Hypothyroidism Diet & Natural Treatment. Hypothyroidism Diet & Natural Treatments. Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, is the most common disorder of the human thyroid gland. This condition can cause excessive weight gain, extreme fluctuations in body temperature, lack of energy, and a host of other troubles. In this article, you will learn about the thyroid and its function, how to recognize hypothyroidism (which is both over- diagnosed and misdiagnosed), how to cleanse your thyroid of toxins, how to keep your thyroid healthy for a lifetime, how to have the most effective hypothyroidism diet, and much, much more. After having been diagnosed with hypothyroidism myself, I researched and acted upon the latest cutting- edge information to restore my own health. ![]() ![]() Please use the information in this article as a resource on the road to your own healing. The Thyroid and Its Functions. The thyroid is the fifth endocrine gland, if you count them in order from the root up. It is a butterfly- shaped gland underneath the Adam’s apple, but above the collarbone. It has two flaps on either side in the soft tissue of your neck. The ancient Greeks first named the thyroid thyros, which means . It looks like a shield, and it actually works like a shield. The thyroid is like a thermostat. It is responsible for metabolism, generating body heat, breaking down food molecules and nutrients to turn them into energy, and for burning calories, even at a standstill. It is a sensor that is finely tuned in to regulating all different kinds of functions in the body. ![]() It is always striving to seek balance for the system, but when we push ourselves too far, it goes off- balance. And when it can’t adapt, it starts to fatigue, falter and atrophy, causing high or low blood sugar, chronic stress, hormone imbalance, cortisol inflammation, and liver toxicity. The thyroid gland is such an important part of our health. People don’t realize how good you feel being happy, having energy, not gaining weight, sleeping. The thyroid gland also helps your immune system function well and your digestive system eliminate properly. ![]() The thyroid is a major driving force of well- being in your life. If you want to thrive and feel great, then you want to have amazing hormone balance and amazing thyroid health and function. Living in this modern world, there are things that can subject us to the thyroid being impaired. When it is impaired, we notice it and we feel it. Some people live with undiagnosed thyroid problems, or just aren’t health- conscious enough to understand the importance of the thyroid. They live with these problems – having low energy,being cold, being unable to lose weight no matter how hard they try to exercise, having mild depression comes and goes, or needing to stay in bed and sleep longer than most people and still waking up tired. People with thyroid problems also get constipated. No matter what they do, they can’t resolve their constipation. They are living with these issues, and they have no idea of why. Eating a high-quality, nutrient-dense diet is one of the most powerful ways to maintain health and prevent disease. Your gut in particular. Once a patient has moved through the six stages of the Introduction Diet, they are ready to move onto the Full GAPS Diet. Campbell-McBride recommends following. About The Candida Diet. Lisa Richards is an expert in digestive health and the author of the Ultimate Candida Diet program. She writes regular posts on the causes. What is a low carb diet, really? When can a low carb diet be beneficial? Should everyone follow a low carb diet? Or, can a low carb diet ruin your health? Hypothyroidism is an under- active thyroid that doesn’t make enough thyroid hormone. A large amount of the hypothyroid problems – maybe 5. Hashimoto’s, which is an autoimmune disease. Our immune systems are really being challenged. They are not balanced or modulated or functioning properly. Stress, toxins, nutritional deficiencies, and overuse of antibiotics or birth control pills are some of the causes. It is really good to learn about these issues and how they connect to your immune system. Hormone Production. To help you understand the different thyroid tests that will be discussed, here is an overview of hormone production. The hypothalamus gland in the brain is the regulator of all the endocrine glands. Candida diets are a commonly known type of diet unlike most types of diets we hear about. A candida diet is catered to someone who has an overgrowth of a type of. It sends a message to the pituitary gland through TRH (thyroid- releasing hormone) to tell the pituitary gland to make TSH (thyroid- stimulating hormone). TSH is the main hormone that doctors test for thyroid function. Basically, the hypothalamus makes TRH. The pituitary gland makes TSH and sends it to the thyroid. The thyroid, under the influence of the enzyme TPO (thyroid peroxidase), attaches iodine to thyroid globulin. ![]() Dr Natasha offers natural treatment for autism, ADHD/ADD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, depression, schizophrenia and many other conditions.![]() With iodine, it then makes thyroid hormone, which comes out of the thyroid. There are two forms of thyroid hormone: T3 and T4. Most people have heard of T4. Only 7% of thyroid hormone made is T3, which is an active, anabolic, usable thyroid hormone. T4 is not complete. It is not usable until it becomes finished. Since we make 9. 