By Heide Kennedy, Arizona Farm Bureau Communications Intern
When you think of vitamins and minerals that are vital to our health, which ones do you think of the most often? We usually think only of the common ones like iron, vitamins like A, B, C, and D, magnesium, or calcium. But what about iodine? This not as commonly talked about nutrient is actually incredibly important to our overall health. 
According to registered dietician Elise Harlow, iodine is essential for the production of thyroid hormones, is involved in all the cell functions in our bodies, and is essential for our cells to function properly. She notes that our bodies can’t make iodine on their own, so we must be including it in our diets in order to get it.
Some of the food sources that provide iodine are:
- Iodized salt
- Seaweed
- Oysters
- Cod
- Greek yogurt
- Eggs
Harlow notes that an iodine deficiency isn’t something to stress over because often the multivitamins that we take daily have iodine in them. But it is always good to make sure that we are consuming enough of this nutrient and incorporating foods that have iodine in them.
For more health-related articles, check out the Fill Your Plate blog!