Why iodized salt

A sample of this found its way into the hands of Joseph-Louis Gay Lussac, one of the most noted French scientists of the era. He was intrigued by the stuff, but was really energized into studying it thoroughly when he heard that Sir Humphrey Davy, the brilliant English chemist who was visiting France upon a special invitation by Napoleon, had also been given a sample.

Gay-Lussac didn't want an Englishman to make some big discovery from a French product. Davy suggested iodine, to make the name conform with chlorine, to which it was similar. Iodine turned out to have some disinfectant properties, but that is not its main claim to fame. Iodine is an essential nutrient, required by the thyroid gland to produce thyroxine, a hormone that controls many body functions, including brain acuity.

A deficiency of iodine in the diet leads to an enlargement of the thyroid gland, known as goiter, and in extreme cases causes cretinism and dwarfism.

But even mild cases of iodine deficiency can cause mental retardation. Politics Joe Biden Congress Extremism. Special Projects Highline. HuffPost Personal Video Horoscopes. Follow Us. Terms Privacy Policy. All rights reserved. HandmadePictures via Getty Images. Although salt iodization never was made mandatory, estimates are that more than 90 percent of U. Other sources of dietary iodine include eggs, enriched grain products and plant foods grown in iodine-rich soils.

Unfortified sea salt contains only a small amount of iodine. Iodized salt in the U. The recommended daily intake for adults is micrograms, which can be obtained from about one-half to three-quarters of a teaspoon of table salt. Testing of the general population indicates that most Americans consume sufficient levels of iodine through their diets. Pregnant women and nursing mothers are the only groups in the U.