In our previous post, we took a look at the relationship between Hashimoto’s and SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth), if you have not yet read that or aren’t familiar with SIBO please read it here.
SIBO, see part 1 for larger image
In this post we are going to discuss SIBO treatment and solutions. This information came from a lecture I attended in November 2014 taught by Dr. Datis Kharrazian and entitled The Neuroendocrine Immunology of Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth.
One important lesson that I have learned after working with over 750 people with Hashimoto’s is that there are 2 things that are really important for getting good clinical results:
#1. Figure out the mechanism. In other words, where’s the problem? With Hashimoto’s it is often in multiple places and it’s not only the thyroid.
#2. Figure out how advanced it is. Hashimoto’s, like all autoimmune disease, is progressive. We have identified 3 stages of progression. (Read here to learn more ).
In a general sense, the further it has progressed the more you must do.
Another really valuable lesson I have learned is that, often, some of the most effective treatments and solutions come from subtraction.
Many common health problems are problems of excess. Too much sugar, too much stress, too much inflammation, too much salt, too many chemicals.
A simple and effective way of treating too much is by taking things away.
If you have insulin resistance or Type 2 diabetes, stop eating sugar and refined carbohydrates.
If stress is killing you, stop doing the things that cause you so much stress.
If you have too much inflammation, stop eating and behaving in a way that causes so much inflammation.
If your sick from too much salt, stop eating salt.
If pollution is killing us and our world, stop using so many chemicals.
Such a simple solution, so hard to actually do.
At first.
The reason is that we are conditioned to be consumers, not subtractors.
However, if you have Hashimoto’s, learning the habit of being content with less (sometimes a lot less) may just be the key to your healing.
Nowhere is this more true than in the treatment of SIBO
Diet Must Be the Foundation of Treatment
With SIBO, the foundation of treatment is diet because many of the bacteria feed on foods that are common in our diets.
And if you’re like a lot of people I’ve worked with you might be asking yourself, “Why not just wipe them out with antibiotics?”
According to the American Journal of Gastroenterology, recurrence of small intestine bacteria after antibiotics is quite high (the most commonly prescribed being Rifaximin).
Many people have to keep taking antibiotics over and over again for months with limited results.
And there is a tremendous cost to your immune system and to your future ability to defend yourself.
(There is no better way to be defeated by an enemy than to give him repeated opportunities to adapt to your weapons.)
The only thing that really works is to do the diet as a foundation and then use something to eradicate the bacteria along with it.
There are a number of herbs that are quite effective for this. Particularly those in the berberine family like goldenseal, coptis, etc.
A pilot study by Spanish researchers found that probiotics worked better than pharmaceutical therapy for patients with chronic abdominal distention and SIBO.
“Based on this pilot study results, we can suggest that the probitoic herein (Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Streptococcus faecalis, Bifidobacterium brevis) used has a higher efficacy than metronidazonal in the early clinical response of patients with chronic abdominal distention and SIBO.”
The SIBO diet is a terrific exercise in subtraction and should generally be done for a month or so to get the best results.
Since there are many foods that feed these bacteria, there are many foods that must be eliminated from your diet for this initial period of time.
Foods to Avoid:
Fructose: sugars, artificial sweeteners, corn syrup
Grains: rice, wheat, quinoa, millet, amaranth, and some non grains like tapioca
Legumes/Galactans: beans, peas, chickpeas, soybeans, lentils
Fructan-containing Vegetables: lettuce, onions, artichokes, beets, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, peas, asparagus, okra, shallots, mushrooms, green peppers, cauliflower
High-fructose fruits: grapes, apples, watermelon, cherries, kiwifruit, bananas, blueberries, mangos
Meat products: Breaded or processed meats such as hot dogs, bologna, potted meats, most cold cuts (added starches) and there are some who say to also avoid beef, pork and lamb.
Foods to Eat:
Nuts: All nuts except pistachios
Vegetables: All vegetables except those listed above
Low Fructose Fruits: apricots, avocados, cantaloupes, grapefruit, honeydew melons, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pineapples, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes
Meats: chicken, fish, eggs, (and beef, lamb and pork in moderation)
Fats: Animal fat, oils
The first step of treatment involves the diet as foundation and something to address the bacteria (like the herbs mentioned above).
Either during or after that Spartan menu, it is important to address the root causes and related issues of SIBO (read about these in Part I )
These problems include:
1. Too little stomach acid. Here’s the exception to the healing by subtraction rule. If you have too little stomach acid, you need more.
A simple treatment is to take things that boost stomach acid levels such as apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and ginger root.
Supplementing with Betain HCL may also be beneficial (consult your doctor for this).
2. An immune suppressed gut. Often the cause of this is too much corticosteroid treatment and/or too much cortisol from stress.
Here the subtraction rule works quite well. Stop the corticosteroids (unless you have a condition where you must take them) and do something about stress.
A great daily exercise in doing less? Silent seated meditation.
3. Injury to the gut nervous system (The Enteric Nervous System)
This type of neurodegeneration is permanent. However, this nervous system also has remarkable plasticity and a capacity to rewire itself.
There are couple of really important things to do here:
#1. Vigorous, (I mean really vigorous to the point of tears) gargling. Gargle with several glasses of water throughout the day.
This activates part of the nervous system connected to the vagus nerve which has a very strong connection to the gut.
#2. Stimulate your gag reflex. Order some wooden tongue depressors online and gently stimulate this reflex by pressing down on the tongue.
#3. Coffee enemas. Make sure the coffee isn’t too hot, and hold as long as possible. This causes nerve firing in the brain.
Start with a moderate amount and mild coffee, you can gradually increase both the amount of liquid and the strength of the coffee.
(Best to do it in the bathtub if you have one, so you are close to the toilet.)
Good question. You need to treat it for as long as it takes. And you may have to revisit this periodically. Generally speaking, the more severe it is, the longer and more committed you must be to healing it.
This may take several months.
It’s also true that the better you are at really following the diet and not cheating, the better the outcome and the faster your results.
Apex Energetics has recently released 5 new SIBO products and we have started using them with promising results. Click here to purchase from our online store.
What’s exciting for me as a practitioner is that they have adapted some of the formulas we have already used with excellent results and given us another option for people who have complications.
Clearvite-GL
Clearvite-GL: ClearVite-GL™ (K95) is based on Apex’s popular ClearVite™ formula and is designed to offer gastrointestinal and metabolic support.
This formula includes the powerful combination of hypoallergenic nutrients, amino acids, and minerals that other ClearVite™ products have, but excludes sources of rice and pea protein for those with sensitivities to grains or peas, or who require low carbohydrate content.
It also contains no sugars, which makes it ideal for anti-yeast diets. ClearVite-GL™ is also intended to support liver detoxication and chemical biotransformation with targeted nutritional cofactors.
Suggested use: Mix 1 scoop with up to 4-6 ounces of water. Mix well before drinking. Use once a day, or as directed by your healthcare professional.
Repairvite SE
Repairvite SE: RepairVite-SE™ (K98) is based on Apex’s popular RepairVite™ formula and is intended to offer targeted intestinal support.
This product includes a limited amount of ingredients to offer support for those with certain dietary restrictions.
A high-quality, selective blend that includes brush border enzymes, L-glutamine, and zinc carnosine is incorporated to help support intestinal cell metabolism and the intestinal microbial environment.
Suggested use: Mix 1 scoop with up to 4-6 ounces of water. Mix well before drinking. Use once a day, or as directed by your healthcare professional.
Sibotica
Sibotica: Sibotica™ (K97) incorporates key strains of probiotics that are intended to support the intestinal microbial environment, as well as the intestinal mucosal barrier.
This product may also help support the immune system via certain immune pathways. Key ingredients include Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium breve, and Lactobacillus plantarum.
Suggested use: Take 1 capsule once a day, or as directed by your healthcare professional.
Enzymixpro
EnzymixPro: EnzymixPro™ (K99) incorporates a special proprietary blend of various enzymes, including brush border enzymes, that has been designed to support the gastrointestinal system.
This formula combines a broad spectrum of enzymes to help support the digestion of sugars, starches, fibers, proteins, and fats. It also includes HCl for further digestive support.
