There are many benefits of having iodine in your diet. This guide on vegan sources of iodine lists 5 vegan foods that are rich in iodine.
What element helps promote healthy thyroid activity, full-term birth, and neurological development in babies? What nutritional necessity gets ignored because it’s not listed on nutritional labels? The answer is iodine.
People often get iodine from animal products such as seafood, poultry, eggs, and dairy. But if you’re a vegan, you have other options for getting enough iodine in your diet.
Read on to learn about 5 vegan sources of iodine.
Why Do We Need Iodine?
Iodine, a crucial but overlooked element, promotes good health in many ways. Iodine contributes to the production of thyroid hormones, which helps your heart, muscles, digestion, brain development, and bone maintenance. Iodine has other benefits as well, which you can learn about at the microbeformulas.com blog.
The amount of iodine needed varies by age group. Current guidelines recommend 150 micrograms per day for adults, 220 micrograms per day for pregnant women, and 290 micrograms per day for breastfeeding women (because women who breast-feed are their baby’s only source of iodine.)
Vegan Sources of Iodine
Vegan foods with iodine include fruits and vegetables such as sweet potatoes, onions, spinach, strawberries, bananas, and cantaloupes. However, most of these foods contain a very small amount of iodine and can’t supply your daily recommended amount of it on their own. Also, since plants contain variable amounts of nutrients, you can’t calculate exactly how much iodine that you’re getting based on what you eat.
The foods below contain enough iodine to provide your daily recommended amount.
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Seaweed
Some of the products richest in iodine, such as seaweed and kelp come from the sea, where most of the earth’s iodine is found. The amount of iodine contained in seaweed varies hugely: 1/4 ounce of dried seaweed can be greater than 4,500 micrograms.
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Salt
More than 120 countries around the world have programs to enrich salt with iodine. In the US, a gram of salt (1/6 tsp) contains 77 micrograms of iodine, half of the daily recommended amount. However, processed foods don’t require the use of iodized salt, and iodine isn’t listed on nutritional labels, so don’t count on getting iodine from a processed meal like a can of soup.
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Potatoes
A medium-sized baked potato can provide 60 micrograms of iodine. Be sure to eat the whole potato, since most of the nutrients are concentrated in the skin.
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Navy Beans
Cooked navy beans contain 32 micrograms of iodine in each half-cup. Black beans, lima beans, and garbanzo beans also contain iodine. If you’re eating canned beans, check the labels as some cans contain large amounts of salt.
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Prunes
Prunes, or dried plums, are one of the fruits that contain the most iodine. Five prunes provide about 13 micrograms of iodine.
Choose Vegan Foods With Iodine
When you do your research and vary your diet, you won’t need to eat animal products to get iodine. By choosing vegan sources of iodine, you can reach your recommended iodine levels while also enjoying the benefits of a vegan diet.
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