Can your burgers become a thyroid hazard? Is It Possible Your Hyperthyroidism Is Caused By Eating Hamburgers?
Hyperthyroidism is the result of excessive thyroid hormone production, which causes an overactive metabolism and increased speed of all body processes.
The thyroid hormone generally controls the pace of all processes in the body. This pace is called yours metabolism. When there is too much thyroid hormone, all bodily functions tend to speed up. The thyroid regulates body temperature by secreting two hormones that control how quickly the body burns calories and energy. When the thyroid produces too much hormone, the condition is called hyperthyroidism, but when too little is produced, the result is hypothyroidism.
Thyroid hormones are orally active, which means that eating thyroid tissue can cause thyrotoxicosis, a type of hyperthyroidism. Several outbreaks of thyrotoxicosis have been attributed to a now-banned practice in the US called “gulet trimming,” which involves grinding meat from the necks of slaughtered animals into hamburgers. Since the thyroid is reddish in color and located in the back of the neck, it’s not uncommon for esophageal cutters to put thyroids in hamburgers or sausages.
Humans, and presumably pets, eating such a hamburger may receive a dose of thyroid hormone sufficient to cause disease.
Interestingly, in 1984 and 1985 in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa, community-wide outbreaks of thyrotoxicosis were caused by the consumption of ground beef from cattle. These outbreaks led to the ban on cutting the esophagus in all facilities slaughtering cattle and pigs. If unexplained thyrotoxicosis occurs, the possibility of exposure to animal thyroid via access to meat from slaughtered livestock or wild game should be considered.
Bottom line: Watch what you eat because it can be at the root of your hyperthyroidism. not just Graves’ disease.
Thanks to Svetla Bankova