Proprietary Blend: 1372 mg of Betaine HCI, Pepsin (porcine), Bromelain, Protease I, Protease II, Protease III, Protease IV, Glucoamylase, Cellulase, Sucrase (invertase), Maltase, Phytase, Pectinase, Lactase, Alpha-galactosidase, Lipase, Amylase I, Amylase II, Peptidase.
Suggested use: Take 1-2 capsules once a day, or as directed by your healthcare professional.
Enterovite
Enterovite: EnteroVite™ (K100) incorporates nutrients and a proprietary blend of fatty acids in a formulation intended to support the intestines and intestinal cell function.
This unique formulation is designed for those who are sensitive to certain food components, such as certain starches and fibers, and who want additional intestinal support.
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), normal bacterial end products of complex carbohydrates, play important roles in intestinal microbial balance and function.
Diets that are low in resistant starch and fiber can result in a low production of SCFAs. Key ingredients include butyric acid and calcium propionate.
Ingredients: Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopherol acetate), Calcium (as calcium ß-hydroxy ß-methyl butyrate & calcium propionate) and a Propriety Blend: 575 mg* of Butyric Acid (as calcium ß-hydroxy ß-methyl butyrate), Calcium Propionate.
Suggested use: Take 1 capsule once a day, or as directed by your healthcare professional.
The Neuroendocrine Immunology of Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth, by Dr. Datis Kharrazian, DC, 2014
For many people who struggle with Hashimoto’s, diet is a huge issue.
Yet, many doctors ignore the role of diet in the initiation, and progression of this and other autoimmune diseases.
But, if you have Hashimoto’s, and you are like a lot of people we’ve worked with, then you know that what you eat has a huge impact on your health and how you feel.
This just makes sense. Where is your immune system in your body?
Over 70% is found in and around your digestive tract. This is where it lives.
What you eat has a profound impact on autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s.
In this series of posts, we’ll examine a key factor in healing your Hashimoto’s by looking into something that is really common but often overlooked.
SIBO or small intestine bacterial overgrowth.
I recently attended a lecture taught by my teacher and mentor, Dr. Datis Kharrazian.
Dr. Kharrazian is a relentless researcher.
He is always exploring other people’s research and doing his own in order to help us understand why people are getting sick and how we can fix it.
In a recent lecture that I attended called “The Neuroendocrine Immunology of Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth”, he shared a lot of really valuable information on many aspects of SIBO that new research has revealed.
Determining whether not you have SIBO can be really, really important for people with Hashimoto’s because of the role that the small intestines play in thyroid hormone conversion and absorption.
When you have Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism this leads to problems with motor functions in the small intestine.
There are thyroid hormone receptors all over the gut. The vagus nerve fires into the gut.
If they aren’t getting enough thyroid hormone, things don’t move as well through there and that leads to overgrowth of bacteria.
And too much of this bacteria can interfere with levothyroxine absorption.
This is why some people take Synthroid, Armour, Cytomel, Naturethroid or another thyroid replacement hormone and it doesn’t feel like it’s working.
That’s because it isn’t.
With SIBO you can’t absorb thyroid hormone very well.
And autoimmunity shuts down T3 receptors.
Again, thyroid hormone doesn’t work if it can’t bind to receptors and can’t be absorbed.
So, even though you are taking thyroid hormone, it isn’t working – you have all the symptoms like fatigue, brain fog and memory issues, weight gain, hair loss, depression, etc.
Many researchers also believe that autoimmune disease originates in the intestines.
A leaky gut or damaged intestine has been found in every autoimmune disease that has been tested including rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes and, yes, Hashimoto’s.
In the small intestine this damage leads to immune system stimulation, the wrong types of things in the blood stream and, ultimately, a systemic problem that results in the loss of self-tolerance.
This means that the immune system gets so overwhelmed it can’t tell what is our tissue and what is a bad guy that must be attacked.
There are many causes of the breakdown of the intestines.
These include NSAID use, alcohol, gluten and other dietary proteins, bacterial overgrowth, environmental toxins and more.
And once this breaks down it alters the whole ecosystem of the gut.
It’s hard to know which came first.
And at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter.
What matters is what causes it and what we can do to heal it.
SIBO has a number of possible symptoms, but mostly these involve bloating, gas, diarrhea and/or constipation.
The hallmark symptom is bloating and discomfort after eating certain foods.
Basically here’s what happens.
The wrong type of bacteria end up getting into the small intestine. The migrate from the large intestine and take over.
They feed on certain types of foods like sugars, galactans, fructans and starch.
In reality, SIBO should be considered with abdominal discomfort after eating any of the following things:
– Starches
– Sugars/fructose
– Fructans
– Prebiotics
– Probiotics
– Fiber supplements
– Rice or pea powder from metabolic powders
– Galactans
You may notice that many of the foods listed here can also aggravate candida. And sometimes candida is blamed for what is actually SIBO.
The causes of SIBO matter because when we understand the causes, we can figure out how to fix them.
These include:
1. Too little stomach acid.
Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism leads to lower production of gastrin and stomach acid. This is super common.
And ironically, many people develop GERD or acid reflux and are prescribed proton pump inhibitors and antacids that just make everything worse.
(We’ve discussed this in depth in this post)
2. An immune suppressed gut.
Many factors can lead to immune suppression in the gut. 2 important ones are long term corticosteroid treatment and chronic stress.
In either case, lots of cortisol or corticosteroids cause the immune system to shut down and allows the party to get out of control.
With Hashimoto’s the body is under a great deal of physiological stress, all the time. So extra emotional stress and abnormally stressful events often result in people getting a lot sicker.
This is one of the reasons why.
3. Injury to the gut nervous system (known as the ENS or enteric nervous system)
The gut has been called the body’s “second brain” because it has it’s own nervous system and produces many of the neurotransmitters that are also produced in the brain.
Well, just like our other brain this can degenerate and break down with age and with diseases like chronic celiac disease, sceleroderma and IBS.
And just like neurodegeneration in the brain, this can be permanent. But also, just like the brain this second brain has remarkable plasticity and it can relearn things and rewire itself, too.
The gut brain and our main brain are both loaded with thyroid hormone receptors. With Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism, there is often too little thyroid hormone or it’s not getting absorbed properly.
This can result in damage to the enteric nervous system (the gut brain).
4. Problems with the Vagus nerve
The Vagus nerve is a central highway for communication between the brain and the gut. When the vagus nerve stops firing into the gut this slows down everything.
This is a major cause of slower motility and constipation.
Thyroid hormone has a direct affect on movement through the entire gastrointestinal tract.
Thyroid hormones increase intestinal neurotransmitters, increase blood flow to the intestines and support the repair and regeneration of the intestines.
Hypothyroidism can slow movement through the esophagus, can affect muscle function in this area and can affect the nerves that cause movement.
Hypothyroidism also has an affect on the vagus nerve and this can lead both directly and indirectly to slowing movement through the intestines.
5. Anatomical or structural changes to the small intestines or illeosecal valve
Surgery to the gut (like appendectomy or resection), diverticulitis and scarring due to inflammatory bowel disease can all lead to this.
Hypothyroidism can lead to the loss of control of the ileosecal valve that is the doorway between the large and small intestine.
When this stops working as it should it lets lots of critters from the large intestine into the small intestine.
Just like Hashimoto’s, SIBO has different degrees of severity. These are important because the more serious it is the more work you may have to do to resolve it.
I. Asymptomatic:
Abnormal small intestine bacterial overgrowth tests and mild or no symptoms.
Bloating after meals.
II. Moderate Symptoms:
Bloating with malnutrition and constipation.
Bloating with nutritional deficiencies.
III. Severe Symptoms:
Bloating with anemia, low albumin, low cholesterol
Bloating with weight loss, chronic diarrhea and malabsorption
If you are a person who has trouble taking supplements because you just react to everything, then you may fall into the more severe symptoms category.
Here’s an overview from the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology on the prevalence of SIBO in other conditions:
15% of the elderly
33% of people with chronic diarrhea
34% of people with chronic pancreatitis
53% of people using antacid medication
66% of patients with celiac disease with persistent symptoms.
78% of people with IBS
90% of alcoholics
What really stands out for me there are 2 of those statistics.
More than half the people on antacid medication and 9 out of 10 alcoholics suffer from SIBO.
