A
gluten free diet excludes all types
of grains that contain gluten. Your local health food store is one of the best
places to seek out gluten free alternatives to common grain based products.
Here
is a gluten free shopping list which shows gluten free alternatives to some
common foods:
It
is important to read food labels carefully as gluten is often a hidden
ingredient in packaged foods. This includes; baking powder, flavourings and
hydrolysed vegetable protein. Beer may contain varying amounts of gluten as it
is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of germinated cereals, usually
barley.
Cross
contamination of gluten free foods can occur during the manufacturing process
when these foods come into contact with foods that contain gluten.
For
example, if the same equipment is used to make a variety of snack foods some
gluten free items may become contaminated. Food labels often include a ‘may
contain gluten’ statement if this is the case.
If a
food is labelled ‘gluten free’ is does not necessarily mean it is healthy
‘Gluten
free’ foods are not always healthy and can in fact be harmful to the thyroid.
Food manufacturers regard corn (maize) and soy ingredients as cost effective
substitutes for gluten containing grains.
Corn
and soy ingredients should be strictly avoided when you have an under active
thyroid problem. Further, corn and soy are common food allergens and in turn
can also initiate symptoms of food intolerance.
When
you are checking labels also look for soy and Canola oil. These cheap oils are
popular with food manufacturers and are routinely labelled as ‘vegetable oil’.
This makes them sound healthy but they are actually damaging to the thyroid
gland. If you are not sure be a label detective, look closely under the
ingredient list to see if it states the product contains soy.
Activating
your gluten free grains
All
grains including gluten free varieties have naturally occurring enzyme
inhibitors that make them difficult to digest and also lower absorption of
important minerals.
Eating
large quantities of grains and using flours that have not been soaked, sprouted
or fermented can lead to mineral deficiencies and long term bone loss. This
means all gluten free flours and wholegrains should be activated with these
traditional methods to release their full nutritional potential.
Louise O’ Connor,
the author of The Natural Thyroid Diet –The 4-Week Plan to Living Well, Living Vibrantly, who
is a specialist in Thyroid Health. She is a highly regarded Australian
Naturopath and founder of Wellnesswork.
The Natural Thyroid
Diet goes beyond diet advice and offers practical and effective ways to achieve
healthy thyroid levels within just a short period of time. For more details,
Click onThe-Natural-Thyroid-Diet.com
Is
a gluten free diet just a fad, or could eliminating gluten help thyroid health
and end the bloat, brain fog, and nagging indigestion?
Could
a gluten free diet really help thyroid health?
What is gluten?
Gluten
is the main structural protein found naturally in a variety of grains including
wheat, rye, spelt, barley, oats and triticale. Triticale is a cross between
wheat and rye.
Gluten
is also used as a single ingredient in many processed foods as it makes an
ideal binder or thickener. This means you could be consuming additional gluten
without knowing it.
A gluten free diet
A
gluten free diet strictly excludes all grains and packaged foods containing
gluten. This means cutting the common gluten containing foods such as bread,
pasta, breakfast cereals, desserts and biscuits from the daily diet.
This
may not be as restrictive as it first appears as health food stores and
supermarkets offer gluten free alternatives. In
addition, vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, fresh fish and lean organic
animal protein are all naturally gluten free.
However
for most people changing to a gluten free diet plan is a big step and takes
some getting used to. The restrictions can even make you feel downright
deprived. But the payoff can be enormous!
Many
people experience life changing transformation when they cut gluten. They lose
weight, especially around the middle and they notice a dramatic improvement in
their health and vitality.
These
days highly refined wheat is the most common source of gluten as it is used in
a wide variety of foods found in supermarkets. To meet ongoing demand wheat is
grown on an industrial scale. Along with the development of modern agricultural
methods there has also been selective breeding of wheat.
Wheat
crops now yield a much higher ratio of gluten. This is not good news for those
who are gluten sensitive or have diagnosed gluten-related disorders. If eating
gluten causes digestive discomfort, even weight gain the culprit may actually
be the modern, hybrid wheat varieties.
Dr.
William Davis is a respected cardiologist and author of Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your
Path Back to Health. Dr Davis believes wheat is the single biggest
contributor to the country’s obesity epidemic. In part because aggressive
breeding methods and genetic manipulation have turned wheat into what Davis
describes as a ‘Frankenwheat’.
