Avoid Bromides if You Want to Keep Your Thyroid Healthy

[Guest guest]

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/05/Another-Poison-Hiding-in-Your-Environment.aspx

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If you are like most people, you probably haven’t spent much time

thinking about how much bromine you’re absorbing from your car

upholstery or your Mountain Dew. But bromine toxicity is a definite

danger from some surprising sources, and it can wreak havoc on your

health.

 

Bromines All Around You

 

Bromines are common endocrine disruptors, and are part of the halide

family, a group of elements that includes fluorine, chlorine and

iodine. What makes it so dangerous is that it competes for the same

receptors that are used to capture iodine.

If you are exposed to a lot of bromine, your body will not hold on

to the iodine that it needs. And iodine affects every tissue in your

body -- not just your thyroid.

You are already exposed to far too much chlorine and bromine. Bromine can be found in a number of places in your everyday world, including:

 

Pesticides (specifically methyl bromide, used mainly on strawberries, predominantly in California)

 

Plastics, like those used to make computers

 

Bakery goods and some flours often contain a “dough conditioner” called potassium bromate

 

Soft

drinks (including Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Sun Drop, Squirt, Fresca and

other citrus-flavored sodas), in the form of brominated vegetable oils

(BVOs)

 

Medications such as Atrovent Inhaler, Atrovent Nasal Spray, Pro-Banthine (for ulcers), and anesthesia agents

 

Fire retardants (common one is polybromo diphenyl ethers or PBDEs) used in fabrics, carpets, upholstery, and mattresses

 

Bromine-based hot tub and swimming pool treatments

 

According to van Leeuwen, who has extensively studied the effects of sodium bromide on thyroid function:

 

“Although the bromide ion is widely distributed in nature, the

main route of exposure in humans stems from bromide residues in food

commodities as a result of the abundant use of bromide-containing

pesticides, like methylbromide and ethylene dibromide, for soil

fumigation in intensive horticulture and for postharvest treatment.”

 

One clinical consequence of overexposure to bromine is suppression

of your thyroid, leading to hypothyroidism, which will be discussed

shortly. Another is bromide toxicity.

 

Bromine -- The Bully of the Halide Group

 

When you ingest or absorb bromine, it displaces iodine, and this iodine deficiency leads to an increased risk for cancer of the breast,

thyroid gland, ovary and prostate -- cancers that we see at alarmingly

high rates today. This phenomenon is significant enough to have been

given its own name -- the Bromide Dominance Theory.

Aside from its effects on your endocrine glands, bromine is toxic in

and of itself. Bromide builds up in your central nervous system and

results in many problems. It is a central nervous system depressant and

can trigger a number of psychological symptoms such as acute paranoia

and other psychotic symptoms.

In fact, in an audio interview, physician Jorge Flechas

reported that, between 1920 and 1960, at least 20 percent of all

hospital admissions for “acute paranoid schizophrenia” were a result of

ingesting bromine-containing products.

In addition to psychiatric problems, bromine toxicity can manifest as the following:

 

Skin rashes and severe acne

 

Loss of appetite and abdominal pain

 

Fatigue

 

Metallic taste

 

Cardiac arrhythmias

 

Baby Boomers might recall a popular product from the 1950s called

Bromo-Seltzer. These effervescent granules, developed by the Emerson

Drug Company of Baltimore, were used to treat heartburn, upset stomach,

indigestion, headaches and hangovers.

Bromo-Selzer’s original formula contained 3.2 mEq/teaspoon of sodium

bromide -- hence the name. The sedative effect probably explained its

popularity as a hangover remedy. Bromides were withdrawn from the

American market in 1975 due to their toxicity.

Bromo-Selzer is still on the market, but no longer contains bromide.

 

Bromines in Your Bread Box: Potassium Bromate

 

The ban on bromines have not prevented them from sneaking into your foods and personal care products.

You probably are not aware of this, but nearly every time you eat

bread in a restaurant or consume a hamburger or hotdog bun you are

consuming bromide, as it is commonly used in flours.

The use of potassium bromate as an additive to commercial breads and

baked goods has been a huge contributor to bromide overload in Western

cultures.

Bromated flour is “enriched” with potassium bromate. Commercial

baking companies claim it makes the dough more elastic and better able

to stand up to bread hooks. However, Pepperidge Farm and other

successful companies manage to use only unbromated flour without any of

these so-called “structural problems.”

Potassium bromate is also found in some toothpastes and mouthwashes,

where it’s added as an antiseptic and astringent. It has been found to

cause bleeding and inflammation of gums in people using these products.

 

Sodium Bromate and BMOs

 

Mountain Dew,

one of the worst beverages you can drink, uses brominated vegetable oil

as an emulsifier. Not only that, it contains high fructose corn syrup,

sodium benzoate, more than 55 mg of caffeine per 12 ounce can, and

Yellow Dye #5 (tartrazine, which has been banned in Norway, Austria and

Germany.)

A weapon of mass destruction -- in a can.

