Geek alert; link between fertility and the thyroid observed in American Indians of the far North.

Ben Greenfield is an endurance athlete and I enjoy reading his blogs...

Here is an interesting anecdote about the link between fertility and the thyroid observed in American Indians of the far North. These people had a very restricted diet due to the extreme conditions of their environment.

Scrol down to the script of the conversation/podcast between Chris Kresser and Chris Masterjohn.

bengreenfieldfitness.com/20...

[Hiphypo]

Well, well, well...this is interesting. Natural Thyroid supplementation. I am far too old to need this now, but who knows it might have been helpful over 30 years ago when failing to get pregnant!

Also interesting is the paragraph before about the need to increase carbs if there are problems converting T4 to T3 while following a low carb diet.

I did low carb with a vengeance for about 2 years in a desperate attempt to shift some of the 6 excess stones gained before diagnosis as hypo. I got 3 stone off, and then stuck fast. And also began to feel a lot worse, healthwise, so I gave up the LC.

I did manage to maintain, and have slowly managed another stone off over the following 2 years. Makes me wonder if the way I was eating did damage. Will have to try and do some more research.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Hiphypo]

Well maybe no "Natural Thyroid supplementation".

The article says this:

"sweetbreads (yes, that would be thyroid gland)"

But sweetbreads most certainly should NOT be thyroid. When thyroid is accidentally included in meat, it is likely to result in "hamburger thyrotoxicosis"

A fairly recent case of this sort is reported here:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/229...

The term "sweetbread" is described by Wiki as possibly various organs:

Sweetbreads or ris are culinary names for the thymus (also called throat, gullet, or neck sweetbread) or the pancreas (also called heart, stomach, or belly sweetbread) especially of the calf (ris de veau) and lamb (ris d'agneau) (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten). Various other glands used as food are also called 'sweetbreads', including the parotid gland ("cheek" or "ear" sweetbread), the sublingual glands ("tongue" sweetbreads or "throat bread"), and testicles (cf. Rocky Mountain oyster) or Lamb Fries. The "heart" sweetbreads are more spherical in shape, and surrounded symmetrically by the "throat" sweetbreads, which are more cylindrical in shape.

Not, please note, "thyroid".

I have a feeling that somewhere, some dictionary or other resource contains this mistake because it is repeated so often. Including, in the fairly recent past, by a celeb chef on television - who certainly should know better at the fee he is getting.

So looks like the author of the article dropped a clanger on this point.

Rod

[Hidden in reply to helvella]

Hi Rod

I'm more interested in the conversation between the two Chrises who only refer directly to 'thyroid' and to the anecdote about the life cycle of these indigenous people adapting to their envinonment.

The term sweetbread, is what Ben refers to in discussing his diet and could well be a clanger, or a difference in interpretation.

Liza

[helvella Administrator in reply to Hidden]

I got diverted after opening the article page and when I came back, searched for "thyroid".

Indeed the story is interesting. The far north also tends to have extreme issues with things like vitamin D (which seems to be obtained in significant measure from sea creatures for those on the coast). Wonder how these people manage?

Rod

[Hidden in reply to Hiphypo]

I found the conversation between the two Chrises interesting too. And, as you point out the link between needing carbs to convert. I think this is also why fruit has been recommended elsewhere as good to help conversion.

I'm eating less carbs but I think anything extreme is not good unless there's a valid, proven reason for it. Like you I have a bit of excess weight - but if I have to, I can live with that if the only alternative is extreme dieting. I'm going to try a little more exercise!

If Ben Greenfield wants to be his own experiment and do it scientifically, then good for him, but I don't think I'll be doing the Marathon Man this year!!!

Liza

[marram]

Considering what it says on the NICE site: "Women with possible fertility problems are no more likely than the general population to have thyroid disease and the routine measurement of thyroid function should not be offered. Estimation of thyroid function should be confined to women with symptoms of thyroid disease."

Shows you how much they know!

[Hidden in reply to marram]

Hi Marram

I think everyone in the general population should be tested - routine measurement offered to everyone. And also at the earliest sign of anything which could be thyroid related.

That would of course require a complete change in mind-set by NICE and they would have to recognise thyroid issues as having serious consequences if not diagnosed and treated. Unrealistic I know, but I dream on!

Liza