Gluten Free with Hypothyroidism
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I have hashimoto and pernicious anaemia, two autoimmune disorders. I have no problems whatsoever eating gluten, and I was tested for coeliacs and it was fine as well. I guess if you have one ai disorder the chances of having at least a second are somewhat elevated. But there's no reason to not eat gluten if you don't have any problems eating it. Why make your life more difficult? CICO still works with hashimoto though weight loss can be masked by elevated water weight, which is common in hashi, and also other ai disorders.2
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I see a leading rheumatologist at the University of Illinois and she has had me try gluten free as I have an autoimmune disease and my sister also died from sarcoidosis. I do not have celiac disease but cutting gluten helped with my inflammation. She is a top researcher in the US and in her experience gluten free can help a lot of people by reducing their inflammation. She said research is still new in the area of autoimmune disease and food triggers. I am glad I listened to her it has helped me.2
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I've been doing more research since my earlier post. Reference Histamine Intolerance. I hope this may be of interest to Staraly
Whole wheat does not liberate histamine, only the glutein, so if a whole grain product is used one should not have a histamine issue.
Avoidance of histamine has been my first choice for self preservation. Products like DAOsin are recomended to reduce histamine levels, as are products containing quercitine. I've been suplimenting heavily with magnesium, because magnesium defficiency can be a precourser. I've come across something which may be effective, clays, which are said to work with histamine, as I assume activated charcoal does with flatulance. The clays have very fine pockets to absorpb and bind the excess histamine. I'd previously come across Bentonite Clay and now Zeolite, both it seems can be taken internally. I'm still chewing this one over, may be too radical for me. Much as I like the idea of reducing my histamine levels, I'm still going to give these products more consideration.
I've read about a lot of the same things you've talked about and came out of it with a different take, to be honest (and respectful). My wife was diagnosed with a possible histamine intolerance too. Some believe that Histamine Intolerance could be an imbalance of H Pylori, a common bacteria that is prevalent in the Microbiome. Yet everyone I hear about (and the bloggers) with Histamine Intolerance stay away from cruciferous veggies and cabbage. The problem with that is one of the best treatments for H Pylori overabundance is cabbage juice. In old prison systems, if someone had a peptic ulcer, they gave them cabbage juice and it cured it. Guess what causes Peptic Ulcers? H Pylori overabundance.
Perhaps it's die off that makes people incredibly sick from cruciferous veggies, not a Histamine Intolerance? Just something to think about.
My wife gave up dairy around two years ago because a Holistic doc told her to. I'll admit, she had some REALLY nasty reactions to dairy. Recently, though, if she eats peanuts/tree nuts, she has either like a Histamine reaction or a Nut Allergy reaction. This is really recent and she now has to have an EpiPen.
There have been recent studies with one strain of Lactobacillus bacteria (commonly found in yogurt) that have been given to kids with peanut allergies and they've had tremendous success (some go from very reactive to no reactions for four years -- it's very promising!). I wonder if elimination of the dairy (and the certain Lactobacillus strain) lead her to be sensitive to nuts.
I honestly think that when you eliminate one thing, you can create other problems that aren't fully understood yet. I went Gluten free with her (for support) and now when I eat gluten, ironically, I get sicker than her. I never had issues with gluten before. I think my body stopped producing whatever enzyme was necessary to digest gluten.
I do technical consulting work and I'm paying very close attention to a lot of start-ups in the Microbiome space and read articles all the time that come out by R&D people (and the Venture Capital groups/managers that back these companies). The only thing clear to me is the more they learn, the less they know. I think there are a ton of Holistic "blogs" out there that speak in terms of certainty that really are just conducting wild guesses. You alluded to the fact that you have no choice because conventional docs are in the dark on some of these issues and it's really up to us to take control of our health, but I'm not sure in some cases that it's not the blind leading the blind.2 -
There are many proteins in wheat and gluten may not necessarily be a trigger but one of the other proteins may be the cause.2
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I'm hypothyroid, and I tried going GF for a time. It didn't really make me feel any better, as all the paleo folks promised, and I really like sandwiches, so when I discovered there was no benefit for me, I had me a ham sammich. YMMV, so give it a try and see if it does you any good. If it does, great. If not, well, you haven't really lost much more than a month or two of going without bread and cake. I say you might as well give it a shot.2
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re: OP's original question - I have celiac disease, and I was on the high end for my thyroid numbers, but just low enough that the doc and I agreed we would watch it and see if I might need to be put on meds.
After going gluten free, my numbers dropped down to better levels. So at least in my case, the celiac disease seemed to be impacting my body's ability to regulate my thyroid. I have a family where hypothyroidism is present on both sides, as well.0 -
MikePfirrman wrote: »...I honestly think that when you eliminate one thing, you can create other problems that aren't fully understood yet. I went Gluten free with her (for support) and now when I eat gluten, ironically, I get sicker than her. I never had issues with gluten before. I think my body stopped producing whatever enzyme was necessary to digest gluten.
