Learn more about holistic healing for hypothyroidism - https://arukah.com/hypothyroid
Your pituitary gland is a pea-sized gland at the base of your skull. It measures how much thyroid hormone your body needs and secretes TSH, a controlling hormone, to control your thyroid hormone level. If your T4 thyroid hormones are too high, TSH falls so that less T4 is made by the thyroid. If too little T4 is being made, TSH increases so the thyroid gland creates more T4. This is called feedback control.
Cells can't use T4, so they have to use iodine to convert it into T3. There are some people who can't convert it at all, especially when they have certain chronic diseases, if they are severely malnourished, iodine deficient, or if they have been exposed to too much fluoride.
Why fluoride? This is because your thyroid absorbs and stores the highest levels of fluoride than any other organ in your body. This interferes with your thyroid's ability to use iodine to make hormones.
Studies show that people who live in places where the water is fluoridated and they drink that water regularly for many years often show high levels of fluoride in their thyroid. This could be one reason way many more middle-aged and older women have thinning hair than in the past. Even if you're not drinking tap water regularly, you are still absorbing fluoride through your skin every time you shower with fluoridated tap water.
This is another reason why iodine is so important when dealing with hypothyroidism. Although iodine can be obtained from foods, most people are so deficient, especially if they are suffering from hypothyroidism.
Some research suggests that getting too much iodine can suppress thyroid function, however it is much less common than iodine deficiency. Iodine deficiency is the the most common global cause of hypothyroidism. We need iodine for the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones. Certain chemicals in our environment and food supply block iodine from being received by the thyroid gland. Fluoride is a major one, but also bromine, chloride, and perchlorate.
One of the experts our students learn from in the Arukah certification program is Neurosurgeson Dr. Russell Blaylock. This is what he says about fluoride:
"The main reason fluoride was added into drinking water
years ago was to reduce cavities; but most people don't realize
that fluoride also can injure the nervous system and even
cause cancer.
"Degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s are possibly linked
to drinking fluoridated water. Cancer, behavioral problems, thyroid
suppression, male infertility and impotence are also some examples of what may happen to the body when too much fluoride is present. The combination of fluoride and aluminum is toxic enough that scientists warn about its connection to Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s diseases.
"Fluoride will not kill you outright or cause dementia over a short period of time. But at certain levels it will accumulate in your brain and can lead to a form of degeneration."
It's good to avoid fluoridated tap water, our family does not drink it nor do we cook with it. We also stay away from fluoride in toothpaste. To make up for the global iodine deficiency, it's good to supplement with iodine.
The recommended dose for iodine for hypothyroidism, as recommended by holistic medical doctor James F. Balch, and his wife Phyllis Balch who is a nutritionist and herbalist, is 150 to 500 mcg daily (or more under a holistic doctor’s supervision). Iodine provides the building block for thyroid hormones.
If you are taking iodine by itself, Lugol's is a good formula. The Thyroid Boost supplement I recommended earlier contains 150 mcg in a single, 2-capsule dose. This is why I take this dose 3 times, so I can reach the maximum dosage the Balch's recommend which is 450 mcg. You can get both supplements from https://www.vitacost.com/
