Your thyroid gland could be attacked by a crippling substance called Perchlorate, a chemical found in jet fuel and car batteries! This chemical has seeped into the ground in at least 40 states, polluting our drinking water, conventional and organic crops! An FDA study found it in 93 percent of nationally distributed lettuce, citrus, cucumbers and tomatoes. “One in three women are feeling tired, depressed and heavy, ” says, Richard L. Shames, MD, coauthor of Thyroid Power (Collins).
I read one woman’s story about her “killer bout of fatigue” and how she would nod off while folding laundry or just playing with her children. Her body felt cold even on hot days, although she had gained 20 pounds. Her skin was terribly dry, she was constipated, her voice became hoarse, and mentally she was always in a fog. To me that would signal a possible thyroid weakness. Having seen one doctor after the next with no one pinpointing the problem, only to say it was probably marital stress, and being a Mom, a doctor prescribed the usual “antidepressants” but that didn’t work.
Her normal state of being in the past had been confident, happy, upbeat, but she lost herself to feelings of confusion, discouragement and hopelessness. She moved to California eventually to see more doctors and to finally receive her first thyroid test. Tests revealed that she infact had a sluggish thyroid gland. Eventually out of a chance happening (we know there are no chance happenings) she met someone from West Texas, her previous home, who also had a thyroid problem. After much research she determined, much like Julia Roberts in the movie Erin Brockovich, that toxins were poisoning the water and food supply causing hypothyroidism. She found that the water in West Texas had not been tested for perchlorate she pursued lobbying. Finally she was helkped by a medical geographer by the name of Larry ladd who maps out contamination areas. he found West Texas to be one of the highest density sites in the USA!
Here is another startling fact: This volatile compound is also present in dry cleaning as perchloroethylene, commonly known as “perc.” Breathing in the fumes from dry cleaning causes headaches for many people; it can also cause sleepiness and attention problems as determined by Gary Ginsberg, PhD, a coauthor of What’s Toxic – What’s Not (Berkley Trade,2006).
What can we do to protect ourselves from these invisible poisons? When you bring your dry cleaning home – open the car windows and do not breathe the chemical fumes. Open your dry cleaning outdoors and let them ventilate for four hours to dissipate the fumes. Better yet, find one of the newest organic dry cleaners popping up around the globe, and surely one is within a short drive of your home. I have always suspected that dry cleaning chemicals being worn by so many people, especially men and women who shave their underarms, are at a risk of these toxins entering the body through dermal absorption. Just my personal thought, however, hearing this news definitely makes me think I am on to something. It may not just be what we are breathing that is poisoning us with “perc” and other chemicals, it could be that our skin is also absorbing these poisons causing incredible stress internally.
Perchlorate, by the way, beats out iodine for a ride on thyroid symporters, proteins that move molecules into the thyroid gland. UCLA scientists recently reported that information, stating that the result is insufficient iodine to make thyroxine (T4) a key hormone for thyroid health.
What can you do to protect yourself from perchlorate in your food and water supply? Wash all of your fruits and veggies with non-contaminated water such as reverse osmosis purified which eliminates 96% of this toxin in our water supply. Have your water suply tested by going to ewg.org/reports/rocketwater . Further protect yourself and family members by eating seaweeds, using kelp, or taking approximately 150mcg of iodine daily. Ask your doctor before taking any supplement; if he/she gives you the go ahead, check with your local health food store or order a special thyroid support formula from me!