I just wanted to comment on a couple things re: this, in the hopes that it might help. So, I am a celiac, in a family with three generations of celiacs, and we came by our diagnosis a few different ways.
So, sorry to tell you this, but...welcome to the world of being gluten sensitive or a celiac.
Because there is no enzyme to digest gluten that is any different than what digests any other grain. If you stopped eating all grains completely, digesting any grain could have become an issue. But if you were still eating some grains of some kind, then you should still be able to eat gluten UNLESS you actually have an undiagnosed issue with it.
Quite a few folks I know went gluten free - for solidarity, commonly - and then when they tried to eat gluten again, they were quite ill. And they ALL turned out to have undiagnosed gluten issues. This is really common for celiacs. I have yet to hear a doctor's theory on why this happens that seems logical, but it happened to me too. I had NO gut issues to speak of when I ate gluten, even though it was actually damaging my insides. I got diagnosed by accident while looking at something else (h pylori, actually).
But when I went gluten free, I got gluten contamination a few weeks later and I was sick as a dog. I always get really, really sick if I get gluten, now, even though this literally never happened to me before I went gluten free.
And in contrast...my son and husband went gluten free for solidarity. My son started having issues with eating gluten later on, turned out to be gluten sensitive. My husband, who was completely gluten free with us, went back to gluten a year later and had not a single problem at all. And I know many people who go gluten free for months, or even years, without a single issue adding it back in.
Your one problem is you can't be tested for celiac disease currently. The testing involves testing for accumulated biomarkers (or damage) from gluten ingestion. Usually the test is negative unless you have been eating gluten daily for 4-8 weeks straight. But doing that, if you ARE a celiac, will make you extremely ill, so usually isn't the best solution either. A doc might be useful to talk to, if you feel like exploring that.MikePfirrman wrote: »I've read about a lot of the same things you've talked about and came out of it with a different take, to be honest (and respectful). My wife was diagnosed with a possible histamine intolerance too. Some believe that Histamine Intolerance could be an imbalance of H Pylori, a common bacteria that is prevalent in the Microbiome. Yet everyone I hear about (and the bloggers) with Histamine Intolerance stay away from cruciferous veggies and cabbage.
I have another disorder called a mast cell activation disorder - basically, my body reacts to lots of non-allergens as though they are allergens, and as a result, releases a lot more histamine than it should. So I have the same issue those with histamine intolerance have: too much histamine.
Folks with my disorder tend to have to be on the low histamine diet, be aware of histamine triggers, that sort of thing. It's a first line of defense against reactions, you know?
So, first off - there is actually no issue with cruciferous veggies and cabbage on a low histamine diet. Literally none at all. I do not doubt the you have been seeing some people staying away from it, but just saying I haven't the slightest idea why they do so. It's literally not a problem for the majority, nor is it a recommendation for low histamine diets that are more commonly recommended by professionals.
There are other issues that can sometimes crop up in conjunction with histamine intolerance, like problems with salicylate, or with high sulfur foods, so perhaps that might be an issue? Especially as a growing number of folks within the support group community have been finding out they may have a mutation that screws up a certain enzymatic pathway that breaks down sulfur, so there can be problems with high sulfur veggies (like cruciferous ones) due to that, sometimes (It's call an MTHFR mutation. Still being studied, so not much on it yet).MikePfirrman wrote: »The problem with that is one of the best treatments for H Pylori overabundance is cabbage juice. In old prison systems, if someone had a peptic ulcer, they gave them cabbage juice and it cured it. Guess what causes Peptic Ulcers? H Pylori overabundance.
There has been some interesting research into H. Pylori recently that suggests we may be oversimplyfing H. Pylori' role in our bodies. I have tried to look up some of the research but am failing utterly, though, so I'm sorry I have no studies to offer. Basically, to recap it though, the findings are that people with auto-immune disorders, gut problems, and some other issues have problems with H Pylori. The elderly can have problems with H Pylori. But there are so many people with H Pylori at low to moderate levels in their gut - that never seem to get worse - that it may, in fact, be a natural part of our gut biome, and only gets out of control when our gut has problems for one reason or another.
It's still speculation, obviously. I tend to think there may be something to that, however, considering how much research into our gut biome is showing how little we know about it, as you're aware.MikePfirrman wrote: »...The only thing clear to me is the more they learn, the less they know. I think there are a ton of Holistic "blogs" out there that speak in terms of certainty that really are just conducting wild guesses. You alluded to the fact that you have no choice because conventional docs are in the dark on some of these issues and it's really up to us to take control of our health, but I'm not sure in some cases that it's not the blind leading the blind.