That shows you how destructive alcohol can be to the small intestines.
And, the fact is that alcohol degenerates the enteric nervous system of the gut very aggressively.
In the conventional medical model there are 2 types of testing for SIBO.
Both are flawed and not definitive.
1. Direct: Endoscopic Aspiration and Culture
This is a direct endoscopic aspiration and culture of the small intestine.
This requires a gastroenterologist, it’s expensive, it’s invasive (they have to go in and get a sample).
The problem with this is that many of the bacteria removed from the small intestine can’t be analyzed because they don’t survive in culture.
Samples must be handled properly for accurate results.
To recap: It’s expensive, it’s invasive and sometimes tests don’t reveal all the bacteria involved.
2. Indirect: Breath Testing for Hydrogen and Methane
This type of testing involves breath testing for hydrogen and methane.
This test can be inaccurate if someone has recently had antibiotics.
It may not be useful in determining all species of bacteria.
The optimal window for timing for collection is different for different people because transit time is different for different people.
To recap: You may get false negatives due to different transit times or antibiotic use.
Actually, the best test for SIBO is a trial diet and/or a stool test that looks for invasive species.
In our next post, we’ll look at this diet and how to treat all 5 different causes of SIBO and the various levels of seriousness.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17698907 – SIBO and hypothyroidism -antibiotic therapy didn’t affect thyroid hormone levels
http://www.ijem.in/article.asp?issn=2230-8210;year=2014;volume=18;issue=3;spage=307;epage=309;aulast=Patil
Link between SIBO and hypothyroidism
http://journals.lww.com/theendocrinologist/abstract/1995/05000/absorption_of_oral_thyroxine.9.aspx –
“It is markedly decreased in conditions in which there is a decrease in the effective small intestinal absorptive surface, including short bowel syndromes sprue, and other malabsorptive conditions.”
http://www.europeanreview.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/451-4561.pdf – Levothyroxine absorption in health and disease
http://gutcritters.com/thyroid-function-and-gastrointestinal-distress/ – LPS and thyroid receptors
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3099351/ SIBO Study
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12388159?dopt=Abstract – Infection leads to poor thyroid hormone absorption
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18372241 – LPS reduced T3
http://chriskresser.com/inflammation-strikes-again – Low T3 Syndrome
http://www.naturalendocrinesolutions.com/articles/sibo-thyroid-health/
http://neurosciencestuff.tumblr.com/post/38271759345/gut-instincts-the-secrets-of-your-second-brain Great article on the enteric nervous system
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16336493 : glial cels in the gut cause neurodegeneration
http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/content/7/1/37 : neurodegeneration in IBD
http://ajpgi.physiology.org/content/ajpgi/303/8/G887.full.pdf : enteric glia cells are protective, damage to them leads to neurodegeneration
Prevalence of small intestine bacterial overgrowth diagnosed by quantitative culture of intestinal aspirate in celiac disease. J Clin Gastroenterol, 2009 Feb; 43 (2): 157-161
The Neuroendocrine Immunology of Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth, lecture notes, Dr. Datis Kharrazian, November 2014.
The Paleo Approach, Sarah Ballantyne, PhD, Victory Belt Publishing 2013
Should You or Shouldn’t You?
Every year when flu season rolls around I get questions concerning whether or not to get a flu shot.
As with everything Hashimoto’s related, this is a seemingly simple question wrapped in a crazy complicated not-so-fast answer.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that everyone aged six years of age and older get a flu vaccine.
However, when you have Hashimoto’s you are not “everyone” and there are some unique challenges that need to be factored in first.
Some People with Hashimoto’s Get Wiped Out By the Flu Shot
In my experience in working with over 2,000 people with Hashimoto’s, I have found that some patients just get completed wiped out after getting the vaccine.
So, naturally, I have tried to figure out why. (‘Cause that’s how I roll.)
One person who has some great insight into this is infectious disease specialist Dr. Kent Holtorf, an MD I have a lot of respect for.
He’s a clinician and researcher and he operates outside of big pharma.
One thing he recommends is that people with mitochondrial dysfunction, chronic neurological illnesses, and fibromyalgia not get vaccinated because he has seen it “devastate” them.
I thought this was interesting because we have looked into the connection between fibromyalgia and Hashimoto’s (here’s a link if you missed that post) and these 2 patient populations have a lot in common.
So I would add Hashimoto’s patients to this list.
Because people with Hashimoto’s also have mitochondrial dysfunction, many have chronic neurological issues and more importantly, they also have an overzealous immune system.
Viruses and Hashimoto’s
And while viruses have not been definitively linked to the initiation of Hashimoto’s, upwards of 80% of the patients I have treated have been exposed to Epstein Barr virus somewhere in their history.
Of course, Epstein Barr (which is in the herpes family) and influenza virus are not the same.
However, the same part of the immune system is stimulated by the the influenza virus.
And if this is the part of the immune system that is over excited, then it stands to reason that bad things may happen if we make it mad.
It’s not nice to fool mother nature.
The Influenza B Virus and Hashimoto’s
In fact, there is also strong evidence that the Influenza B virus is also involved in the formation of Hashimoto’s, in some people.
So, what does that tell us?
That tells us that, for some people, the influenza vaccine (which is the exposure of dead fragments of the influenza virus to the immune system) may result in an aggressive immune response.
Which may result in a flare up of Hashimoto’s because this is also the part of the immune system that attacks the thyroid.
And for some of those people, that flare up may be “devastating”. I have seen this happen in my patients and this is precisely what Dr. Holthorf is describing, as well.
And these effects can be severe and long lasting because they may fire up the process that led to Hashimoto’s in the first place.
Of course this is not true of everyone. Some people with Hashimoto’s can tolerate the vaccine and do just fine.
Should You Get a Flu Shot?
Like so many things with Hashimoto’s, there is no simple yes or no answer.
If you are among the group that is triggered by viruses, then you run the risk of igniting the fire that already burnt you.
Another question is, what is your risk of exposure?
If you mostly stay home or work from home and have limited contact with other people, your risk of exposure to the flu will be small.
On the other hand, if you have school aged children who love to share every germ and virus imaginable, then your risk is considerably higher.
Also, there’s the question of whether or not you have other serious health conditions, in addition to Hashimoto’s.
If you have a serious chronic illness like emphysema, diabetes or heart disease, catching the flu could have life-threatening consequences for you.
You’ll have to weigh the risks of getting the vaccine and triggering a Hashimoto’s flare up against the potentially serious complications from catching the flu.
Generally, if you’ve had a flu shot in the past and didn’t have an adverse reaction, then you’re probably ok to have another.
Another thing to be aware of is that it’s kind of a crap shoot with the flu vaccine because the manufacturers simply make an educated guess about which strain will be prevalent next year.
And they are not always right.
What about those of us who don’t want to play with mother nature, but also don’t want to get the flu?
Fortunately, there are some really excellent natural solutions for this.
These include herbs and essential oils that have broad spectrum anti-viral properties and can help protect against both the cold and the flu.
Chinese medicine has a wide variety of broad spectrum anti-bacterial and anti-viral herbs that have been used for centuries to treat many infectious diseases.
In fact, there are whole schools of Chinese medical thought that are based on some very famous texts that taught early Chinese doctors how to treat infectious diseases.
2 of the most famous are The Shan Han Lun or On Cold Damage by Zhang Zhong Jing (thought by many to be the Hippocrates of Chinese Medicine) and Wen Bing Xue or Warm Disease Theory authored by five medical geniuses of the Qing Dynasty.
These texts were (and still are) the clinical manuals for generations of doctors who had to treat epidemics long before the advent of vaccines.
And they have saved countless lives.
Let’s take a look at some effective herbs that you can use both to protect you from the flu and to treat it if you get it.
And I’ll also show you where you can get an excellent herbal formula that has these herbs in it.
Ban lan gen (Isatis indigtica root): Ban lan gen has broad spectrum anti-bacterial effects and has shown to be effective against influenza viruses.
Ye ju hua (Chrysanthemum indicum flower): Has both anti-viral and antibacterial properties. In one study, 501 patients were treated with good results.
Jin yin hua (Honeysuckle flowers): Very effective in treating colds and influenza. Broad spectrum antibiotic effects. In one study involving 393 children an herbal formula made with an herbal inhalant showed marked preventative effects.
