Effective Treatments for Hypothyroid and Hyperthyroid, Common Problems with Gluten Sensitivity

There is a 12 times rate of autoimmune disease in persons with celiac disease (Dr. Farrell NEJM, 2002). And in my experience hypothyroidism is the most common autoimmune disorder in celiac patients. 

There are a number of issues with thyroid disease:

- how to test for it

-how to test for iodine

-what are the causes of hypothyroidism (hint- toxic exposure like gluten and environmental chemicals)

-what to do about it. 

Dr. Mercola interviews Dr. Jonathan Wright MD, a pioneer in cutting edge medicine in this segment. The article on the subject covers most of the basics, and has good references for books, for those who want to know more. Here is an excerpt (My Bold):


Thyroid disease is one of the most common health problems we face today. From a practical standpoint, there are many ways to approach this issue. In this interview, Dr. Jonathan Wright, a pioneer in natural medicine, shares his protocols for addressing thyroid dysfunction.

Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, is a very common problem, and there are many reasons for this, including drinking chlorinated and fluoridated water, and eating bromated flour (no flour is bromated in Canada).

Chlorine, fluoride, and bromine are all in the same family as iodine, and can displace iodine in your thyroid gland.

Secondly, many people simply aren't getting enough iodine in their diet to begin with. The amount you get from iodized salt is just barely enough to prevent you from getting a goiter.

A third principal cause of hypothyroidism is related to elevated reverse T3 levels. Interestingly, 95 percent of the time, those with elevated reverse T3 levels will see their levels revert back to normal after undergoing chelation with EDTA and DMPS, which draw out cadmium, lead, mercury, and other toxic metals. In essence, heavy metal toxicity can cause a functional form of hypothyroidism.


"It's very well-known that lead and cadmium interfere with testosterone production," Dr. Wright says. "What's not so well-known is that reverse T3 is stimulated by toxic metals, so up it goes.

In effect, we can have levels that are so high, they way outnumber the regular T3. You're functionally hypothyroid even if your TSHs and free T3s happen to be normal."


I can't emphasize enough the importance of removing all chemical exposures that you can. You have a lot of control as to what products and services you buy that are with the lowest amounts of chemicals: body care products, "The dirty 15" foods should be bought or grown as organic foods, water should be as pure as possible, dental care should be from a biological dentist, and your physical environment should have as few chemicals as possible (low VOC paints, oil your wood furniture with flax oil, not petroleum products, tame insect pests with diatomaceous earth and so on). 

There are many ways to get information on how to clean up your environment. Get the  toxic level information about your favourite products from www.ewg.org/skindeep . Go to the library and get books like "There is Lead in Your Lipstick", and so many more.

And ask your doctor to order reverse T3 tests to round out your thyroid assessment.

To Your Health

Dr. Barbara 

Want to Lose Weight? Try Intermittent Fasting. It works! But watch the Zinc!

                                                                                                                                                          When I was on a trip recently, I ate fabulous food came home three pounds lighter and able to    fit my favourite pair of pants now. How did I do this? By in large, I ate well for two days and on the third I ate very little, like a salad, but had lots of water to drink. This is a form of intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term that covers a wide array of ways, over a week, to have lower amounts of food. As a general rule, it involves cutting calories to 500 a day for women and 600 a day for men, either a couple of days a week, every other day, or even daily.

There is so much to recommend intermittent fasting: normalizing of ghrelin and leptin and insulin. And the resulting many health benefits. 

Before you go on to read about the benefits, I want to mention one reservation I have with intermittent fasting, especially if you are not supplementing  with vitamins and minerals. There is a genetic condition called Pyroluria, where the person with this condition requires more zinc than is recommended for the general population. And most people with this condition don't even know it and are already zinc and B6 deficient. Cutting 1-2,000 calories a week could get you into big trouble if you aren't supplementing with zinc.

The zinc and B6 are required for the metabolism and removal of pyrroles. People with pyroluria need more zinc, sometimes up to 10 times more zinc, to remove the pyrroles. If pyrroles accumulate because of low zinc intake, or lower intake because of reducing total calories of food per week, even slightly, multiple metabolic processes break down. 

