The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1938-11-25
THE oYsTER--THE TRUn SYM.
Boil OF GOOD RATING
Oysters: One of the Richest Sources
of Iodine
DR.. Lewis Radcliffe, Director
The Oyster Institute Of N. America
Washington, d. @.

me oyster institute OF ~. America
Washington. d. O.
Although iodine represents only
about one part in three million parts
of our body weight, 1t represents one
Of the most important chemical ele-
ments in our bodies. Inhabitants
along the seashore and for consider
able distances inland obtain the
necessary intakes of iodine from
seafoods and the sea-salt dust car
ried inland enriching the soils, the
water supply, and the crops. Those
who grow up in regions where there
is too little iodine to meet the needs
of normal nutrition show q high
preparation of simple goiter, an en-
largement of the thyroid gland re.
sulting from an inadeQuacy Of iodine.
| Just how serious results may ba
illustrated by conditions in the Penn.
berton Valley of British Columbia.
lying in the Coast Range MIS-, about
80 miles north of Vancouver. Every
white child born in this valley had
goiter, and many white adults de.
veloped it within a few months after
settling there. Livestock suffered to
such an extent from thyroid troubles
that no litter of pigs lived more than
one day after birth. There was &
mortality Of 80 percent in calves
and IS percent from colts from this
cause. In nearby Indian village
settled many years before the white
man came, no cases of g0iter could
be found, and their pigs rarely suf-
fered from diseases of thyroid. The
explanation advanced was that the
Indians ate a great amount Of SAL
mon migrating from the ocean, cur
ing thousands for winter use and
their pigs ate the dead salmon wash
ed ashore. 1t appears that from this
source of food the necessary Quanti-
ties of iodine were secured.
ut is probable, reports DR.. J.
F. McClendon, that the absence OF
goiter along the New England
coast is due to the iodine in the soil,
and that the recession of goiter that
has taken place in New York State
during recent times is due to the
great transportation facilities foe
seafood into the inland regions"
"Oysters, clans and Holsters"
states a government report, contain
more iodine than any other marine
food with the exception of marine
algae, which unfortunately, does, not
enter into the dietary of many
Americans. AS matter Of compare
son, it is shown that oysters, CLAIMS
and Holsters contain about 200 times
as much iodine as milk, eggs, Or
beefsteak; shrimp 100 times as
much; and crabs and ocean fishes SO.
times as much"
1t has been estimated that 1t
would take about 1900 years fol.
a person to drink enough Lake SUI
perior water to accumulate an
amount of iodine equal to that found
in the thyroid of normal adult.
Yet an average serving Of oysters
would furnish 100 percent Of the
iodine requirement for that day.
Not only that, but the iodine in oys-
tiers is fully available and disable.
1t has not yet been shown that the
iodine of vegetable food is OF equal
value to that Of seafood as a pre-
ventive of goiter.
| Food habits are apt to be acQuir-
ed in childhood. We are likely to eat
what our parent taught us to eat
and change these habits only very
slowly. Availability of foods has
been an important factor. especially
in the past when the processes OF
preservation and transportation fac
ilities were not so efficient as now.
Then too, it is only within the last
fifty years that we have begun to
acquire the fundamental facts about
the chemistry of food and its physi-
ology after it is eaten and used TO-
nourish and sustain our bodies. NO
class of foods have revealed the uni.
que dietary values possessed by the
principal fish and shellfish. 1t is
therefore important that our people,
especially those far removed from
centers of production OF seafoodss
cultivate the habit of eating these
foods more regularly. This is par.
ticularly true of those living in tha
so called goiter belt where thyroid
troubles are more or les prevalent.
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