Weight loss success with Hypo

[HypoHelen2867]

Which diet would you say is the most successful for people with Hypo? I’m thinking of trying the Keto Diet has anyone tried this and did it work?

thanks

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Did you manage to secure an endo appointment to try and get an increase in Levothyroxine, as per your last post?

For many members, optimal medication and key vitamin levels is key to stabilising any weight gain from hypothyroidism.

I’ve not needed to lose weight, but feel (& look!) better from following an autoimmune diet, eliminating gluten and processed foods and reducing sugar.

[Lulu2607 in reply to Buddy195]

How are you coping with the autoimmune diet? I bought a book but a lot of the meals look unappetising and very limited. I thought it might be hard to stick to.

[Buddy195 Administrator in reply to Lulu2607]

When I cut out both gluten and dairy I found it very restrictive, but have been able to introduce dairy (although not in excess!) I won’t touch gluten ever again though, as that certainly causes me inflammation (although I’m not coeliac). I cut out all sugar for a while, but now only have small amounts. I cook a lot of fresh vegetables and fish, Mediterranean style.

[HypoHelen2867 in reply to Buddy195]

just had bloods done for GP on Friday waiting on results and I am on the waiting list for Endo thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator]

previous post 2 months ago ….you were increasing levothyroxine to 100mcg everyday

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

You need to get thyroid and vitamins tested 6-8 weeks after each dose change or brand change in levothyroxine

Please add new test results

Always test thyroid levels early morning and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

Have you had coeliac blood test done

Or are you already on strictly gluten free diet

[HypoHelen2867 in reply to SlowDragon]

just waiting for latest bloods from with GP had them done Friday. Also on a waiting list for Endo

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to HypoHelen2867]

come back with new post once you get results

Was test done early morning and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

Just testing TSH and Ft4 is completely inadequate

You need vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 levels tested too

Previous post 2 years ago shows absolutely dire ferritin at 3 (20-204)

when were iron and ferritin levels last tested

Ferritin as absolute minimum of 70 and nearer 100 Better

TSH, Ft4 and Ft3 always need testing

Presumably you have Hashimoto’s as you have multiple nodules

Have you had both TPO and TG antibodies on any previous tests?

[HypoHelen2867 in reply to SlowDragon]

yes over 24 hours was last dose of Levo. They told me that tsh t4 & t3 would be tested as I want to increase from 75 to 100mg.

It’s been a year since last iron test. I will need to pay to have my vits and iron tested and also antibodies.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to HypoHelen2867]

They told me that tsh t4 & t3 would be tested as I want to increase from 75 to 100mg.

Quite often only TSH tested …what ever GP requests

[HypoHelen2867 in reply to SlowDragon]

I asked when I was having the blood taken was it all 3 and they said yes

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to HypoHelen2867]

Yes, but lab often doesn’t do Ft3 unless TSH and Ft4 are out of range

However your blood test will still be held at the lab for a few days

If only TSH and Ft4 are tested GP can request Ft3 is tested

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

I did Keto for a few years but no real benefit weight wise unfortunately. Recently I tried intermittent fasting but it threw out my thyroid blood results and I'm back here to get my thyroid treatment optimised and now had to stop the diet.

How are your thyroid blood results? Have you had your key vitamin levels checked lately? We need results for ferritin, folate, B12 and d3 to be optimal for our thyroid hormone to work effectively.

[HypoHelen2867 in reply to Jaydee1507]

vits last year were all ok but I need to pay for a new private test to get them done again

[Jaydee1507 Administrator in reply to HypoHelen2867]

Did you manage to get your ferritin up to 75+? A few years back that was low and it's not easy to raise and keep up. I wouldn't rely on the word of any doctor to tell me my vitamin levels were OK. They have no training in nutrition.

Medichecks have a 20% discount offer on right now until I think end of Monday.

[HypoHelen2867 in reply to Jaydee1507]

I need to buy a private blood test to do my iron and vitamins

[DawnD]

I saw a dietician at my Doctor's surgery a few weeks ago and had a long discussion with her, as I struggle to lose weight and keep it off - I have been following a low-calorie diet for years, but as soon as I have a few days off, the weight piles on. This lady said that calorie counting is no longer encouraged and that a lot of research has been done in recent years, and low carbohydrates (low-carb) eating is the way to go. She did think, given my history of dieting, that I am quite likely to be carb intolerant. I have only been doing this for a few weeks, so cannot really say how good it is, but I do not generally feel hungry, and can eat quite a bit.

