Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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A couple of questions related to hypothyroidism:

I have all the symptoms of hypo- bad dry skin, bouts of fatigue, very cold-intolerant, cold extremities- but no weight gain, in fact I am the lightest ever...(not in a bad way). I am confident in my high-fat, low/moderate carb diet, as it has completely cleared by skin and I have good physique. (sidenote- does one macronutrient impact thyroid more than others?) Could I still be hypo, or is there another explanation?
What is the ultimate indicator of a thyroid issue? More so, could someone give me the simplest rule of thumb explanation for interpreting T3, T4 etc? And can you specifically test iodine levels in the body?
Finally, I know it may be unwise to take iodine if the hypothyroid is autoimmune-based (Hashimoto's), but are there consequences to a thyroid glandular supplement for either iodine-deficient or autoimmune-hypo? I imagine if you are just lacking iodine, the glandular won't make a difference... but it can't be bad as it's a "food", right? This is the supplement I was looking into, it was linked to from Diana Hsieh's blog.

Thanks!!

flag	asked Sep 21 2010 at 15:12 Daniel 741●1●6●12

Matt · Accepted Answer · 2010-09-21 17:13:37Z UTC

Go and see a doctor and get a blood test.

You can't diagnose hypothyroidism accurately by symptoms alone as they are all non-specific and could be caused by a number of things, assuming they are due to hypothyroidism when it's not does not help you. I have low thyroid and have been taking thyroxine for a while. It runs in my family as my mother, aunt and grandmother all have low thyroid.

However I have always been a warm person, had warm hands and feet, soft skin and never overweight. So many people seem to think they have hypothyroidism if they have cold feet.

Hypothyroidism is very rarely due to iodine deficiency in developed countries.

Glandular supplement contains thyroid hormones and is not a healhty thing to take unless you have a deficiency in your own thyroid hormones. To much thyroid hormone is as bad as too little.

Eating ground meat contaminated with bits of thyroid gland can cause hyperthryoidsim, this is known as hamburger thyrotoxicosis. Recurrent hamburger thyrotoxicosis.

Stephen-Aegis · Answer 2 · 2010-09-21 16:31:09Z UTC

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http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

and

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/

Are two great resources to read all about the tests you should get, self diagnosis, iodine etc

answered Sep 21 2010 at 16:31

Stephen-Aegis
24.1k●2●33●106

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Thanks Stephen, those are some very informative sites. The 'stop the thyroid madness' one makes me seriously wonder if this may be an undiagnosed epidemic? – Daniel Sep 23 2010 at 13:33

Kinda like gluten intolerance? I think thyroid may be a little inflated, but that it's still an honest concern for many – Stephen-Aegis Sep 24 2010 at 2:10

Mel C · Answer 3 · 2012-10-19 11:41:43Z UTC

Here is a suggestion of what to do to treat hypothyroidism.

Thyroid Glandular supplement to normalize levels of thyroid hormone
The mineral Selenium 200mcg
Meda-Stim by Biotic Research- helps convert inactive thyroid hormone T4 into T3 the active form.
Avoid all Soy products, it agravates the thyroid gland.

This protocol works!

Iodine vs. Glandular Supplements for Hypothyroidism

3 Answers