Thyroid Problems 77
ence, when blood pressure is elevated, body temperature tends to be
below normal, indicating that toxic debris from inappropriate food and
heavy metals have raised the blood pressure by slowing down thyroid
function. Monitoring your body temperature and your blood pressure
to fi nd out what foods are incompatible with your metabolism and then
avoiding them is the most effective way to maintain normal thyroid
function and good overall health. It’s hard to imagine that anyone age
fi fty or older who has both normal thyroid function and normal blood
pressure could be suffering from any sort of degenerative illness. In
most older people, acidic waste from bad diet has already lowered thy-
roid function and raised blood pressure. Various studies indicate that
anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of the population has a thyroid insuf-
fi ciency.^5 If these fi gures were broken down by age, I’m sure it would
show that nearly 100 percent of those over the age of fi fty have an
underactive thyroid—and that those who don’t have a hyperactive thy-
roid! Individuals in their twenties, thirties, and sometimes even in
their forties can eat junk food and still have normal thyroid function
because they have enough enzymes to neutralize excessive levels of
acid waste which interfere with thyroid function. But by late middle
age some enzyme-producing glands have worn out from overwork.Reduce Acidic Waste to Revive Thyroid Function
Allergy-causing foods, inappropriate diet, and heavy metal accumula-
tion create acidic waste. Circulating in the blood, this waste can lodge
in the capillaries near the thyroid, blocking the fl ow of tyrosine (an
amino acid) and iodine, the raw materials that go into the thyroid’s
production of thyroxin (T4). Acidic wastes can also clog the liver. This
further reduces energy production, since the liver is responsible for
converting T4 to the active T3.
Toxic waste in the blood also throws hormone levels out of balance. By
elevating estrogen, it lowers progesterone, the hormone that is “thyroid
friendly.” Detoxifi cation of the liver with vitamins E and C, and avoid-
ance of junk food and foods your digestive system can’t handle, heals the
liver and restores its ability to convert T4 into its active form (T3).