Morley Robbins and Anna from 4Health by Anna Sparre (221b - Zinc, Copper, Selenium, the Thyroid and Stress). Morley is a guest on Anna Sparre's 4Health podcast. Thyroid discussion starts at 6:30 minutes.
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And also 256b: The thyroid, cellular energy & minerals. Thyroid Conversations 2
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From Morley Robbins on 4Health by Anna Sparre (221b):
[8:40 minutes] .... the active form of the thyroid hormone the T3, triodinase hormone, ....it's a sensor for two critical functions. One is...the status of oxygen.... The other that it is sensing is fat. Because fat metabolism is a very important part of our energy production...the beta oxidation enzymes which break down fat are copper dependent.
[10:10 minutes] .... So we have this T3 (active) to T4 (storage) conversion. 90% of that conversion is taking place in the liver with an enzyme that does not work unless there is copper. And there is supposed to be twice as much copper in a healthy liver as there is iron. And then we find out that inside the mitochondria, this T3 is sniffing around for oxygen and fat. And both of those elements require copper....
[11:00 minutes] .... correspondingly, if you have oxidative stress or free radicals, there is a whole network of antioxidant enzymes that are all copper dependent. The Ferriloxidase enzyme, the super oxide dismutase, the catalayse, the glutathione peroxidase, the perioxidase, and i could go on. All of these antioxidant enzymes must have copper in their structure, or they don't work...
[11:30 minutes] .... TRH is the thyroid regulatory hormone coming out of the hypothalmus and guess what? It is copper dependent....When TRH is low... it means there is not enough bioavailable copper [ceruloplasmin]. And when TRH is low, guess what goes high? TSH. So it starts screaming at the thyroid to make more hormone...Everything about the thyroid involves copper.
[13.40 minutes] ....And let's get to the retinol (vitamin A) side of it Copper and retinol have a very close working relationship. It turns out that what transports the thyroid hormone is a protein called TTR, transthyretin protein. Trans for transport. Thy for thyroxine. And retin for retinol. And if the thyroxine and the retinol are not together, it does not work.... Retinol is absolutely essential for the production of thyroid hormone.
From Morley Robbins on 4Health by Anna Sparre (221b):
Food based retinol (vitamin A) is essential for ceruloplasmin production. Ceruloplasmin is the bioavailable form of copper needed throughout the body and especially for healthy thyroid function.
Morley Robbins on 4Health by Anna Sparre (221b) [15:20 minutes] ...If someone is deemed hypothyroid, they have low thyroid function. It means they have low retinol status in their body and in their thyroid. And so this global obsession with thyroid could in fact be nutrient deficiencies, because there is not enough copper and there is not enough real vitamin A, retinol, in our diet...
There is much more on the podcasts.