Iodine - Present during primordial development of the earth, most of nature's iodine resides in the ocean. Dulse, a sea vegetable, is a natural source of essential vitamins, ions, sea salt iodine and roughage. Leeched from the surface soil by glaciers, snow and rain iodine is carried by wind, rivers, and floods into the sea. Iodine is also found in deep layers of the soil in oil-well and natural gas effluents. Also, water from deep wells can be a major source of iodine in one's diet.

The World Health Organization, is now realizing the dangers of iodine deficiency in the human body. In their globalization of food supplies, the WHO now endeavors to encourage countries throughout the world to fortify their salt supply with iodine to prevent deficiency.

Nature completes the cycle of iodine when ions are oxidized by sunlight into elemental iodine in the atmosphere and then returned to the soil by rain. However, the return of iodine back to the soil is not only very small in amount compared to the original loss of iodine, it is very slow too. Thus the natural correction of iodine content of the soil does not always take place.

Crops grown in any iodine-deficient soil are also iodine deficient. In that humans are dependent on crops for iodine, they too can become iodine deficient if they eat food that is grown in iodine-deficient soil.

Chemicals containing iodine is used to clean dairy equipment in the United States. This, along with the addition of iodine to the feeds given to dairy cows has made dairy products another source of iodine in the American diet. Red dye is high in iodine thus another source of iodine is found in red candies. Iodine is also found in breads and cereals.

Iodine was first added to salt in Switzerland. In the 1920's the state of Michigan began adding iodine to their salt. Today one can easily purchase iodized table salt. Indeed, the modern world today has come a long way since iodine was first discovered in 1811 by Courtois while he was making gunpowder, using seaweed ash; the iodine vaporized as a violet vapor. Then, in 1895 Baumann discovered iodine in the human thyroid gland and, shortly thereafter he discovered iodine's necessity in the human diet. 

Today most people eat a greater variety of foods and with this diversification human iodine intake has increased. Further, most foods we eat are not grown in our own geographical area.

Modern day farmers have learned about the necessity of soil testing. If the soil is low in iodine in one area, they have learned to add the necessary fertilizer to enrich it. When farmers mass produce and sell their products for public consumption they must adhere to certain state and/or federal guidelines that require soil testing, etc. Each year that soil is used to produce any kind of crops, farmers must add more and more fertilizer to artificially regenerate the soil. This brings us to the question of how much "chemicals" do we ingest when we eat foods that have been grown in "fertilizer enriched" soil.

Unquestionably, organically grown food is healthier for us. Humans that eat organically grown produce do not ingest chemicals as those who grow organic crops allow their soil to periodically "rest" - nothing is grown there. This time of "soil rest" allows the soil to 're-enrich' itself.

Hmmm! One wonders: What happened to the Biblical admonition that the farmer is to let his soil "rest" every seventh year? ~ Ms.CiCi ~ http://www.cici-online.com