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Cow’s milk alternatives may increase risk for iodine deficiency
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Consumption of milk-alternative drinks not fortified with iodine — including almond, soy or rice milk — in place of cows’ milk may increase the risk for iodine deficiency, according to findings published in British Journal of Nutrition.
“Milk-alternative drinks are increasingly being used as a replacement for cows’ milk for a number of reasons that obviously include allergy or intolerance to cows’ milk,” Sarah Bath, PhD, RD, lecturer in public health nutrition at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, said in the press release. “Worryingly, most milk-alternative drinks are not fortified with iodine and their iodine content is very low.”
Cow’s milk is a key source of dietary iodine in the U.K. Because iodine is essential for normal fetal brain development, it is particularly important during pregnancy. Prior research has shown that low iodine status in pregnant women was associated with fetal intellectual impairments, neonatal hypothyroidism and increased pregnancy loss and infant mortality.
“Many people are unaware of the need for this vial dietary mineral and it is important that people who consume milk-alternative drinks realize that they will not be replacing the iodine from cow’s milk,” Margaret Rayman, DPhil, RNutr, professor of nutritional medicine at the University of Surrey, said in the release.
Because many consumers replace iodine-rich milk with milk-alternative drinks, researchers purchased 47 alternatives in 2015 to determine the iodine concentration of seven types available in the U.K such as soy, almond, coconut, oat, rice hazelnut and hemp milk. They also included samples of conventional and organic cows’ milk for comparison.
Although many milk-alternative drinks are fortified with calcium, analysis showed that only three of 47 drinks were fortified with iodine. In total, median iodine concentration of the unfortified milk-alternative drinks was low — 1.7% of the value for conventional cows’ milk.
Organic milk had a lower iodine concentration compared with conventional milk. Only one brand fortified its soy, oat and rice drinks with iodine, which had a higher iodine concentration than unfortified drinks. These findings show that people who replace cows’ milk with milk-alternative drinks that are not fortified with iodine increase their risk for iodine deficiency. This research can help clinicians advise pregnant women and those who are planning to become pregnant.
“If avoiding milk and dairy products, consumers need to ensure that they have iodine from other dietary sources, where possible,” Bath said in the release. – by Savannah Demko
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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