Recently, the American Thyroid Association’s public health committee (ATA public health committee) issued the following statement on the potential risks of excessive iodine intake and exposure: Iodine is a trace element necessary for the thyroid gland to maintain normal function.The ATA recommends a daily iodine intake of 150ug for adults, 220-250ug for pregnant women, and 250-290ug for breastfeeding. A varied diet of iodized salt, dairy products, certain breads, and seafood can meet the need. During pregnancy and lactation, the ATA recommends that women take a vitamin complex (containing potassium iodide, about 150ug of iodine) to meet their needs. Daily iodine intake of up to 1100ug (the upper limit of tolerated iodine intake) can lead to abnormal thyroid function and is not recommended. Excessive iodine intake during pregnancy and breastfeeding may be harmful to the fetus and newborn, and the recommended upper range of iodine intake is 500-1100ug. Excessive iodine intake is more likely to be harmful to people such as infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with associated thyroid disorders (e.g., Hashimoto’s, primary hyperthyroidism, non-toxic nodular goiter, history of thyroid surgery, etc.). The public should be aware that iodine, potassium iodide, and algal compounds contain hundreds of times more iodine than the upper limit of iodine intake.The ATA opposes the intake of more than 500ug of iodine and algal compounds by children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers. Individuals who chronically consume more than the upper limit must be monitored by a physician. Only very little data exists to confirm that there is some benefit to exceeding the upper limit of iodine intake, such as in patients with breast fibrocysts, but such data is also controversial. Iodine intake above the upper limit has no benefit for the thyroid. There are some exceptions where patients need to take iodine above the upper intake limit for short periods of time. These exceptions include the administration of Lugol’s solution as a preoperative preparation for hyperthyroidism or for use in hyperthyroidism crises, and to prevent radioactive iodine from entering the thyroid gland in the event of a nuclear radiation leak. Key points are as follows 1. Adequate and appropriate iodine intake is necessary to maintain normal thyroid function. 2. The recommended iodine intake for non-pregnant adults is 150ug. 3. Pregnant and lactating women need to take an iodine multivitamin (containing 150ug of iodine). 4. The upper limit of tolerable iodine intake is 1100ug, but daily iodine intake of more than 500ug should not be done. 5. There are some circumstances that allow short-term iodine intake to be excessive, but thyroid function must be closely monitored. It can be seen that iodine intake is necessary, low iodine diet (there is a strict definition, that is, iodine intake of less than 50ug / day) for the normal population is not feasible, the application of low iodine diet before the physiological need for iodine, low iodine diet concept. Currently, the low iodine diet is recommended to be prepared prior to postoperative radioiodine therapy for thyroid cancer. A healthy diet for thyroid disease is necessarily consistent with a healthy diet for the normal population, i.e., a broad-spectrum diet with plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, especially selenium-enriched foods. Try not to eat seaweed and nori, which are particularly high in iodine, and for iodized salt, 6 grams per day is sufficient, and eat less seafood. In this way, ensure that you will not exceed the 500ug daily iodine intake. Even if you go to eat a seafood dinner, all you have to do is not to exceed the upper limit of 1100ug of tolerable, the iodine content of seafood see the table below, the general seafood eat a meal, for example, you eat 1kg of lobster (of course, certainly can not eat), it is not too easy to exceed the upper limit of 1100ug of iodine intake. But switching to kelp is a different story, so you can do the math if you’re interested. Therefore, you can eat seafood and try not to eat kelp or nori. In addition, those who need to take eugenol after thyroid cancer surgery are another case, because the role of iodine in the body is to synthesize thyroid hormones, and for those who have had all of their thyroid removed, it doesn’t matter whether they have a high iodine or a low iodine diet, except for during radioactive iodine therapy. However, for lobectomized patients, one side of the thyroid gland remains and is in a suppressed state, and the thyroid hormone taken is itself an iodine-containing drug, so too much iodine is also of no benefit to the remaining thyroid tissue, and a low iodine diet is theoretically beneficial for the remaining lobes of the thyroid gland. Iodine is present in most seafood, and the amount of iodine in each food (μg/kg) is as follows Iodized Salt 35000±15000 (China’s New Standard for Edible Salt, formally issued by the State Bureau of Technical Supervision in 2000) Kelp (dried): 240,000 Seaweed (dried): 18,000 Chinese lettuce (dried): 11,800 Dried mackerel (fresh): 180 Dried mackerel (fresh): 135 Dried fish maw: 480 Dried arkshell: 2400 Dried clams: 2400 Dried razor clams: 1900 Dried scallops: 1200 Dried mussels: 1200 Dried sea cucumber: 6000 Dried jellyfish: 1320 Dried lobster: 600 Dried scallop: 80