Gang mei gen (Ilex asperella root): An effective herb for treating cough and lung issues.
There is an excellent herbal formula that I take whenever I travel or am around sick people and which I prescribe to my patients called Gan Mao Ling.
This formulation has all these herbs and a couple of others in it and it is available at this website: Click here to check it out!
Take 6-8 tablets prior to being around people who may be sick and 3-6 tablets 3-4 times a day if you feel like you are coming down with the flu.
Often this is preceded by a scratchy throat and congestion.
Another way to protect yourself is to use an inhaler that has essential oils with anti-viral properties.
This is excellent for children and for traveling, as you can carry it with you and just take a quick inhale when you need it or fear that you may have had some exposure.
The influenza virus is air borne, so you can attack it where it lives.
Ravensarra is an excellent oil that is known for it’s broad spectrum anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. It is also great for asthma because it is anti-spasmodic and it’s an expectorant (helps clear out phlegm).
Mentha piperita or peppermint is also an excellent oil which is anti-microbial, analgesic, anti-infectious, it has broad spectrum anti-bacterial properties, and it’s great for clearing out mucous. It’s also very beneficial for your brain.
Eucalyptus oil is a great decongestant, aids breathing by opening up your airways.
Picea mariana or black spruce is anti-spasmodic, helps clear out mucous and is broad spectrum anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral. and it’s a great anti-inflammatory!
Here’s a wonderful inhaler that has all these oils in it: Click here to check it out!
It’s great as a preventative and for clearing your sinuses when you have a cold or flu. I love using these when I travel, especially on a plane where you bound to get exposed to something.
You can take this as often as you need to. It’s pretty potent, a little goes a long way!
Those are 2 excellent solutions to the flu and they are quite effective.
The key is to take them before you have been exposed or as early as possible when you feel it coming on.
http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/5949/145399/fibromyalgia/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12428064
http://www.thyroid-info.com/hashimotos-encephalopathy.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18240111
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20625285
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18788945?dopt=Abstract&holding=f1000,f1000m,isrctn
http://www.virologyj.com/content/6/1/5#B104
Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmaclogy, John and Tina Chen, 2001
The Aromatherapy Practitioner reference Manual, Sylla Sheppard-Hanger 1994
You’re Not Crazy, It’s Your Genes
Hashimoto’s is a complicated condition. It’s not just a thyroid problem. It’s an autoimmune disease, it’s progressive and over time it can impact many different parts of your body.
This is true on the macroscopic where it affects major organs like the thyroid, liver, adrenal glands, brain, pancreas, stomach, small intestine, gall bladder and more.
And this is also true on the microscopic level where it affects immune cells, hormones, neurotransmitters, enzymes, proteins and even DNA and specific genes.
And with many of these influences, it is not a one way street.
One thing affects another and you sometimes have the creation of vicious cycles and problems and its hard to tell where they started.
In this post we will examine one of these vicious cycles on the microscopic level called the MTHFR gene.
MTHFR sounds a little scary and I like to think of it as the MotherFR gene because it can cause so many problems.
MTHFR is an abbreviation for a gene with a very long name, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase.
(MotherFR is so much easier to remember.)
Basically, what the MTHFR gene does is produce an enzyme with the same really long name (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase).
Genes produce enzymes and these enzymes do all the heavy lifting, they do the work.
They make stuff happen in the body. Without enzymes we wouldn’t have physiological function.
The job for the MTHFR enzyme is to convert one form of folate into the most active and usable form of folate in the human body – in every cell in the body.
This type of folate is called methyltetrahydrofolate or more commonly by it’s nickname methylfolate.
Methylfolate Does 2 Important Jobs:
Firstly, it helps make neurotransmitters in your brain.
Neurotransmitters are our molecules of emotion.
They are what enable us to think, reason, laugh, cry, be happy, sad, love, learn, crave and have crushes.
When methylfolate levels are low, so are your neurotransmitters.
And low levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, GABA and acetylcholine cause all kinds of unpleasant feelings and behavior.
Like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, ADHD, addictive behavior, irritability, insomnia, learning disorders and more.
With Hashimoto’s we often see depletions in these neurotransmitters.
This can be caused by too little thyroid hormones (both T3 and T4) and/or MTHFR defects.
The second thing methylfolate does is it allows us to make something called s-adenosylmethionine better known by its nickname SAMe.
SAMe is important because it helps regulate 200+ enzymes in the human body, its influence is second only to ATP which is every cell’s power source.
Basically what SAMe does is to take what is called a “methyl group” and give it away to these 200+ enzymes and this is what allows them to do their jobs.
Jobs like protect DNA, reduce histamine levels, maintain T and B cell responses, produce key components of cell membranes and about 196 other things.
Because SAMe is so important, when we are deficient in it, we are at higher risk for a lot of different diseases like: autoimmune disease, cancer, infertility, autism, down’s syndrome, thrombosis, high blood pressure and more.
And with autoimmune diseases, studies demonstrate the central role of SAM-dependent methylation ( I’ll explain this in a second) associated with T cell function and it is a key factor in maintaining T and B cell immune responses.
New T cell synthesis is needed in order for T cell clones to expand and respond properly to an immune assault. T cells are needed to help to control the B cells and to balance TH1 and TH2 responses.
If there are methylation cycle problems or mutations, you may have trouble making the bases that are needed for new DNA synthesis.
If you cannot make new DNA, then you cannot make new T cells and as a result you may lack immune system regulatory cells. This is like having a weak and ineffective general who can’t control his troops.
The immune system has many arms, but the B cell “arm” that makes antibodies, known as humoral immunity. I like to think of this part of the immune system as the C.I.A. It gathers intelligence and labels the bad guys.
There is also the T cell “arm” known as cellular immunity, these are like the elite soldiers of the front line. They do the attacking and killing. These are the cells that are often overzealous in Hashimoto’s.
For an in depth discussion on this, check out this post.
If you are having trouble making new T cells, in particular, T suppressor cells, then the immune response may become more heavily weighted in the direction of B cells.
B cell skewed individual has the ability to respond by making antibodies (or autoantibodies) in high numbers to attempt to overcome the T cell deficiency that fights infection.
This is one of the factors in high antibody counts in autoimmune disease.
Methylation is how we get to Oz.
It is the act of taking a single carbon and 3 hydrogens – a methyl group – and attaching itself to an enzyme.
When this happens, the enzyme can do it’s thing.
One common example of this is the breakdown of histamine.
What happens here is a methylation group is made by the methylation pathway and it hangs around until it finds a specific enzyme to bind to.
In the case of histamine, when the methyl group binds to it, the histamine falls apart and goes bye bye.
On the other hand, if your methyl pathway is not making enough methyl groups, then histamine doesn’t break apart and this causes some pretty intense allergic reactions.
For some this may mean running nose and itchy eyes, for others it is full on hives and intolerable itching.
One thing I have observed clinically is that there is a sub-group of people with Hashimoto’s who have histamine intolerance.
This can really complicate recovery and make some of the solutions that help others not work for them.
For example, the Paleo and Autoimmune Paleo diets both have a number of foods that are high in histamine, like bone broth.
So these people eat these foods, thinking that they are doing the right thing (and they are in theory) and they wind up feeling really crappy and just not getting better.
And the people with the most intense reactions may have higher levels of histamine and decreased methyl groups.
What is also interesting is that research has shown some correlation between more severe Hashimoto’s and some of these methylation defects.
Which kind of makes sense, because, as we have seen, SAMe is responsible for maintaining immune responses. And with autoimmune disease, these responses are out of control.
Well, this could be one reason why.
Another key area where this is a concern is brain health. We’ve already seen the impact of methylation on neurotransmitters.
They also play a key role in keeping your myelin healthy.
Myelin coating on nerves is important for proper function of those nerves. Methylation of amino acids in myelin basic protein helps to stabilize it against degradation.
When you lose myelin or it starts to break down then your nerves and brain can’t communicate as well. Myelin is like the coating on the outside of a copper wire.
If a wire isn’t coated it can short out or get major interference from other electrical impulses. In you body this can lead to poor memory or more severe losses in function like those seen in Multiple Sclerosis ( an autoimmune disease caused by the breakdown of myelin).
