part0016

‘There is growing evidence that Americans would have better health and a lower incidence of cancer and fibrocystic disease of the breast if they consumed more iodine. A decrease in iodine intake coupled with an increased consumption of competing halogens, fluoride and bromide, has created an epidemic of iodine deficiency in America.’

Before we cover the various food groups and get into the action plan, we also need to understand that our challenge is not just down to the food we eat – whether we are mad, fat or both. There are also significant environmental concerns that we need to be aware of and manage. The biggest of which are bad halogens.

Bad halogens are fluoride, chlorine and bromine and they are in everything from our drinking water, food, washing powder, toothpaste, personal care products and cosmetics – even our clothes and household furnishings contain bad halogens. They are bad because they displace iodine (a good halogen) in the body. Iodine is essential for thyroid health and it is extremely important for regulating metabolism. A healthy metabolism is, of course, crucial for healthy weight. The problem is that iodine has a higher atomic weight (126.9 u) than any of the three bad halogens (fluorine is 18.99 u, chlorine is 35.45 u and bromine is 79.9 u) so can easily be displaced in the body. Think of fluoride, chlorine and bromine as halogen bullies that squash iodine. When there is an overabundance of the three bad halogens in the body they effectively neutralise the positive benefits of iodine. This can cause thyroid disruption, messing up hormone secretion and metabolism, which can create a whole host of health problems.

Considering that there are still parts of the world including the US, Ireland and parts of the UK where fluoride is added to the water supply this is very bad news, because fluoride displaces the positive benefits of iodine.

The thyroid, located in our neck, is one of the largest endocrine glands in the body. It is a very important gland because it controls how quickly we use energy, make proteins and control our sensitivity to other hormones. Part of its job is to take iodine from the blood and combine it with amino acids (the building blocks of protein) to form thyroid hormones. One of these hormones, thyroxine, is responsible for our metabolism which controls our weight. Our entire blood supply filters through our thyroid, extracting iodine, so it can do its job. If we are low on iodine, the thyroid cannot produce enough hormones, causing weight problems and mental illness.

Unfortunately, most people are deficient in the good halogen (iodine) and drowning in the bad halogens (fluoride, chlorine and bromine). In 2011 a study measuring iodine levels of 737 teenage girls was conducted at nine UK centres – Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Dundee, Exeter, Glasgow, London and Newcastle. Nearly 70 per cent of the samples revealed an iodine deficiency and almost a fifth (18 per cent) of samples showed very low iodine levels.

These low levels can lead to thyroid disorders and even people with mild thyroid disorders often have emotional or mental health symptoms as well as physical symptoms. Common emotional problems related to an overactive thyroid include anxiety, nervousness, butterflies in the stomach, racing heart, trembling, irritability and sleep difficulties. For those with an underactive thyroid, depression, low mood, tearfulness, loss of appetite and disturbed sleep are common. For both overactive and underactive thyroids, mood swings, short temper and insomnia are likely.

Other mental health problems with thyroid problems include: short-term memory lapses, lack of mental alertness and difficulties with concentration. Weight gain and difficulty losing weight is also a common complaint from women suffering from thyroid disorders.

In the 1950s a large body of research conducted in psychiatric hospitals revealed an association between hypothyroidism and depression. And guess what the most common cause of hypothyroidism is – yep, you guessed it…iodine deficiency. Studies have found that people with bipolar disorder also often have abnormal thyroid function.

Ironically, a few decades ago the populations of the US, Australia and the UK were not iodine deficient and yet today iodine levels are half what they were in the 1970s. Back then we got most of our iodine from fish, bread (containing iodised salt) and dairy products, but changes in our eating habits such as eating less fish and changes to food production have created widespread deficiency. There is, for example, no iodine added to bread any more, plus changes to the diet of dairy cattle has seen iodine levels in milk plummet. Children are also drinking less milk today – preferring fizzy drinks and sugary juices to the white stuff.

Salt is iodised in some countries, but government guidelines forcing processed food manufacturers to cut salt levels means we are consuming less iodine via salt. Of course, we have also been told that salt is bad for us which has further exacerbated the problem. The truth is too much salt is bad for us, but we still need iodine and if we are not getting it from iodised salt then where are we getting it from? It’s ironic – the one thing we do seem to have cut back on – salt – is actually having an adverse knock-on effect because it’s amplifying an already existing iodine deficiency that is contributing to our mad fat epidemic!

Easy Step: Instead of buying cheap table salt that does not contain iodine buy iodised salt. It’s usually only a little more expensive but you need less of it and using it to season food helps you get enough iodine in your diet.

In March 2014 The Lancet , one of the most respected medical journals in the world, published a paper classifying fluoride as a neurotoxin, placing it in the same category as lead, arsenic, cyanide and mercury. In fact it’s used as a rat poison. So why on earth are countries still adding it to drinking water? Ireland, the US, Australia, New Zealand and parts of the UK are some of these countries. It’s utter madness.

