Hypothyroidism and Flouride

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Did you know there is a link between Hypothyroidism and Fluoride? Hypothyroidism happens when your thyroid doesn’t produce enough hormones. In order to have proper functioning thyroid you need iodine – it’s a halogen and can be thrown off by fluoride, which is a toxin and also a halogen.  In 1951, municipal water fluoridation became the official policy in the USA, while Europeans on the whole don’t fluoridate. According to data collected by WHO, 97% of Western European countries do not fluoridate.  Based on science, most countries discontinued or never began to fluoridate water.

America has a higher exposure (75% of our drinking water). The fluoride in the water is political and economical.  Hexafluorosilicic acid is a waste product of industry: it comes from the smoke stacks of the phosphate captured by wet scrubbers. This slurry is not clean – it contains traces of arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium thallium, radio-nucleotides. Since 1951 it’s been in water to “prevent dental disease” but that has not been substantiated (in research).

When you look at research according to thyroid problems we have new studies and new claims. The National Research Council has determined that fluoride is as an endocrine disruptor and it seems to target the thyroid gland.

Research on Hypothyroidism and Fluoride…

Here is a study in 2015 in the British Medical Journal that evaluated one Manchester community with fluoridated water and one without.  Women in the community with fluoride reported twice as much hypothyroidism. And remember that we have an epidemic of hypothyroidism in the US, including increase in Hashimoto’s. The number one prescription in America is for thyroid medication – over 23 million women take it every day.

While iodine is volatile, fluoride doesn’t not evaporate from water. The most basic filtration systems available on the market such as Brita do not filter fluoride out. Reverse osmosis (purification system) will but it also filters out minerals.  I use 2 filters: Aquasana – which it takes 45% (up to 60%) of fluoride, and Berkey, which has a separate add-on filter for fluoride and arsenic PF2, and, depending where I read, the claims range from 60 to 85 to 95% of fluoride removal. Distillation will work but is not a long term solution.

I have yet to find a shower filter that filters out fluoride there unless you get a whole house filtration system. Aquasana, for example, provides one.  Depending where I live, we do or do not have fluoride added to the water, and I  add Berkey PF2 to my filter accordingly. Any products that you buy, soups, coffee, water in a restaurant, you will contain fluoride if their tap water contains it.

There are many good water filtration systems available although not many can remove fluoride, so do your research and your thyroid will thank you. Also, make sure you investigate if your water is fluoridated. It may not!

(Note: there is also a podcast on the effects of fluoride on the developing brain)

Dr. Kasia Kines, Nutritionist, CEO and Founder of EBV Global Institute