The entire reason we have iodized salt: to prevent goiters. A goiter is an enlargement of the thyroid gland resulting in a prominent mass in the neck. The common cause is iodine deficiency and in the early 1900s, the United States had a real goiter issue. A prevalence of goiters occurred in the Midwest, where inlanders didn’t have easy access to a major iodine-rich food: fresh seafood. The area became known as the “goiter belt.” The solution was to get patients to ingest iodine, but it was hard to administer. “Iodine doesn’t taste good. How do you get people to take iodine?” muses endocrine surgeon Dr. Kepal Patel. “It was basically a stroke of genius to say, ‘Hey, why don’t we put iodine into salt?’ Salt is a known quantity, everybody consumes salt, salt doesn’t spoil, and you don’t taste the iodine, you taste the salt.” So in 1924, iodine was added to table and cooking salt and all of a sudden the rate of goiters in the Midwest dropped. So when you see iodized salt, say “thanks, goiter buster.” But don’t overdo the salt and don’t panic if you use uniodized salt. Chances are you’re getting enough iodine from other sources. Listen to our latest episode, Thyroidology (THYROID GLAND), at the link in bio. We discuss underactive and overactive thyroids, Hashimoto’s disease, Graves’ disease, hormones, libidos, and lots more.