But, wait there’s more! Methylation is also really important for glutathione production.
Glutathione is our body’s body guard. It is involved in controlling inflammation and in getting every environmental toxins you can think of out of our systems through a process known as direct conjugation.
It is a major anti-oxidant, it regulates the nitric oxide cycle, it is essential for the immune system to operate properly.
It affects how antigens present to immune cells, it can strengthen the regulator part of the immune system.
It is involved in every major biochemical activity, especially those systems most impacted by Hashimoto’s: the immune system, the nervous system and the gastrointestinal system.
It’s importance can not be overstated.
With Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism, some people develop a sluggish MTHFR enzyme.
This happens because thyroxine (T4) helps produce the body’s most active form of vitamin B2, flavin adenine dinucleotide know by its nickname FAD.
Vitamin B2 must be converted into active FAD by T4 so that the body can use it.
And, the MTHFR enzyme must have enough FAD in order to do its job. If FAD levels are low due to too little T4, then the MTHFR enzyme slows down, which leads to low methylfolate which leads to low neurotransmitters, which leads to low SAMe.
No bueno!
This becomes a vicious cycle.
Another really common finding that I see in analyzing blood test results from Hashimoto’s patients is that they have high levels of homocysteine.
As it turns out, low activity of the MTHFR enzyme may also lead to this. High homocysteine is a major risk factor for heart disease, inflammation, difficult pregnancies, birth defects, and more.
Nutrient deficiencies in Folate B6, and B12 have been linked to high homocysteine.
To matters more complicated, people with MTHFR issues may have a difficult time processing certain types of folic acid like those found in processed food and cheap supplements.
A better source is real food: asparagus, spinach, and liver. Both B12 and B6 are found in meat. And alcohol can deplete the body of B6.
Betaine is also helpful in metabolizing homocysteine.
If you are found to have the MTHFR gene variations and/or you have high homocysteine a better way to supplement is to use the activated version of folate, B6 and B12.
These are:
Methylfolate: (also known as L-5-MTHF Folate)
Pyridoxyl-5-Phosphate (P5P): B6
Methylcobalamine: B12
(Thanks to Vicki Ross for sending me an email to help clarify this very important point.) Not everyone can tolerate methylcobalamine (B12). Just like not everyone can tolerate caffeine, some people don’t do with with methyl cobalamine. And the MTHFR results provide clues to how to determine who may not respond well.
The COMT & VDR genotypes determine WHICH B12 you should take. Most people can handle Hydroxocobalamin or Adenosylcobalamin, but may have problems with methyl B12.
Here is a breakdown of the 4 types of B12:
1. Methylcobalamin
This is the most active form in the human body. It converts homocysteine into methionine, which helps protect the cardiovascular system. Methylcobalamin also offers overall protection to the nervous system. This B12 form can also cross the blood-brain barrier–without assistance–to protect brain cells. It contributes essential methyl groups needed for detoxification and to start the body’s biochemical reactions.
2. Cyanocobalamin
This synthetic version of vitamin B12 is created in a lab, which makes it the cheapest supplement option. It offers the most stable form of B12, although it does so through the presence of a cyanide molecule. While the amount of cyanide is not dangerous, it does require the body to expend energy to convert and remove it.
3. Hydroxocobalamin
Bacteria naturally creates this form of vitamin B12, making it the main type found in most foods. It easily converts into methylcobalamin in the body. Hydroxocobalamin is commonly used via injection as a treatment for B12 deficiency as well as a treatment for cyanide poisoning.
4. Adenosylcobalamin
The energy formation that occurs during the Citric Acid cycle requires this form of B12. Although naturally occurring, it is the least stable of the four types of B12 outside the human body and does not translate well into a tablet-based supplement. It can be difficult to find this one in supplement form, although some supplements, like Vegansafe™, have been able to stabilize it.
Well, firstly, we have to do all the other stuff we do to insure that we are thyroid healthy. And, as all of us who have Hashimoto’s know, this is sometimes easier said than done with all the different systems affected and involved.
Key nutrients for thyroid function are magnesium, iodine (no end to the controversy there – more on this in a future post), selenium, zinc and tyrosine.
Methylfolate, produced by the MTHFR enzyme is also needed to convert tyrosine into active thyroid hormone.
So you can se, we have all the ingredients of a vicious cycle.
Where hypothyroidism leads to MTHFR not working as well, which leads to thyroid hormone not being converted properly and on and on.
Here are some basic tips to correct these challenges:
1. Consider supplementing with glutathione and Vitamin D.
2. Take the active forms of B vitamins mentioned above.
3. Incorporate organic grass fed meats and good fats into your diet.
4. Avoid processed foods and environmental chemical that compete for iodine receptors like fluoride, chlorine and bromine (bromide).
5. Avoid gluten, dairy and soy 100%
6. Avoid GMO foods.
7. Consider testing for homocysteine and the MTHFR gene mutations and defects.
Testing for homocysteine and the MTHFR gene variation is available through many labs. 23andme.com offers a test for the MTHFR gene and many individuals can get the tests from their physicians covered by insurance.
However, some people may be concerned ( and with good reason) with this genetic information getting reported on insurance or to employers.
A MTHFR variation or elevated homocysteine levels may affect future insurance coverage especially with the advances in personal data mining and sharing.
To find out more information about MTHFR testing – along with the ethical considerations of it – visit: MTHFR test options
http://www.jimmunol.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/188/1_MeetingAbstracts/116.13 -SAMe and Autoimmune disease
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23039890 – Severity of Hashimoto’s corresponds with defect
MTHFR Basics, Benjamin Lynch, ND
http://www.thyroidpharmacist.com/blog/mthfr-hashimotos-and-nutrients
http://mthfr.net/mthfr-test-optins-oral-swab-blood-test-orsaliva/2013/06/26/
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/four-types-vitamin-b12/
Polycystic ovaries and Hashimoto’s have a lot in common.
Hashimoto’s is the most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide and research has shown that it also has many similarities to PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.
What’s really interesting about these 2 interacting health challenges is what they reveal about how interconnected everything in the body is.
In this post we explore these connections and how, once again, Hashimoto’s is so much more than a thyroid problem.
In order to be diagnosed with PCOS you must have 2 of the 3 following criteria.
(These are what is known as the Rotterdam criteria)
1) No period (Anovulation) or Irregular Periods
2) High levels of testosterone (Hyper-androgenism)
OR
Clinical hyper-androgenism: adult acne, hirsutism (a male pattern of body or facial hair), or hair loss (androgenic alopecia)
3) Polycystic (multiple cysts) appearing ovaries on ultrasound, containing multiple small follicles
Many women with PCOS are overweight, find it difficult to lose weight, and suffer with fatigue, depression and anxiety and either have excess hair or hair loss.
Many women who suffer from Hashimoto’s are also overweight, find it difficult to lose weight, suffer from fatigue, depression and/or anxiety and they struggle with hair loss.
Is it a coincidence? Well, in a word, no.
There is a clear connection between Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and PCOS.
A 2013 meta-analysis found that in a total of 6 studies involving 1605 women, there was a significant increase in the prevalence of Hashimoto’s, increased serum TSH, increased anti TPO antibodies, and anti TG antibodies in women with PCOS when compared to control groups.
A 2012 study found that women with PCOS had a 65% increase in thyroid peroxidase antibodies, and a 26.6% increase in the incidence of goiter, when compared to other subjects in the same age group.
Both Hashimoto’s and PCOS can also lead to infertility and another recent study showed that women suffering with PCOS-related infertility who also had high anti-TPO levels were significantly more likely to not respond to treatment.
There are a number of common causes that make both PCOS and Hashimoto’s worse and they reveal some important clues into treatment strategies.
Here are some common factors:
1. Blood sugar imbalances
2. Low progesterone
3. High Estrogen
4. Hypothyroidism
5. Inflammation: The Root of All Evil
I have written extensively about how sugar imbalances can be major triggers for Hashimoto’s and if you don’t take this seriously you won’t get better. It’s just that simple.
If you missed my previous blog post on this check it out here.
50-70% of women suffering from PCOS have blood sugar issues.
And one of the most common is insulin resistance.
This is basically caused by too much sugar in your blood. Or your classic high carbohydrate diet.
