Seaweed as a dietary supplement to address iodine deficiency in UK females: a feasibility study

充足的碘摄入量对确保人体广泛的代谢功能至关重要；特别是，碘是甲状腺健康的关键。这在怀孕期间尤为重要，因为未出生婴儿的发育在很大程度上依赖于母亲的甲状腺健康——例如，如果碘不足，婴儿的大脑就不能最佳发育。然而，最近的研究发现，在英国，大多数女学生、妇女和孕妇都缺碘。在英国缺乏碘强化计划的情况下，确定可行的策略以确保通过饮食摄入足够的碘是很重要的。在减少钠摄入量的公共卫生驱动下，盐强化可能不是一种选择。在英国饮食中提供碘的一个可行途径是食用海藻，海藻是碘的丰富来源。我们的研究专门调查了使用市售海藻胶囊（Seagreens®人类食品质量海藻）作为女性碘补充的有效途径的可行性，以及如何最佳地制定和营销商业化。

Adequate intake of iodine is essential to ensure a wide range of metabolic functions in the human body; in particular, iodine is key for thyroid health. This becomes especially important during pregnancy, since the development of the unborn infant relies heavily on maternal thyroid health – with insufficient iodine, the infant brain, for example, cannot develop optimally. However, recent research has found that the majority of schoolgirls, women, as well as pregnant women populations are now iodine deficient in the UK. In the absence of an iodine fortification programme in the UK, it is important to identify viable strategies to ensure adequate iodine intake via the diet. Salt fortification may not be an option under the public health drive to decrease sodium intake. A viable route for iodine provision in the British diet is the consumption of seaweeds, which are a rich source of iodine. Our study specifically investigates the feasibility of using commercially available seaweed capsule (Seagreens® human food quality seaweed) as an effective route for iodine supplementation in women, and how to best formulate and market for commercialisation.