Tag: thyroiditis

• Iodine and Thyroid Function Tests

  Iodine is a major component of the thyroid hormones, thyroxine (T4), and triiodothyronine (T3). They are based on the amino acid tyrosine. T4 contains four iodine atoms and T3 three iodine atoms. The only known function of iodine is for the production of the thyroid hormones. Excess iodine is secreted in the urine.

  Thyroid hormones are required for normal growth and development of the brain and central nervous system. It is required for energy production and oxygen consumption in cells and the maintenance of the metabolic rate.

  The regulation of thyroid hormone synthesis, release, and action is a complex process involving the thyroid, the pituitary, the brain, and peripheral tissues.

  Sea foods and iodine added to table salt are the highest contributors of iodine to our diet which is why vegans often resort to supplementation which can have unintended consquences.

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  28 February 2026

• Our Immune System

  There is much advice on the internet on how to boost the immune system.

  What does this mean?

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  3 June 2020

• Autoimmune Diseases, Biomimicry and Type 1 Diabetes

  Autoimmune diseases are a group of sinister diseases where the immune system attacks the body that it has evolved to protect. One mechanism that explains auto-immune conditions is molecular biomimicry. When intruders invade our bodies, the immune system creates antibodies that mark these intruders (antigens) as a foreign foe. The immune system is then able to destroy the intruders.

  During digestion, proteins from animal-based foods are broken down into their component amino acids. Some proteins may be absorbed from the intestine without being fully broken down into their amino acid components. Small chains of amino acids are called peptides. These peptides may be treated as a foreign invader by our immune system.

  A chain of 17 amimo acids in cow's milk is treated a foreign body by our immune system. This same 17 amino acids occur on the surface of the pancreas that produces insulin resulting in the immune system destroying the inuslin-producing capacity of the pancreas, causing Type 1 Diabetes.

  If a child does not consume cow's milk it is impossible to develop Type 1 diabetes.

  Rheumatoid Arthritis and Hashimoto's Disease, which results in an under-active thyroid, are also a result of the immune system destroying parts of the body that that it ishould be protecting.

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  29 May 2020