[DogFoodie]

I took Sam to see the fabulous Dr. Dan tonight. Dr. Dan one of my vets, he practices TCVM, and has been doing chiropractic adjustments on Sam, my Golden pup. I was asking Dr. Dan some nutrition questions tonight and told him I was using Solid Gold Seameal and asked what he thought about it. He said to be conservative with it due to the amount of iodine it contains. He said that commercial dog foods contain quite a bit of iodine due to the amount of fish they contain and how that can lead to hypothyroidism. I got a little derailed and started yapping about fish meals and now, of course, I’m home and got to wondering if fish, fish meal and fish oil all contain iodine? I found his point fascinating because so many, if not most, dog foods contain some sort of fish, fish meal or fish oil.

So my question is this… is the concentration of iodine the same in fish, fish meal and fish oil?

[theBCnut]

Funny, but iodine deficiency is a leading cause of hypothyroidism. That’s the first thing they try when your thyroid is underfunctioning, increasing iodine. they(whoever they is) say there is an epidemic of hypothyroidism now, because all the salt conscious people are not using iodizes salt and not replacing the iodine elsewhere.

Fish and crustaceans that eat algae have higher iodine levels and since I’m hypothyroid, I’m supposed to eat them or a kelp supplement regularly.

[DogFoodie]

OK, maybe he said hyperthyroidism and I confused the two.

So, it does sound that whether it’s whole fish, fish meal, fish oil or kelp, it’ll all have iodine.

[Hound Dog Mom]

The amount of iodine in a fish oil will depend on what type of fish oil you’re using and it can even vary from brand to brand. For example, cod is rather high in iodine so a cod liver oil will contain more iodine than some other types of fish oil. The best thing to do would be to contact the company that manufactures your fish oil you’re using to obtain the exact iodine levels. If you have the patience, you could contact the company for each food you feed to obtain the iodine levels, contact Solid Gold to get the iodine levels of the supplement and get the iodine levels of the fish oil and see what type of daily iodine intake you’re looking at. He shouldn’t be getting more than 50 mg. iodine per kilogram of food.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Did a bit more digging:

“The iodine content of fish is quite variable. In general, marine fish have more iodine than fresh water fish, and a significant part of the iodine is in the head of the fish (where the thyroid is). Here are some typical amounts for some common fish, in mcg/100g: Cod (110), Haddock (250), Herring (29), Mackerel (140), Sardines (29), Tuna (30), Atlantic Salmon (76), Rainbow Trout (13). Here are a few ranges to give you a sense of the variability of iodine in fish (mg/100g): Haddock (60 – 920), Pollack (23 – 266), Cod (18 – 1270).”

“Iodine levels in seaweed are quite variable, depending primarily on the type of seaweed. Kelp has the highest amount of iodine, with some kelp granules having 8165 mcg/gm. Most Kelp or Kombu has about 2500 mcg/gm. Other common seaweeds are much lower; for example, Nori (16 mcg/gm), Wakame (32 mcg/gm), Dulse (72 mcg/gm), Hijiki (629 mcg/gm). Iodine content is reduced by storage (e.g., in paper bags or open to the air) and cooking. Most of the iodine in seaweed comes in the form of iodide, but it varies depending on the type of seaweed. Absorption of the iodine from seaweed is variable. Seaweed contains lots of stuff besides iodine, some may be useful (e.g., other minerals) and some may be harmful (e.g., goitrogens like bromide and various chemicals like mercury contaminants). Large amounts of seaweed may be problematic.”

“We are still trying to get accurate information on iodine in Cod Liver Oil. Carlson’s reports none, and the Nutrition Reference Library reports 838 mcg per 100 grams oil. The other companies we have asked did not know, or did not tell us.”

[Author]

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