Even drinking water can be a source of bromide. When drinking water

containing bromide is exposed to ozone, bromate ions are formed, which

are powerful oxidizing agents. Such was the case in 2004 when Coca Cola

Company had to recall Dasani bottled water.

Sodium bromate can also be found in personal care products such as

permanent waves, hair dyes, and textile dyes. Benzalkonium is used as a

preservative in some cosmetics.

Finally, bromine and chlorine were the most common toxic elements reportedly found in automobiles,

according to the blog of David Brownstein, MD (March 2007). They showed

up in the seats, armrests, door trim, shift knobs and other areas of

the car.

Think about how much time you spend enclosed in your outgassing Chevy… windows up with no air circulation.

The United States is quite behind in putting an end to the egregious practice of allowing bromine chemicals in your foods. In 1990, the United Kingdom banned bromate in bread. In 1994, Canada did the same. Brazil recently outlawed bromide in flour products.

What’s taking us so long? Another case of our government protecting big industry -- instead of protecting you.

 

Iodine Levels and Cancer Risk

 

Iodine levels have significantly dropped due to bromine exposure;

declining consumption of iodized salt, eggs, fish, and sea vegetables;

and soil depletion. In the U.S. population, there was a 50 percent reduction in urinary iodine excretion between 1970 and 1990.

What’s this doing to our country’s health?

The Japanese consume 89 times more iodine than Americans

due to their daily consumption of sea vegetables, and they have reduced

rates of many chronic diseases, including the lowest rates of cancer in

the world. The RDA for iodine in the U.S. is a meager 150 mcg/day,

which pales in comparison with the average daily intake of 13800

mcg/day for the Japanese.

There is a large body of evidence suggesting that low cancer rates in Japan are a result of their substantially higher iodine levels. Iodine has documented antioxidant and anti-proliferative properties.

A strong case can be made that your iodine RDA should be closer to what the Japanese consume daily, if breast cancer rates

are any indication. Low iodine can lead to fibrocystic breast disease

in women (density, lumps and bumps), hyperplasia, and atypical mammary

tissue. Such fibrocystic changes in breast tissue have been shown to reverse in the presence of iodine supplementation after 3-4 months.

If you are interested in being tested for iodine deficiency, the urine iodine challenge test is the best way to assess your iodine level.

 

Bromine and Your Thyroid

 

Adding to the negative health effects of bromine, the damage to your thyroid health deserves special mention.

As stated in the first part of this article, bromine exposure

depletes your body’s iodine by competing with iodine receptors. Iodine

is crucial for thyroid function. Without iodine, your thyroid gland

would be completely unable to produce thyroid hormone.

Even the names of the different forms of thyroid hormone reflect the

number of iodine molecules attached -- T4 has four attached iodine

molecules, and T3 (the biologically active form of the hormone) has

three--showing what an important part iodine plays in thyroid

biochemistry.

Hypothyroidism is far more prevalent

than once thought in the U.S. The latest estimates are that 13 million

Americans have hypothyroidism, but the actual numbers are probably

higher. Some experts claim that 10 to40 percent of Americans have

suboptimal thyroid function.

Many of these folks may actually have nothing wrong with their

thyroid gland at all -- they may just be suffering from iodine

deficiency.

 

Seven Tips for Avoiding Bromine and Optimizing Iodine

 

Trying to avoid bromine is like trying to avoid air pollution -- all

you can do is minimize your exposure. That said, here are a few things

you can do to minimize your risk:

 

Eat organic as often as possible. Wash all produce thoroughly. This will minimize your pesticide exposure.

 

Avoid eating or drinking from (or storing food and water in) plastic containers. Use glass and safe ceramic vessels.

 

Look

for organic whole-grain breads and flour. Grind you own grain, if

possible. Look for the “no bromine” or “bromine-free” label on

commercial baked goods.

 

Avoid sodas. Drink natural, filtered water instead.

 

If

you own a hot tub, look into an ozone purification system. Such systems

make it possible to keep the water clean with minimal chemical

treatments.

 

Look for personal care products that are as chemical-free as possible. Remember -- anything going on you, goes in you.

 

When

in a car or a building, open windows as often as possible, preferably

on opposing sides of the space for cross ventilation. Utilize fans to

circulate the air. Chemical pollutants are much higher inside buildings (and cars) than outside.

 

 

Avoid Unfermented Soy

 

Another major

contributor to thyroid dysfunction that I did not discuss above

is unfermented soy. Soy isoflavones can wreak havoc on your thyroid.

Kaayla Daniel's groundbreaking book, The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food is a powerful exposé that reveals the truth about the soy myths that have infiltrated our culture.

It's

ironic that soy has become so accepted as a health food when, as Dr.

Daniel states, thousands of studies link soy to malnutrition, digestive

distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid- and hormonal dysfunction,

cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility--even cancer

and heart disease.

So

if you want to keep your thyroid healthy, you’ll definitely want to

avoid unfermented soy products of all kinds, including soy milk.