Insulin is a hormone that tells muscle and fatty tissue to take up glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream and to store it as fat or energy.
When the body tissues are “resistant” to insulin, the pancreas simply pumps out more to try and keep the blood sugar levels controlled.
And a woman with PCOS will often have much higher insulin levels in their blood than normal for this reason.
With PCOS, even though other tissues in the body are resistant to insulin, the ovaries and pituitary gland remain very sensitive to it.
The pituitary is a master endocrine gland and it must read and make decisions on many important organs including the adrenals, the thyroid, ovaries and lots more.
It is very sensitive to many different hormones and has been shown to absorb these hormones differently than many other cells in the body.
This is one of the reasons why TSH testing can be so inaccurate – it comes from the pituitary.
A recent research study looked at the role of the pituitary-ovary, adrenal, and thyroid axes in PCOS.
The researchers found through testing TRH (Thyroid Releasing Hormone) that PCOS groups had higher TSH and prolactin and lower free T4.
And adrenal stress may contribute to both high testosterone and insulin resistance, in part because of the impact of this pituitary axis .
High insulin levels also cause the pituitary gland to make too much luteinizing hormone (LH), and too much LH causes the overproduction of testosterone, which causes problems with ovulation.
In addition, insulin surges cause an enzyme (17, 20 lyase) to increase activity and this promotes the development of cysts and more production of testosterone.
What is also interesting is that estrogen is transformed into testosterone in fat cells by an enzyme called aromatase.
This is very common in overweight women who are insulin resistant and who are hypothyroid.
Drugs that lower insulin levels like metformin have been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of PCOS in some women because of this connection.
They lower insulin and aromatase levels which helps lower testosterone levels and, thus, cyst formation.
As part of a vicious cycle, the high testosterone in PCOS sparks even more insulin resistance.
And research has shown that this is not a one way street.
Low thyroid function (higher TSH) actually makes insulin resistance worse in women with PCOS.
Boil this all down to one thing?
Too much sugar is like adding gasoline to the flame of both PCOS and Hashimoto’s.
(If you get nothing else from this post, burn that into your brain.)
Also, it is interesting to note that one of the most common factors of hair loss in women with Hashimoto’s is blood sugar imbalances and insulin resistance.
Low progesterone is another thing that is very common in both PCOS and Hashimoto’s.
It is difficult to know which came first, but there are some common factors.
Usually in their mid-thirties, women’s progesterone levels begin to fall more quickly than their estrogen levels, creating what is known as “estrogen dominance”.
If left uncorrected, this imbalance of progesterone and estrogen can get worse over time and all kinds of issues can appear, including: premenstrual headaches (often migraine-like) fluid retention, fibrocystic breast disease, uterine fibroids, heavy, painful menstrual periods, endometriosis and functional hypothyroidism.
Estrogen dominance also causes the liver to produce high levels of a protein called “thyroid binding globulin”, which, you guessed it, binds to thyroid hormone.
When this happens the amount of thyroid hormone that can be used by the cells of the body goes down.
What does this lead to? Low thyroid function and all of the negative side effects that come along with it.
A 2009 study looked at a group of 337 women with PCOS. All of the women were assessed for the key markers of PCOS, including hirsutism, acne, and menstrual irregularity.
What the researchers found was that women with the highest TSH levels tended to have the most severe insulin resistance. Interestingly, this was not related to weight: hypothyroidism caused insulin resistance in women in all weight categories.
The study concluded that a TSH above 2 miU/L was associated with insulin resistance in PCOS.
It seems that for women with PCOS, an optimal TSH range may be below 2-2.5 mIU/L.
While the research on this topic is generally focused on TSH, it is also makes sense that an optimal range also exists for free T3 and free T4 in PCOS.
In my practice, I have found that values at the top part of the range may provide benefit for some women with PCOS.
And, once again, this is not a one way street.
Low thyroid function leads to low progesterone and high estrogen.
This can lead to weight gain and insulin resistance which can lead to estrogen getting transformed into testosterone and too much LH which can all lead to PCOS.
And correcting hypothyroidism can improve and sometimes resolve PCOS.
Do you see how this is all connected into a massive vicious cycle?
Dear reader, if you know me and my work, you know where I’m going with this.
The root of all evil is inflammation.
Both Hashimoto’s and PCOS are driven by inflammation.
Nodules and thyroid inflammation and cysts on the ovaries are both caused by inflammation.
We’ve seen how sugar and inflammation go together like gamblers and con men.
Well, inflammation, Hashimoto’s and PCOS go together like gamblers, pick pockets and con men.
Recent research has shown that there are common inflammatory markers in both PCOS and Hashimoto’s.
(Read this post to learn more about what is happening with the immune system and Hashimoto’s.)
C-reactive protein levels are 96% higher in PCOS patients than in healthy controls. It has also been found to be significantly elevated in patients with subacute thyroiditis.
Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is high with obesity and insulin resistance. IL-18 is a major culprit in the initiation and progression of Hashimoto’s, especially those with severe symptoms that don’t respond to levothyroxine treatment.
Polymorphisms (genetics variations) of the IL-1a, IL-1b and IL-6 genes have also been associated with PCOS.
IL-6 is also elevated with insulin resistance, PCOS and Hashimoto’s and is thought to be a major factor in the initiation and progression of both disorders.
PCOS and Hashimoto’s have many common factors and symptoms and when you boil it all down have very similar origins.
They are made worse by blood sugar imbalances, especially insulin resistance and by inflammation.
So the best way to treat them is?
Conventional treatment for PCOS is to prescribe oral contraceptives to shrink cysts and falsely normalize menstrual patterns.
But many times, this is not a good long term solution because it does not address the underlying causes of the problem.
If the underlying causes are thyroid related, then proper thyroid management will often resolve the cysts.
In addition, the following strategies should be implemented:
Balance blood sugar, improve insulin receptor sensitivity and reduce systemic inflammation.
This is the holy trinity.
Hashimoto’s is an progressive autoimmune disease and, over time, it becomes way more than a thyroid problem.
As this post clearly demonstrates, many different systems of the body get involved and affect each other.
When these start to malfunction, they can cause a web of problems that result in a downward spiral that causes you to get worse and worse.
It is possible to turn this downward spiral on it’s head.
But you need an understanding of what is going on, you need an approach that can help you deal with everything and fix it and you need support in making all these changes.
That’s why I created my program, the 5 Elements of Thyroid Health. It is 3 pronged approach that:
1. First, teaches you what is happening in your body,
2. Then we work with you to create an action plan to fix those problems, and
3. Finally, we also work on creating a lifestyle that will sustain and support those changes to give you the best chances for success.
Click this link to watch a video to learn more.
(The European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) cosponsored the Rotterdam polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) consensus workshop to come up with the Rotterdam Criteria in 2004).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3683210/ – Thyroid disorders in PCOS
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24260593 – 2013 meta-analysis
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21866332 – 2012 study
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20638057 – poor response to treatment
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002408/ – Origins of PCOS
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12477517 – Metformin treatment in PCOS
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19654109 – High TSH leads to more insulin resistance
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22553983 – PCOS and Chronic Inflammation
http://www.jofamericanscience.org/journals/am-sci/am0706/175_6025am0706_1156_1162.pdf – IL-6 and IL-15 elevated in hashimoto’s
Did you know that low thyroid function is often caused by some other condition first, and often adrenal gland stress is the culprit?
Chronic adrenal stress can:
* Affect communication between the brain and glands that produce hormones. The hypothalamus and pituitary gland are the directors of hormone production and chronic adrenal stress can mess up communication with the thyroid.
* Increase thyroid binding activity, keeping thyroid hormones from getting absorbed by the cells of the body.
* Interfere with the conversion of T4 to active forms of T3 that the body can use.
* Affect detoxification pathways that clear out unnecessary thyroid hormone, when these get stuck in the body you can develop thyroid hormone resistance making cells lose their sensitivity to thyroid hormones.
* Weakens the immune barriers of the gut, lungs, and brain and weaken the immune system, in general.
When this happens, you can have more immune flare ups and this can trigger your Hashimoto’s and make it worse.
Here’s the tricky thing about adrenal stress: it’s almost always caused – at least in part – by something else.
