Healthy Thyroid, Healthy Fertility

A few years ago, I was doing some research to discover why so many of my patients had been diagnosed with Graves disease and a Thyroid imbalance and I discovered that scientists were beginning to see a correlation between Thyroid irregularities and a particular flame retardant chemical.

If the Thyroid Gland runs too fast, it releases excessive amounts of Thyroid Hormone into the blood stream, setting off a chain of events that create a rapid heart beat, sweating, tremors, anxiety, increased appetite, rapid and sometimes sudden loss of weight, with a complete intolerance of heat. And if the gland runs too slowly, There are additional symptoms that include swelling of the neck due to enlargement of the gland (goitre) and protrusion of the eyes, both of which can also be caused by an auto immune Thryoid problem called Graves Disease.

Most doctors would only see one case of Graves a year if that, but the disease now occurs far more frequently, making me wonder why.

Surgeons like to remove the gland or to destroy part of the gland of Graves sufferers with radioactive Iodine, however, it can usually be controlled medically by taking Thyroxin and having frequent eye checks. It can also be controlled naturally.

While doing this research, I discovered a vet who was also researching to discover why so many dogs and cats in his practice had been diagnosed with the disease. And he made an amazing discovery. He found that each affected animal slept on carpet that had been treated with a Brominated Flame Retardant. This chemical has been known to cause Thyroid disorders for many decades. When dropped on bush fires from the air, it is known in scientific circles that any animal that escapes the fire will not be able to reproduce because of chemical damage to the Thyroid Gland. Yet all synthetic and children’s clothing in Australia must be treated with this flame retardant by law. It is now commonplace for paint, carpets, fabrics, plastics and many other materials like tents, cabins, interiors of aircraft, trains and cars to be treated with these chemicals. They do not wash out.

Recent tests on school age children have discovered these chemicals to be 75% higher than their parents. Surely, this must send alarm bells ringing with concern for the fertility and Thyroid health of our children.

Prevention is better than cure

I believe that prevention is always far better than cure. There are natural ways to keep the Thyroid Gland healthy and if we have a healthy Thyroid Gland, we will also keep our reproductive system healthy.

The four essential Thyroid minerals are Copper, Iodine, Selenium and Zinc. Our soils are now deficient in Copper and Selenium because of mono-cropping and organo fertilisers, so how can we provide our body with these minerals through our food? The answer is through sea vegetables like kelp, nori seaweed and dulce. Ocean water is similar in makeup to the plasma of the blood. It contains all the minerals in which our soils are deficient, in the correct balance. Kelp has the added advantage of removing Aluminium and some other heavy metals from the body. Kelp, dulce and nori seaweeds can be added dried to soups and casseroles or sprinkled onto food.

Three organic Brazil nuts a day will provide the body with the correct amount of Copper and Selenium, as well as some Zinc, which plays an important role in sperm production. Oysters are renowned for contain high levels of Zinc, but so does wheat germ, pumpkin seed, peanuts, dark chocolate, beef, lamb & veal liver.

Sea vegetables also contain Iodine, and on that subject, it is really not enough to add Iodine to salt that is pure Sodium Chloride. This is refined salt and it contributes to high blood pressure, dryness of skin and all mucous membranes. All refined foods, whether it is oil, flour, salt or sugar will create problems for the body because the refining process removes not only important minerals, but also essential enzymes that enable us to digest and absorb that particular food. Our blood contains all the minerals found in sea water and we need every one of them. Refined food upsets the natural balance of minerals and many areas of the body suffer as a consequence. A Celtic or other organic natural sea salt is far more beneficial to assist the Thyroid to stay healthy, along with the consumption of sea vegetables daily.

There is one more thing that will keep the Thyroid Gland healthy alongside the minerals it requires. That is an amino acid called L-Tyrosine. Sandra Cabot sells Tyrosine Powder through health food stores and from her own site as well. It is a brilliant product and should be taken as directed.

I’ve been able to assist many patients to rebalance their Thyroid without medication, simply by adding the four Thyroid Minerals Copper, Selenium, Iodine and Zinc to their diet, along with Tyrosine powder and Homoeopathic remedies daily. The addition of these supplements will assist the Thyroid to remain healthy and for fertility to remain high. They may not be able to completely prevent damage from occurring through an onslaught of fire retardant chemicals because any reaction will also depend upon the general health of the person plus the level of chemicals to which each person is exposed, but they will certainly go a long way to assisting the general health of this very important gland.

Far better to avoid flame retardant chemicals completely by refusing paints and carpets that have been treated and searching for more natural clothing, bedding and other products that have not been treated with these chemicals. Please move out of the area altogether if you are anywhere near a bush fire.

References:

* ‘Hormone Activity of HPDEs to Human Thyroid Receptors.’ Research Article published in Environmental Health Perspectives on 17^th December 2009. Fei Hi, Qing Xie, Xuenua Li, Na Li, Ping Chi, Jingwen Chen, Zijian Wang and Ce Hao.

* ‘Prenatal Exposure to PBDEs and Neurodevelopment.’ Environment International. Volume 29, Issue 6, Sept. 2003, pages 841 – 853.

* ‘Toxic Effects of Brominated Flame Retardant Chemicals in Man and Wildlife.’ Per Ola Darnerud. Swedish National Food Administration.

* ‘Metabolism of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers by Human Hepatocytes Invitro.’ Environmental Health Perspective. Heather M. Stapleton, Shannon M. Kelly, Ruoting Pei, Robert J. Letcher, Claudia Gunsch. 2^nd September 2008.