There
is also evidence the newer high yield wheat strains are less nutritious and
lack important nutrients such as zinc, iron, copper and magnesium.
Gluten sensitivity can result in a broad range of symptoms
Gluten
can easily irritate the lining of the digestive system. Once this happen the
body launches a swift immune response as it reacts to gluten as something
foreign.
This
creates inflammation that spreads like wildfire throughout the whole body.
Gluten
sensitivity symptoms can therefore be linked to specific digestive problems as
well as broader health issues in other parts of the body.
Renowned
neurologist David Perlmutter believes gluten can initiate reactions within the
brain that can spark a range of health problems. This includes headaches,
depression, anxiety and even dementia. Dr Perlumtter is the author of the #1
New York Times bestseller Grain Brain: The
Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar. Your Brain’s Silent Killers.
In his book Dr Perlmutter explains that gluten containing grains can be
extremely destructive within the brain.
Could you be gluten intolerant?
Gluten
sensitivity can result in a broad range of symptoms. Here is a checklist of the
main symptoms:
·Weight
loss or weight gain, especially abdominal weight gain
·Fatigue
or feeling tired after eating a meal that contains gluten
·Digestive
problems: bloating, pain, gas + diarrhoea
·Weak
+ cracked fingernails
·Fat
in the stools due to poor breakdown of dietary fat
·Joint
+ muscle pain
·Mood
swings + depression
·Poor
memory + concentration
·Skin
rashes including dermatitis herpetiformis
·Osteoporosis
due to lowered mineral absorption
·Migraine
headaches
Emotional
stress can play a significant role in intensifying the symptoms.
Did
you know it takes around 4 weeks of strictly avoiding gluten to discover if
gluten is a problem for you?
It
takes this long for your system to calm down if gluten has been causing
digestive distress. If you feel far better when you exclude gluten, or feel
worse when you reintroduce gluten then it’s very likely a problem for you.
The
good news is that it’s much easier these days to find healthy gluten free alternatives that help thyroid health,
which I will write about in my next blog post.
Can a gluten free diet help thyroid health and heal hypothyroidism?
Once
gluten is removed from your diet it is very likely you will notice improvements
in your health, especially if you have an autoimmune thyroid disorder.
Minor
symptoms such as bloating, fatigue, brain fog and indigestion can disappear
fairly quickly when gluten is excluded from the diet.
Improvements
in chronic health problems made worse by gluten sensitivity such as arthritis,
eczema and autoimmune diseases including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis usually take
longer.
What is the gluten – thyroid link?
#
Gluten can also cause your immune system to start attacking the thyroid.
The molecular composition of your thyroid tissue is very similar to gluten. So
for those with an autoimmune thyroid disorder it can be a case of mistaken
identity.
Eliminating
gluten from your diet may reduce the ongoing autoimmune attack on your thyroid.
For some individuals, when they strictly eliminate gluten from their diet their
thyroid antibody levels decrease.
#
Gluten is destructive to the lining of the digestive tract. A gluten
intolerance reduces digestive function leading to compromised immune function
and lower absorption of a wide range of vital nutrients. This is not good news
for thyroid health.
Digestive
health is closely linked to optimal immune system function. A large mass of
lymphoid tissue including several types of specialised immune cells are located
in the digestive tract. The lymphoid tissue helps defend your body against
pathogens. An imbalance in digestive function can therefore impair immune
activity.
#
Poor digestive health leads to mal-absorption issues. The thyroid is
particularly sensitive to nutritional deficiencies. For example; iodine, zinc
and selenium are crucial to proper thyroid hormone activity. In addition,
ongoing research confirms individuals with low selenium intake, or poor
absorption of selenium are more likely to develop Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
There
are two factors:
A
selenium deficiency results in lower activity of the selenium dependent enzymes
vital to assist ongoing activity of the thyroid hormones, including activation
of thyroxine (T4) to triiodothyronine (T3). Low T3 is associated with the
symptoms of hypothyroidism.
Selenium
plays a role in protecting the thyroid gland itself as this mineral boosts
glutathione activity. Glutathione is naturally produced by the body using
selenium and a combination of three amino acids sourced from dietary protein –
cysteine, glycine and glutamine. Glutathione acts as a potent antioxidant and
is highly active within the thyroid to help protect this important gland.