Because everyone is an individual, I can't predict what symptoms may develop, but some are very serious and include eating disorders, suicidation, mania, depression and other mental health problems, and rashes, liver stress, and more serious conditions. A serum zinc level does not appear to help me assess if someone is low in zinc as I believe, because zinc is the most common mineral used in enzymes and metabolic processes, the body will ration the zinc, have a steady state of zinc in the blood but won't let it be used as it should, but for the little it takes to just stay alive. 

Along with intermittent fasting, I suggest taking  an extra 10 mg of zinc more a day, or 70 mg a week. If you have some of the symptoms (or your family members have some of the symptoms of zinc deficiency) I would suggest you ask your doctor to test your level of zinc. 


Dr. Mercola has written a fine article on the subject of intermittent fasting detailing the multiple health benefits, and here is an excerpt: 

Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting


Fasting is historically commonplace as it has been a part of spiritual practice for millennia. But modern science has confirmed there are many good reasons for fasting, including the following:
  -Normalizing your insulin and leptin sensitivity, and boosting mitochondrial energy efficiency:        of the primary mechanisms that makes intermittent fasting so beneficial for health is related to    its impact on your insulin sensitivity. While sugar is a source of energy for your body, it also        promotes insulin resistance when consumed in the amounts found in our modern processed      junk food diets. Insulin resistance, in turn, is a primary driver of chronic disease, from heart disease to cancer.

   Intermittent fasting helps reset your body to use fat as its primary fuel, and mounting evidence    primary fuel, you dramatically reduce your risk of chronic disease.

  -Normalizing ghrelin levels, also known as "the hunger hormone"

  -Promoting human growth hormone (HGH) production: Research has shown fasting can raise HGH by as much as 1,300 percent in women, and 2,000 percent in men, which plays an important part in health, fitness, and slowing the aging process. HGH is also a fat-burning hormone, which helps explain why fasting is so effective for weight loss.

  -Lowering triglyceride levels and improving other biomarkers of disease.

  -Reducing oxidative stress: Fasting decreases the accumulation of oxidative radicals in the cell, and thereby prevents oxidative damage to cellular proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids associated with aging and disease

There's also plenty of research showing that fasting has a beneficial impact on longevity in animals. There are a number of mechanisms contributing to this effect. Normalizing insulin sensitivity is a major one, but fasting also inhibits themTOR pathway, which plays an important part in driving the aging process.

Dr. Michael Mosley a British author, journalist and documentary filmmaker, became so convinced of the health benefits of intermittent fasting he wrote a book on the subject, called The Fast Diet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting. Now I'll have to read it.

How ever you decide to lower your total weekly calories with intermittent fasting, ( I would recommend a grain free diet/protocol like GAPS as the best) you will have lasting benefits and feel better. And supplement with nutrients, especially zinc. 

To Your Health

Dr. Barbara

Methyl Folate for depression

A new research study showed that taking l-methylfolate 
 which is sometimes called folate with an anti-depressant, increased the rate of resolution of depression symptoms with no side effects. They showed that 15 mg of l-5 MTHF or folate a day worked. And how does folate work? Folate helps to make methyl groups, a biochemical entity, which in turn helps to make neurochemicals. If you are the person who has a genetic abnormality called MTHFR single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP's), you will require supplementation with folate ( also called l- 5-MTHF) because you can't get enough folate from food to help run your metabolism to the maximum. Which means you could become depressed. 

Also, two colleagues of mine, evaluated neurochemical status of a group of gluten sensitive people a few years back. Their verbal report to me was that all had low neurochemicals. Pervasive nutritional deficiencies and SNP's could account for this finding in gluten sensitive people. Heal the gut and provide nutrients and digestive enzymes and probiotics. 

