PALEO and Thyroid issues - HYPO
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maria_antoinette
Posts: 239 Member
Anyone else doing PALEO with Thyroid issues... how have you edited the diet the fit your needs... I am starting tomarrow by NOT drinking more then 1 cup of coffee 1 hour AFTER my medication.. as for the foods.. i am still researching that today.. i have seen that low carb is not the best for thyroid patientcs,, however i feel WONDERFUL without all the bad carbs and sugar,, so i wont be adding any of those...
would love to hear what you eat ?
would love to hear what you eat ?
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Replies
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Hi I have no thyroid due to thyroid cancer. I have recently started following the primal lifestyle (limit my carbs to less then 100g a day) and I finally have energy and am losing weight. You need to find what works for you. I have been on this weight loss journey for some time and have tried many different combinations. As for coffee restrictions I am not the best person to ask since I drink 3 cups a day. I do wait after taking my meds before eating or drinking.
There is a group on here for thyroid issues you might want to take a look at.0 -
I don't personally have thyroid issues, but I've seen a couple of patterns on things (take with a grain of salt if you want):
1. Iodine is known to help hypothyroid. Switching to Paleo or just about any kind of lower carb way of eating usually results in eating less processed food. Less processed food = less iodine from iodized salts = lower thyroid function. The solution is actually pretty easy -- make sure to incorporate more iodine in the diet. Shell fish and sea vegetables have the highest amount of iodine, with non-shell seafood, eggs, and dairy following in a far-behind second.
2. The carbohydrates are a bit of a red herring, depending on the exact issues you're having. As I recall, carbohydrates play a role in TSH, so lower carbs = lower TSH. Though whether or not this is a bad thing is a different story, and TSH isn't generated by the thyroid, but by the pituitary gland (after all, it's the thyroid stimulating hormone), so it's not really a great indicator of thyroid function, anyway (other than response to TSH). It's kind of like the issues of measuring cholesterol -- no one's directly measuring the numbers that matter, but rather not-really-that-great proxies instead (and then wonder why nothing they do to change those proxies help with the issue they're trying to fix).
3. The most common cause of failure (even among people who don't have thyroid issues) on low-carb is not increasing fat and/or not eating enough food in general. Low carb, especially very low carb, generally requires you to increase your calories a little, because fats and proteins aren't as easy to turn into fuel as sugar. This issue is compounded by the fact that fats and proteins are very satiating. Combine all that with the indoctrinated fear of fats (particularly saturated fats) and obsession with stupidly low calorie intakes, and you can have a recipe for disaster. The effects of insufficient fat intake is compounded for hypothyroid patients, because a lot of the symptoms are the same, and often magnified. They then blame it on going low-carb, without taking into consideration their fat and total calorie intake (as well as nutrients from the carbs they do get).0 -
I don't personally have thyroid issues, but I've seen a couple of patterns on things (take with a grain of salt if you want):
1. Iodine is known to help hypothyroid. Switching to Paleo or just about any kind of lower carb way of eating usually results in eating less processed food. Less processed food = less iodine from iodized salts = lower thyroid function. The solution is actually pretty easy -- make sure to incorporate more iodine in the diet. Shell fish and sea vegetables have the highest amount of iodine, with non-shell seafood, eggs, and dairy following in a far-behind second.
2. The carbohydrates are a bit of a red herring, depending on the exact issues you're having. As I recall, carbohydrates play a role in TSH, so lower carbs = lower TSH. Though whether or not this is a bad thing is a different story, and TSH isn't generated by the thyroid, but by the pituitary gland (after all, it's the thyroid stimulating hormone), so it's not really a great indicator of thyroid function, anyway (other than response to TSH). It's kind of like the issues of measuring cholesterol -- no one's directly measuring the numbers that matter, but rather not-really-that-great proxies instead (and then wonder why nothing they do to change those proxies help with the issue they're trying to fix).
3. The most common cause of failure (even among people who don't have thyroid issues) on low-carb is not increasing fat and/or not eating enough food in general. Low carb, especially very low carb, generally requires you to increase your calories a little, because fats and proteins aren't as easy to turn into fuel as sugar. This issue is compounded by the fact that fats and proteins are very satiating. Combine all that with the indoctrinated fear of fats (particularly saturated fats) and obsession with stupidly low calorie intakes, and you can have a recipe for disaster. The effects of insufficient fat intake is compounded for hypothyroid patients, because a lot of the symptoms are the same, and often magnified. They then blame it on going low-carb, without taking into consideration their fat and total calorie intake (as well as nutrients from the carbs they do get).
