Did you know that many people nowadays are walking around with arsenic toxicity and not even knowing it?
It's a common metal found in our food and environmental surroundings in which one can find in
- Chicken and pork
This isn't as commonly found today, for arsenic used to be added to chicken feed up until the 1990s in Europe but continued until 2013 in the USA. However, it could still be added to chicken feed to kill parasites and to further the growth of the birds in some other places. In addition, metals do accumulate in the body and can be passed down from mother to child if not removed. - Salt
Some salt do contain arsenic if they don't come from a pure source. Always best to purchase products from companies who are willing to provide their COA and look for salt sources like Celtic sea salt. - Herbs, no matter the type, can absorb arsenic from the ground that they are grown in.
- Unfiltered water
- Seafood in general
As mentioned above, unfiltered water can contain metals like arsenic, and fish living in oceans, lakes, etc., are bound to be intoxicated. - Alcoholic beverages due to the fact that they spray arsenic on the grapes.
- Tobacco and cigarettes
- Paints, particularly colors that have a yellow or green tint to them for arsenic is of similar color.
- Leather, for arsenic is used in tanning leather as a preservative.
- Rice, for many rice crops are grown on soil with arsenic and this grain has an affinity for absorbing it.
Before anyone panics and thinks "Oh my gosh, this is crazy, how do I live?!" let's all take a deep breath and understand that we will never be able to fully avoid metals in our life time. That being send, we do have the capacity to build up resiliency and re mineralize ourselves which could help antagonize arsenic out if we are intoxicated. It's all about keeping ourselves healthy, not living in a bubble, right?
Moving onto the mineral aspect of this blog, it's important to note which nutrients arsenic can antagonize or compete absorption with such as phosphorus, iodine, potassium, selenium, sulfur and vitamin A, a few B vitamins and C.
As we know, specific nutrients that the thyroid needs to function optimally are things like
- Iodine which is required for the production of thyroid hormone and acts as an antioxidant to the thyroid gland itself protecting it from ROS.
- Potassium is needed for the sensitization of thyroid hormone at a cellular level. This means our cells cannot utilize thyroid hormone without potassium.
- Selenium acts as an antioxidant as well on the thyroid, helps with the production of thyroid hormone and is required to have the body utilize iodine in the first place.
- Vitamin A activates thyroid hormone receptors and regulates T and B cells to reduce the inflammatory response.
- Sulfur plays an indirect role to a certain extent. Sulfur is important for liver detoxification, and that is where we convert majority of our inactive thyroid hormone into active so we can use it. Without a proper functioning liver, this can slow down the conversion rate of thyroid hormone and lead to a slower metabolism and hypothyroid symptoms.
Therefore, if we are to ever become deficient in any of these nutrients we leave ourselves susceptible to arsenic coming in and having the body use it as a replacement to continue to function.
Thankfully, arsenic is eliminated by the body pretty easily, yet recurring exposure can leas to accumulation.
If you've been struggling with your thyroid and think "I've been supplementing x, y, and z, but nothing is working" you probably have heavy metal toxicity! To find out, we suggest running an HTMA test and then consulting one of our nutritionists on our team to understand how to move forward with your case!
To order your HTMA click here and hope this blog was helpful!
Barbara Madimenos
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis Practitioner
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner
Integrative Health Coach