Looking forward to balance!

I’m looking for balance in my diet. I’ve a sweet tooth and fairly lazy cook so have fallen into bad habits which are pretty entrenched! Left me anaemic as a result, also have under active thyroid which is managed well with meds. I’m interested in what supplements people are using to add to a healthy diet. I’ve ditched the chocolate as I can’t stop once I start, don’t drink alcohol and don’t smoke. I exercise 3/4 times a week. Carrying some weight round the middle which I’d like to shift but really I want to have more energy! I’m 48. Any ideas very welcome 😊

[BadHare]

Have you joined Thyroid UK on here?

They often advise people not to do too much aerobic exercise as it uses up the body's T3 too quickly. If you feel overly tired after your gym sessions, try swaping to a yoga or pilates class.

Have you had your nutrient levels checked? It's important to have optimal levels of Bs, especially B12 & folate, vitamin D, & iron, ferritin, magnesium & zinc, for you levothyroxine to convert well. As you have hashimoto's, selenium can help reduce your autoimmune antibodies, as can improving your gut health with probiotics like kefir, & lots of prebiotics from fibre rich vegetables. See Zest's post from a few days ago, & my post on kefir.

I have a sweet tooth, & do eat quite a lot of sugar, but from fruit. I have low iron as I'm vegetarian, so take a prescribed iron sulphate tablet My ferritin wasn't optimal last year so I added a half-dose of iron biglycinate. I take these on an empty stomach with a grapefruit or orange, & usually an apple. Vitamin C is essential for iron absorption, & the citric & malic acids aids the digestion of iron & improves absorption. The citrus fruit also provides essential folate. I'm also very keen on dark leafy greens for plant based minerals. If you eat meat, haem iron is more readily absorbed by the body, & will also provide you with B12. Maybe taking a spoon or two of organic apple cider vinegar would help you digest it better so you're not anaemic. I'm sure eating grapefruit before a meal works because of the added stomach acid, but that's just my theory. People generally have reducd stomach acid, & also B12 absorption issues as they age, so anything that will help is good. I now take sublingual B12, as my levels are otherwsise low, despite very high dietary B12. Iron deficiency anaemia & pernicious anaemia are both common causes of fatigue as well as being essential for T4 to T3 conversion.

Going gluten free can also help reduce antibodies, & seems to work well for a lot of people with hashimoto's. I've read several articles indicating gluten intolerance may be the cause of autoimmune disorders. Cutting this out & healing your gut health with probiotics, might help a lot.

I have a sweet tooth, which wasn't cured, but massively reduced by taking chelated magnesium with water only at bedtime. Sugar cravings can be a sign of deficiency. A >20 minute soak with 500g of epsom or 400g of magnesium salts is a relaxing way for the body to absorb this mineral, as it's best absorbed transdermally than orally, or there's body sprays. Jerry's just posted about magnesium, & he & I both make our own body spray from magnesium hexahydrate, rather than use the expensive commercial brands. I use distilled witch hazel as a substrate, & at a low dilution as it can be quite stingy, & not just at first!

When I was still hypo, a commercial "gentle" brand made my skin peel, but I can tolerate it much better now. A good source of magnesium & also a "better" sugar fix, are medjool dates. They are very sweet, but low GI. One contains about 10% of the body's magnesium requirement. I find one as as good a fix as a piece of toffee.

Chocolate is also high in minerals & antioxidants, so don't cut this out of your diet. Make a swap to the good stuff that contains >70% cocoa solids. I have a piece or two every night, just for nutritional purposes, of course. It's the last thing I eat in the evening as I've found sticking to restrictive eating times better suits me, my health conditions, & medication timing. I prefer having shorter eating times each day to two days of restrictive calories. Either way works well for improving body function, & may also help your hashi's. I've posted about the benefits several times. I've also been trying to post links to healthy recipes, usually veggie ones. I eat soup most days in winter as they're an easy winter comfort food, with little effort, there's a whole post on lentils, which I love.

At all costs, avoid eating processed fats like margarine & sunflower oil, & also artificial sweeteners. These foods are toxic!

Please let me know if anything doesn't make sense, or you want more info.

[Hidden in reply to BadHare]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, and what a lot of useful stuff for me to get my head round! I've recently started taking selenium, magnesium and zinc supplements and have been taking Cod liver oil for some time. I will have a look at Thyroid UK as well. My GP has prescribed Ferrous fumarate for me to build back up and she tested me for Coeliac disease however nothing in the bloods to indicate I have this so your comments in this regard are interesting. I'm going to have a think about this and will be in touch. Thanks again

[BadHare in reply to Hidden]

You're welcome!

Ask your GP for a different form of iron, I prefer sulphate & biglycinate to fumarate.

Ferrous fumarate is an industrial mineral that is not found in nature as food. A byproduct of iron mining, ferrous fumarate has drawn even more criticism as a supplement due to its interaction with vitamin C leading to ulceration of the GI tract, chronic inflammatory diseases, and cancer.

greenmedinfo.com/blog/your-...

Gluten can cause a lot of issues that aren't as straightforward as dietary. chriskresser.com/the-gluten... Several more re thyroid health on CK's website.

[Hidden in reply to BadHare]

Thanks 🙏

[holly2]

Hello TrixieBelle, healthy eating is so important and the saying "you are what you eat" could not be truer. Plenty of whole foods, fruit and veg and you can't go wrong. Watch out for portion size, I tend to put too much on my plate!

There is a free on-line course which I have done which explains about nutrition and wellbeing:

futurelearn.com/courses/nut...

do have a look at this, if you sign up for it you can still not do it if it is not for you. But I found it very informative and helpful.

All the best, Holly.

[Hidden in reply to holly2]

Thanks so much holly2, I will have a look with interest!