you could do an iodine test to ascertain whether you are deficient in iodine before deciding whether you need to increase your intake.

[Peony88 in reply to SeasideSusie]

SeasideSusie,

Thank you. I am a vegetarian, so that also excludes eggs and fish. I drink 2 mugs of milk a day. I prefer organic as its better, but not when its come to iodine. I Just checked my multivitamins that only contains 30mcg of iodine. I think my levels with the multi and the organic milk my just stretch to the 150 mcg recommended daily allowance.

[Hidden]

Do you have hashis .. ie, is yr hypo autoimmune or not?

[Peony88 in reply to Hidden]

Aspmama,

My GP said my antibodies are normal and when I asked her does that mean I do not have Hashimotos, she said yes. I hope she's right.

[Clutter]

Peony88, you'll be getting iodine from 100mcg Levothyroxine, 65% by weight and the rest from diet.

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I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.

[Peony88 in reply to Clutter]

Clutter,

Thank you, my dose is 75mcg of Sodium Levothyroxine. I was not aware that it contains iodine. So the T4 is made up of iodine. I thought sodium levothyroxine was made from tyrosine.

[Clutter in reply to Peony88]

Peony88, Levothyroxine doesn't actually contain iodine, it's the T3 and T4 hormone delivered by Levothyroxine which produce iodine.

livestrong.com/article/5320...

[Peony88 in reply to Clutter]

Clutter, thank you for the link. Very interesting article. Please, I think I am misunderstaning, the paragraph on the link as you scroll down, there is a sentence that reads, "Since levothyroxine contains iodine"

Sorry maybe I have misinterupt it.

[Clutter in reply to Peony88]

Peony88, this post explains it very well:

Angel_of_the_North

It doesn't contain "added" iodine. T4 IS a molecule of tyrosine (an amino acid - the T) with 4 iodine atoms attached (the 4). To make T3, your body has to remove one iodine atom from the T4 (something some people aren't very good at) - it has to be the correct atom or you get reverse T3. So T3 IS a tyrosine molecule with 3 iodine atoms. It's like a ready-meal - all the necessary ingredients are already there.

If you aren't taking meds, your body has to grab the iodine out of the bloodstream (?) and stick it onto the Tyrosine molecule, so you need both enough tyrosine and enough iodine in the diet - that's what the article means.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Peony88 in reply to Clutter]

Clutter, thank you.

[Hidden]

If you don't have antibodies you are ok supplementing iodine if you want to. Try iodised salt - available in the supermarket. Or eat more fish. Or a pinch of kelp now and then.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Hidden]

What is classed as having no antibodies?

If my results say TPO Abs 6.6 (<34) and TG Abs 20.5 (<115) is that classed as no antibodies or does it actually have to be zero?

[Peony88 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Seasidesusie,

Sorry but I cannot understand results regarding antibodies. My GP told me that I do not have antibodies attacking my thyroid. From what I understand if one has autoimmune hypothyroidism your antibodies are attacking the thyroid. It will be good idea to talk to your GP and they will explain about your antibodies to you. Maybe book a telephone conversation with them. Best wishes.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Peony88]

Thanks Peony. No use asking my GP, she knows very little about thyroid other than TSH! I know what antibodies are and what they do, (I doubt if she does), I was just wondering what the magic number is.

I'll post as a new question as this thread is a long way down now.

[Hidden in reply to SeasideSusie]

You don't have Hashis with those results. It doesn't need to be nought. Did you have a period of very poor eating or malabsorption in the past? That seems quite common in non hashis hypothyroidism.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Aspmama. I didn't think I had Hashi's as I've never had any sort of waxing and waning of symptoms (if that's the right say to describe it), never had a feeling of going hyper then hypo. I've had antibodies tested twice in recent years and twice many years ago, always a similar result either 'negative' or low well below the <figure.

I don't remember a time of poor eating or malabsorption. Just know that I first started symptoms of hypo some time after the birth of my second baby but of course that was put down to being a 'young mum with two kids so of course you will be tired' attitude from my then GP. Took two years for him to think I might be hypo and test for it.