Should pregnant women eat iodized salt or non-iodized salt?

Salt is an essential item in our daily life. With the development of life and human body needs, the types of additives in edible salt are increasing. The most common ones are iodized salt and non-iodized salt. Moreover, the special physique of pregnant women has relatively strict requirements on food. So is it better for pregnant women to eat non-iodized salt or iodized salt? The following editor will show you.

With the increasing incidence of thyroid diseases in recent years, some media began to hype the topic of iodized salt being "disease-causing". For a time, iodized salt became the focus of public criticism, and non-iodized salt, which was supposed to be used by a minority of people, became a hot commodity. The incidence of thyroid diseases is increasing all over the world, and it is more obvious in my country. One of the most critical reasons for this is the improvement of detection technology. In the past, doctors relied on palpation, and the detection rate was not high. Now with new technologies such as B-ultrasound, the detection rate is very high. Moreover, many units have included this item in routine physical examinations.

According to the latest version of the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2016", mothers during the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and breastfeeding periods should eat iodized salt. The recommended iodine intake during pregnancy is nearly doubled compared to the non-pregnant period (increase of 110 micrograms/day). Based on the recommended daily intake of 6 grams of salt, about 120 micrograms of iodine are supplemented from iodized salt every day, which can only meet half of the requirement. In order to ensure the intake of iodine, in addition to this, it is recommended that pregnant women should also add iodine-rich seafood 1-2 times a week, such as kelp, seaweed, wakame, shellfish or marine fish.

Urinary iodine is the most sensitive indicator for judging the amount of iodine intake by the human body. The appropriate iodine nutritional level for the general population is a median urinary iodine level between 100 and 199 μg/L, and a median urinary iodine level ≥300 μg/L indicates excessive iodine intake; the appropriate iodine nutritional level for pregnant women is a median urinary iodine level between 150 and 249 μg/L, and a median urinary iodine level ≥500 μg/L indicates excessive iodine intake. No matter what kind of salt you consume, it should ultimately bring the body's iodine content within the normal range.