The crucial importance of getting enough iodine is so often overlooked, firstly with regard to how sorely it is needed, and secondly to its deficiency in the foods we eat. The mineral content of food has been reducing over the decades simply because crops are harvested, sold and consumed while their mineral content is not returned to the ground. If food is organic then we are at a reduced risk from artificial fertilisers and pesticides but it is still likely that there is still some degradation in mineral content. In the days before long-distance transport and water flushing toilets, mineral content would have been naturally returned to the ground.
Even in days long gone by there were high rates of mental retardation in areas of the world where iodine levels were naturally low. These areas included the Valais region in Switzerland.
https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/history-of-cretinism/
We tend to romanticise the idea of eating local food. Although there are advantages to eating food fresh from near where we live, there is still a place for foods from further afield and it has to be said that the ability to transport food has benefitted many of us.
I tend to recommend applying either Lugo’s or nascent iodine topically and using it regularly. Seaweed is a great addition to the diet but as the rest of our food is almost certainly iodine-deficient a relatively small amount of seafood won’t make up for it.
Dr Brownstein’s book gives us the latest research on iodine. It includes topics such as the thyroid gland, the different forms of iodine, autoimmune diseases and breast health. It’s currently very expensive on Amazon but, if you are interested, you can obtain it from us.