Do you cook foods in nonstick cookware rather than in stainless steel skillets? If so, check out the Jan. 21, 2010 Daily Mail news article, “Non-stick pan chemical is linked to thyroid disease,” By Jenny Hope.

According to the article, there’s a link between a chemical  found in various non-stick cookware and even food packaging that’s linked to thyroid disease.

The particular chemical is called PFOA. That chemical is found all over most people’s homes. It has been branded as potentially carcinogenic, according to that Daily Mail article.

Ever suspect you might have a sluggish thyroid? And,

Low thyroid function will slow down your metabolism and the obvious symptoms are weight gain and fatigue. Sound familiar?Now, a new study confirms  a connection between environmental toxins and sluggish thyroid.

The new study- done at the University of Exeter in England- looked at blood samples from about 4,000 people and measured the concentrations of a nasty little chemical called perflurooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluoroocatnoic sulfonate (PFOS).

Both are found in Teflon, the non-stick coating widely used in pots and pans.

Those with the highest amounts of these chemicals in their blood were twice as likely to report thyroid problems than those with the lowest amounts.

In two to five minutes on a conventional stovetop,  nonstick cookware can exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases linked to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human illnesses each year, according to tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG).

Think about this? You heat your egg whites don’t you? Anytime that heat is applied to these surfaces you’ll draw these chemicals out of the pan and into your food. Without you knowing.

What are the dangers of those chemicals?

Well for one, these will lead to various hormonal disruptions. Anytime your hormonal messengers get knocked off track then your testosterone and cortisol will also become resistant to your diet and training.

Think about it for a second. We control carbohydrates so that our blood sugar doesn’t spike so that our cortisol doesn’t spike and we can build muscle right?

Well know that balance is affected and since these hormones cause a stressful environment in our body, our cortisol must rise.

Since the chemicals that get released when teflon pans are heated are fat soluble, they are also very resistant to normal detoxing procedures.

So all the amino acids and herbs that we take to remove heavy metals from our body don’t really work.

Our body will try to convert fat soluble chemicals to water soluble chemicals  so that we can get rid of them through our kidneys. The problem is that this can’t be done to a significant extent so our body will place the remaining chemicals into our fat cells and bones.

Most pet owners know, if you leave a Teflon pan on a hot stove, the fumes can kill your pet birds. Imagine what these fumes are doing to you and your family.

So how dangerous are teflon pans? Very

What to do, what to do?

My take: avoid as many chemicals as you can. Stick with cooking utensils that haven’t been treated. (Plain old cast iron pans are great! Consider using cast-iron cookware or enamel-coated pans.

Recently, I went back to the good old-fashioned cast-iron pots and pans my grandmother used to use. I threw out all my nonstick cookware. As convenient as they are, I won’t use them.

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Yours truly, Polly – Organic Gardener