An update on reasons for my recent weight gain...

[JuliaL]

I don't know if you all remember, but a few months ago I was posting here that I was gaining weight and didn't understand why. I hadn't changed anything about my diet or exercise.

Even though my internist said my TSH was "within normal range", I suspected hypothyroid and saw an endocrinologist. The endo tested my free T3, free T4 and TPO anti-bodies in addition to TSH. She found that my TPO anti-bodies were high, indicating that my immune system was attacking my thyroid (the definition of Hashimoto's Hypothryoidism). Since my TSH was still within a normal range, she had me come back in 3 months for re-testing.

Last week was my 3-month re-test, and my TSH is now way above the normal range. This is another indication of hypothyroid, so she put me on supplements, which I started on Sunday.

Prior to the test, I read that soy can interfere with thyroid function, so since I suspected that my thyroid function was already low, I cut out all soy in my diet. The result of that one change is that I lost 7 lbs. in two weeks. I am continuing to lose, and hope to be back at goal soon.

Just thought I'd share in case someone else could benefit from my experience.

[lcoldtimer]

Thank you Julia for the info.Glad you were able to figure it out.Rena

[Prairieprof]

Hi Julia. I have Hashimoto's too (was diagnosed last June). I didn't start trying to lose weight until after the diagnosis, so I'll never know how much of my weight having crept up over the years was thyroid, and how much was eating too much starchy crap. So far everything's been going well, anyway. I had some (not extreme) hair loss on the medication for a while, but it seems to have mostly stopped.

[homestretch]

Thanks for sharing Julia! You are always an inspiration. Thank goodness you were able to pinpoint what was causing the gain. I for one am a skeptic of soy products. There is just too much conflicting information on whether soy is a healthy choice or not. Good luck in treating your thyroid and way to go on the weight loss!

[BellaHMB]

So wonderful that you were able to ascertain what the problem was. And thanks
for sharing....

Bella

[Loretta V]

Julia glad you found the culprit and it is correctable with diet and some meds.

Just curious as to how many soy products you were eating and do you think that eating soy products gave you the Hashimoto's disease. What does the doc say?

[atcgirl42]

Hooray for finding an endocrinologist who gave you a correct diagnosis! I'm hypo as well, and in addition to avoiding soy I also avoid fluoride. (sp)

[JuliaL]

Originally Posted by Loretta V

Julia glad you found the culprit and it is correctable with diet and some meds.

Just curious as to how many soy products you were eating and do you think that eating soy products gave you the Hashimoto's disease. What does the doc say?

Hi Loretta! I don't think eating soy gave me the Hashimoto's disease, but soy intereferes with the absorbption of thyroid hormones, so if your thyroid is already under-functioning and you eat soy it just makes it worse.

I was eating about 1/4 cup of soy nuts every day, plus an occasional Atkins bar. Not really that much, but it sure made a difference when I quit.

[SandyDown]

Julia, I am on another board, and we have noticed a few ladies on LC developing a sluggish thyroid, and gaining weight without a reason.

Can I ask you what meds are you on? also were you taking Iodine supplement while LCing?


Prairie, its interesting that you had thyroid issue before even LCing, did you need take medication all the way through your LC journey?

Thanks for sharing btw.

[JuliaL]

Hi Sandy - I was not taking any iodine supplements. I am on Levothryoxine

[SandyDown]

Originally Posted by JuliaL

Hi Sandy - I was not taking any iodine supplements. I am on Levothryoxine

Thanks Julia, I read a few studies saying LC WOE does lead to a sluggish thyroid (low T4 to T3 conversion).. I haven't got it (I think) but to prevent it from happening some people say we should supplement with Iodine... I just read too much for my own good !!

[Prairieprof]

SAndyDown,

LCing does not cause thyroid disease, though it might have an impact on T4 to T3 conversion. The fact is that thyroid disease is incredibly common, especially among middle-aged women; I think I read that something like 1 out of 4 women have it. So it's completely to be expected that it will show up as an issue on forums, especially where issues of health and weight are a focus. (The upper limit for "normal" TSH was recently lowered, too, so more people are getting diagnosed as having a problem than they would have been a few years ago).