For
people with coeliac disease a strict gluten free diet is advocated for life as
gluten damages the lining of their small intestine and prevents adsorption of
essential nutrients. Even a minute amount of gluten will prompt a noticeable
immune reaction.
Coeliac
disease is one of the most common inflammatory conditions affecting the
digestive system. The abnormal immune response caused by gluten can make a
person susceptible to other autoimmune problems including autoimmune thyroid
disorders. Grave’s disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are frequently diagnosed
along with coeliac disease.
Coeliac
disease is commonly considered to be a genetic disorder however it can be set off
later in life by a stressful event, such as an infection, injury or surgery. A
specific diagnostic test is used to confirm coeliac disease.
Louise O’ Connor,
the author of The Natural Thyroid Diet –The 4-Week Plan to Living Well, Living Vibrantly, who
is a specialist in Thyroid Health. She is a highly regarded Australian
Naturopath and founder of Wellnesswork.
The Natural Thyroid
Diet goes beyond diet advice and offers practical and effective ways to achieve
healthy thyroid levels within just a short period of time. For more details,
Click onThe-Natural-Thyroid-Diet.com
Several
factors are known to influence thyroid function and health. Thyroid disorders
tend to run in families, low iodine intake can depress thyroid activity, and
exposure to radiation harms the thyroid.
However
in addition to these established risk factors ongoing research reveals toxic
environmental chemicals pose a serious threat to your thyroid function and health.
Could
daily exposure to harmful environmental chemicals have negative effects on
your thyroid?
Like
it or not widespread global industrialisation over the last few decades has
flooded the planet with a cocktail of dangerous environmental chemicals.
Contamination
is widespread, and poses a serious threat to the quality of the food we eat,
the water we drink and the air we breathe.
Environmental
health experts warn exposure to even very small concentrations or a complex
mixture can interfere with reproduction, immune health and nervous system
function.
Over
time exposure to risky environmental chemicals can lead to a diverse range of
health problems such as hypothyroidism, chemical sensitivities, nervous
system disorders, even some cancers.
Environmental chemicals and thyroid function
The
thyroid is extremely vulnerable to the effects of hazardous environmental
chemicals. It should therefore come as little surprise that thyroid problems
are escalating as we become increasingly exposed to environmental pollution.
The
incidence of thyroid disease, most notably thyroid cancer and thyroid
autoimmune disease is increasing substantially.
There
is a wide array of environmental chemicals that harm thyroid health. Termed
‘thyroid-disrupting chemicals’ these pollutants have the ability to change the
way thyroid hormones act in the body.
They
can also directly attack the thyroid, block uptake of iodine in the thyroid,
trigger thyroid antibody production leading to an autoimmune thyroid disorder
and increase the risk for serious thyroid conditions.
Does Daily Exposure
to Environmental Chemicals Cause Weight Gain, and Even Obesity?
Emerging
research also reveals that everyday exposure to toxins can contribute to weight
gain. Termed ‘obesogens’, these potent environmental chemicals have the
potential to cause weight gain, even obesity.
Dietary,
pharmaceutical, and industrial compounds alter a range of processes within the
body which in turn can increase the risk of being overweight and obese.
According to a new study published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association even children are at risk.
Researchers
found children exposed to high levels of bisphenol A (BPA) are five times more
likely to be obese than children with low levels. BPA mimics oestrogen, the
main female hormone. This means this compound is capable of having effects
similar to oestrogen in the body. In excess oestrogen activity is harmful to
both the male and female body.
Exposure
to BPA is widespread as this toxic chemical is used in the lining of aluminium
cans, baby bottles, printed store receipts, plastic containers and medical
devices.
Sure
an unhealthy diet and a sedentary lifestyle are certainly risk factors for
obesity but studies such as this add to the evidence of a possible link between
environmental chemicals and spiralling obesity rates.
The
following list of the most hazardous thyroid disrupting chemicals is a little
daunting but gives you an idea of what we are up against. These chemicals are
all around us so we need to look at minimising our exposure as much as possible
for proper thyroid function.
·pesticides found in the food and water supply
·polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in older
paints, electrical equipment and building materials
·heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and mercury
·dioxins and dioxin-like compounds from the environment
·phthalates found in vinyl and plastic products
·polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) flame retardants
present in carpets, clothing, soft furnishings, electronics and plastics
·polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in air
pollution
·bisphenol A (BPA) found in a variety of food and
beverage packaging
·bromides used in oils to stabilise citrus flavoured soft drinks, commercial
bakery products, some flours and is also found in pesticides
·halogens
which include fluoride, chlorine, perchlorate and bromide.
