There are, however, certain populations in which reducing carbohydrate intake to very low levels may not be appropriate: patients with ... thyroid defects, ....There are a couple of rationales for why this hypothesis persists, and i wish to gawd somebody would run a proper RCT to straighten it out -- because i'm absolutely, positively sure that the position is BULLSHIT.
I'm not the only one, either. One of those who agree, Sam the "worldly monk," wrote an outstanding article about this misconception -- i can hardly add anything to make the point better! It's just that compared to a lot of theorizers, i'm the one in the trenches with considerable experience. Notably, the only significant argument Sam got was NOT from a hypothyroid....
The more starch/sugar one consumes, the more thyroid hormone is needed by the body to clear the ensuing glucose spike from the blood. We see the same situation with vitamin C -- the more BG, the more C is needed. Apparently, lab-test-junkies of the gym-rat persuasion have extrapolated LOW T3 FROM A LOW-CARB DIET!!! without actually experiencing any hypothyroid symptoms ... the absence of which defines a diagnosis of EUthyroidism.
Wooo also CLEARLY elucidated the situation of hypothyroid symptoms being seen in euthyroid individuals who are losing fat weight; it's all about the body getting enough fuel so that it knows it can afford to "waste" energy for optional purposes! One apparently just does not see people damaging their thyroids irrevocably on a low-carb diet, and becoming clinically hypothyroid! But you DO see people doing that who insist on eating things like wheat and legumes and sugar and industrial seed-oils -- THAT is where the modern glut of thyroid patients are coming from (opinion: don't ask me for references).
So if you're hypothyroid and want to try LC-paleo to see if you can improve your health and sense of well-being, DON'T AUTOMATICALLY BELIEVE that because someone as savvy as Adele wrote it, it has to be true. The paper quoted above makes the point ITSELF, that the historical record of health and dietary recommendations are full of mistakes. You'll only KNOW if LC gives you a better quality of life if you dive in and try it yourself -- and NOT like that Oz yoyo did for ONE DAY!!!
Hi Tess
ReplyDeleteAs I said in a comment to you “I have never met or heard of a human being that benefited from a high sugar/starch diet. My grandchildren avoid these foods and so should everyone in my opinion” Whatever a persons ailments or illnesses are, a diet based on a wide range of non starchy vegetables, some good proteins, and healthy fats must be the way forward. A couple of quotes.
"There are three kinds of foods--fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. All of these provide calories. But the carbohydrates provide calories and nothing else. They have none of the essential elements to build up or to repair the tissues of the body. A man, given carbohydrates alone, however liberally, would starve to death on calories. The body must have proteins and animal fats. It has no need for carbohydrates, and, given the two essential foodstuffs, it can get all the calories it needs from them."
Sir Heneage Ogilvie, former vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons, England.
“The low-fat "diet heart hypothesis" has been controversial for nearly 100 years. The low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, promulgated vigorously by the National Cholesterol Education Programme, National Institutes of Health and American Heart Association since the Lipid Research Clinics-Primary Prevention Program in 1984, and earlier by the US Department of Agriculture food pyramid, may well have played an unintended role in the current epidemics of obesity, lipid abnormalities, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndromes. This diet can no longer be defended by appeal to the authority of prestigious medical organisations or by rejecting clinical experience and a growing medical literature suggesting that the much-maligned low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet may have a salutary effect on the epidemics in question."
Sylvan Weinberg, former president of the American College of Cardiology:
Kind regards Eddie
yes, i think i've always agreed with your point of view on what constitutes a healthy diet (though my system has more problems with vegetables). :-) i was surprised that Adele's paper said that about thyroid sufferers, though -- but then, i don't know anything about her co-authors....
DeleteHi Tess
ReplyDeleteI am a man of rudimentary education. I can only work with simple. Check out what our grandmothers ate. It seems to me a very long way from what people eat these days.
Have a great weekend Eddie
don't sell yourself short, Eddie! ...and i hope you have a great weekend, too!
DeleteEddie,
DeleteI am a good example how eating and cooking in grandma's style style can not be enough for females at least. My cooking kept my male family members healthy, but I need LCarbing.
