Iodine is a natural requirement of our diets. Iodine deficiency can lead to inadequate production of thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland (hypothyroidism).

In some parts of Zaire, Ecuador, India, and Chile, remote, mountainous areas; such as, in the Alps (in the past), Andes and the Himalayas have a particular predisposition for severe iodine deficiency, goiter, and hypothyroidism.

Since the addition of iodine to table salt, iodine deficiency is rarely seen in the United States.