Iodine Deficiency and Water Sources

Have you struggled with any of the following?

Fatigue, muscle weakness, depression, thinning hair, muscle/joint aches, high cholesterol, heavier than normal/irregular menstrual periods, weight gain (without change in diet), hoarseness, impaired memory, dry skin, Increased sensitivity to cold, infertility, heart disease

These are ALL potential symptoms of hypothyroidism or thyroid deficiency, and may have come on slowly over time. It may be severe, it may be minor. Remember, symptoms, deficiencies, and health exist on a spectrum.

"According to Pearce, hypothyroidism affects 1 percent of the population enough to need thyroid supplements and 5 to 10 percent at a sub-clinical level, many of whom don't need medication." (this % is most likely an underestimate)

"The vast majority of thyroid disease is in women," she points out. "Hypothyroidism, which is 7 to 8 times more frequent in women than in men."

Both of these quotes are taken from this article,that discusses the prevalence of thyroid medications and importance of monitoring thyroid levels, especially in women.

According to this article, Levothyroxine (AKA Synthroid), a medication commonly prescribed for an under-active thyroid, has 101,932,430 total prescriptions in the USA in 2017. That makes it one of the most commonly prescribed medications in the USA.

While without a doubt it helps many who are on it, it begs the question: "Why do so many people have underactive thyroid, or lower levels of T3 and T4? Is there something else going on?"

One doctor, Dr David Brownstein, has a theory regarding this outlined here. Dr Brownstein believes, as do many other researchers that he often references, with good evidence, thyroid deficiency has more to do with too much intake of certain chemical elements rather than not enough intake of others.

In short, we produce thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) in the thyroid. In order to do so, we need sufficient iodine. We consume iodine through fish, diary, iodized salt, and some from fruits and vegetables. You can also take iodine supplements if you think you are not ingesting enough through your diet.

However, other factors may prevent the absorption and use of iodine, even if we are consuming adequate amounts. This is where Dr Brownstein, and another environmental scientist named Declan Waugh, become names you should be familiar with.

3 commonly ingested chemicals elements may be impairing our ability to absorb and utilize iodine: Chlorine, Fluorine, and Bromine.

Without going into too much detail, because these 3 elements appear higher on the periodic table that iodine, they are more reactive in our bodies. This means in the presence of these elements, iodine may not be able to properly function and be used as it is meant to.

For further reading on chlorine's potential effects see this, this or this.

For further reading on Fluoride's potential impact on our health see this, this, or this

Essentially, the chronic consumption of these 3 elements- chlorine, fluoride, and bromine- may be causing your iodine deficiency.

While medication, and even iodine supplements, may help alleviate symptoms and improve our functioning, they may not be getting to the root cause- which is a body that cannot use the iodine it has because it is being overburdened with other chemicals blocking it's usage.

I want to also point out that these are not commonly accepted views, but they should cause us to question the impact that these specific elements may have in our body at both clinical and sub-clinical levels.

This is one of the many reasons my family and I decided years ago to invest in a Berkey Water purification system that removes all of these *potentially* harmful elements. We want to ensure that we are drinking water that doesn't contain even trace amounts of these elements, among many other contaminants, that may be harming us long term.

Berkey Black elements remove dozens and dozens of contaminants from your water, including chlorine, bromine, and to a partial extent fluoride.

If removing fluoride is something you believe is also necessary, as we do at Simply Berkey, PF-2 Fluoride and arsenic filters are available for purchase on our site as an addition to every multi-use Berkey system to reduce the level of fluoride in your water to absolute minimal levels.