Is Your Morning Ritual an Unsuspected Cancer Magnet?

It’s a morning ritual for millions: Coffee and a breakfast pastry or toast. The coffee may have health benefits – opinions differ on that – but the wheat product usually contains something deadly, and this time I don’t mean sugar or even gluten. . .

Continued below. . .

Most commercial bakeries use a food additive called potassium bromate in their flour. Potassium bromate acts as a “dough conditioner” to strengthen dough and help it rise.

It’s good for bakeries… but not so much for you.

Competes with iodine in a big way

Potassium bromate (one specific type of bromine) competes with iodine for the very same receptors in your thyroid gland.

This means that if you consume bromine, your thyroid will cling tightly to potassium bromate preferentially over iodine.

And without iodine, your thyroid’s in big trouble. An iodine deficiency renders this organ unable to do its important job.¹ This can lead to serious health problems like goiter, hormone imbalances, and hypothyroidism. The malfunction in production of thyroid hormones also increases your risk of several cancers: breast, thyroid, ovarian, and prostate.²

Causes massive damage to your body

The incidence of low thyroid function – called hypothyroidism -- has skyrocketed in America, with estimates reaching 13 million or more affected. In the developed world, iodine deficiency increased four-fold over the past 40 years. Now, almost three out of four “healthy” adults do not get enough iodine for true health.³

Besides increasing cancer risk, bromine causes other side effects, too.

Too much bromine in your system increases risk of pre-term birth and birth defects, slows your neural and cognitive development, causes cognitive failure, contributes to acute paranoia and psychosis, causes skin disorders, damages your DNA, damages your hearing, and is toxic to your kidneys.⁴

One study showed that potassium bromate not only triggers cancer… it also accelerates cancer growth.⁵

This study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, linked potassium bromate to thyroid cancer, kidney cancer, and a rare type of cancer called mesothelioma in the thin cell walls surrounding your abdominal cavity.

Don’t just eliminate the bad…Add the good!

Nearly every time you eat store-bought or restaurant bread or eat a hamburger or hotdog bun, you consume potassium bromate. That scone or croissant at your coffee shop? Ditto.

But potassium bromate hides in many other places, too.

Some toothpastes and mouthwashes use potassium bromate as an antiseptic and astringent. If you use these products, they may contribute to bleeding and inflammation of the gums.⁶

But the solution may not be as simple as just avoiding potassium bromate.

Your thyroid still needs healthy levels of iodine to function properly.

The Japanese consume 89 times more iodine than Americans. Most of this is from sea vegetables, which play a big role in the Japanese daily diet. The U.S. RDA guideline suggests 150 mcg of iodine per day. The Japanese reportedly average 13,800 mcg per day.⁷

This may be one reason Japan has the lowest cancer rate in the world.

Getting enough iodine is more important than you might think. Recent research shows you don’t just need iodine for your thyroid… You also need it for your breasts, salivary glands, pancreas, skin, stomach, brain, thymus, and cerebral spinal fluid.⁸

You have to watch out for more than carbs

You already know you are what you eat.

But most people never connect the dots between their favorite breads or pastries and cancer or thyroid dysfunction. They may connect the carbs to their weight, but they don’t think much about the dangers of the additives in these factory-made, processed foods.

Increased bromine exposure, coupled with consuming less iodine in eggs, fish, and sea vegetables, makes for a real disease magnet. And adding to the damage is soil depleted of vital minerals like iodine.

To make matters worse, bromines are also found in pesticides, plastic products, flame-retardant products (couches, bedding, children’s clothing), soft drinks, and medicines. . . just to name a few.

Far be it from the U.S. government to outlaw it in our foods – even though the U.K, Canada, and Brazil have all done so. What’s taking so long? Most likely it’s another case of regulatory agencies protecting big business instead of you.

Outsourcing your health decisions to the U.S. government is a bad idea – one of the worst you can make.

So how do you protect yourself?

Read the bread bag

Or ditch the bread bag and make your own from scratch with flour that has not been bromated. (If the label doesn’t say it’s non-bromated, you should assume it contains bromines.) Making bread is far easier and takes less time than most people think… so says my contributor, Carol Parks. (I’m on a gluten-free regimen myself.)

Some companies say they use non-bromated flour, although you still have to watch out for other junky ingredients.