Other illnesses  from MTHFR SNP's, that occur when a person is functionally dependent on more folate, and other B vitamins include:
heart disease
high homocysteine
thrombophilia or clotting easily
hypertension
gout
neurological disorders
psychiatric disorders
osteoporosis
infertility, miscarriages, and loss of pregnancy
offspring with congenital abnormalities such as neural tube defects 
pain conditions

The incidence of methylation polymorphism for two common ones c677t and a1298c, in the general population is found to be around 30%. When I looked at the prevalence in a group of  74 people, all with at least one chronic illness,  I found the prevalence to be 76%. 
I use folate to reverse many symptoms and problems.

When people are not well, they can use more folate, balanced with B12. 
Woman of childbearing age should take folate to insure their future choices when it comes to having a family or not, and the health of their future child. 

Folate is safe, there is no known toxicity, and is effective. Avoid folic acid. 

To Your Health
Dr. Barbara

Signs Gluten Causing Dental Decay, By Dr. Sylvia Onusic: Dentists Play an Important Part-Part 2

Dr Sylvia Onusic, writing for Healthy Home Economist, describes the connection of celiac connective tissue abnormalities (besides dental and oral manifestations), and the triggers which have been identified: bottle feeding, low vitamin D ingestion and sun exposure, virus's, C/S and timing of ingestion of gluten in the infant. She rightly identifies gluten induced disorders as a connective tissue disease.....NOT A FOOD ALLERGY, with stimulation of the abnormal lymphatic tissues.

Here she writes:
Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease, not a food allergy, which affects infants, children and adults and results in a permanent intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.

Celiac disease is a common disorder and about 1% or more of North Americans may develop it and it can occur at any age. With celiac progression, there is increasing damage to the villi of the small intestine, which are responsible for uptake of nutrients, leading to nutrient- related diseases such as osteoporosis, malabsorption syndromes, anemia, even lymphoma and other cancers. 1-2

Celiac is an inherited disease which can show up because of a variety of different conditions. The most important factor in preventing development of celiac in at-risk babies is breastfeeding up to a year or more, especially upon first exposure to gluten.Studies show that the timing of the introduction of gluten and amount of gluten given is important. Babies ingesting gluten laden cereals, crackers or other gluten containing foods during the first three months of life are an increased the risk for development of celiac disease, compared to infants who were first given gluten around six months of age.

In Swedish studies from the 1990,’s prompted by an epidemic of celiac disease, it was found that babies given higher amounts of wheat baby foods were much more likely to develop celiac disease. 3

For persons who have a relative or parent with celiac disease, the disorder can show up after a virus, accident, pregnancy, or stressful situation. 1

I would recommend, if you are concerned for your children's teeth or you look after children that you read the whole thing.

To Your Health

Dr. Barbara

55% of Kids with Celiac Disease have Dental Enamel Defects- Dentists Play an Important Role-Part 1

Grade 1 enamel defects in celiac disease

As it turns out, it is depressingly common for adults and children with celiac disease to have problematic teeth. And expensive. And these may lead to long-term health problems.Previous studies have shown that celiacs tend to have more dental problems than average, and new research backs that up.


As reported in About.com:(my bold), the study, published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, looks at dental enamel defects in adult celiac disease. Defects in your teeth's enamel, or coating, can appear as discoloration or as pitted, rough surfaces.

grade 2 enamel defects, notice the scalloped edges

The researchers performed a dental exam in 54 adults with celiac disease to look for enamel defects, and found them in a whopping 85% of those they examined. One-third had minor defects (also called "grade 1" defects), another 30% had grade 2 defects, 15% had grade 3 defects and 7% had grade 4.                                                                    


The researchers, who are based at the University of Pavia in Italy, noted that "dentists have a chance to refer people for celiac disease testing if they find enamel defects".

And according to researchers out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 55% of children with the diagnosis of celiac disease have dental enamel defects. These may be the only manifestation of this disorder. They say "Dentists can play an important role in identifying people who may have unrecognized celiac disease". J Can Dent Assoc 2011;77:b39.

Other oral and dental manifestations of celiac disease, besides enamel defects include delayed eruption, recurrent aphthous ulcers (RAS), Cheilosis, oral lichen planus, atrophic glossitis, dens invaginatus, squamous cell carcinoma of the pharynx and mouth, red smooth shiny tongue, and dry mouth. According to this paper sometimes aphthous ulcers are the only sign of celiac disease.

