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Iodine in pregnancy

Two hundred micrograms a day, up from 150 — a third more, and one of the largest pregnancy increases in the table. The reason is blunt: for the first months, fetal brain development runs entirely on the mother thyroid hormone.

Nota da EFSA nesta linha:elevado em um terço para o desenvolvimento cerebral fetal

São valores de referência populacionais publicados, não um diagnóstico nem uma prescrição. Uma ingestão de referência descreve o que cobre um grupo saudável; não pode dizer o seu próprio estado, e nenhuma página o pode. Gravidez, doença crónica, medicamentos e má absorção mudam o quadro — leve essas perguntas a um médico, uma parteira, um farmacêutico ou um dietista.

The timing is the whole argument

The fetal thyroid does not begin producing hormone until partway through pregnancy. Until then, every bit of thyroid hormone reaching the developing brain comes from the mother, and thyroid hormone is built around iodine atoms. Maternal iodine supply in early pregnancy is therefore an input to fetal neurodevelopment in a very direct sense.

The window opens before most women know they are pregnant, which is the same structural problem as with folic acid. It is one reason iodine sufficiency is treated as a matter for women of childbearing age generally, not only for those already pregnant.

Why this is a live issue in the Nordic and Baltic countries

Iodine intake in this region has been a recurring public-health concern, and women of childbearing age have repeatedly been the group closest to the line. The mechanisms are ordinary. Sea salt and rock salt are usually not iodised, so the shift away from iodised table salt removes iodine. Salt-reduction advice, which is correct on its own terms, reduces the vehicle. And dairy, another significant carrier, is often reduced or replaced without a fortified substitute.

None of that is an argument for eating more salt. It is an argument for buying iodised salt when you buy salt, and for knowing where else your iodine comes from.

Where it comes from, and the one to avoid

Iodised salt, milk and dairy, sea fish and eggs are the practical sources in this region. The site food database does not carry iodine values, so this page describes sources rather than ranking them — inventing numbers would be worse than leaving the table out.

Seaweed is the exception that needs a warning rather than a recommendation. Kelp products can carry thousands of micrograms per gram, enough to exceed the 600 microgram adult upper level many times over in a single serving, and both too little and too much iodine disturb the thyroid. Kelp supplements are not a sensible way to cover pregnancy iodine.

This one belongs with your midwife

Thyroid function in pregnancy is monitored clinically where there is reason to, and thyroid disease in pregnancy is managed by specialists. Iodine supplementation in pregnancy is recommended in some countries and handled through diet in others, and the right answer depends on the local food supply as much as on the individual.

Ask at your antenatal appointment. It is a one-sentence question with a locally correct answer, which is more than any reference table can give you.

Como isto se compara com cada outro grupo

Comida ordinária contrathe 200 µgcifra paragravidez

O instantâneo de composição de alimentos por trás deste sítio não carregaiodovalores, por isso não há uma tabela calculada nesta página. Inventar números seria pior do que omitir;as secções acima descrevem de onde vem em vez disso.

Todo o nutriente, não só este grupo

The Iodopágina de ingestão de referência carrega a tabela completa de idade e sexo, o nível superior e o que o tipo de valor significa.

Páginas relacionadas

Fontes:valores de referência dietéticos da EFSA · Regulamento (UE) n.º 1169/2011, anexo XIII · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy (composição dos alimentos) · Parecer científico da EFSA sobre valores de referência dietéticos para o iodo (2014) · Diretriz da Organização Mundial da Saúde sobre deficiência de iodo e iodação do sal· verificado2026-09-06

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