Studies Show Fluoride Can Lead to Hypothyroidism

Hi friends,

Happy Saturday! Today I want to share some info about fluoride.

First I want to say there is so much to keep track of when it comes to our health, it can all get overwhelming sometimes. And with foggy brains from hypothyroidism, I know it's especially hard to remember everything! I never want to make you feel bad or like you should be doing more (you're doing great!). This information about fluoride and its relationship to thyroid function is incredibly interesting, so I wanted to share.

All these years I've been thinking fluoride was good (or I didn't think much about it at all). It's in drinking water and toothpaste, dentists do fluoride treatments on our kids. Fluoride is everywhere. But I recently read studies about how fluoride is really, really bad for our bodies, especially for the thyroid. This article on Dr. Mercola reports that fluoride can lead to breast cancer, ADHD, arthritis, and low thyroid (hypothyroidism).

The history of fluoride is actually really fascinating, dating back to the post war 1940s USA when companies like ALCOA had to find a way to get rid of the hazardous contaminants from the aluminum smelting process, which included fluoride. Somehow fluoride ended up being added to the water supply to "help protect our teeth" even though studies show it's toxic.

Fluoride in its many forms may be one of the most toxic of industrial pollutants.

- Christopher Byron, The Flouride Deception 

I won't get into the conspiracy theories or speculate on why fluoride is still being used. A really important detail about fluoride is that it displaces iodine in the body. As Dr. Jarvis wrote, iodine is necessary for thyroid function. So if iodine is being displaced by fluoride that spells bad news for thyroid function. But have hope! Here are a few things I am doing to protect myself and my family from fluoride exposure:

Water
My town has fluoridated water, so I am going to fork over the money for bottled water (I will have to cut back on my Starbuck's budget, but it's worth it.)

Toothpaste
I switched to fluoride free toothpaste. I like JASON which I buy at Whole Foods. But you can also make your own toothpaste using a 50/50 mix of coconut oil and baking soda. According to this site and other sources, coconut oil is a great antibacterial and anti fungal. For flavor use a few drops of an essential oil like peppermint, and for a sugar-free sweetener try liquid stevia. 

Fluoride Treatments for Kids
After reading articles like this one about fluoride treatments for kids being pointless. On the Fluoride Alert site, they wrote about a study of over 15k kids in Michigan, and it made no real difference in cavity count if the kids had fluoride treatments or not. I decided to be cautious with my son not have him get fluoride treatments at the dentist. When I told the dentist "no thanks" to fluoride, she looked at me like I had three heads. But I am used to that. ;-)

Iodine
I am a loyalist to Dr. Jarvis and Dr. Brownstein who both write about the usefulness of Iodine, which can be bought through the store, or many other places online.

Final Musings
I know I sound like a hemp-buying, organic preaching, conspiracy theorist, health nut (not that there's anything wrong with that). But I'm really not (well, maybe partly, but I wear high heels instead of Birkenstocks). More appropriately, above all else I would say I am "hypothyroidism activist."

xxoo

Lizzy

More Reading

If you want to learn more about fluoride here are some interesting resources:

Fluoride Displaces Iodine

Dangers of Fluoride (video)

Water Fluoridation Controversy

Why Iodine is Vital for Thyroid Function

Isn't it interesting that this tiny little gland called the Thyroid is responsible for major functions of our body? Like managing how quickly the body uses energy, regulates the rate of metabolism and controls how sensitive the body should be to other hormones? With this kind of importance in the body it seems like the Thyroid would be a huge discussion topic at every water cooler and doctor's office.  I won't get on my soap box and go into consipiracy theories now, but let's just say the Thyroid rules (literally).  Like any good leader it needs support. In the case of the Thyroid, one critical form of support is Iodine. 

Iodine and the Thyroid

It has long been known by medical professionals and doctors, like D.C. Jarvis, that Iodine is needed for the production of thyroid hormone in the body.  According to Thyroid.org, Iodine deficiency can lead to Hypothyroidism, Goiters and Pregnancy-related problems.  Since the body does not make Iodine on its own, we get Iodine through our diet (if we are lucky). 

40% of the world's population remain at risk for Iodine deficiency... [and] Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide.

– Thyroid.org

I'm Getting Enough Iodine, Right? (um...)

Many sites including Thyroid.org claim we get enough Iodine through our diet. You might even be thinking "Wait a minute...I eat table salt which has Iodine, right?" Yes, that's true! Table salt does have Iodine. However, you may not know that Iodine is easily displaced by other halogen elements Flourine/Flouride, Chlorine, and Bromine commonly found in our diet.

Flourine/Flouride is commonly used in drinking water and toothpaste. Chlorine is often used in water purification, and Bromine is in most grocery-store bread (shocking!). These common halogen elements displace Iodine. Meaning, if this were the WWF, Flourine, Chlorine and Bromine would kick Iodine 's butt. So while you might be getting Iodine, you might also be consuming elements that remove Iodine from the body. For real scientific details go here.  

How do we test for Iodine deficiency?

There is tons of great information on this topic, but basically a simple at-home Iodine Patch Test can be done. For instructions on Iodine Patch Testing visit Natural Health Techniques.

How much Iodine do we need?

There is a lot of discussion and debate about how much Iodine is needed to treat deficiency. Curezone has some great patient-to-patient information on how much Iodine to take.

Ah, the Thyroid. The tiny little gland with so much responsibility. If you don't already, its time to love your Thyroid like it rules your world.

Buy Lugol's Solution of Iodine and get a FREE copy of my hypothyroid worksheet 

xxoo

Lizzy