These causes include anemia, blood sugar swings, gut inflammation, food intolerances (especially gluten, dairy and soy), essential fatty acid deficiencies, environmental toxins, and of course, chronic emotional and psychological stress.
Sound familiar?
These are also all the things that make Hashimoto’s worse.
We can’t ignore them or pretend like they aren’t there like so many doctors do. We have to deal with all of them.
Here’s the thing, we have maxed out our stress cards (like our credit cards for stress).
With Hashimoto’s your body is under so much physiological stress, all the time, that extra emotional stress will often totally wipe you out.
This happens because we’ve emptied our accounts and now we have to reinvent our lives and this means what you do everyday.
We have to start putting relaxation and fun back into our “stress savings” accounts.
Seriously, you have to replenish this account. It’s not enough to say “Yeah, I have nothing in that account.”
Because just like your bank account if you aren’t putting money back in and you’re always just taking money out, what happens?
Eventually, you go broke and you got all these creditors after you and lose your house and your car and eventually, you wind up on the street.
Talked about stressed out!
That’s what’s happening in your body. You wind up with the functional equivalent of being homeless inside your own body.
And, really, we have plenty of opportunities to take positive actions regarding stress every day, and often these wind up being missed opportunities and actually lead to more stress.
Here are 5 common mistakes people make every day dealing with stress.
The most important thing you can do is start becoming aware of this.
Are you…
1. Working through lunch (or other meals)?
This is a really common problem. many people don’t take the time to relax and enjoy their meals. This is a huge opportunity to relax and if you are stressed during your meal, it has a big impact on your digestion and absorption of food and vital nutrients.
2. Using your break time to vent and complain?
What you focus on is what becomes reality. Put that energy into manifesting something positive, like healing.
Go for a walk, appreciate the things around you instead.
3. Doing too many things at once?
Try slowing down and doing one thing at a time. So many people spend their days multi-tasking themselves into a totally stressed out state of mind (and body).
4. Not asking for help?
How often do we let our pride stop us from asking for help when we really need it? There’s no shame in admitting you need help and reaching out to someone and asking.
5. Denying there’s a problem?
So many people pretend they have stress under control when they really don’t, at all.
It is a very powerful trigger of autoimmunity. It can completely torpedo your progress.
You can’t just pretend it’s not here.
It’s here and it’s here to stay, so you need effective strategies for having less of it.
Every day.
Please share with us your best stress relieving practices.
A recent study published in the the Journal of Interdisciplinary Toxicology (Vol. 6(4): 159–184. by Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff looks at the health impact on glyphosates, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s marquee product Roundup.
This is a popular herbicide used for many purposes including domination of the world’s seed supply.
Here what they found.
This stuff is everywhere and it is used by farmers on wheat crops 2-3 days before harvesting to dry everything out and make it easier to harvest.
Why let it dry in the sun when you can spray it with toxic chemicals?
This is now also used on all grain crops, rice, seeds, dried beans and peas, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, and sugar beets.
It is also used on genetically modified crops like corn and soy, extensively.
Well, it turns out that glyphosate is a known endocrine disruptor, not good news for all us thyroid hormone fans and it has a lot of other really bad effects on our bodies.
Samsel & Seneff have carefully researched the known (published) effects of glyphosate along with the known (published) pathologies associated with celiac disease, gluten intolerance and irritable bowel syndrome.
They have identified chemical and biological pathways where glyphosate can be the cause.
These are: disruption of the gut bacteria; breakdown in the junctions of the intestinal wall; depletion of vital minerals, vitamins and nutrients; and impairment of cytochrome enzymes that aid the liver in detoxifying environmental toxins, thus multiplying the negative effect of other environmental toxins to which we are exposed in increasing amounts.
Translation: Glyphosate may lead to leaky gut, which allows glyphosate soaked gluten to get into your blood stream and your brain, where it does major damage.
This begs the question, is the problem gluten or Roundup?
The answer for you and me?
It doesn’t matter, because they are now one in the same. Go 100% gluten free people.
It’s just not worth the damage it causes.
http://sustainablepulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Glyphosate_II_Samsel-Seneff.pdf
The truth hurts
In this post we’re going to break down the stomach, stomach acid, and, of course, it’s relationship to the thyroid and Hashimoto’s.
What does the stomach do?
It’s role is really to take food that has been chewed (hopefully well) and mixed with saliva and to break it down.
Break it down! Like James Brown!
Break it down, stomach! Do the mashed potato. Ok, what breaks all this food down?
Hydrochloric acid. This is vitally important for breaking down vitamins, minerals (like iron) and vital nutrients so that they can be absorbed by your small intestine.
A lot of people, misled by advertising, think that stomach acid is bad. 2 of the top 10 most prescribed drugs in the US are Nexium and Prevacid.
These are designed to block the production of stomach acid and are called proton pump inhibitors.
These proton pump inhibitors work by completely blocking the production of stomach acid. They do this by inhibiting (shutting down) a system in the stomach known as the proton pump.
Because we don’t need that.
No, actually, it’s hugely important.
Having enough stomach acid prevents food poisoning, parasites and other critters from taking over your digestive tract.
Enough hydrochloric acid also stimulates gall bladder and pancreas function to complete digestion and keep everybody in the digestive tract happy, happy, happy.
Proton pump inhibitors also affect thyroid hormone absorption and a study from Endocrinology Practice, the official journal of the Endocrine Society of America found their impact is so significant that patients taking these drugs and thyroid hormone may need to adjust their dosage.
What I’m saying is you actually do need hydrochloric acid or HCL and it’s production depends on the hormone gastrin.
And guess what else has an impact on gastrin? Thyroid hormone.
So hypothyroidism causes less gastrin to be produced, which leads to lower amounts of hydrochloric acid which, in turn leads to heartburn, bloating, gas and..wait for it…….!
Why, yes I did.
But didn’t you also say too little hydrochloric acid?
Why, yes I did.
Let me explain…mechanisms, people. It’s how things work.
It turns out, having enough stomach acid actually prevents heartburn by helping to thoroughly digest your food.
The burning is felt in the lower esophagus.
The burning sensation that people feel from heartburn is actually from the poorly digested food rotting in your gut and shooting up into your esophagus, where there is no protection from the acid.
Even a small amount of acid will cause problems there.
In an editorial published in the journal Gastroenterology first published online in 2009, the author remarked:
Treating gastroesophageal reflux disease with profound acid inhibition (which the popular drugs are) will never be ideal because acid secretion is not the primary underlying defect.
You see, there is the truth rearing it’s ugly little head. Another study referenced below suggests the actual cause of GERD is pressure on the abdomen (often made worse by weight gain and obesity) not too much acid.
For decades the medical establishment has been directing its attention at how to reduce stomach acid secretion in people suffering from heartburn and GERD, even though it’s well-known that these conditions are not caused by excess stomach acid.
Advertising, people. Great for making money, not so good for healing.
Another thing that HCL is important for is the absorption of vital nutrients like B12, iron, and calcium and for breaking down and absorbing protein.
Too little HCL can also lead to inflammation, lesions and infections in the intestines.
All of that leads to poor absorption of thyroid hormone, leading to…this one is a gimmee….(yup, you guessed it) normal lab tests but hypothyroid symptoms.
With too little stomach acid, also called hypochlorhydria, 2 important factors lead to GERD and acid reflux.
The first is bacterial overgrowth. Stomach acid acts like the police of the digestive tract. It keeps the riff raff out. When you don’t have enough you can get overgrowth of bacterial species that cause problems like copious amounts of gas. (Whew!)
The second problem that too little stomach acid causes is that it can lead to poor digestion, especially of carbohydrates. And these 2 problems feed each other because these problem bacteria really like to feed on carbohydrates.
So you wind with yet another vicious cycle.
This is also why people with acid reflux often feel better after going off of gluten (and other carbs). You stop feeding the problem.
I am very fortunate to have a robust community of Hashimoto’s folks at our Facebook support group.
I asked them how many of them experienced symptoms of acid reflux or GERD. And of the 75 respondents, virtually all of them had symptoms related to issues involving stomach acid.
Here’s a chart that illustrates their symptoms.
3 Symptoms of Acid Reflux – SURVEY TABULATION – January 13 2
And a second chart that looks at what helped.
