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Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

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Re: Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

#101

Post by PKop »

6SixTy wrote: post #94
PKop wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. Trivial benefit while marginally lowering IQ. Fluoride Exposure and Children’s IQ Scores A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis [0] [0] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/...

You linked a study saying that under 1.5mg/L, fluoride is safe. EPA maximum is 4.0, but secondary standard is 2.0. Current recommendations from the Dept. of Health and Human Services are at 0.7mg/L.

There's no point, why risk it, for what benefit? Just brush your teeth and apply topical fluoride periodically. It's not hard. Is it for you?

Even a tiny negative impact on IQ is a dumb thing to accept in service to some nonsense rationale for your teeth. Accepting this tradeoff is an IQ test itself. I'm with Europe on this one.

Re: Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

#102

Post by shortrounddev2 »

PKop wrote: post #101
6SixTy wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You linked a study saying that under 1.5mg/L, fluoride is safe. EPA maximum is 4.0, but secondary standard is 2.0. Current recommendations from the Dept. of Health and Human Services are at 0.7mg/L.

There's no point, why risk it, for what benefit? Just brush your teeth and apply topical fluoride periodically. It's not hard. Is it for you? Even a tiny negative impact on IQ is a dumb thing to accept in service to some nonsense rationale for your teeth. Accepting this tradeoff is an IQ test itself. I'm with Europe on this one.

I believe that you've selected a single study based on your existing biases and are basing your entire opinion off of it, rather than having done an honest amount of research into the nuances of the issue

Re: Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

#103

Post by pentacent_hq »

blargpls wrote: post #62
pentacent_hq wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not true. Iodized salt is the norm in Germany. I couldn't find data more recent than 2018 but according to this paper, "iodized and fluoridated salt has a market share of 80-90% among salt sold to private households": https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de/items/fcd6e613-49a9-414b-a4...

I think you made a typo. Your source says it's 70-80%. > So liegt der Anteil von jodiertem und fluoridiertem Salz in Haushaltsgebinden seit Jahren zwischen 70 und 80 %

Yes, that was a typo, thanks for the correction!

Re: Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

#104

Post by sitkack »

ed312 wrote: post #64
sitkack wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Iodine deficiency today is the leading cause of preventable mental retardation in the world. It’s estimated that nearly one-third of the world’s population has a diet with too little iodine in it, and the problem isn’t limited to developing countries — perhaps one-fifth of those cases are in Europe (pdf), where iodized salt is still not the norm. https://web.archive.org/web/20200820212020/https://www.who.i... > The…

This was both a new topic to me and a remarkably succinct (and well-cited) comment. Did you happen to do this research independently or do you reference a more comprehensive source?

I love doing research so I tried to answer the question for myself, "why does iodine deficiency cause cognitive impairment"? I have no background here.

Then I discovered that brain cells walk around during brain formation. MindBlown!

Re: Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

#105

Post by timewizard »

shortrounddev2 wrote: post #10
jeffbee wrote: post #6

Iodized salt, sanitary sewers, and shoes are the showcase achievements of public health, aside from vaccines and whatnot that people associate with progress in medicine.

Fluoridated water too

I can get non-iodized salt, use a septic tank, not wear shoes, and skip vaccines (and home school) if I so choose to. I can't choose to get unfloridated water from the public system. It's a little odd that a public health intervention has been prescribed to everyone en masse.

Re: Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

#106

Post by Spooky23 »

ufo wrote: post #83
FriedPickles wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, why don't they make iodized flaky salt?

I think it's a United States thing. There are other countries where all salt meant for human consumption must be iodized.

Almost all table salt is. Flake or kosher salt has become fashionable for various reasons.

You’ll not see any change for awhile, as the same clowns who are against fluoridation and vaccination also want to enjoy the freedom of a life without iodine.

Re: Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

#107

Post by vel0city »

lukan wrote: post #88
alistairSH wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what the link claims. The combination of flouridated water, tooth paste, and other sources, etc can lead to levels that can cause problems, but it's not as simple as "fluoridated water bad".

"The NTP monograph concluded, with moderate confidence, that higher levels of fluoride exposure, such as drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter, are associated with lower IQ in children. " So maybe not exactly "water fluoridation cost a few IQ points" in a broad sense, but close enough.

> such as drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter

> The PHS panel that provided the recommendation considered all sources of fluoride intake and recommended 0.7 mg/L as the concentration that maximizes fluoride's oral health benefits while minimizing potential harms, such as dental fluorosis.

1.5mg/L was where effects could possibly start to be detected. That's over twice the recommended concentrations.

https://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/about/community-water-fluor...

From the NIH source above posted by WorkerBee:

> It is important to note that there were insufficient data to determine if the low fluoride level of 0.7 mg/L currently recommended for U.S. community water supplies has a negative effect on children’s IQ.

https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/whatwestudy/assessments/noncancer/...

Re: Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

#108

Post by sysworld »

shortrounddev2 wrote: post #10
jeffbee wrote: post #6

Iodized salt, sanitary sewers, and shoes are the showcase achievements of public health, aside from vaccines and whatnot that people associate with progress in medicine.

Fluoridated water too

I think that's a bold statement. I'd say the jury is still out on that (especially for pregnant women and babies).

Though I will agree with fluoridated toothpaste. I would rather the govt gives out fluoride toothpaste to people, then force everyone to drink it, which research is still ongoing. Or offer discounted fluoride toothpaste / mouthwash.

From my understanding, fluoride works best when put directly on teeth (e.g. toothpaste / mouthwash), and doesn't work so well if you drink it.

Re: Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

#109

Post by taeric »

This has me curious on how I would know if my family needs more iodine? We have largely been on kosher salt for a long long time. It is just more pleasant to use while cooking.

I could, I think, just switch a lot of what we do back to iodized salt? Feels pointless if not needed, though.

Re: Adding iodine to salt played a role in cognitive improvements: research (2013)

#110

Post by ifyoubuildit »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #89
carlmr wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Iodized salt is quite the norm in Germany. You can buy the non -iodized version which is better for bread baking. But most everyone I know has iodized salt at home. Also doesn't water fluoridation cost a few IQ points? In the end I could imagine the effects cancelling each other out.

> Also doesn't water fluoridation cost a few IQ points? No, it does not. This is speculation based on a poor understanding of the actual science. Most of our fluoride exposure comes from eating normal food, water fluoridation is a small fraction of that. There are no measurable cognitive effects in the many developed parts of the world with natural fluoride levels far higher than used in municipal fluoridation. Furth…

> The absence of a plausible mechanism of action alone should raise serious questions.

I'm just a layperson, so forgive the possibly dumb question: why would this be weighted so heavily?

I read it as "we can't think of how this could work, so we should assume it doesn't". But that just seems like hubris to me.

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