What happens if you take too much iodine?

Iodine is an essential trace element for humans. Moderate intake is important for good health. However, excessive iodine intake can cause great harm to the human body. For example, it can easily lead to goiter, hyperthyroidism and other serious diseases. For infants and young children, excessive iodine intake may lead to mental retardation, sexual dysfunction, etc.

What happens if you take too much iodine?

1. Excessive use of iodine can cause goiter and hyperthyroidism caused by high iodine

When eating a large amount of high-iodine food, iodine will enter the body along with food and water for digestion. Excessive iodine will reduce the activity of peroxide, causing the iodine level in the cells to drop rapidly, causing goiter. Long-term intake of excessive iodine will accelerate the production of thyroid hormones, leading to iodine-induced hyperthyroidism.

2. Excessive use of iodine can cause mental retardation in patients

Studies in recent years have found that there is a certain relationship between excessive iodine use and intelligence. Survey results show that students in high-iodine areas have lower intelligence than students in adequate iodine areas due to long-term excessive iodine intake. At the same time, researchers have also conducted the same experiment on animals, and excessive iodine load will make the animals' brain weight lighter. If students use too much iodine, they may experience adverse reactions such as decreased learning and memory.

3. Excessive use of iodine can lead to sexual dysfunction

A study in the United States shows that there is an inverse relationship between men's iodine intake and the number of sperm. Too much iodine will reduce the number and quality of sperm, gradually leading to sexual dysfunction. Similarly, it has been reported many times that injecting rats with large amounts of iodine will affect their reproductive ability.

Our body cannot lack iodine. It can promote biological oxidation, regulate the synthesis and decomposition of proteins in the body, regulate water and salt metabolism, and enhance the activity of enzymes. However, when using iodine, you must be careful about whether it is excessive. Excessive iodine will not only fail to be absorbed and utilized, but will also cause harm to the body.