I would totally agree - especially with the biome, there is so much we do not know, and it's frustrating when people talk as though they know it all.
Although while I think that sometimes it is the blind leading the blind, sometimes, there's literally no choice. With my own disorder, for example, there is just almost no research on it, at all, for symptoms and treatments, both. Just last year, it finally got a code approved by insurance companies to admit it even exists as a real disorder. At this point, a lot of the care is patient driven, with us telling the doctors what the symptoms are, and what treatments are working, that we base from the little bit of related research we can find.
Definitely not ideal, but sometimes, we have to at least try to move in some direction, even if it ends up being the wrong one, because standing still just has us sinking up to our necks, know what I mean?
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Thank you. My issues do not extend from h pylori, thank you. I'm relieved your wife has achieved benefits from her eliminations. Though I'm very sorry she now needs an eppi pen. Nuts are high salicylate and histamine. Most fermented foods are histamine drivers. We are all different and what works for one does not work for another. Liver toxicity come high on the possible contributors to Histamine intolerance. The brain uses some 20% of the bodies available energy, where as the liver uses up in the region of 27%. There are so many cross referencing factors in endocrinology. One needs to do one's own research, which is why the long list of necessary things, seemingly for all "to avoid" for thyroid conditions is so ridiculous and yes will probably make a sad situation much worse.
I know the pitfalls of reading any odd bods rants on line. I keep to medical, qualified persons work. I know there is a tendency for people to try to make money from others problems. I'm relieved for this one reason, I live in the UK we have different standards to you in the US. My eliminations are covered by medical standard supplements, practitioner grade. 5 years ago I could not even take vit c with or without bioflavonoids. I never say you must give up this or that or anything else. I quoted the time scale it took for me to feel an improvement from dairy so others might think if nothing happens after 4 days, Its doing nothing form me"! Then not go on adding more insults to their systems. I know going without a broad diet is detrimental to most regular persons which is why I say, think about things, do research and try if it seems good and if it does nothing go back to normal. Free will. BTW I will not be using the clay, I have found one or two medical comments which say it can have similar effects to asbestos.
There are so many prescribed and over the counter medications which mess with the microbiome, not least female contraception, dental amalgams, antibiotics and chemicals used to clean our drinking water, down to the common aspirin or paracetamol with umpteen different binders. Some of us are more susceptible than others. I believe western medicine is at a crisis point because they look for more chemicals to put plasters over each and every symptom without looking for the underlying causes.
WE are all different and we need to be responsible for our own health. The last time I consulted a doctor for my arthritic flare the gel he prescribed had me bed bound on one dose. I'd told him the salicylate pain pathway was severely compromised, he had to fill his boxes. I'm glad I don't live alone. The practice gets funding for my being on their list, I pay for things which help me. Oh, the chlorinated water in the hydrotherapy pool set me back months.2 -
re: OP's original question - I have celiac disease, and I was on the high end for my thyroid numbers, but just low enough that the doc and I agreed we would watch it and see if I might need to be put on meds.
After going gluten free, my numbers dropped down to better levels. So at least in my case, the celiac disease seemed to be impacting my body's ability to regulate my thyroid. I have a family where hypothyroidism is present on both sides, as well.
Are your thyroid levels still under observation? With early hashimotos people often have periods with good thyroid tests and periods with not so good ones. That was the reason it took me years to get diagnosed. I had one poor test. Gp decided to retest three months later and all was fine. So no, me not feeling all too well cannot be due to thyroid. A year later felt miserable. Thyroid levels poor. Another test 3 months later and all was fine.2 -
Thyroid numbers are known to change with the weather a fact which gets forgotten.2
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deannalfisher wrote: »There is a growing body of research on autoimmunity other than Celiac Disease and the effects of gluten. So far, it's pointing to a strong connection, but more research needs to be done on what happens in every single one of the many autoimmune diseases when we exclude gluten, as well as for other immunity diseases, to determine what role diet would play in treatment plans and determine better diagnostic methods.
I have hypothyroidism, histamine intolerance and Systemic Nickel Allergy along with other allergies. I don't have Celiac Disease (tested every which way including genetic and I can't have it) yet the improvements in my health with going gluten free are nothing short of miraculous.
Gluten is a histamine releaser; that much is known. And high histamine plays havoc with our neurotransmitters and hormones. That is also known.
the current body of research (I posted a summary on the first page) is no where close to providing a strong connection - the research is giving only up to 7% commonality between celiac and hypo in the study groups
That seems fairly strong to me. Celiac disease usually only appears in 1.3% of the entire population. If it is up to 7% in just the hashimoto patients, that means it is probably an even lower incidence of celiac (below 1.3%) in people without other autoimmune diseases.0 -
Thyroid numbers are known to change with the weather a fact which gets forgotten.
