Toxic Bromine In Our Food Supply

Toxic peanut butter?  A research study in Environmental Health Perspectives reported on the contamination of 46 food items purchased from a Dallas grocery store (Environ Health Perspectives:-. http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1204993; 2012).  The scientists were assaying the food samples to determine if they were contaminated with flame retardants made with bromine (hexabromocyclododecane).  The food sampled included different types of fish, deli meat, and peanut butter.  Fifty percent of the food items tested positive for bromine contamination including the peanut butter.

I have written extensively about bromine in my book,  Iodine:  Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It as well as my Natural Way to Health monthly health newsletter (http://w3.newsmax.com/newsletters/brownstein/bromine.cfm?PROMO_CODE=8988-1).  Bromine is a toxic substance with no known value in the human body.  It is in the family of halides which includes iodine, chlorine and fluoride.  Each of these halides can competitively inhibit the other halides.  That means that too much bromine can cause the body to excrete iodine and replace iodine with bromine.  For example, if the body has too much bromine and not enough iodine, thyroid hormone can be brominated instead of iodinated.  Studies have shown that the breasts and other tissues that normally store iodine can accumulate bromine instead of iodine. 

Unfortunately, every one of the more than 600 patients that I have tested for bromine has tested positive.  This includes sick as well as healthy patients.  I found myself to have an extremely high level of bromine. 

Where is the bromine coming from?  Bromine is used as part of a family of fire retardants.  It can be found in many consumer items such as furniture, clothing, mattresses, baby furniture, and computers.  Furthermore, bromine is also found in many sodas as brominated vegetable oil.  This includes Mountain Dew and some Gatorade products.  Now, with this study, we can add peanut butter, deli meat and fish to the growing list of contaminated consumer products.

What can you do?  As I explain in my book, it is essential to maintain optimal iodine levels.  Our continued exposure to bromine requires the daily supplementation with iodine.  Over the last 30 years, due to our increasing exposure to bromine, our iodine requirements have increased.  A health care practitioner knowledgeable about iodine and bromine can test your levels and guide you on proper iodine supplementation. My experience has shown that the RDA for iodine (150ug/day) is woefully inadequate to compensate for the excess bromine toxicity we are facing.  My clinical research has found that, for the vast majority of patients, 6-50mg of a combination of iodine and iodide (Lugol’s iodine, Iodoral, or Iodizyme HP) is the appropriate dose to help the body maintain sufficient iodine levels.  This dose is also necessary to aid the body in excreting excrete excess bromine.

Finally, limit your exposure to bromine.  Do not ingest food that contains bromine including food that is made from brominated flour and brominated vegetable oil.  Ingest adequate amounts of unrefined salt—Selina's Celtic Brand Sea Salt or Redmond’s Real Salt—as this also aids the body in eliminating bromine.  Liver detox is also helpful.  Total Liver Control (TLC) is a liver detoxifying product that I (and my partners) have developed.  You can order this product from my website at:  http://www.chm-natural-supplements.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=TLC.  

Following the holistic principles that I outline in my books and newsletters can help you overcome illness and achieve your optimal health. 

The ADA: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Parts of this article came from an article in Forbes written by Michael Ellsberg. You can access this article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelellsberg/2012/07/10/american_dietetic_association_2/

For a blogger who likes to write about holistic medicine and the problems with conventional medicine, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) who is now known as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is, to me,  ‘the gift that keeps on giving’.  What do I mean by ‘the gift that keeps on giving?’  I have written previous blog posts about how the ADA is trying to position their members—resident dieticians or RD’s—as the only people eligible to be licensed in order to discuss nutrition and diet with patients.  Here is a link to one of my posts: http://drdavidbrownstein.blogspot.com/2012/04/ada-wants-nutrition-prisons.html.   Under the ADA’s rules, anyone else providing advice about diet and nutrition would be subject to severe penalties including jail and fines. 

You may think I am making a mountain out of a molehill, but I disagree.  Just ask Steve Cooksey.  He is a blogger who writes about his success with changing his diet.  On his blog page (http://peak-fitness-now.blogspot.com/) he describes his journey from being vastly overweight and unhealthy--taking insulin shots and drugs for cholesterol and hypertension--to being off all prescription medicines and losing weight by changing his diet and exercising.  He is clearly writing this blog to offer hope for others suffering from similar problems.  His blog posts focus on diet and exercise recommendations only.  Although I did not read every single word on his blog page, I found his information useful.  His story is compelling.   

However, the powers-that-be, the ADA, did not find his information useful.  In fact, the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition sent Mr. Cooksey a 19-page markup letter objecting to his posts.  According to the Board, he faced prison time if he did not acquiesce to the Board’s complaints.  For a good laugh, take a look at the handwritten comments by the Board--http://www.diabetes-warrior.net/2012/01/28/this-site-free-speech-are-being-investigated/.   It can be found under the heading, “Official Investigation Review.”

Recall the ADA is trying to pass laws in all 50 states which would limit free speech.  These laws would make it a crime for anyone who is not licensed to give nutritional and dietary advice.  Of course, the only ones licensed under this law would be RD’s.  And, keep in mind, RD’s have little or no training in nutrition.  I have discussed this topic in previous blog posts such as this one-- http://drdavidbrownstein.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html.   

In the Forbes’ article, Mr. Ellsberg received a ‘smoking gun document’ that provides direct evidence that the ADA “openly strategizes on how to gain control of state legislatures, for the express purpose of limiting competition.”  This document was given to Mr. Ellsberg by ADA members who are unhappy with the organizations behavior.

Folks, the last group that I would want to be the only licensed group that is able to speak about nutrition and diet are the RD’s.  My experience with most (NOTE—I SAID MOST, NOT ALL) RD’s is that they have little or no knowledge about nutrition and health.  They are too busy recommending the disastrous American Diabetes Association diets. They parrot the party line about eating too many carbohydrates including refined soy products as well as limiting fat.  The ADA is an organization that is proud to be sponsored by such corporate food sponsors such as Coca-Cola, Mars, Hershey’s, General Mills, and others.  Just look at their website.  Perhaps, if the ADA wants to be taken seriously, they should refuse corporate sponsorship.  And, finally, a good start for the ADA is to actually teach their students about nutrition and health.