The only way to take full control is to buy high quality, organic, non-bromated flour and make your treats from scratch.

When you shop, look for the “no bromine” or “bromine-free” label. Choose organic, whole-grain breads and flours.

Note: even high-end “organic” stores use questionable ingredients in their baked goods. If you want to know, you have to ask. Don’t just assume…

Avoid other bromines

Potassium bromate is not the only compound in the bromine family that damages your thyroid.

It’s important to also follow these strategies:

• Eat organic, especially when buying strawberries. Wash all produce thoroughly. Bromines are very common in the pesticides used on Californian strawberries, and it’s impossible to wash off of soft berries.
• Store food in glass or ceramic containers (not plastic).
• Avoid soft drinks.
• Avoid medicines as much as possible.
• If you own a hot tub or pool, use an ozone purification system, not a bromine-based system.
• Use non-toxic personal care products.

Add iodine by intention

According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it’s dangerous for you to exceed 800 micrograms (mcg) — or 0.8 mg — of iodine daily.⁹

My integrative medical doctor generally shares this thinking and has me on 300 mcg a day from a whole kelp supplement. I don’t entirely agree with him, but on the other hand, I don’t think I’m iodine-deficient.

NOTE 300 mcg is twice as high as the RDA recommendation of 150 micrograms (mcg) — or 0.15 mg — of iodine daily.

Without more research, it’s hard to know who’s right. As I said above, one source claims the Japanese consume an average of 13,800 mcg per day in their food. I’ve been unable to confirm that. But a study I found on the NIH’s National Library of Medicine database estimates Japanese consumption at 1000 to 3000 micrograms (one to three milligrams).

Some authorities recommend much more than a few hundred micrograms a day, and they present significant evidence that these amounts are safe. If you have cancer, it may be appropriate to take these high amounts, but I would do so under the supervision of a doctor who knows nutrition and monitors your blood levels.

Dr. Jonathan Wright, Medical Director of Tahoma Clinic in Renton, Washington, suggests following the Japanese example… 2 to 3 milligrams (mg) of iodine daily. Note that a milligram is a thousand micrograms.

Dr. Jorge Flechas, Medical Director of Flechas Family Practice in Hendersonville, North Carolina, recommends 12.5 milligrams (mg) of iodine daily.¹⁰

Another way to boost your iodine levels is to eat iodine-rich foods.

These include sea vegetables (great addition to soups and stews), cranberries, organic yogurt, organic navy beans, organic strawberries, raw organic cheese, and organic potatoes.¹¹ Enjoy more eggs and fish, and avoid fluoridated water (fluoride also displaces iodine).

I am confident about this much: Almost every American has iodine deficiencies.

Kindest regards,

Lee Euler,
Publisher

References:

(1) Mercola. “Bromides: Avoid This if You Want to Keep Your Thyroid Healthy.” September 5, 2009. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/05/another-poison-hiding-in-your-environment.aspx(2) Ibid
(3) Piccone, Nancy. “The Silent Epidemic of Iodine Deficiency.” Life Extension Magazine. October 2011. http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2011/10/the-silent-epidemic-of-iodine-deficiency/Page-01(4) Group MD, Edward. “10 Health Dangers of Bromine.” Global Healing Center. May 2, 2014. http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/10-health-dangers-of-bromine/(5) Kurokawa, Y. et al. “Toxicity and carcinogenicity of potassium bromate—a new renal carcinogen.” Environmental Health Perspectives. July 1990. Pg. 309-335. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1567851/(6) Mercola. “Bromides: Avoid This if You Want to Keep Your Thyroid Healthy.” September 5, 2009. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/05/another-poison-hiding-in-your-environment.aspx(7)   Ibid
(8) Mercola. “How Iodine Deficiency May Affect Your Child’s Brain Function and IQ.” May 4, 2013. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/04/iodine-deficiency-affect-childs-brain-function.aspx(9) Sang, Zhongna, et al. “Exploration of the safe upper level of iodine intake in euthyroid Chinese adults: a randomized double-blind trial.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. December 28, 2011. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2011/12/26/ajcn.111.028001.abstract(10) Ibid
(11) Group MD, Edward. “7 Foods Rich in Iodine.” Global Healing Center. January 18, 2011. http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/iodine-foods/

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