Like most hormones, levels change throughout the day. Thus if levels are not tested always at the same time, without medication at the day of the test the results are meaningless. Actually, tsh can be more than 1 point lower when tested after noon relative to early morning1 -
Thyroid numbers are known to change with the weather a fact which gets forgotten.
Like most hormones, levels change throughout the day. Thus if levels are not tested always at the same time, without medication at the day of the test the results are meaningless. Actually, tsh can be more than 1 point lower when tested after noon relative to early morning
I've had my TSH change by 3 points within a week. I agree that there can be a lot of variation.0 -
I have hashimotos and I gave up glutenand dairy and feel much better. You'd be surprised how much of your health lies within your digestional tract. Often food sensitivities and autoimmune diseases go hand in hand. It won't hurt you to give up gluten either way.1
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Hormone testing varies tremendously and even the results are highly suspect. Hormones are free cycling and just float around the body randomly attaching to receptor site. The more mass you have the more variation you implement within the system. Keep in mind we're talking about micrograms in an adult body mass, so ~100 out of 54,000,000,000 mcg.1
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I have Mthfr c677t. Got a bad gene from both parents. None of my doctors know anything about it so I have been researching everything I can find. After 10 yrs of problems and multiple doctors telling me I’m fine, lab tests are normal...I finally found a functional medicine doctor who ran blood tests and now I know about my mutation. All I have done is eliminate folic acid (which is in pretty much all processed foods). I love bread so I will eat gluten free bread (my favorite is Walmart’s sams choice blue and white bag. It’s good toasted). Also, Bobs Red Mill all purpose organic flour and King Arthur all purpose organic flours DO NOT contain folic acid. I received email confirmations from both companies and they both confirmed that the organic flours are not enriched with folic acid. I have my son to thank for that. I never even thought about organic flour and he did some research and told me so I contacted the companies to confirm. Now I can partake in dessert without sacrificing taste or having to bake gluten free which doesn’t taste the same. I also eliminated sugar and only use pyure stevia (except when baking) and I buy organic meat and veggies when available. Those are the only changes I made and 50 pounds just fell off and all my hypothyroid symptoms disappeared. I hope this information helps others as much as it’s helped me.3
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If you have Hashimotos Thyroiditis, then you would be advised to go gluten free. Gluten aggravates that condition, including causing inflammation in your joints. This info is per doctor's advice.
I was diagnosed with hashimoto's over 20 years ago. I have never been advised to go gluten free. There is no medical reason to gluten free if you are not allergic to gluten.3 -
My wife has Hashimoto disease and has eaten gluten free which seems to reduce TPO and TPA antibodies in blood work. Sticking to it is tough and she loses BW when following, not that she needs to as she’s slim to begin with.
Following an elimination diet is more encompassing and harder; she’s done that too in searching for that magical solution which with Hashimoto’s, there appears to be none.
Some of the comments here are from people having good intentions but are uninformed. Next worst thing to having Hashimoto’s is being married to someone who does.
I wish you the best.0 -
I have Mthfr c677t. Got a bad gene from both parents. None of my doctors know anything about it so I have been researching everything I can find. After 10 yrs of problems and multiple doctors telling me I’m fine, lab tests are normal...I finally found a functional medicine doctor who ran blood tests and now I know about my mutation. All I have done is eliminate folic acid (which is in pretty much all processed foods). I love bread so I will eat gluten free bread (my favorite is Walmart’s sams choice blue and white bag. It’s good toasted). Also, Bobs Red Mill all purpose organic flour and King Arthur all purpose organic flours DO NOT contain folic acid. I received email confirmations from both companies and they both confirmed that the organic flours are not enriched with folic acid. I have my son to thank for that. I never even thought about organic flour and he did some research and told me so I contacted the companies to confirm. Now I can partake in dessert without sacrificing taste or having to bake gluten free which doesn’t taste the same. I also eliminated sugar and only use pyure stevia (except when baking) and I buy organic meat and veggies when available. Those are the only changes I made and 50 pounds just fell off and all my hypothyroid symptoms disappeared. I hope this information helps others as much as it’s helped me.
Just as a note: every body needs folic acid as it's needed for converting vitamin B12 to the active form. The active form is needed to keep your nerves healthy. With no healthy nerves you might experience pins and needles at first, legs that give way when you walk, not able to concentrate. But as everything in your body is controlled by nerves yuor heart might have problems, bladder control, vision, everything really. Thus you need to find an alternative for that! There are other forms of folic acid you can have with certain gene mutations, like methylfolate or folinic acid. Do look into this. Maybe methylcobalamin injections might help. This is one of the two active B12 forms your body needs. The other one is needed as well, adenosylcobalamin. To my knowledge it only exists in tablet form. If you have absorptionproblems you're stuffed along that route.0
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