Hi Galina
DeleteI hear what you say re lowcarbing, but I think a few generations ago most people were lowcarbers compared to people today. If we go into a supermarket and strip out all the products that were not around in our Grandmothers days, not much would be left. Vegetables, some fruit, meat, fish and dairy. OK bread was a big item, but the bread of a hundred years ago was a very different food to the junk made today. Also vegetables were grown in good soil, in a natural way, and not man made chemical dependent. Don’t start me off on GM Frankenstein food.
Kind regards Eddie
I am sure it is not the case for everyone, but many people just love to find any excuse in order to continue eating wheat. One obese lady with diabetes told me she needed refined carbohydrates in order to get endorphins because exercising was not an option to her due to her weight, another person, normal weight but with uncontrolled blood pressure, anxiety and in the remission from cancer, said she needed wheat because over-wise she would be constipated even eating fiber-reach foods.
ReplyDeletepeople's rationalizing can get amazing! those two ladies though -- it would be hard to hard to top "reasoning" like that....
DeleteHey Tess, I only just found your blog, however I've come across your insightful comments on numerous occasions over on Woo and Sidreal's pages. Really interesting to hear that you have thyroid problems! I just found out i have quite a high TSH number (indicating hypothyroid) with the resulting hormonal imbalances (or total lack there-of) to boot: low estrogen, low testosterone, etc. I definitely don't want to go down the route of synthetic hormones for obvious reasons that you've stated in your posts, but was wondering what you use to treat your thyroid issues? Do freeze-dried raw animal thyroid caps help? What about iodine? How successfully have you been able to treat or manage your own symptoms?
ReplyDeletehi, Anna! yes, i was diagnosed as hypothyroid at 6 months of age.... through a comedy-of-errors situation a couple of years ago, i started tweaking my diet, habits and supplement regimens, and found that my problem was largely mal-nutritional! i feel like i've pretty much normalized my thyroid status, even if the wrong foods or stress throw me off a little from time to time.
ReplyDeleteif you're not already taking thyroid pharmaceuticals, you might try removing problematic foods and chemicals from your diet and surroundings ... but of course i HAVE to say that i don't RECOMMEND that other people do what i did, and try to deal with their problem-thyroids without the cooperation of their doctors! :-)
i know -- weasel-words, but western society insists that ONLY government-approved agents can hand out medical advice! :-P if you haven't removed grains and legumes from your diet, you might try that -- i find that both of them are highly problematic for me. SLEEP is also immensely important, because a shortage of it stresses me and the hypo symptoms come roaring in. i try to minimize my contact with fluoride, chlorine and bromine -- all are antagonistic to healthy thyroids.
i feel very strongly in favor of iodine, but those who supplement it will do well to supplement selenium too -- those minerals work together to promote good function. yes, i use the animal-thyroid supplements, and think they help.
good luck with advancing your health! let me know how you fare!
I feel like to give my thoughts on the thyroid issues as well. It is better to know why your TSH is low. For example, a very frequent reason nowadays - your own autoimmune system attacking your thyroid gland, in that case supplements making thyroid work harder only increase stress on that organ.
DeleteTSH can go low after a weight loss.
I use an Armour dessicated thyroid. Synthroid didn't address symptoms of low-thyroid in my case, however TSH went back to norm.
...and having various people's different experiences is valuable! :-) if one's gland has completely crapped out, all the supplements in the world probably won't help!
Delete@Tess and Galina, thank you for your advice! It's funny you mentioned grains.. I'm severely gluten intolerant / possibly celiac. Took all Neolithic foods out of my diet with the exception of dairy 2 years ago. Can't let go of my cheese platters... Just got some more blood taken for testing today to see T4 and T3 and prolactin. I'm going to have to look into getting a filter for home, water in Australia is outrageously fluoridated!!!
ReplyDelete:-) L, the best of luck with your health quest! ...i find myself a little sensitive to cheese, but so long as i keep it under three or four ounces, it doesn't do REALLY nasty things to me -- we all just need to find the dose that becomes troublesome.
Delete