AT THE DIETITIAN
How to Safeguard Your Thyroid Gland in a Toxic World By Tamar Feldman, RDN, CDE Thyroid diseases are more common than you may believe and affect millions of people worldwide. The thyroid gland plays a pivotal role in health as the active form of thyroid hormone, T3, assists in regulating cardiovascular and neurological function, supporting immunity, metabolism, and energy levels. Recently, thyroid diseases have been increasing, and this has motivated researchers to investigate the cause. They found that several environmental toxins are at least contributing to thyroid diseases and should be avoided to protect thyroid health. When the body attacks the thyroid gland, as is the case most of the time with thyroid disorders, it is usually because the iodine and thyroid hormones stored in the gland become oxidized or in some cases even bound with similarly structured dietary and environmental toxins. The body then seeks to repair this damaged thyroid hormone by producing auto-antibodies against it. If you are concerned about preventing thyroid damage, or you already have some degree of thyroid imbalance and would like to halt the auto-immune process, you would be wise to consider minimizing your exposure to these environmental toxins.
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WELLSPRING / MAY 2021
