Everyday Life With Hypothyroidism

Bette Dowdell

So, there you are, dragging your patooty through one grey day after another, wondering where your brain went, why your body aches and if you’ll ever feel good again.

Even doctors who test for thyroid problems typically prescribe the ineffective medicine Synthroid or its generic equivalent. It helps almost nobody. On the other hand, it can cause allergic reactions, making patients feel even worse.

Doctors, state medical boards and, notoriously, the FDA need to work this out by letting the sunlight of truth into their considerations. I recommend, however, that you don’t hold your breath.

So, while they’re figuring things out–or not–let’s talk about three dietary things hypothyroid people can do to help themselves.

• Don’t eat purchased bread, cookies, cakes, etc. And not because of weight. Commercial bakeries started using bromine as a dough conditioner in the 1980s, and bromine is death on the thyroid. Just eliminating bromine from the diet could restore  health to some hypothyroid problems.

Here’s why. Our thyroid hormone doesn’t work without iodine. Bromine is chemically very similar to iodine, and when it gets into our bodies, it muscles iodine out of the way. At which point, our thyroid hormone no longer includes the necessary iodine, just bromine, and it becomes completely ineffective because bromine can’t get the job done. In effect, you have no thyroid hormone.

But here’s the rub: Blood tests can’t distinguish between effective iodine and nonfunctional bromine. While thyroid hormone that can’t do anything is no better than no  thyroid hormone, the test says you’re good to go. Even if you’re verging on comatose. Doctors no longer consider symptoms, and the blood test has spoken.

• Eat plenty of protein, including red meat at least every other day. At least. Our thyroid glands, as part of the endocrine system, thrive on protein. They live for protein. They can’t make it without protein. And red meat has micronutrients we need, and can’t get anywhere else.

The current low protein fad shows how wrongheaded supposedly knowledgeable people can be. And the low fat crowd is worse. We need dietary fat for adequate nutrition. Did you know that using a no-fat salad dressing means your body can’t absorb most of the nutrition in the salad? Why not eat sawdust and at least get some fiber?

• And for pity’s sake, I’m begging you, don’t eat soy. Or drink soy. Or put soy lotions on your body. Just don’t have anything to do with soy.

Besides depressing thyroid function, soy messes with the entire endocrine system, especially estrogen, testosterone and progesterone. Do you really want to do a number on your reproductive system?

Eliminating soy means eliminating 60% of processed foods, which includes fast food,  meals at most chain restaurants and any meal that comes out of a box.

You’ll have to read labels. For instance, most canned tuna comes in a soy broth; the can says it’s packed in water, but that’s not so. And soy uses many aliases. If an ingredient label uses words like hydrolyzed, concentrated protein, isolate, flavorings or isoflavones, it’s soy; put it back on the shelf and walk quickly away.

So there you have it. Three ways to super-size your health. A tip of the proverbial iceberg to be sure, but a strong beginning for your health revolution.