All good points. If you have hashimoto's than too much iodine can be a problem. With the TSH low carb will increase it, but too low carb will cause the T4 (which is what triggers the pituatary to produce TSH) to increase, but can also cause a problem with the body converting T4 to usable T3. Instead it will convert the T4 to reverse T3. So, long term VLC (<75 grams or so) can cause issues for some people with hypo. Of course it doesnt' happen for all people.
Hypo folks tend to do well with starches for carbs vs. fructose. For this reason I do eat white rice, potatoes and other starchy veggies with lunch or dinner. I find that keeping breakfast VLC is helpful. I also eat closer to 125 grams of carb on workout days and about 75 (sometimes less) on days I don't work out.
Definitely keep fats up! I tend to eat 40-60% fat. Some fluctuation with carbs and protein. But generally I trade carbs for fats on my lower carb days and try to keep protein steady at 20-25%.
Another inportant thing with hypo is to get enough selenium. This was key for me.
Chris Kresser has a great series on thyroid.
http://chriskresser.com/thyroid0 -
When you say IODINE.. you mean table salt? thats so funny because all my life i was told.. DONT eat salt, dont add salt.. blah blah.. i wonder if low sodium soy is ok.. because i have at least a tablespoon of that a day... I just got total bloodwork back from doc so i was looking up everything.. and one part says SODIUM and it says 139 and so i imagine its ok? I wonder if thats the same as IODINE0
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THANK YOU!!!!0
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2. The carbohydrates are a bit of a red herring, depending on the exact issues you're having. As I recall, carbohydrates play a role in TSH, so lower carbs = lower TSH. Though whether or not this is a bad thing is a different story, and TSH isn't generated by the thyroid, but by the pituitary gland (after all, it's the thyroid stimulating hormone), so it's not really a great indicator of thyroid function, anyway (other than response to TSH). It's kind of like the issues of measuring cholesterol -- no one's directly measuring the numbers that matter, but rather not-really-that-great proxies instead (and then wonder why nothing they do to change those proxies help with the issue they're trying to fix).
Hi DragonWolf,
The resource that I'm using is "The Paleo Approach," by Sarah Ballantyne (a medical biophysicist). If I understand her correctly, she says that for people who are hypothyroid, very low carbohydrate diets may tend to keep insulin levels too low, which is an issue because insulin "supports the conversion of T4 thyroid prohormone (thyroxine) to the active T3 thyroid hormone (triiodothyronine)." (p. 220). So, it might not be altogether a red herring.
Your other points are excellent!
Whoops! I see Nutmeg76 already addressed this point.0 -
When you say IODINE.. you mean table salt? thats so funny because all my life i was told.. DONT eat salt, dont add salt.. blah blah.. i wonder if low sodium soy is ok.. because i have at least a tablespoon of that a day... I just got total bloodwork back from doc so i was looking up everything.. and one part says SODIUM and it says 139 and so i imagine its ok? I wonder if thats the same as IODINE
Iodine is often added to table salt, in the same way that vitamins are added to/sprayed on breakfast cereals. Iodine is a mineral that that body needs to make thyroid hormone. If you have Hashimoto's disease (where the thyroid is sometimes overactive and sometimes underactive) you want to be mindful of not getting too much iodine.0 -
When you say IODINE.. you mean table salt? thats so funny because all my life i was told.. DONT eat salt, dont add salt.. blah blah.. i wonder if low sodium soy is ok.. because i have at least a tablespoon of that a day... I just got total bloodwork back from doc so i was looking up everything.. and one part says SODIUM and it says 139 and so i imagine its ok? I wonder if thats the same as IODINE
Iodized salt isn't the best way to get iodine. The soy itself can be a problem if you're eating too much. One tablespoon or properly fermented (wheat free) soy is probably safe, more than that can be too much. Soy in general isn't a great food for a person with thyroid disease. You could try replacing it with coconut aminos.
http://chriskresser.com/iodine-for-hypothyroidism-like-gasoline-on-a-fire0 -
2. The carbohydrates are a bit of a red herring, depending on the exact issues you're having. As I recall, carbohydrates play a role in TSH, so lower carbs = lower TSH. Though whether or not this is a bad thing is a different story, and TSH isn't generated by the thyroid, but by the pituitary gland (after all, it's the thyroid stimulating hormone), so it's not really a great indicator of thyroid function, anyway (other than response to TSH). It's kind of like the issues of measuring cholesterol -- no one's directly measuring the numbers that matter, but rather not-really-that-great proxies instead (and then wonder why nothing they do to change those proxies help with the issue they're trying to fix).
