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US Gained a Decade of Flynn-Effect IQ Points After Adding Iodine To Salt

Posted by Soulskill on from the you're-saying-we-could-have-been-dumber? dept.

cold fjord writes "I wish it was always this easy. Business Insider reports, 'Iodized salt is so ubiquitous that we barely notice it. Few people know why it even exists. Iodine deficiency remains the world's leading cause of preventable mental retardation. According to a new study (abstract), its introduction in America in 1924 had an effect so profound that it raised the country's IQ. A new NBER working paper from James Feyrer, Dimitra Politi, and David N. Weil finds that the population in iodine-deficient areas saw IQs rise by a full standard deviation, which is 15 points, after iodized salt was introduced.... The mental impacts were unknown, the program was started to fight goiter, so these effects were an extremely fortunate, unintended side effect.'"

4 of 270 comments (clear)

  1. But now people in the US try to avoid it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And now we've got people in the US trying to avoid "iodized salt" because it's a "processed food" and they want "natural mineral salts". Of course they don't even know why salt is iodized -- they think it's a "preservative" (you know, cause salt goes bad) or somesuch -- and while they might be getting enough iodine elsewhere they certainly aren't regulating their intake to ensure as much. It's almost as bad as the folks who want "pectin-free" jam.

  2. Salt in Food is Ubiquitous in the US by ScottCooperDotNet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I try to avoid salt when possible because so much food is overloaded with it, so I'm a little over the daily recommended value instead of double of it.

    Salt isn't just a preservative but a way to make lesser-quality food taste better, so the market gives a financial incentive to salt up everything.

    1. Re:Salt in Food is Ubiquitous in the US by hedwards · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's a valid concern, but another part of it is that iodized salt isn't usually what they're using in processed foods. So, not only do you get tons of salt, but it doesn't even have the trace minerals that would benefit you.

      And yes, the main reason that salt is in so many foods is because it increases appetite and enhances flavor.

  3. Re:derp.... by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Cutting salt out of a diet that includes non-synthetic substances is probably impossible. If it lived on earth, it probably has salt in it.