www.autoimmunedocpodcast.com The thyroid is a REALLY, REALLY important gland. Thyroid hormones regulate your metabolic rate and because of that, are important for basically every function in your body to work properly - all of your energy, healing, digestion, brain function, cellular functions, all of it. Every single cell in your body has receptors for thyroid hormones. It's also the target of the single most prevalent autoimmune disease in the U.S. - Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and millions of Americans have diagnosed thyroid conditions, while potentially 100s of millions have subclinical thyroid "problems". The thyroid is very susceptible to damage from toxins, so in this podcast I talk about those toxins, what they are, where they come from, and why you should be scared of them. The toxins are, in no particular order: - BPA - found in plastics, receipts, etc - Mercury - found in fish, dental fillings, some vaccines - Perchlorate - mostly found in fertilizers and drinking water - Fluoride - mostly found in drinking water and dentist's offices Toxins cause problems. Sometimes they bind to tissue and cause adducts and autoimmunity. Sometimes they block receptors, sometimes they just deplete glutathione and drive oxidative damage causing cellular inflammation. But no matter their mechanism, they can wreak havoc on your health (hence the obvious name....they are TOXIC, duh!), and it's very important to know about them and how to avoid them - if you want to avoid problems like thyroid problems!! Youtube Video about BPA and Autoimmunity! Listen back to the last episode (TOXINS TOXINS TOXINS!) and my previous episode on Toxins and Autoimmunity (episode 25), and my previous episodes on the Thyroid Puzzle - episodes 14, 15, and 16!