Nor can you cure thyroid disease through diet. Hashimoto's (what most people have, myself included) is an autoimmune disease. If you have it, you will need to take medication for the rest of your life.

My T3 dropped steadily after I began taking levothyroxine, and as I was low-carbing too I hoped it was connected to the diet, but much more likely is the fact that many people convert poorly and see a decline of T3 when taking T4-only meds. I now take T3 as well and my level has improved somewhat as of my last blood test, though perhaps not to an ideal level yet.

Watch out for the iodine thing. My understanding is that iodine supplementation is of benefit is an outdated myth (or rather, not applicable in modern America). If you use iodized salt, eat out, eat processed food, and/or eat seafood, you are 99% likely to be getting plenty of iodine, or more than plenty. And I've read that if you have a thyroid problem excess iodine can actually make things worse! I've switched to (non-iodized) sea salt at home.

[Platinum107]

Originally Posted by Prairieprof

SAndyDown,

LCing does not cause thyroid disease, though it might have an impact on T4 to T3 conversion. The fact is that thyroid disease is incredibly common, especially among middle-aged women; I think I read that something like 1 out of 4 women have it. So it's completely to be expected that it will show up as an issue on forums, especially where issues of health and weight are a focus. (The upper limit for "normal" TSH was recently lowered, too, so more people are getting diagnosed as having a problem than they would have been a few years ago).

Nor can you cure thyroid disease through diet. Hashimoto's (what most people have, myself included) is an autoimmune disease. If you have it, you will need to take medication for the rest of your life.

My T3 dropped steadily after I began taking levothyroxine, and as I was low-carbing too I hoped it was connected to the diet, but much more likely is the fact that many people convert poorly and see a decline of T3 when taking T4-only meds. I now take T3 as well and my level has improved somewhat as of my last blood test, though perhaps not to an ideal level yet.

Watch out for the iodine thing. My understanding is that iodine supplementation is of benefit is an outdated myth (or rather, not applicable in modern America). If you use iodized salt, eat out, eat processed food, and/or eat seafood, you are 99% likely to be getting plenty of iodine, or more than plenty. And I've read that if you have a thyroid problem excess iodine can actually make things worse! I've switched to (non-iodized) sea salt at home.

Actually, I just found out I have thyroid issues now after eating very low carbs for a couple of months, and I am not middle-aged, I am a 19 year old female who has otherwise been healthy my entire life, and no one in my family has thyroid issues or is overweight.

Low carbing DOES affect t4 to t3 conversion most definitely -

Effect of caloric restriction and dietary composit...[J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1976] - PubMed Result - says we need at 50g/day as a minimum

and

Low Thyroid - High Thyroid ~ AntiAging -
"For low thyroid eat more carbohydrates and for high thyroid eat fewer carbohydrates. Carbohydrates help increase ATP levels. In low thyroid you need to increase ATP levels and in high thyroid increased carbohydrates will only help to stimulate thyroid hormones more."

Another study:

***
J Endocrinol Invest. 1982 Jan-Feb;5(1):47-52.Links
Effect of dietary carbohydrates during hypocaloric treatment of obesity on peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism.
Pasquali R, Parenti M, Mattioli L, Capelli M, Cavazzini G, Baraldi G, Sorrenti G, De Benedettis G, Biso P, Melchionda N.

The effect of different hypocaloric carbohydrate (CHO) intakes was evaluated in 8 groups of obese patients in order to assess the role of the CHO and the other dietary sources in modulating the peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism. These changes were independent of those of bw. Serum T3 concentrations appear to be more easily affected than those of reverse T3 by dietary manipulation and CHO content of the diet. A fall in T3 levels during the entire period of study with respect to the basal levels occurred only when the CHO of the diet was 120 g/day or less, independent of caloric intake (360, 645 or 1200 calories). Moreover, reverse T3 concentrations were found increased during the entire period of study when total CHO were very low (40 to 50 g/day) while they demonstrated only a transient increase when CHO were at least 105 g/day (with 645 or more total calories). Indeed, our data indicate that a threshold may exist in dietary CHO, independent of caloric intake, below which modifications occur in thyroid hormone concentrations. From these results it appears that the CHO content of the diet is more important than non-CHO sources in modulating peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism and that the influence of total calories is perhaps as pronounced as that of CHO when a "permissive" amount of CHO is ingested.