3 Symptoms of Acid Reflux – SURVEY TABULATION – January 13 4
While this is hardly a scientific study, it is emblematic of how common these problems are among this population. Notice how many people improved by going off of gluten and wheat and/or going Paleo. All approaches that limited the number of carbs. Also notice how many are on proton pump inhibitors.
Too little stomach acid also leads to anemia because you can’t absorb B12, and you can’t properly absorb iron.
Couple this with heavy bleeding during your cycle which can also be caused by too little thyroid hormone (more on that in an upcoming post) and you have a recipe for iron deficiency anemia.
The stomach is important for breaking down and digesting foods and for allowing the body to absorb important vitamins, minerals and protein.
Too little stomach acid can lead to a host of problems: like heartburn (counter-intuitive but true), anemia, iron and protein deficiency.
All of this creates a vicious cycle of less conversion and utilization of thyroid hormone and lower stomach acid. Not good.
So glad you asked.
Let’s use logic, even though it can be counter intuitive. If you have too little stomach acid and this is the cause of the problem then….yup, that’s right, do something to increase the stomach acid when you eat.
Some simple natural solutions include:
* Going gluten free or Paleo (to cut out the carbs)
* Apple cider vinegar (to increase stomach acid)
*Lemon or Lime juice in some water (to increase stomach acid)
*Fresh Ginger or ginger tea (to increase stomach acid secretion)
*HCL supplements (to boost HCL levels)
How much really depends on how bad you’ve got it and on whether or not there are other things going on. And all the things that increase stomach acid should be done with your meal, not on an empty stomach.
H. Pylori
There are some other things that can make resolving this more difficult. One of the most common is the bacteria Heliobactor Pylori also known as H. Pylori.
This little critter can take over when there is not enough stomach acid in your stomach. So be sure to test for it to rule it out if you have these symptoms.
Alkaline Water
This stuff is often marketed as the answer. “Cancer can’t grow in an alkaline environment.”
Here’s the thing. Different parts of your body have different acid and alkaline requirements. Your stomach needs to be acidic.
When you drink lots of alkaline water, especially if it’s with your meal, you may wind up causing everything I have just described.
Don’t believe the hype, acid ain’t all bad.
Once again we see how there is an explanation for what’s gong on and the conventional medical approach or the multi-marketed hype, while profitable, is actually counterproductive to healing.
I envision a day, sometime in the future when medicine actually becomes about healing and resolving people’s issues.
Wait! It’s here… at Hashimoto’s Healing where we provide hope, help and healing for Hashimoto’s and the varied ways that it wreaks havoc on our bodies. For example check out my program The 5 Elements of Thyroid Health.
Please, please, please! Give your body a chance to heal by learning the truth. Question the drug companies and the marketers who are talkin’ loud and sayin’ nothin’.
(I will give a free 30 minute consultation to anyone who can identify the numerous allusions to James Brown songs and/or dances that I have in this post.)
http://www.natap.org/2009/HIV/070409_02.htm :Article on how proton pump inhibitors actually cause the problem they are supposed to fix
http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(07)01843-4/preview : The real cause of GERD
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9079271 : Study showing how antibiotics can improve gastric reflux
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16871438 : An interesting study showing that a low carb diet improves acid reflux
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17669709 : Study showing how proton pump inhibitors affect thyroid hormone absorption
The Thyroid, A Fundamental and Clinical Text, Ninth Edition. Lewis E. Braverman and Robert D. Utiger 2005
Digestive health is key to thyroid hormone conversion
Our bodies are not machines. They are groups of ecosystems all interacting with each other. And just like the health of ecosystems on our planet, problems in one ecosystem can cause a ripple effect and cause problems in other areas.
This is especially true with the ecosystem of the digestive tract and thyroid health. Our digestive system is teeming with life.
There are billions and billions of bacteria from many different species all living there. Many of them do important jobs for our bodies.
One of the jobs that they do is to help convert thyroid hormone from its inactive form T4 into a form that the body’s cells can actually use, T3.
This is a really good thing.
Unfortunately, people often don’t pay enough attention to maintaining a healthy ecosystem in their digestive tract. This is true of doctors and patients.
Many things can lead to the death of good bacterial species and the overgrowth of ones that aren’t so helpful.
Antibiotics, processed foods, too much sugar, antacids, NSAIDS and environmental toxins are just a few things that can turn that digestive garden of eden into a post industrial waste land.
When this happens, thyroid hormone doesn’t get converted as well.
Bacterial gut infections can reduce thyroid hormone levels, dull thyroid hormone receptor sites, increase reverse T3, decrease TSH and promote autoimmune disease.
With Hashimoto’s, a particularly nasty species of bacteria called Yersinia enteroclitica has been found to be 14 times higher in some people with the disease.
Bottom line: Having a healthy ecosystem in your gut is very important for helping your thyroid work properly. It is also important for helping thyroid replacement hormone work properly.
All of which matters because if your thyroid doesn’t work properly and thyroid hormone doesn’t work properly then you feel like crap.
And you have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism: fatigue, weight gain, depression, hair loss, pain, constipation, brain fog, mental sluggishness and the unending desire to read posts from Hashimoto’s Healing to figure out what is actually going on. 🙂
Today’s health tip is about thyroid hormone resistance. This is a common cause of feeling like crap because when this happens in your body, the cells aren’t absorbing and utilizing thyroid hormone.
So you might be taking thyroid hormone and your lab work might all look great, but you still feel like they just scraped you off the tires of a Greyhound bus.
It’s as if thyroid hormone is knocking on the cell’s door and the cells are saying,
“I hear you knocking but you cain’t come in.”
“Please let me in? Please, please, please, please?” says thyroid hormone.
“I’d like to, really I would, but no.” answers the cells.
What is their problem?
Well, there are lots of possible reasons for this. Let’s focus on 1 today:
Inflammation suppresses the hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid axis, by reducing the body’s available stores of TSH , T4, and T3.
The pituitary/hypothalamus also regulates many other hormones, including sex hormones; therefore, taking thyroid hormone medication may help some symptoms of hypothyroidism, but will not help all symptoms (since the hormone supplementation does not do anything if the cause is the pituitary or hypothalamus).
Inflammation can also reduce the number and sensitivity of thyroid hormone receptors throughout the body. All thyroid hormone (in the form of T3) has to be able to get into the body’s cells in order to have an effect;
if there are not enough cells, or they are not sensitive enough, it doesn’t matter how many thyroid meds you take.
Inflammation also decreases conversion of T4 to T3. Ninety percent of the thyroid hormone produced by the body is in the form of T4, but much of that has to be converted into T3 to be used.
Which is why T4 thyroid medications are not a great idea–you may end up taking more and more, and you’ll definitely get _effects_ from them, but not necessarily the benefits that your body would receive if it were able to convert T4 into T3 and utilize it to begin with.
Basically: Hashimoto’s is an inflammatory condition, and you must address inflammation in order to heal.
This begs the question: How do we address inflammation?
By any means necessary, if you have Hashimoto’s this should be your job, hobby, passion and obsession 24/7, 365.
Here are some things you can do:
1. Optimize vitamin D levels in the blood via supplementation with D3. Inflammation inhibits the body’s ability to convert Vit. D from the sun, and of course in people with Hashimoto’s, inflammation is everywhere.
2. Get to know and love glutathione, since this helps prevent oxidative damage. Autoimmunity and stress depletes the body’s stores of glutathione. (This can be challenging and there’s more to this than simple supplementation…more on this to come.)
3. Fatty acid balance is also very important. Omega-six fats promote inflammation, and omega-3 fats are anti-inflammatory. The best way to get omega-3s is to eat a lb. of fatty fish (salmon, makerel, sardines, halibut, herring) per week.
Of course, you have to weight this with all the chemical toxins in fish. Smaller fish like sardines, generally have less.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, let me repeat. Reducing inflammation is key for overall healing. And STRESS AND LEAKY GUT are also the all stars of the Professional Inflammation League (The P.I.L.).
People who find the most success in healing their healing their Hashimoto’s are the ones who deal with both of these things.
Leaky gut is to inflammation what money is to politicians. It’s a license to ill, people.
And a lot of people don’t really take the impact that stress has on their health seriously. For people with autoimmune disease, research has shown that over 80% experienced a very stressful event prior to its onset.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18190880