Ask Dr. Alex: Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

 

 

 

This is the first in our series of questions for Dr. Alex Rinehart, our resident expert on all things related to wellness and holistic practices.

Do you have a question you want answered? Submit it to askdralex@zenfullydelicious.com, and we may choose it for an upcoming column. Note: He does like a challenge.

Dear Dr. Alex,

Do you have any nutritional/diet recommendations for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis? My mom’s been really sick for about 9 months, as first they thought it was a standard thyroid disorder, then they thought it was fibromyalgia, then rheumatoid arthritis, and now they’re positive it’s Hashimoto’s.

The medicine isn’t really doing much to alleviate the excruciating pain she’s in, and I’ve been digging around the net to see if I could find any alternative therapies online. So far I haven’t found much.

Thanks,
C.P.

Dr. Alex’s Response:

I’m really sorry that your mother is dealing with so much! The good news is that a lot of great information is available about the thyroid, but it’s not being talked about nearly as much in the media as it should be.

Most medical doctors simply look at Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) when testing for thyroid abnormalities. If your thyroid hormones are low (hypo-thyroidism), your TSH will be high, as your body is trying to make up the account balance. So most medical doctors measure TSH, and if it’s too high, they give you a synthetic thyroid hormone, which can be helpful, but can have its side effects as well.

However, the cause is still not addressed. Even more, taking synthetic thyroid has a natural feedback effect which communicates with your body, telling it to stop producing the natural thyroid — ultimately having you dependent on the medication for the rest of your life! I recommend requesting a natural T4 and T3 (porcine) hormone replacement prescription like Armour Thyroid, which if tolerated, can be very helpful.

When the doctors continue hitting a wall with clinical results, they will then look deeper by looking at thyroid antibodies (anti-TPO) and may finally give a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. My experience has shown that the treating doctor will either “watch and wait,” stick with the same plan (altering the dosage of current medications), or add anti-inflammatory or steroid drugs to reduce your immune response. All can be helpful symptomatically, but it’s really clearing the smoke instead of addressing the flames.

What research has been finding is that it comes back to — you guessed it — diet, environment and lifestyle. Here’s what the cutting edge science tells us:

Pesticide Exposure

• Pesticides in our produce interfere with hormone function by messing with the balance of T3 and T4, and also physically blocking thyroid receptors. Therefore you may be producing enough T3 and T4, but it’s just not being read by your body. High TSH along with normal T3 and T4 levels shows a low-level hypothryoidism that if let alone, may progress into more serious problems.

Food Sensitivity (especially gluten intolerance or celiac disease)

• Gluten, as well as other sensitivities, create a low-grade systemic inflammation that can cause your body to overreact to foreign antigens.
• Roughly 1% of the American population (3,000,000 people) have celiac disease. It is estimated that with better diagnosis and detection, up to 50-60% of the population may have some level of gluten sensitivity. This is likely because 95% of cases are misdiagnosed as other conditions or undiagnosed (National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, 2010).
• A new concept known as molecular mimicry is a theory that suggests molecules in your thyroid may resemble molecules in foods you are allergic to, so your own antibodies become overactive, promoting autoimmunity (NEJM, 1999). This hyper-reactivity and autoimmunity may begin affecting hormonal activity. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, specifically, is an immune reaction to your own thyroid tissue!

Heavy Metal Toxicity

• Heavy metal exposure such as mercury poisoning can wreak havoc on your system. These toxins are stored in fat tissue, which when released actually start affecting your thyroid receptors, having a slowing affect on your thyroid. In addition, these metals promotes the production of little ricocheting bullets called free radicals, that wreak havoc on our cells, even when handled properly!

Chronic Stress

• Stress will make 95% of disease processes worse. Why? Because your body protects itself like a triage unit, focusing on immediate concerns first, at the expense of some long-term protective functions.
• There’s a system referred to as the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal-thryoid (H-P-A-T) axis that shows the links between these systems and how dysfunction in one can drive a dysfunction in another (Neuroendocrinology, 2005). Overproduction of our stress hormone cortisol (which actually has some anti-inflammatory properties) is produced from the same precursor molecule as your sex hormones. Too much cortisol may lead to low libido, cardiovascular risk, fertility problems, delayed healing, and lack of energy!

Environmental Triggers

• Genetics provide the blueprint for healthy body function, but it’s the environmental triggers (diet, heavy metals, toxins) that turn certain genes on and off. Healthy food and environment speaks positive messages to our body, while unhealthy food and toxin exposure provides negative messages.
• Research looking at early exposure to dairy in infant formula suggests that wrongful exposure to antigens can lead to autoimmune reactions 10-15-20 years later in life (American Diabetes Association, 1999). So if a child is wrongfully exposed in infancy and young age, autoimmunity could be expected to appear in a person’s mid-twenties to mid-40s, which is when most autoimmune diseases are diagnosed.

Insulin Resistance

• Insulin resistance develops over time, and is not a black and white phenomenon like blood testing lets us believe. Insulin resistance is often part of a larger problem known as Metabolic Syndrome which includes other findings like high triglycerides and cholesterol readings. Interestingly, these findings frequently accompany hypothyroidism.
• Regarding infant formula and chronic disease mentioned above, exposure to dairy as an infant in formula is believed to induce pancreatic cell destruction, leading to higher risk of developing type I diabetes autoantibodies (JAMA, 2003). What happens is that in the web of human physiology, dysfunction in one hormone system causes dysfunction in other systems (like the H-P-A-T axis). The web is the common thread of diet and lifestyle, and the fact that organ systems work with one another, and not just as separate entities (that’s where the holistic part comes in!).

Vitamin Deficiencies

• Due to the Standard American Diet (SAD), many Americans are deficient in key nutrients like Selenium (high in brazil nuts), Zinc (high in meat, nuts, pumpkin seeds), Vitamin A (high in carrots, yams), Omega-3 fats (fatty fish), iodine (seaweed, kelp, iodized salt), and B vitamins (healthy greens and grains) which can all have a negative effect on your thyroid function, promote inflammation and immune dysfunction. For instance, Selenium not only helps with thryoid hormone production, but also promotes glutathione production. Glutathione is your body’s most powerful antioxidant, and helps clear out toxins and heavy metals that may lie at root cause of thyroid dysfunction. The good news is that your daily needs can be met by eating just 2 Brazil Nuts daily.

If anyone is looking to take a more holistic route, true holistic consultations take 1-2 hours in duration. Your health care provider needs to assess all of the possible triggers to your symptom-state and paint a story as to the cause. Despite the many causes of thryoid dysfunction, a provider can personalize recommendations based on your unique profile, with blood tests serving as a fall-back option to help direct more complex cases.

In the meantime, you can protect yourself by taking part in daily relaxation techniques, hiring a lifestyle coach, reducing toxin exposure in your diet and lifestyle, screening yourself for food sensitivities and allergies, promoting insulin and blood sugar control, and making sure you’re eating a nutrient-rich diet free from empty carbohydrates and unnecessary food chemicals and additives.

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Dr. Alex Rinehart is a Chiropractor and Certified Clinical Nutritionist. Through his practice at CoActive Health, his commitment to mind/body/spirit integration is emphasized by working in partnership with his patients to achieve wellness, with specialized services to support chronic conditions.