Halogens compete for the same receptor sites as iodine with excessive intake
crowding out optimal iodine activity.
Louise O’ Connor,
the author of The Natural Thyroid Diet –The 4-Week Plan to Living Well, Living Vibrantly, who
is a specialist in Thyroid Health. She is a highly regarded Australian
Naturopath and founder of Wellnesswork.
The Natural Thyroid
Diet goes beyond diet advice and offers practical and effective ways to achieve
healthy thyroid levels within just a short period of time. For more details,
Click onThe-Natural-Thyroid-Diet.com
Uncovering
a long standing infection could offer a real solution to solving your thyroid
disorder. Did you know chronic infections can easily masquerade as
hypothyroidism?
In
fact, there’s often an overlap between hypothyroidism and symptoms triggered by
a lingering viral infection.
This
article discusses testing for viral infections. Long standing infections that
are active in the body are linked to chronic fatigue syndrome.
Chronic
fatigue syndrome,
aka myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a disease of the immune system.
There
is a vast amount of research to demonstrate infections are the most likely
cause of chronic fatigue syndrome.
How to Test For Viral Infections
There
is no single test to diagnose a chronic viral infection, or even multiple viral
infections. For this reason medical practitioners usually screen a patient for
the main viruses which tend to cause long term problems. Your medical
practitioner will also take into account your symptoms and health history.
Antibody Tests Are Usually Used To Check For Long Standing Viral
Infections
Termed
antibody tests, these types of blood tests are the obvious place to start the
search for chronic infections.
Antibodies
are molecules produced by the immune system to fight an infection. By doing specific
antibody tests you can detect the presence of antibodies to a particular viral
infection. When antibodies are discovered it will also reveal whether you were
infected recently or in the past.
A
stable positive result indicates past infection. In contrast, a high antibody
load indicates recent infection, or reactivation of a past infection. The most
consistent marker of progression of an infection within the body is a rising
antibody titre. This term is used to describe the amount of antibodies that are
measured within a blood sample.
Active
viruses travel through the blood. These microscopic viruses are ‘non-living’
and they lack the ability to replicate on their own. To ensure their survival
these viruses must take hold within the host cell. Left unchecked by the immune
system they have the ability to integrate themselves into many cells of the
body.
The
two leading viruses that trigger chronic fatigue symptoms are Epstein – Barr
virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV).
Medical
practitioners often test for these two viruses when a patient has fatigue
issues. These two viruses often target the central nervous system and liver
causing problems.
The
tests listed here will help diagnose an infection with the viruses most
commonly associated with chronic fatigue symptoms.
·Cytomegalovirus
(CMV) antibodies
·Epstein-Barr
virus (EBV) antibodies
·Hepatitis
B virus (HBV)) antibodies
·Hepatitis
C virus (HCV) antibodies
·Herpes
simplex virus (HSV) antibodies
·Varicella
Zoster virus antibodies
A Viral Infection Can Give Rise to a Diverse Range of Symptoms
A
virus lodged within the cell continues to replicate and by integrating itself
deep within the cell it avoids detection by the immune system. The immune
system therefore does not make antibodies to viruses that have become hidden
within organs and other tissues of the body.
This
makes identifying a viral infection a real challenge. It is possible to have a
significant intracellular infection, but still show relatively low antibody
levels when you take an antibody test.
A
chronic viral infection can cause a range of diverse symptoms depending on the
original infection involved. When a virus takes hold in the central nervous
system, or enters an organ such as the liver or digestive tract it gives rise
to a range of complaints such as fatigue, liver tenderness and neurological
problems.
Your
medical practitioner may also request a white cell count (WCC) and liver
function test (LFT).
Louise O’ Connor,
the author of The Natural Thyroid Diet –The 4-Week Plan to Living Well, Living Vibrantly, who
is a specialist in Thyroid Health. She is a highly regarded Australian
Naturopath and founder of Wellnesswork.
The Natural Thyroid
Diet goes beyond diet advice and offers practical and effective ways to achieve
healthy thyroid levels within just a short period of time. For more details,
Click onThe-Natural-Thyroid-Diet.com