A clinical guide for dentists is here. Dr. Rashid and his colleagues recommend the following clinical tips for dentists:

-Consider celiac disease as a possible diagnosis in any patient with dental enamel defects, recurrent oral      aphthous ulcers or both.
-Question about other clinical symptoms of celiac disease, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss,  poor growth, anemia and extreme fatigue. Remember that absence of these symptoms does not rule out  celiac disease.
-Inquire about the presence of other autoimmune diseases, especially type 1 diabetes and thyroiditis. The  presence of these will further increase the probability of celiac disease.
-Consider adding celiac disease to the list of disorders that you inquire about during family history screening.  Having a first- or second-degree relative with celiac disease increases the likelihood of a positive diagnosis.
-If celiac disease is suspected, the dentist or dental hygienist may wish to coordinate laboratory testing with  the patient’s primary care physician or specialist. The currently recommended screening test for celiac  disease is serum IgA-TTG antibody test, which is readily available. The TTG is an IgA-based test and IgA  deficiency is common in celiac disease. Therefore, total IgA level should also be measured.

An information sheet is available at Canadian Celiac Association , which would be helpful if you suspect or you know you or your child has celiac disease, and you want to open a discussion with your dentist.

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease, not a food allergy, which affects infants, children and adults and results in a permanent intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. And other grain proteins found in oats, hemp and coffee.

Dentists play an important role in diagnosing celiac. More studies on the incidence of gluten sensitivity and dental disorders need to be done.

See Dr. Onusic's excellent article on the relationship of this abnormal autoimmune disorder, not a food allergy to our health in general and to our teeth, in "Part 2".

To Your Health

Dr. Barbara

Dr. Perlmutter's Brain Health Program in Grain Brain includes a Grain Free, GAPS Style Diet

I don't know anyone who doesn't want to age in good 

health and avoid Alzheimer's. 

We get a lot of information about how to do this, but does this information have to be updated from the 30's and 40's when most of these principles were established? There is a large movement to update classical teachings and Dr. Perlmutter, a neurologist in practice has put up-to-date research and recommendations into a book called "Grain Brain". 

Dr. David Perlmutter says in this interview: the first step is to stop gluten! (My bold):

Research suggests gluten can play a damaging role by the changes it imparts on your microbiome, the bacteria in your gut. But gluten can also wreak havoc with your neurological health via the inflammation it causes. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity may involve 30 to 40 percent of the population and according to work done at Harvard by Dr. Alessio Fasano, it may even affect every single human being.

The reason for this is because gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, has significant effects on your gut cells, which leads to the production of a chemical called zonulin. Zonulin enhances inflammation and tends to make your gut porous and leaky (i.e. leaky gut syndrome). But that's not all. Dr. Fasano discovered that it can also make your blood-brain barrier leaky, allowing foreign proteins to migrate into your brain, where they clearly do not belong.

Listen to the full interview to pick up some brain saving tips.

Let's talk about those foreign proteins mentioned above. These proteins that migrate into the brain are recognized as "foreign invaders" mimicking a life threatening microorganism invasion, like "swine flu" or encephalitis, which then triggers a life saving reaction by the immune system. The reaction however, can go wrong with the confusion of the system when it thinks our own tissues look like gliadin proteins. Dr. Fraser Scott showed that celiac subjects had tissues that look like gliadin back in 2002, but other researchers have shown the same thing in other organs' connective tissues!!! 

This starts a reaction to one's own tissues with the production of anti deamidated gliadin, anti gliadin,  and  anti tissue transglutaminase antibodies (Tg2,3,and 6), especially worrisome is Tg6 but also Tg2, which attack the brain tissues and the tissues around the blood vessels blocking the "blood brain barrier".  Tg6's attack on the brain causes dozens of neurological disorders especially cerebellar ataxia, cerebral calcifications, peripheral neuropathy, epilepsy, migraines and possibly MS. 