Hi DragonWolf,
The resource that I'm using is "The Paleo Approach," by Sarah Ballantyne (a medical biophysicist). If I understand her correctly, she says that for people who are hypothyroid, very low carbohydrate diets may tend to keep insulin levels too low, which is an issue because insulin "supports the conversion of T4 thyroid prohormone (thyroxine) to the active T3 thyroid hormone (triiodothyronine)." (p. 220). So, it might not be altogether a red herring.
Your other points are excellent!
Whoops! I see Nutmeg76 already addressed this point.
Yeah, I think part of the problem stems from measuring something as a proxy. A lot of the things I see are "low carb lowers TSH, which is a sign of hypothyroid!" Well...it is.....kind of...because TSH level may correlate with T4 conversion....or it may not. Usually the mistakes are in the other direction -- sufficient TSH production, but poor T4 conversion, which often ends up with false negatives for thyroid issues and patients being told "nothing's wrong, even though you're constantly tired and your hair is falling out." Hence the red herring comment. You can only get the right answers if you're asking the right questions, you know?
Anywho, most of the (admittedly little) stuff I know about thyroid stuff, I learned from Stop The Thyroid Madness. Here are a couple of relevant articles/pages from it, in case anyone's interested:
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/hypothyroid-and-weight-issues/
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless/
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/iodine12345/
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2012/05/30/hypothyroidism-insulin-resistance-and-metformin/ (an interesting look at the similarities between insulin resistance related disorders and hypothyroidism)0 -
I went two years...two years! KNowing the right answer and getting the run around from my doctor. My T4 was on the very low end of normal, but because my TSH was "hyperthyroid" they kept saying it was okay. FInally I got them to retest my T3 which was also very low. Well shoot, of course it was! As a person medicated for hypothyroid the T4 and TSH are almost meaningless as a test, but that is still the gold standard. Now I have a better doctor with a good understanding of my needs and I am finally being properly managed.0
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I take armour everyday for 10 years now.. numbers always in range from this.. i was lucky enough for my regular doctor to be an endo... but he DIED 1 month ago.. really freaked me out because NEW DOCTOR is not endo. i am lucky my numbers are ok or i would go to a specialist.. but still i avoid SALT like the plague.. i will stop doing that.. will put some on my salad0
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I take armour everyday for 10 years now.. numbers always in range from this.. i was lucky enough for my regular doctor to be an endo... but he DIED 1 month ago.. really freaked me out because NEW DOCTOR is not endo. i am lucky my numbers are ok or i would go to a specialist.. but still i avoid SALT like the plague.. i will stop doing that.. will put some on my salad
I do not recommend iodized table salt which is highly refined and usually devoid of trace minerals. Get iodine from food instead and use natural, unrefined sea salts (including Himalayan salt too) to taste, as much as your body wants. Definitely do not avoid sea salt! Your body needs it and the trace minerals it contains. Salt in processed foods are a problem but not natural sea salt. You may be terribly mineral deficient if you've been eating unprocessed foods and using no salt.0 -
I take armour everyday for 10 years now.. numbers always in range from this.. i was lucky enough for my regular doctor to be an endo... but he DIED 1 month ago.. really freaked me out because NEW DOCTOR is not endo. i am lucky my numbers are ok or i would go to a specialist.. but still i avoid SALT like the plague.. i will stop doing that.. will put some on my salad
I do not recommend iodized table salt which is highly refined and usually devoid of trace minerals. Get iodine from food instead and use natural, unrefined sea salts (including Himalayan salt too) to taste, as much as your body wants. Definitely do not avoid sea salt! Your body needs it and the trace minerals it contains. Salt in processed foods are a problem but not natural sea salt. You may be terribly mineral deficient if you've been eating unprocessed foods and using no salt.
I HEARD about that SALT.. the Himalayan thing.. my cousins who are cross fit trainers told me about this when they told me about PALEO in chicago.... I am going to find it somewhere online..
THANK YOU!!!0 -
I am hypothyroid too, but that has not held the weight loss or anything else back for me (not always the case, I know) Real sea salt, sea vegetables and cold water fish are good sources of Iodine there are many forms of iodine as well so it can be a very tricky subject. the bigger issue is your body doesn't react well unless your intake of selenium is in balance with it. As Nutmeg said low carbs in the morning which for me is a daily 3 eggs (also a great source of selenium) and I guess this is some of the reason I lost all that weight while being HypoT.0
