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A Fresh Take On Hypothyroidism
Plus: 5 best hip stretches to improve mobility & reduce pain
The 10almonds Team
October 11, 2023
Today’s almonds have been activated by:
Loading Screen Tip: tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound.
However, cooking them makes this lycopene much more bioavailable.
⏰ IN A RUSH?
Today’s 30-Second Summary
If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:
Hypothyroidism is widely underdiagnosed, and today’s expert explains not just why this is so, but also, what we can do about it—both for getting an accurate diagnosis, and for combatting the disease itself
She recommends coming at this from all angles, including medications that actually work, and lifestyle changes without which the meds are “like painting over the cracks of a crumbling house”.
How’s day 3 of the hydration-tracking challenge going? Today’s sponsor, Hint Water, are offering 10almonds subscribers 45% off and free shipping, on their already very reasonably-priced flavored waters and vitamin waters
They are, by the way, free from sugar and artificial sweeteners, so these are different from ones you’ve probably tried before
Read on to learn about these things and more…
👀 WATCH AND LEARN
5 Best Hip Stretches To Improve Mobility & Reduce Pain (5:58)
Hip pain and stiffness can make pretty much everything else worse—after all, our hips are pretty central to us, and a lot radiates out from there. It’s hard to walk a lot or have a healthy back without healthy hips, and without those things, health takes quite a downwards slide.
So, here’s Dr. Kristie Ennis with 5 exercises to keep hip pain at bay, and improve ongoing mobility:
Hip Stretch Menu:
Prefer text? Dr. Ennis doesn't offer text-based resources, but we reviewed a great book about this topic previously:
⚡ MAIN FEATURE
The Three Rs To Boost Thyroid-Related Energy Levels
This is Dr. Izabella Wentz. She’s a doctor of pharmacology, and after her own diagnosis with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, she has taken it up as her personal goal to educate others on managing hypothyroidism.
Dr. Wentz is also trained in functional medicine through The Institute for Functional Medicine, Kalish Functional Medicine, and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, and holds certifications in Medication Therapy Management as well as Advanced Diabetes Care through the American Pharmacists Association. In 2013, she received the Excellence in Innovation Award from the Illinois Pharmacists Association.
Dr. Wentz’s mission
Dr. Wentz was disenchanted by the general medical response to hypothyroidism in three main ways. She tells us:
Thyroid patients are not diagnosed appropriately.
For this, she criticises over-reliance on TSH tests that aren’t a reliable marker of thyroid function, especially if you have Hashimoto’s.
Patients should be better optimized on their medications.
For this, she criticizes many prescribed drugs that are actually pro-drugs*, that don’t get converted adequately if you have an underactive thyroid.
Lifestyle interventions are often ignored by mainstream medicine.
Medicines are great; they truly are. But medicating without adjusting lifestyle can be like painting over the cracks in a crumbling building.
*a “pro-drug” is what it’s called when the drug we take is not the actual drug the body needs, but is a precursor that will get converted to that actual drug we need, inside our body—usually by the liver, but not always. An example in this case is T4, which by definition is a pro-drug and won’t always get correctly converted to the T3 that a thyroid patient needs.
Well that does indeed sound worthy of criticism. But what does she advise instead?
First, she recommends a different diagnostic tool
Instead of (or at least, in addition to) TSH tests, she advises to ask for TPO tests (thyroid peroxidase), and a test for Tg antibodies (thyroglobulin). She says these are elevated for many years before a change in TSH is seen.
Next, identify the root cause and triggers
These can differ from person to person, but in countries that add iodine to salt, that’s often a big factor. And while gluten may or may not be a factor, there’s a strong correlation between celiac disease and Hashimoto’s disease, so it is worth checking too. Same goes for lactose.
By “checking”, here we mean testing eliminating it and seeing whether it makes a difference to energy levels—this can be slow, though, so give it time! It is best to do this under the guidance of a specialist if you can, of course.
Next, get to work on repairing your insides.
Remember we said “this can be slow”? It’s because your insides won’t necessarily bounce back immediately from whatever they’ve been suffering from for what’s likely many years. But, better late than never, and the time will pass anyway, so might as well get going on it.
For this, she recommends a gut-healthy diet with specific dietary interventions for hypothyroidism. Rather than repeat ourselves unduly here, we’ll link to a couple of previous articles of ours, as her recommendations match these:
She also recommends regular blood testing to see if you need supplementary TSH, TPO antibodies, and T3 and T4 hormones—as well as vitamin B12.
Short version
After diagnosis, she recommends the three Rs:
Remove the causes and triggers of your hypothyroidism, so far as possible
Repair the damage caused to your body, especially your gut
Replace the thyroid hormones and related things in which your body has become deficient
Learn more
If you’d like to learn more about this, she offers a resource page, with resources ranging from on-screen information, to books you can get, to links to hook you up with blood tests if you need them, as well as recommended supplements to consider.
She also has a blog, which has an interesting relevant article added weekly.
Enjoy, and take care of yourself!
❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE
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Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free
🌏 AROUND THE WEB
What’s happening in the health world…
Strategies to stay healthy during respiratory virus season
If a family member has celiac disease, you should get yourself tested
More walkable neighborhoods have a lower incidence of obesity-related cancers among women
Pink noise in deep sleep may benefit heart
Breakthrough antibody therapy targets Alzheimer's risk gene, offers hope for effective treatment
Insomnia, short sleep tied to high blood pressure risk for women
New test for prostate cancer could help avoid unnecessary biopsies
More to come tomorrow!
📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW
Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet—One Bite at a Time – by Dr. Mark Hyman
On a simplistic level, "eat more plants, but ideally not monocrops, and definitely fewer animals" is respectable, ecologically-aware advice that is also consistent with good health. But it is a simplification, and perhaps an oversimplification.
Is there space on a healthy, ecologically sound plate for animal products? Yes, argues Dr. Mark Hyman. It's a small space, but it's there.
For example, some kinds of fish are both healthier and more sustainable as a food source than others, same goes for some kinds of dairy products. Poultry, too, can be farmed sustainably in a way that promotes a small self-contained ecosystem—and in terms of health, consumption of poultry appears to be health-neutral at worst.
As this book explores:
Oftentimes, food choices look like: healthy/sustainable/cheap (choose one).
Dr. Hyman shows how in fact, we can have it more like: healthy/sustainable/cheap (choose two).
He argues that if more people "vote with their fork", production will continue to adjust accordingly, and we'll get: healthy/sustainable/cheap (all three).
To this end, while some parts of the book can feel like they are purely academic (pertaining less to what we can do as individuals, and more on what governments, farming companies, etc can do), it's good to know what issues we might also take to the ballot box, if we're able.
The big picture aside, the book remains very strong even just from an individual health perspective, though.
Bottom line: if you have an interest in preserving your own health, and possibly humanity itself, this is an excellent book.
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May today see you full of vibrant energy and good health,
The 10almonds Team