3% T4, we should focus on how the T4 converts to the maximum level of usable T3. If we have a really healthy liver, healthy heart, healthy nerve and healthy muscles, 6. T4 will be converted to usable T3. That only happens if we have the right levels of thyroid- binding globulin (TBG), because that is the carrier that shuttles the hormones around to get to the liver to convert from T4 to T3. The hormones are then carried back to the cell and into the receptor, where they turn on the genes that regulate that function and make us feel great. ![]() There is 4. 0% of T4 left over. Split that in two, and 2. A lot of people don’t have beneficial levels of healthy bacteria, so that part of thyroid hormone is lost and can’t be used. Healthy bacteria can be built up with cultured foods, kefir, sauerkraut and/or probiotic capsules. Under the influence of healthy, beneficial bacteria, thyroid sulfate and oxalic acid convert back to usable T3. You can get an 1. T3 production just from having high levels of probiotics in your gut, which is very important. The other 2. 0% of T4 becomes RT3, the reverse T3, which is not usable by the body. Reverse T3 has to be converted. It has to be detoxed out of the liver, so you need good liver function for that. Let’s jump over now and talk about some specifics on what foods people should be eating and what herbs they should be taking to enhance their thyroid, get things going, and perhaps even be able to come off of the drugs. Healing Your Thyroid – A Powerful Hypothyroidism Diet & Treatment. Foods to Eat. We are going to go through a whole program of detoxifying your thyroid, rebuilding it with foods and herbs, vitamins and minerals, and exercise. If you’ve had part of your thyroid removed, but you still have some of it, you can still get back to functional thyroid use. If you have never taken thyroid hormone before, it’s even better, because it is less confusing to the system. You can go right into a hypothyroidism diet program and a detox program to maximize your overall thyroid health and see what your results are. Iodine. What is the first step? It’s taking iodine, if you take the right form. It needs to have a free electron so it has a negative charge. It’s what is called paramagnetic iodine, like nascent iodine. There are a lot of iodine products out there that are of poor quality. There are quite a few doctors who don’t recommend the use of iodine or tyrosine to boost thyroid hormone because it can temporarily flare up the symptoms of an autoimmune thyroid problem, which often times is the case for some people with Hashimoto’s. But if you are interested in your health long- term, you are going to address autoimmune disorders at the same time. Then your body starts to correct the immune system from the core and you don’t have to be afraid of taking something that is actually good for you, just because of a symptom flare- up. It’s like a detoxification barrier, or a hump you have to go over. I have seen it a lot in people with Candida who I’ve worked with. It’s a backward approach: to avoid something that is good for you because you are getting a flare- up. It may scare you because of your lack of understanding of the issue, because you feel like you’re getting worse when you’re taking something that is supposed to make you better. But you have to understand the cleansing and the Herxheimer reaction. This happens a lot with allergies. The Herxheimer reaction is the die- off effect, meaning you’re taking something that is actually killing an infection in the body and the infection is fighting back. You are used to that infection being stable and happy in you. It actually flares up, and all the symptoms that it used to give you that were mild before become exaggerated or enhanced. But that is actually good, because it is leaving your system. Toxins that were neatly stored in fat cells are now being pulled and dredged up in your cells and coming out of your body and you actually feel worse, temporarily. Sometimes, lots of toxins are coming out. But if you understand that, and if you are not afraid – you