1.3 Gluten, Grains, Brazil Nuts, Cast Iron & the Thyroid

1.3 Gluten, Grains, Brazil Nuts, Cast Iron & the Thyroid

Almost two years ago, I was living with pain every day.  I was masking the pain with Ibuprofen daily.  My dosage was increasing as the medication was becoming less effective.  I had just recently been diagnosed with a Thyroid condition.  I was told it was quite common, and there was no cause for concern, medication or surgery.  Basically, nothing was going to be done, and I had to manage the pain.

About the same time, I saw a video series from Dr. Izabella Wentz, a pharmacist.  She had developed most of the same symptoms as me.  Her documentary was a multiple part video series.  In all, I think I spent about 10 hours watching it.  Most of the video series was not all that useful, but the 5th video had quite a bit about diet in it.

One of her guests described the bodies response to Gluten as a immune response.  He described Gluten as a mild toxin.  When Gluten is consumed, the immune system reacts to the Gluten and tries to eliminate it from the body.  The extra bit of information is that, the outer layer of the thyroid has a very similar molecular structure to the protein portion of Gluten.  As a result, when the immune system attacks the Gluten, it also attacks the thyroid.

Eventually, this could lead to several autoimmune disfunctions, like Graves' Disease, Hashimotos' thyroiditis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn's Disease and so on.

How long does the Immune response last

The immune response lasts for about 4 hours in your system, which coincidentally is the standard time between meals.  If you consume Gluten at every meal, you are basically in a response situation, your entire waking day. 

The same guest described "Gluten" as the only one that has been studied due to Coeliac disease, another auto-immune disorder.  He said that there are thousands of Gluten's and that they are all found in grain.  He also said that people who have a thyroid condition also tend to be low in selenium and iron.

Take Away's, or at least what I have done

• Go Gluten Free, no wheat, rye or barley.  Stop the Immune response.  This is a hard one to notice.  I have found that the effects of Gluten is hard to detect.  It also takes about 4 days before your body returns to normal after the smallest amount of Gluten is introduced.  When I truly noticed the 'Gluten Effect' , it was after a week of being Gluten free and I introduced Gluten accidentally.  Within 10 minutes my Thyroid swelled and I noticed an impact to my breathing.  It took being Gluten free for the inflammation to reduce enough so that I would notice when it returned.  After that day, I have consciously avoided Gluten.

• Go Grain free/light, this is harder.  Now that your avoiding all products made with wheat, rye and barley, you have to cut out rice.  It is hard to replace the staples in your diet.  For a while, I continued to have rice.  I still do have rice, just the quantity is smaller.  I have also substituted Quinoa for rice as well.

• Incorporate foods that are rich in selinium as part of your diet.  According to Dr. Wentz' guest, people who have Thyroid disorders are low in Selenium, Vitamin D and Thyamine (B1).  I eat 3 Brazil nuts every day as a dietary source of Selenium.  I also take a multi-vitamin and a Vitamin D3 supplement.

• Cook with cast iron cookware to enrich your food with Iron.  Apparently, if you are low in iron, an iron supplement is difficult for your body to absorb.  

These were relatively easy to incorporate into my diet and were a reinforcement of the message that I heard from Dr. Kelly Anne.

Things to Limit

These categories of food had an adverse effect on people with Thyroid concerns too.  Generally, they have an adverse effect on all people, but they are particular bad for people with Thyroid conditions.

1. Soy
2. Dairy
3. Corn
4. Peanuts
5. Coffee
6. Alcohol
7. Sugar

Things to Add

1. Vitamins - Specifically Vitamin D3, Omega 3's, Vitamins A, E, & K
2. Dark Chocolate
3. Infrared Sauna's had a positive effect on well being too
4. Bone Broth
5. Organ Meats
6. Kombucha
7. Kefir
8. Duck Fat
9. Broccoli Sprouts
10. A general diet with Protein/Fat/Fiber

These are a lot of changes to diet and it can be overwhelming.  I only did a subset of these, but I try to incorporate the 'things to add' as often as possible, and avoid the 'things to avoid' as often as possible.  To see the summary of what I did to heal my Thryroid, click here.