Hashimoto's Thyroiditis vs Gluten

Is Giving UP Gluten REALLY Necessary for Hashimoto’s Patients, or Just Fad Hype?

Unless you are newly diagnosed, chances are you have heard a lot about the connection between eating gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, oats) and auto immune diseases like Hashimoto’s.

You also have probably heard from your doctor, online nutritionists, and many mainstream media outlets and late night talk show hosts saying it is a lot of BS, and that you actually NEED gluten to be healthy.

So Who Is Right?

And also, just how strict do I really need to be? Can’t I have a little cheat? What if I don’t have any gut symptoms?

To find out the answer, I searched through research articles on PubMed. I already knew my stance on the issue, but wanted to make sure there was current research that supported it.

The September 2015 edition of the journal Gastroenterology  found high “proportions of patients with NCWS or CD develop autoimmune disorders, are ANA positive, and showed DQ2/DQ8 haplotypes”. (note- NCWS is non-Celiac wheat sensitivity.)

In the March 2015 journal Cerebellum, gluten was further linked to neurological disorders such as gluten ataxia, where there were no gut symptoms whatsoever, and occurred most commonly in patients with Hashimoto’s and other auto immune diseases. Check out this quote from the study:

“As with celiac disease, patients with GA (gluten ataxia) are often found to have an increased prevalence of additional autoimmune diseases the commonest of which include hypothyroidism, type 1 diabetes mellitus and pernicious anemia. Gastrointestinal symptoms are seldom prominent and are not a reliable indicator for the presence or absence of enteropathy. In this respect, gluten ataxia resembles dermatitis herpetiformis, an autoimmune dermatopathy triggered by gluten where gastrointestinal symptoms are not prominent even in the presence of an enteropathy.” (parenthesis and bold added by me for emphasis and clarification)

Wow. That is pretty powerful. How many of you with brain symptoms has ever had your doctor consider a possible gluten connection?

How To Lose Weight With Hashimoto’s

My Top 5 Helpful Weight Strategies For Hashimoto’s

Weight gain and the inability to lose weight may be a devastating consequence for many with hypothyroidism.

Many of you have been asking how to lose weight with Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism…

Here are some helpful strategies for weight management and Hashimoto’s:

1. Get Your Latest Lab Values

Get your latest lab values for TSH, Free T3 and Free T4 from your doctor. You may have been told that these numbers were “normal”, but sometimes when these numbers are on the outskirts of normal, your metabolic rate may still be impaired making it more difficult for you to burn calories.

Additionally, new guidelines have redefined the normal range for TSH to be below 3, however, not many labs have implemented this guideline. Your doctor may be using old ranges.

Most people report feeling well with a TSH between 0.5-2. 0. Remember, thyroid medications are dosed in micrograms, (that is 1/1000 of a milligram), sometimes a teensy increase in the dose can make a world of a difference. Talk to your doctor.

2. Consider The Type of Medication You Are Taking

Some report more weight loss with T4/T3 combinations (Armour, Nature-Throid, compounded medications) versus T4 medications (Synthroid, Levoxyl, Tirosint) alone. T4 is a precursor to T3, but some individuals do not convert T4 to T3 properly, and the T3 component is the metabolically active one. For more information, make sure to read my article on which thyroid medications are best and my top 11 thyroid medication tips.

3. Consider the Type of Diet You Are Eating