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cherrypez123 t1_j92ydji wrote

Reply to comment by Bbrhuft in Why does the thyroid use iodine ? by geistererscheinung

How did people far from the ocean survive back in the day? If they couldn’t access iodized salt or anything else from the ocean?

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xiaorobear t1_j93dex7 wrote

Other animals are a good source!

Meat, eggs, and dairy all are good sources of iodine- and some organs especially liver. Apparently 1300 years ago someone in China had already figured out you could treat goiter by giving the patient ground up animal thyroid gland. Pretty cool.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goitre#History

Also apparently in more iodine-rich soil, plants uptake enough to also be a good source, probably where the animals at lower trophic levels are getting it.

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