just drink water and help yourself through the cleansing system – you are going to come out the other end much healthier than you were before. Just tip- toeing around all your symptoms, afraid of doing anything because of a lack of understanding of natural health, isn’t the way to go. Halogens have a similar chemical structure to iodine. Tap water has one of the leading halogens that contributes to thyroid problems, and that is fluoride. Fluoride is toxic to the thyroid. Bromide is now used to massage dough in bread making, so all processed bread is high in bromide, which is another halogen. Iodine is the fourth most abundant, important mineral for health in the body. It was so severely deficient in our country that, at the turn of the century, everyone who was living away from the ocean – in the middle of what was called the Goiter Belt – all developed goiters from iodine deficiency. Goiter causes the thyroid and the entire neck area to become swollen. They put iodine in salt and we had iodized salt. The problem is that when that salt is left out too long, the iodine evaporates. Iodine is like a vapor. High- quality iodine, like nascent iodine, is 2% iodine and it is made chemically in the perfect structure to be usable instantly in the body. Therapeutic doses start at about 1. Nascent iodine in water, on a totally empty stomach for it to absorb. You can feel the antibiotic, cleansing effect from it if you take it right away before it evaporates. GAPS Diet Myths: What the GAPS Diet is and What It Isn't. I have been noticing lately that a lot of people are confused about the GAPS Diet. There seems to be a blending of the GAPS Diet, the Paleo diet and low carb. People think that if they do Paleo or a low carb diet, they're doing GAPS. There seems to be a sentiment that Paleo is the “best” and most virtuous diet, and people are lumping GAPS in with Paleo. I also hear people saying that they think they will have to stay on the GAPS Diet for life. They think they just have to avoid the foods they are allergic to, and that they will never heal. There is also a lot of talk that grains are bad for you, and that we should never eat grains. Did you know that Dr. Natasha Campbell- Mc. Bride, author of Gut and Psychology Syndrome, recommends properly prepared whole grains once the gut is healed? She also says that the GAPS diet is NOT low carb. Let's take a look at some GAPS Diet Myths and see if we can clear them up. GAPS Diet Myths. Myth #1: The GAPS Diet is Low Carb. Dr. Natasha has stated publicly that the GAPS Diet is not low carb. I personally believe that if you do GAPS, you should not count carbs or restrict carbs in any way. Especially if you are pregnant or nursing, or if you want to get pregnant. Paul Jaminet of the Perfect Health Diet writes: I won’t enumerate studies here, but animal studies indicate that higher carb and protein intakes promote fertility and athleticism, while restriction of carbohydrate and protein promotes longevity. He also says that low carb depresses thyroid function and eating a higher carb diet will help your thyroid function better: This means that eating more carbs raises T3 levels, and eating fewer carbs lowers T3 levels. For a hypothyroid person, then, eating more carbs is an alternative tactic for increasing thyroid hormone activity. It may provide symptomatic relief similar to that achieved by supplementing thyroid hormone directly. Many (most?) GAPS patients have low adrenal and thyroid function. So in order to heal, we should not be restricting carbs. The GAPS Diet allows fruit, honey, squash, nuts, and other high carbohyrdate foods. We should not avoid these foods while on the GAPS Diet. Particularly if we are pregnant, nursing, trying to get pregnant, or if we have hormone problems. Myth #2: The GAPS Diet and the Paleo Diet are the Same Thing. The Paleo Diet is based on eating only paleolithic foods, or foods that hunter- gatherers would have had access to. The Paleolithic diet consists of foods that can be hunted and fished, such as meat, offal and seafood, and can be gathered, such as eggs, insects, fruit, nuts, seeds, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs and spices. Some sources advise eating only lean cuts of meat, free of food additives, preferably wild game meats and grass- fed beef since they contain higher levels of omega- 3 fats compared with grain- produced domestic meats. Food groups that advocates claim were rarely or never consumed by humans before the Neolithic (agricultural) revolution are excluded from the diet, mainly grains, legumes (e. Like the Paleo Diet, the GAPS Diet prohibits grains. However, dairy foods are allowed on the GAPS Diet, even from the very beginning of the diet (in the beginning, it is recommended to start with ghee and then