What’s especially ironic is that if we were not iodine deficient, iodine would help us to remove toxins from our body – including these extremely toxic heavy metals that fluoride has now been branded with!

According to Dr Robert Carlton PhD, former US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientist, ‘Fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century, if not all time.’ And Dr Carlton is not alone; 14 Nobel Prize winners in chemistry and medicine now oppose the fluoridation of drinking water.

Of course, dentists tell us that fluoride prevents tooth decay and we must use it as preventative medicine – and no doubt they can cite a whole bunch of studies to support their claim. However, there was another dentist in the 1930s, Dr Weston Price, who joined the dots between nutrition and tooth decay. He studied Australian Aborigines, remote tribes in Africa, Canadian Indians and Eskimos where he found that isolated groups of people who were not eating a modern Western diet had no occurrence of tooth decay. Not a single case of tooth decay and yet there wasn’t a toothbrush, mouthwash or tube of Colgate in sight . . . never mind a fluoridated water supply. These people were not eating processed ‘industrial foods’ but ate a diet far richer in minerals and vitamins than we do. You might be thinking, ‘OK’ but maybe that’s down to their genetics’. But, that isn’t the case because Dr Price also found that when these indigenous people started eating a Western diet they experienced the delights of tooth decay.

Besides, if adding fluoride to the drinking water is such a great idea to prevent tooth decay, why is it that around 90 per cent of people in the US still have tooth decay or experience it at some point in their lives? It’s just another food myth pedalled by vested interests and those that simply don’t know any better.

Easy Step: If you live in a country or area that adds fluoride to your drinking water then buy a water filter to remove as much as possible. In addition, try to find toothpaste that doesn’t have fluoride in it – your local health food store should be able to help, or if you are feeling really adventurous try mixing coconut oil with a little bicarbonate of soda and make your own.

Chlorine is the second halogen bully. Its primary purpose is as a disinfectant. Again it is almost always added to drinking water as well as being a common disinfectant for swimming pools. In fact, a study published in Pediatrics in September 2009 showed that children who regularly swim in chlorinated swimming pools have increased risks of developing allergies or asthma. Adult swimmers have been linked with other health problems including bladder and rectal cancer.

Chlorine is also a neurotoxin. In fact it was chlorine that was used in the Second World War gas chambers. In nature chlorine exists as a chemical element and it is an essential mineral in our diet. However, industrial chlorine is not natural – it is produced by passing an electric current through ordinary salt (sodium chloride). The result is a poisonous gas which can then be used to form bleach, disinfectants, PVC piping, medicines, plastics and paints. It also kills people when they are exposed to large quantities in small areas such as Nazi gas chambers.

Unsurprisingly, this potent neurotoxin knocks out all bacteria – the good and the bad. This means that when ingested, chlorine kills all the bacteria in our guts including the microbes which help produce serotonin (our happy hormone). That killing power is what makes it so effective for disinfecting drinking water or swimming pools but it’s pretty damaging for just about everything else. Needless to say, chlorine is an extremely harmful additive. Granted, it has its place but that place is nowhere near the human body – not in food, not in food processing and certainly not in our water. The water our ancestors drank from springs and mountains had natural chlorine in it – this is very different from the manufactured chemical muck many of us drink from our taps today.

A joint study conducted at the National Institute of Health Scientists and the University of Shizuoka in Japan found that natural organic substances react when exposed to chlorinated tap water and formed cancer-causing compounds named ‘mutagen X’ (MX), similar to well-known cancer-causing THMs (trihalomethanes). Another study conducted in Finland in 1997 showed that ‘MX’ is 170 times more deadly than other by-products of chlorination and the research showed damage to the thyroid gland.

Professor Carlson of the University of Minnesota, a strong opponent to water chlorination, said, ‘The chlorine problem is similar to that of air pollution. Chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern times.’

Easy Step: Again, if you live in an area where chlorine is added to your drinking water then use a filter. Ideally also add a filter to your shower head so you are less exposed to chlorine. Avoid chlorine-based cleaning products, but if you do use them, wear gloves to limit exposure to the skin. And stay away from some artificial sweeteners as many also contain chlorine.

Bromine or bromide is the last of the halogen bullies and is extremely toxic. Bromide is found in pesticides and insecticides so it ends up on our food. It is also found in a variety of food products including some energy drinks, baked goods, bread and some medications.

Although potassium bromate (a bromine compound) was banned in the UK in 1990, it is still used in bakery products in the US. In 1999 the International Agency for Research on Cancer determined potassium bromate as a possible human carcinogen. Various studies have linked it to a myriad of health problems – from disrupting the genetic material in cells, to malignant tumours in the thyroid.