Dr. Hadjivassiliou has written an extensive article  "Gluten Sensitivity; From Gut to Brain" on these neurological diseases and the good news is he has shown these conditions improve on a gluten free diet. If you want to see what the blood brain barrier thickened up with Tg6 looks like, go to page nine, and look at the picture labelled "A". The circle in the middle is the lumen of a blood vessel and around it is a cuff of thickness imbedded with Tg6 antibodies. This is very abnormal as the area around the blood vessel is rarely bigger than 1/5th of the diameter of the blood vessel. With one look at the diseased brain tissue's blood vessel you can tell there is something horribly wrong.

This abnormal attack on our own tissues also leads to psychiatric conditions. Here is a case of severe psychiatric symptoms, at one point requiring hospital admission, who improved with GAPS diet and B12 shots.

If your aim is good brain health, the first step is to stop eating gluten. 
You will want to get rid of all grains, though, because of the cross reactive and toxic proteins in them that promote leaky gut and inflammation just like gluten, which is the mechanism for the damage to the brain. 

There is more to do, of course, like remove chemical exposure especially to pesticides, proper dental care by a biological dentist, keeping your vitamin D levels good, keeping your blood sugar levels low and stable, keep your uric acid levels low by limiting your ingestion of fructose to 25 grams a day or less, monitor your B12 levels with a Homocysteine test, supplement with lots of folate (not folic acid, the chemical) probiotics and zinc, exercise moderately and keep your stress levels manageable.

To Your "Brain" Health

Dr. Barbara

THE WORLD'S FIRST FREE ONLINE THYROID HEALTH EVENT Starts Sunday, May 4th, 2014

Fourth percent of newly diagnosed celiac persons already have antibodies to their thyroid glands even if they don't have symptoms. 

I want you to know as much as possible about the cause, manifestations (including infertility), and treatment of thyroid conditions. There is an opportunity to view experts like Dr. David Bronstein at the Thyroid Sessions.

The Thyroid Sessions are put on by Sean Croxton of www.undergroundhealth.com an internet radio show where he interviews experts focusing on the subjects of real food, functional medicine and holistic health.

The first interview with Dr. Tom O'Bryan on the "Gluten-Thyroid Connection" was very informative and a glimpse of things to come. Get access to the interview with your free registration.

From Sean:

EVERYTHING YOUR DOCTOR DIDN'T TELL YOU ABOUT THYROID PROBLEMS

You Have Options!
The frustration and misinformation surrounding thyroid problems needs to stop. An estimated 30 million people in the US and 200 million worldwide have a thyroid disorder — only half have been properly diagnosed. And even less are receiving proper treatment.

Unfortunately, the real answers are not offered by their medical practitioners and seldom covered by insurance.

That’s why we traveled the country to interview a dozen of the leading functional medicine doctors, nutritionists, and real food chefs for a free online screening called The Thyroid Sessions. And you can register today to watch them for FREE!

Our panel of experts will uncover how to properly diagnose, treat, and reverse thyroid problems naturally — using doctor-prescribed drugs as a last resort.

You Will Discover
1.Why your thyroid scores are “normal”, but your symptoms are screaming HYPOTHYROID!
2.The iodine controversy: How to navigate the conflicting information about this critical nutrient.
3.The little-known connection between gluten consumption and autoimmune thyroid disorders...
4.FREE and easy at-home testing for evaluating your thyroid health.
5.Gentle detox therapies for reversing Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
6.How to lose weight when your thyroid is off...or has been removed altogether.
7.Which thyroid medications are best…and which are unsafe.
8.The best foods and supplements for lowering thyroid antibodies, naturally.
9.Secrets for shrinking thyroid nodules that your doc never told you about.
10.Grave’s disease: What to do when your thyroid is OVER-active.
11.Fertility Matters: Preconception and prenatal thyroid support.
12.Why thyroid cancer is becoming more common — especially in women.

..And so much more!

Our hand-picked team of functional medical doctors, naturopaths, nutritionists, and health experts reveal how you can regain your energy, lose excess body fat, and heal your thyroid NATURALLY through real food, lifestyle changes, and getting the lab testing you need!
Sign up for free here

To Your Health

Dr. Barbara