Women who are pregnant, may become pregnant, or are currently breastfeeding should take iodine supplements to ensure their babies’ brains can develop normally, researchers say. Experts from the National Academy of Sciences and the American Thyroid Association agree that a daily intake of 290 micrograms of iodine is ideal for helping maintain proper brain development both in the womb and in early development after birth.

Iodine is derived from iodide by the body and is largely ingested in America through iodized table salt. In the body, it helps with production of hormones essential to brain development in children.

Even though most table salts contain iodide, many people manage to be deficient in iodine. This is partially the result of processed foods which do not contain the fortified salts. Reliance on processed foods has meant that women are often not getting their recommended 290 micrograms each day, prompting further recommendations from experts who say women should be tested to ensure their iodine levels are where they need to be.

Research has demonstrated that one in three women are deficient in iodine to some degree. Moreover, only 15 percent take supplements with sufficient amounts of iodide in them.

To protect themselves against iodine deficiency, experts from both associations suggest that women get tested and take supplements that have 150 micrograms of iodine in them. They caution women to read labels, as many supplements, including those taken during pregnancy and lactation, do not have enough iodide in them to meet their needs.

Along with these suggestions came a few for the FDA, who were requested to ensure their policies regulated the consistency between labels and actual content across companies producing supplements.

Iodide is not seen as something that is hard to get and women are encouraged not to take these recommendations as a message to drastically alter their lifestyles or diets. Rather, they should take care to ensure that they are taking proper vitamins and eating table salt as the main part of their sodium intake.