Other bromine compounds such as brominated vegetable oil (BVO) are used as emulsifiers in soft drinks – again recently banned in the UK but still on sale in the US. That said, a port authority surveillance exercise in 2014 revealed vast amounts of goods imported from the US still contained this bad halogen.

The biggest challenge with the bad halogens is that they are not just in our food or, for some of us, our water supply, they are added to the personal care products we use such as shampoo, conditioners, shower gels, soaps etc. and they are also in plastics, certain medications, fabrics, carpets, upholstery and mattresses.

Bad halogens have some useful properties such as disinfectants or fire retardants, which make them very appealing to a wide range of products and services, but this means that these bad halogens are then absorbed by the body from our everyday environment.

Ideally seek to minimise your exposure to these bad halogens wherever possible, read labels, and invest in a water filter. And increase your iodine intake, either from food or supplements (more on supplements in chapters 9 and 10). Iodine is a very powerful and positive element in the human body. So long as you have enough in your body it will help to top up what has been displaced by the bad halogen bullies.

Easy Step: Help your body out and give it more iodine – not only will this help your waistline by helping to stabilise your metabolism but it will also diminish the negative effects of the bad halogens as iodine helps to detoxify their harmful effects.

The British are internationally renowned for having bad teeth. In fact 84 per cent of British adults have one or more fillings and on average six missing teeth! And yet despite the stereotypes the US isn’t much better; despite adding fluoride to the tap water, studies show the average American has seven missing teeth.

The challenge in the UK is that if you need a filling and visit your NHS dentist, unless you specify differently and pay a little extra, you will receive an amalgam filling. Amalgam fillings contain mercury which is seriously bad for our health. The United Nations has called for a ban on mercury and many countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Russia, have since banned the use of amalgam. In fact, the 2013 Minamata Convention on Mercury is a legally binding multilateral government agreement designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. So why on earth are many dentists still putting this known carcinogen in our mouths?

The link between mercury fillings and mental health has been known for decades. In fact a Colorado State University study published in 1989 showed that dental amalgam fillings play a role in the cause of mental illness. The findings proved that ‘comparisons between subjects with and without amalgam showed significant differences in subjective reports of mental health. Subjects who had amalgam fillings removed reported that symptoms of mental illness lessened or disappeared after removal.’

Mercury messes with our brains pure and simple. If you have amalgam fillings, every time you chew mercury vapours are released and research from the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology shows it can continue to be released up to 1.5 hours after eating. In fact, just one amalgam filling releases as much as 15 micrograms of mercury per day and, as most people have more than one filling, this soon adds up, slowly poisoning our bodies and our brains.

In fact, mercury causes havoc throughout our body and its impact extends far beyond mental health problems. It makes us fat too! It binds with iodine rendering it useless (similar to what the bad halogens do) and this causes low thyroid function which triggers weight gain. It causes mutations in our good gut flora, which is our first line of defence against disease, helping us to maintain a healthy weight and protecting our brains. Mercury also displaces magnesium – another crucial micronutrient for mental health. It binds with selenium, depleting us of this vital mineral, and interferes with the action of vitamin C and B12 causing a rise in homocysteine (a waste by-product produced when our cells metabolise protein). In short, mercury is linked to a whole host of health disorders from Alzheimer’s, heart attacks, obesity, diabetes, cancer and many more. It has no place in the human body and we must do whatever we can to get rid of it.

If you live in the UK you can ask your dentist to remove your amalgam fillings but this is not routinely offered on the NHS. A funding request will be sent away to a dental panel who decide whether or not they will cover the cost of your treatment. On average, there is a 30 per cent success rate for funding requests so to boost your chances it may be an idea to ask your GP for a heavy metal toxin test. This will analyse your blood for traces of mercury and other heavy metals. If it comes back positive, that will provide support for your NHS treatment. Elevated calcium levels in your blood may also improve your chances.

For readers who do not have a state-funded health service or their GPs won’t authorise the tests, then it might be an idea to save up the money to have your fillings replaced with a safer composite resin. And if you are totally strapped for cash, then chlorella supplements (more on that in chapter 9) is the next best thing. Chlorella is a proven heavy metal detoxing agent and it will help remove mercury and other toxins from your body. Algin is another good option – it is found in brown algae and both these algae help to absorb mercury in the colon, preventing it from being reabsorbed in the colon walls.

Easy Step: At the very least NEVER agree to another amalgam metal filling, always pay the small extra payment for the safer, white, non-metallic composite resin. Not only do they look better but they don’t contain any mercury.

Mercury is also used as a preservative in many vaccines including the flu jab that many of us get every year. It’s used in haemorrhoid creams, ear ointments – even contact lens solutions and nasal sprays. It is also in certain beauty creams. It is absolutely essential you ask your doctor or pharmacist for confirmation of the ingredients of any medicine or personal care product you buy as even tiny amounts of this heavy metal can damage our health.