why does your body need iodine?

Question

endocrine system

Answer 1

The body needs iodine for the tyroid gland to produce a hormone called thyroxine which helps oxidation in the blood cells

Answer 2

Iodine, found especially in salt, helps maintain nerve function.

Answer 3

Iodine is a naturally occurring element that is essential for the good health of people and animals. Iodine is found in small amounts in sea water and in certain rocks and sediments. Iodine occurs in many different forms that can be blue, brown, yellow, red, white, or colorless. Most forms of iodine easily dissolve in water or alcohol.
Iodine has many uses. Its most important use is as a disinfectant for cleaning surfaces and storage containers. Iodine is also used in skin soaps and bandages, and for purifying water. Iodine is used in medicines. Iodine is added to food, such as table salt, to ensure that all people in the United States have enough iodine in their bodies to form essential thyroid hormones. Iodine is put into animal feeds for the same reason. Iodine is used in the chemical industry for making inks and coloring agents,
Iodine is a natural and necessary part of the food that you eat and the water that you drink. In the United States, most table salt contains iodine. Iodine is put into table salt to make sure that everyone has enough iodine in their bodies to form essential thyroid hormones.
In the past, people in some areas of the United States did not get enough iodine in their diets. Iodine is in some breads because it is added to flour to condition bread dough for baking. Iodine is also in cow and goat milk. Iodine gets into milk when cows or goats eat iodine that is in their food and water. Iodine can also get into milk when iodine is used to clean milking machines and milk storage containers, and to clean the animals' udders at dairy farms and dairies. Iodine is in ocean fish, shellfish, and certain plants that grow in the ocean (kelp). This is because there is iodine in sea water, and some sea plants and animals concentrate iodine in their tissues. Iodine can also be in the air. Iodine is in sea spray and mist, which are tiny drops of sea water. Iodine is in cleansers and medicines that are used to clean and bandage skin wounds (tincture of iodine). You can be exposed to these if they are placed on your skin. Some medicines have iodine in them. Iodine is used to treat water to make it safe for drinking. Iodine is needed for your thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones.
You and your thyroid gland are healthy when there is just enough iodine in your body, about 10-15 milligrams, so that just the right amount of thyroid hormones are produced. This amount would look like much less than a pinch of table salt if placed in your hand. This amount of iodine is in most people when they eat the foods that people normally eat in the United States. Your thyroid gland can become unhealthy if more or less than this amount of iodine is in your body. An unhealthy thyroid gland can affect your entire body. If the thyroid gland cannot make enough hormone,

Babies and children need iodine to form thyroid hormones, which are important for growth and health. If infants and children do not have enough iodine in their bodies, their thyroid glands will not produce enough thyroid hormone and they will not grow normally.