Your T3 dropped most likely from low carbing, hate to say it. A good way to avoid this thyroid problem while still taking advantage of a low carb diet is to do regular refeeds of "safe" carbohydrate foods (everyone's is different) like say once per week, a day of higher carbs, and make sure you don't go TOO low during the week. There are certain carb thresholds so to speak, 50g is the minimum amount per day before you significantly affect T3 conversion, then there is another threshold at 105g and anything at 120g or above will not compromise the conversion process. (so it wouldn't benefit you to get 60-70g as opposed to 50g, it would only benefit if you went up to 105g, for example).

As for the iodine issue, its a bit controversial but it seems it is definitely better to get MORE than you need as opposed to not enough. Here in the US at least, all of the water we drink, unless you have special fluoride filters for your sink and shower, is extremely high in fluoride and fluoride crowds out iodine in the body, along with other important minerals for the thyroid like selenium (eat your brazil nuts). Therefore, an excessive iodine intake can help combat the excessive fluoride intake that nearly everyone gets and is probably responsible for a good deal of the hypothyroidism affecting everyone. I know I drink a lot of water and never bothered to get extra iodine supplements so now I am trying to do that, along with adding more carbs back in and making sure I do regular refeeds to prevent damage.

In some studies I have found, when T3 conversion is down regulated by diet (starvation or absence of carbohydrate), it does not return back to baseline even after 5 weeks of refeeding, indicating some long term damage.

[JuliaL]

Originally Posted by SandyDown

Thanks Julia, I read a few studies saying LC WOE does lead to a sluggish thyroid (low T4 to T3 conversion).. I haven't got it (I think) but to prevent it from happening some people say we should supplement with Iodine... I just read too much for my own good !!

I have not been on a low carb diet for more than 3 years. I eat approximately 140-160g of carbs per day, which would not be considered low carb on any plan I know of. I didn't start having symptoms of hypothyroid until this year. I think my age, family history and hormone status probably have a lot more to do with it that low carb eating.

[Prairieprof]

Platinum, others would differ from your assessment. Have you had your TPO antibodies checked? Anyone can have Hashimotos, including 19 year olds. No one else in my immediate family has it either. You seem very invested in low-carbing as the problem; maybe it is for you, but there's also possibility you attribute causality to what is temporal coincidence. Anyway, I don't appreciate being lectured. I'm a college professor and I can assure you I've read widely about thyroid issues and treatment.

[rnsmth]

Originally Posted by Prairieprof

Platinum, others would differ from your assessment. Have you had your TPO antibodies checked? Anyone can have Hashimotos, including 19 year olds. No one else in my immediate family has it either. You seem very invested in low-carbing as the problem; maybe it is for you, but there's also possibility you attribute causality to what is temporal coincidence. Anyway, I don't appreciate being lectured. I'm a college professor and I can assure you I've read widely about thyroid issues and treatment.

I don't think it was just her assessment - she provided back up references and literature, something that I am sure, as a college professor myself, you would encourage.

Carry on

[Lynda99]

Hello, Platinum. Welcome to the board.

Just curious, if you don't believe in low-carbing, what brought you here today?

[Prairieprof]

Um, there are references and literature supporting a different conclusion, and the poster I was responding to seemed very invested in one particular answer. But I am planning to refuse all further commentary on thyroid issues on this website, so I'm done with the topic.

[mom2twoboys]

Julia I am glad you got to the cause, I remember you posting a while back that you were having some trouble. I hope this is the solution for you!