Today's topic is Fluoride and it's affect on thyroid health. Being that I'm a teacher (and a bit of a research-aholic and constant reader), I am my own version of Hermoine. My intention is to explain in an easy, maybe colorful way, what is going on with our thyroid. I always offer the solutions I have collected for my own personal use.
A brief history lesson on Fluoridation
From 1909 until the 1930s, two scientists by the names of Kempf and McCay were traveling town to town to investigate why children (and other residents) had browning teeth. They figured out something amiss in the water sources available, but could not pinpoint what key ingredient caused such issues in dentistry. In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan was the first city to include fluoridation in it's waters. Fluoridation spread across the United States, thus leading us to modern day. (If you want a complete history, here's the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacil Research's site).
That explains why it got in our water. Now, why should you care about fluoride in your water?
Fluoride's Affect on Thyroid Health
Fluoride is in the element family of other "-ides" such as bromide and iodine. These elements are processed by the thyroid to maintain our health. If you've gotten to see Inside Out, the movie about characters inside a little girls' head that represent her basic emotions, then I'd like you to envision the butterfly gland at your throat as Converting Headquarters. This headquarter' main job is to process key elements and convert them to create our hormones...and then send those hormones on their merry way so our organs have the resources they need to maintain health.
However, your thyroid has some culprits that cause it to give false directions to the rest of the body. Thus why many of us with thyroid have other health issues in "unrelated" areas and we don't connect, for example, that repeat reproductive health problems are due to a misfiring thyroid. I use this example because two family members had hysterectomies in their 30s and several of us have had miscarriages. Now, for some reason, my thyroid quit telling my pancreas how to process sugar, so it's not just one organ or area that gets the attention. That's what makes it tricky for the majority of the medical community to pinpoint thyroid issues as the root cause.
Iodine and Salt
Iodine is something our thyroid needs to produce hormones and do it's job. If your thyroid isn't getting enough iodine, it contributes to thyroid problems. In fact, in the past century, those individuals with thyroid issues have been given iodine (my grandmother included). It was such a cause of concern in the UK and the US that iodine has been included with commercial salt ever since 1924 because of iodine deficiency (story can be found here). The American diet does not naturally produce enough iodine and the 1920's American medical community treated an impressive amount of goiters (swollen thyroid because the thyroid is working too hard to produce hormones...goiters mean the thyroid could go out completely because it's overworked). Our Scientists even then were pinpointing what element improves thyroid health and they had a better remedy (desiccated thyroid) than what most doctors prescribe now (synthetic). As far as salt goes, I personally use Morton's Sea Salt with Iodine. I don't need to add as much salt to get the flavor (and my husband doesn't complain that you can't trust a skinny cook...I did too flavor this dish!).
It's All in the Family
Now, I speak of iodine because it's considered an actinide element (the first of it's kind on the element table). Others within it's family (bromide, fluoride) act like iodine in our bodies and trick our thyroids into thinking "You have enough of this resource, quit converting as much." So, the thyroid is either tricked into going hypo-active (slowed down) because it's actually not getting enough and your body can't function, or your thyroid goes hyper-active (speeds up) in order to compensate (the little engine that could).
Drinking Water
This is where fluoride steps in as a culprit to our thyroid. We absorb fluoride in several areas, but the most we absorb it is in our tap water and our toothpaste. Most of us in the United States drink bottled water. Our town has delivered many letters to the public detailing the safety (or lack there of) in our tap water with a label of "elderly and those with compromised immune systems should not drink it." Oh, well, that causes a lot of us to refill water jugs for our homes.
Cooking Water
And yet....do you still cook your rice, pasta, and mashed potatoes in tap water? Most of us do. We're still absorbing fluoride in that manner, and a good amount, too. Our household has made the choice of using jugs of water to cook. If you live in the country and have a water well, you're probably just fine. City water is a different issue since all cities add fluoride to their water systems.
Toothpaste
Toothpaste is another source of fluoride (and bromide). Don't worry, I'm not going to suggest you stop brushing your teeth and lose some friends (and maybe earn a title of Dragon Breath). I suggest Tom's Toothpaste. It is a bit pricier than regular toothpaste, but let me put it this way: I spend so little on my thyroid medicines (we're talking I can pay in quarters) when before I was prescribed medicines for anxiety, depression, and whatnot that were pricier. Good health is cheaper, so pick up that toothpaste. It balances out. We all swallow a bit of toothpaste when we brush our teeth and my thyroid already has enough false messages about the resources it has available.
Resources for Further Reading
By all means, don't limit yourself to the resources I've included below (but just in case you don't believe me or you really want to know more, here it is). Knowledge is power. If you know what exacerbates your health issues, you're more likely to adapt lifestyle habits that improve your health. In the end, who doesn't want better health?
Just recently, my husband remarked, "You know, this is the first summer in our entire (almost 15 years) marriage where we've gotten to spend a lot of time together." It's been really nice. I haven't had to say "I'm too tired, go without me." I said it every time before. It's nice to be my healthiest. I get to live my life now.
Fluoride Alert
Global Healing Center
Mercola
WebMD
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