Very interesting topic Ben.
I would like to be kept informed of what you might discover on this, if you
are able to learn something from sources other than this list.
May I ask you to keep me posted?
Thanks,
Liza

~~~~~~~~~~
Liza May, M.S.
Clinical Nutrition
Phone: 301-261-0555
Fax: 410-451-6105
Email: [log in to unmask]
1153 Route 3 North
#41
Gambrills, MD 21054
USA

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paleolithic Diet Symposium List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Balzer, Ben
> Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 4:30 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Thyroid as an iodine source in hunter gatherers
>
> Dear All
> I enquire whether members of the list might have any information as to
> whether any hunter gatherers have been documented to consume
> the thyroid
> gland of prey.
>
> Iodine has the most profound effect of any single factor on IQ- iodine
> deficiency reduces IQ an average of 13.5 or 15 points
> depending on which
> authority one reads. This is sufficient to triple the number
> of children
> with mild developmental delay and increase 7 fold those with severe
> developmental delay (by simple consideration of leftward
> displacement of the
> IQ curve by 15 points). http://www.who.int/nut/idd.htm
>
> Iodine deficiency affects over 740 million people worldwide
> and it is a
> major priority of the WHO http://www.who.int/nut/idd.htm
>
> Unfortunately, none of the studies on IQ and omega 3 have
> been controlled
> for iodine (Simopoulos, A. Personal communication).
>
> Accordingly, identification of dietary sources of evolution
> during evolution
> is important. Iodine has been singled out as a factor that
> supports the
> aquatic ape hypothesis that our evolution occurred on the
> seashore, see
> http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~mvaneech/Cunnane.html (A
> SHORE-BASED DIET RICH IN
> ENERGY AND 'BRAIN-SPECIFIC' NUTRIENTS MADE HUMAN BRAIN
> EVOLUTION POSSIBLE).
>
> An alternative source of iodine available to carnivores is
> the thyroid gland
> of prey. Indeed under-trained butchers sometimes give
> exogenous transient
> thyrotoxicosis to their customers by including thyroid in
> their hamburger
> mince ("hamburger thyrotoxicosis).
> http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/180_10_170504/letters_1705
> 04_fm-4.html
>
> Other sources come to mind- Weston Price documented the woman
> from African
> highlands who travelled to the Nile to get plants and burn
> them in order to
> keep the ashes and bring them home for her children to eat to
> prevent goitre
> (she had a very large one). I can't find any data on brain's
> content of
> iodine but wouldn't be surprised if this had some too). The
> coastal treks of
> pacific islanders could have provided iodine as well as long
> chain omega 3
> fatty acids.
>
> Ben Balzer
> Dr Ben Balzer  [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> 109 Morgan St
> Beverly Hills 2209
> NSW Australia
> Tel (02) 95023355 Fax (02) 95024243 Int'l prefix(+612)
>