Fortify yourself

Iodine is an essential mineral for our metabolism but opt for bread and milk rather than salt to get an adequate dose.

- JENNIFER BOWDEN

QUESTION:
My GP recommended about 30 years ago that I cut out salt and salty foods from my diet, which I did. Now I don't like the taste of salty foods. Am I at risk of not having enough iodine in my diet?

ANSWER:
In decades past, iodised table salt was a staple on the Kiwi dinner table, providing the much-needed iodine lacking in our local produce and meats because of New Zealand's low soil-iodine levels. However, subsequent public health campaigns to reduce our copious salt intake had the unfortunate side effect of lowering our iodine intake. This led to iodine deficiency re-emerging in the 1990s. Fortunately, in the past decade matters have been improved since bread has been fortified with iodised salt.