What food contains the most iodine?

The foods with the highest iodine content are seafood, such as kelp, laver, fresh hairtail, dried clams, scallops, mussels, sea cucumbers, jellyfish and lobsters. The iodine content in kelp is the highest, reaching more than 2000 μ g/kg in fresh kelp.

Followed by marine fish and shellfish (about 800 μ g/kg). Among terrestrial foods, the iodine content of eggs and milk is the highest (4 ~ 90μ g/kg), followed by meat, the iodine content of freshwater fish is close to or slightly lower than that of meat, and the iodine content of plants is the lowest.

Iodine is one of the essential trace elements for human body, and the total amount of iodine for healthy adults is 20-50mg. Iodine can regulate the synthesis and decomposition of protein, promote the metabolism of sugar and fat, regulate the metabolism of water and salt, and promote growth and development.

However, excessive iodine intake is also harmful, and excessive iodine in daily diet can also cause hyperthyroidism, so don't blindly supplement iodine.

Extended information: A large amount of iodine is very toxic to people. Iodine vapor can seriously irritate the mucous membranes of eyes and nose, causing people to die of poisoning. However, people can't lack a small amount of iodine.

In adults, there is about 20 mg of iodine, about half of which is contained in the thyroid gland near the throat. Thyroid gland is a very important organ of human body, which secretes thyroxine. A person secretes about 3.5 grams of thyroxine every year.

Iodine is an indispensable raw material for making thyroxine. Without iodine, thyroxine can't be secreted normally, and people's necks will swell and get endemic goiter (commonly known as "big neck disease").

Usually, people mostly absorb a small amount of iodine from sea salt, because sea salt is always mixed with a small amount of sodium iodide or potassium iodide. In the southwest mountainous area of China, before liberation, due to the lack of sea salt and iodine, some people suffered from swollen neck disease-goiter.

Now, in these places, the health department mixes a small amount of iodide in rock salt to eliminate these iodine deficiencies.

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-elemental iodine