kefir/yogurt and then sour cream). It depends on whether or not the patient can tolerate dairy foods, and some dairy foods are easier to digest than others so there is a process as far as how to introduce them. The creator of the GAPS Diet, Dr. Natasha Campbell- Mc. Bride, only recommends that we avoid grains while the gut is healing. Some beans are also allowed — white beans and lentils — as they are easier to digest. The reason that foods are prohibited on the GAPS Diet is not because they are bad, but rather because the GAPS patient cannot digest them. Once the gut is healthy and strong again, these foods can be reintroduced. The GAPS Diet also strongly emphasizes fermented foods and bone broth; the Paleo Diet does not. Myth #3: We Can Never Recover from Food Allergies. This is one of the biggest myths. Natasha says that around 1% of people cannot recover from food allergies. Or in other words 9. CAN recover. She distinguishes between “true” allergies and allergies that can be reversed. This is why I called my GAPS Diet cooking class “Reversing Food Allergies”.“A recent public survey in the UK has shown that almost half the population report that they have an “allergy” to some food or foods. However, the official figures for a “true allergy to food” are around 1% of the population in most developed countries.” (Source: Dr. Natasha's website)So, yes, there are some people who can never eat wheat again. But it's a very small percentage of people. Most people can recover and go back to eating grains and even gluten with no problems. Myth #4: We Should Stay on the GAPS Diet for Life. Dr. Natasha says that GAPS should generally be followed for a few years. It takes a while for the villi in the intestines to grow back. However, it DOES grow back and we CAN heal on the right diet. The strict GAPS diet should be adhered to for at least 1. Depending on the severity of the condition, some people recover quicker, others take much longer. Your patient needs to have at least 6 months of normal digestion before you start introducing foods not allowed on the GAPS diet. Do not rush with this step. Natasha's website)It took me 2 years to heal my gut in my 2. I was not following GAPS but I was following a similar diet (no gluten, no sugar — only honey and fruit, very limited starches, and strong probiotics). GAPS is not a diet you need to follow for life. It is a short- term diet designed to help people heal. Myth #5: We Are Better Off Without Grains. It seems like a lot of people have come to believe that because we avoid grains on the GAPS Diet, that grains are categorically bad. If you read Dr. Natasha's instructions for following the GAPS Diet on her website, she says that when we come off the GAPS Diet (because we are expected to come off of it — it's not a lifelong diet), we can introduce potatoes and grains. The first foods you will be able to introduce are new potatoes and fermented gluten- free grains (buckwheat, millet and quinoa). The recipe section will explain how to ferment grains. Introduce one food at a time and always start from a small amount: give your patient a small portion of the new food and watch for any reaction for 2- 3 days. If there are no digestive problems returning, or any other typical for your patient symptoms, then in a few days try another portion. If there are no reactions, gradually increase the amount of the food. These are starchy foods, so do not forget to serve them with good amounts of fat (butter, olive oil, any animal fat, coconut oil, etc.) to slow down the digestion of starch. Do not rush with the introduction of these new foods, it may take several months to do it properly. Once new potatoes and fermented grains are introduced, try to make sourdough with good quality wheat or rye flour. You can make pancakes or bread with the sourdough. I would recommend a wonderful book by Sally Fallon “Nourishing Traditions” for a wealth of recipes. Once sourdough is well- tolerated you may be able to buy commercially available good quality sourdough breads. At that stage you may find that your patient can digest buckwheat, millet and quinoa without fermenting them prior to cooking. Gradually you will find that you can introduce various starchy vegetables, grains and beans. YOUR PATIENT WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GO BACK TO THE TYPICAL MODERN DIET FULL OF SUGAR, ARTIFICIAL AND PROCESSED INGREDIENTS AND OTHER HARMFUL FOODS. USE THE YEARS OF FOLLOWING GAPS NUTRITIONAL PROTOCOL FOR DEVELOPING HEALTHY EATING HABITS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! Natasha's website)GAPS Diet Recipes and Resources. Click here for more: GAPS Diet recipes and resources. What Do You Think? Please share your comments below.
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