Is there any way to get enough iodine naturally from one's diet? I know iodized salt isn't even actual iodine (as you stated in your article), but is there a type of food that one can eat that will give a sufficient supply?
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Unprocessed, uncooked sea vegetables are the only significant source of iodine from food, and most Americans aren't eating this regularly enough to meet their needs. There is some available from seafood (~25 mcg per 3 oz shrimp), but it can get expensive to consume enough for optimal health--again, the RDA of 150 mcg is well below what we actually need to thrive. Plus, the oceans are polluted so seafood comes along with mercury and other undesirable substances. There is some iodine available from dairy products as well, but this is because they use iodine to sterilize cow's teats before milking and to clean containers and equipment. It's a residue from processing rather than a naturally occurring element.
Baked potato 40% of your DV. Cranberries 60% DV in 1 oz. Strawberries 8.6% DV in one cup. https://draxe.com/top-10-iodine-rich-foods/
I'd rather let the turkey live, but 23% DV in their flesh.
Seems like if you avoid processed foods and eat your fruits and veggies, you're probably doing ok. Personally I would just consciously make sure I'm taking in enough before I would supplement, because then you're getting all the other benefits of those foods too, rather than just blow money on a supplement that does only that.
Working some seaweed into your diet seems smart. But other foods have it too.
Consuming whole foods is definitely advantageous for the reason you've mentioned, but the iodine available from fruits and vegetables these days varies greatly depending on the soil it was grown in. World wide, modern agriculture practices have severely depleted the soil, which yields iodine deficient food.
There is a map in this article that shows states with iodine depleted soils:
http://health101.org/art_iodine.htm
The states with the largest potato production (Idaho, Washington, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Colorado) do not have enough iodine in the soil, for example.
It would be interesting to know how nutritional data is calculated--when the tests are done, how many pieces are tested, where they are from, etc.
Also definitely worth noting that if you're going to try to eat strawberries, organic is superior! Strawberries (especially from northern California) are highly sprayed with a pesticide called methyl bromide, which competes for iodine receptors in the body.