I read on here something about avoiding fluoride toothpaste.
I understand that fluoride interrupts the body's uptake of thyroxine but does toothpaste really contain enough to do that?
We have a zero water water filter so that filters out fluoride and a bunch of other stuff so we don't have extra fluoride in our drinking water.
I think my question is 'how much should I be concerned about it?'
Thanks all!
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I wouldn't worry about it at all from a thyroid point of view. I wouldn't recommend using a water filter because it will take out all of the beneficial minerals. Water is an excellent source of vital minerals such as calciuma and magnesium both of which are good for the heart.
I understand what you're saying but I'd rather source the minerals through my food than drink water with copper, iron, lead, and mercury in!
I was wondering mostly how much of an effect fluoride has on the thyroid. 🙂
Does your water area add fluoride to water?
Around 5.8 million people in England receive fluoridated water. This means fluoride has been added to bring it up to around 1mg of fluoride per litre of water, which is a level found to reduce tooth decay levels.
The decision about whether to add fluoride to the water supply is made by individual local authorities. Areas where water fluoridation schemes are currently in place include parts of:
the West Midlands
the North East
the East Midlands
Eastern England
the North West
Yorkshire and Humber
In some parts of the country, such as parts of the North East and Midlands, the public water supply naturally contains a level of fluoride that's similar to that seen in schemes. Some private water supplies contain more than this amount.
Your local water supplier should be able to tell you how much fluoride is in your water supply and whether any is added. Most companies have an online facility where you can use your postcode to check the water in your area.
thyroid.org/patient-thyroid...
The prevalence of hypothyroidism for all practices was ~3%. The odds of a high level of hypothyroidism within a practice was 1.37 times higher in areas with drinking-water fluoride levels of 0.3 to 0.7 mg/L than in those with fluoride levels less than 0.3 mg/L. In addition, the odds of having a high prevalence of hypothyroidism was nearly twice as high in the West Midlands (which as fluoridated drinking water) compared to Greater Manchester (which does not have fluoridated drinking water).
SeasideSusie might wish to comment on fluoridated water in West Midlands
Personally I choose to use fluoride free toothpaste
I checked - my area doesn't add fluoride but it's classes as a 'very hard' water area.
Those stats are interesting... I usually use a sensitive toothpaste so I'll trial fluoride free. There doesn't seem to be any harm in cutting it out.
The full paper is here wmaf.org.uk/userfiles/Peckh... .
Looking back at my (very basic) school chemistry bromine and chlorine are closer to iodine than fluorine. So, I would expect them to be more disruptive but we don't see warnings about effects of Br and Cl on thyroid hormones. Indeed some thyroid patients seek higher chlorine levels, at least in the form of stomach HCl. These elements are thyroid hormone disruptors when combined in molecules that are structually similar to T3. e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) - which I know nothing about - may be thyroid hormone disruptors. It would be wrong to assert fluoride is an endocrine disruptor just because there are fluorine atoms in these complex molecules. HCN is deadly but we are made of these individual atoms (and others).
The Peckham study seems very perverse, even strange. When comparing fluoride content of water it would have been obvious to include iodide levels but this was not done. Another obvious approach would be to produce a scatter chart of fluoride v. hypothyroidism along with a regression line. This would show whether there was a link and how strong any such link is. Nor do they give any p-values, we don't know how statistically significant anything is.
What was really perverse was reporting the frequency of 'high hypothyroidism prevalence' which was based on abitary tertiles. Why tertiles? It's usual to use quartiles, it seems they were (retrospectively?) fishing around for a measure that would have maximum impact. It's essential to set the primary outcomes before looking at the data, otherwise it is statistically worthless.
There is a more profession critique of the study here nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.... .
When you see discussion about the halogens in this context, it seems to be very common for the writers to switch between fluorine and fluoride, chlorine and chloride, bromine and bromide without any understanding of the differences.
(Yes, I know this restates what you have just written. 
)
Makes me really question what they have written. I have often thought that someone somewhere got it wrong, and untold numbers of people have just copied what that person wrote. Often squidging the words around a bit in order not to be seen as plagiarising the original but perpetuating the poor understanding.
Fluoride blocks Iodine receptors in the thyroid gland. You can get fluoride through the skin every time you shower/bathe so it can get into your body through more than just drinking it or brushing with it. There are many good water filters/systems out there. I use Propur and it does NOT filter out minerals neither does another very popular system called the Big Berkey.
It's very easy to add minerals back to water if you use a distilled water filtering system or any other that may take them out just use Himalayan pink salt and/or Celtic sea salt. You can also buy trace mineral drops. Even though my Propur does not filter out minerals I will sometimes add trace mineral drops just for the heck of it.
I suspect that a significant part of the answer depends on how you brush your teeth. Or, more specifically, how you dispose of the toothpaste. If you are extremely thorough at rinsing, you will absorb less fluoride than if you are slapdash and maybe even knowingly swallow some.
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Fluoride free toothpaste
Fluoride
Toothpaste & bottled water 
