Goiter, Seafood and Table Salt – What’s the Connection?

Food, Health
Times change. Travel is now common. Cross-country shipping is common. How does all of this fit in with our discussion concerning seafood, goiter, and iodized salt? Not long ago, I met a woman, a lovely older lady, who had a very large goiter encircling her neck. It was shocking and I felt so sorry for her. A month later I saw her following surgery and she looked perfectly normal! Many surgeries have come a long way. Nevertheless, what is the cause of goiter, and how do seafood and iodized salt come into the picture? What Causes Goiter This is not a medical article, per se, but touches upon the food chemistry behind the common, endemic variety of hypothyroidism.¹ In time, insufficient thyroid hormone secretion produces a goiter. The hormone lacking…
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Why Do My Fingernails Split Down the Middle?

Chemistry, Health
Even something as insignificant as fingernails can experience problems. For example, Nails Magazine discusses "longitudinal ridging", exacerbated by placing the hands in alcohol or water for long periods or by stress from typing or playing piano. Another difficulty is vertical splitting of the nails. An inconvenience, it is not overly serious. Sometimes fingernails split because the sufferer also has eczema or nail psoriasis. Why, hypothyroid can be a reason fingernails split! That’s How. Why? Imagine you have an 8-1/2” x 11” piece of paper used to print a check with a stub above the check. You must "tear along the dotted line". The perforation weakens the paper so it is easily tears along it. Similarly for some varieties of heavily grained wood. The wood splits along its grain, rather than…
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