[HypoHelen2867 in reply to DawnD]

that’s great news, I think I will try this , thanks

[Lulu2607]

I agree with DawnD that low carb seems best. I lost the bit of weight I'd acquired (mostly located around my midriff) when severely hypo once I started levo but need to stay low (ish) carb to keep it off. Particularly at the evening meal where I try and have few or no carbs. Luckily I like salad!

[HypoHelen2867 in reply to Lulu2607]

i will defo do low carb instead of no carbs and try and eat more healthy, have to do something

[Bambam22]

I hope my journey helps you in some way...

When I was given my diagnosis of underactive thyroid in April 22 it took 3 months to establish I had Hashimotto's and my vit D, B12, folate and ferritin were terrible. NHS just treated the symptoms of hypothyroidism and refused to connect the dots regarding key vitamins and ferritin. I had gained weight up to the diagnosis and was still gaining on the treatment with levothyroxine. I looked puffy, was inflammed with painful joints, brain fog, hair falling out and just completely flat with no zing.

I did uber amounts of reading from advocates across the world, Dr Balcavage, Hypothyroid chef, Dr Gupta, Anna Ord to name but a few.

I tried desperately to understand why my thyroid was not working properly, everything pointed to me answering what was my root cause.

My root cause.

For me I had created my perfect storm. I had for 12 months been on a plant based diet. Whilst I was eating whole foods and limited processed foods and sugars, I had not monitored my critical vitamins, minerals and micronutrients. Nor had I supplemented. Stress levels were out of control both external and internal. If I am honest I was self soothing with alcohol to get through many days.

I soon realised that for many years I had been showing signs of hypothyroidism; looking at my lifestyle there were many factors that did not help. Low calorie diets, low carb diets, atkins diets, over exercising, poor sleep, escilating work stress and just too much pressure on my adrenal system.

My journey

So in July 22 I was signed of work as I was so fatigued, low and just unwell. I vowed to address the autoimmune side of my condition.

I did not look for a diet to lose weight I adopted hypothyroid chef advice adopting key anti-inflammatory foods into my diet like tumeric, corriander, Blueberries, artichokes, using bone broth and much more. I removed gluten and cows milk dairy. I adopted a whole food eating style and increased my water intake. I use collegen peptides and glutamine in a daily green smoothie that contains fresh ginger.

I am still following much of the advice around reducing toxins, puchasing better quality food moving towards organic, proper breathing and supporting gut health. At this time I am trying 30 days of a paleo style eating plan- 20 days in.

At the start of this journey I took oral spray vit d with k, B12, vit b complex, magnisum, high strength cod liver oil. Recent private results are showing huge improvements and I have altered what I now take.

I have recently got a fitbit and this helps me to monitor so much including my sleep, stress levels, readiness for the day, food intake, heart rate variable and heart rate. I can see why I am having off days.

The biggest benefit of my work is I feel improved and without focusing on weight I have lost about 12lbs. I still have a long way to go on my healing journey and the long term impact of my condition on the ebb and flow of life but today I feel empowered.

I do know we are all very different and what brings us to where we are varies from person to person. The medication we take has profound and differing impacts on each of our bodies and minds. I also understand what works for one may not work for another, but shared experiences can be empowering.I do wish you good fortune and I am sure you will find the rainbow in your cloud. ❤

[HypoHelen2867 in reply to Bambam22]

that’s great to hear, keep it up glad you feel better. Where do you get the spray vitamins from?

[Bambam22 in reply to HypoHelen2867]

recommended in this forum. BetterYou vit D3000 + K2

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

Very similar, I’ve gone from 72kg to 66kg since July following an AI diet. I can’t exercise a lot as I have a chronic ankle injury but even that is improving. I do 2 hours of quite strenuous Iyenga yoga a week. But also in that time my Levo dose has increased from 50mcg to 100mcg via 75mcg.

I tried Keto before my Hashi DX and my therapist was convinced this contributed to a mental health crisis that left me with clinical anxiety and depression. 12 weeks of fast track CBT and thyroid meds has made me a stronger and more resilient human but I worry now about Keto.

My most useful reading to date has been on the Dr. Sarah Myhill website, she recommends the PK diet (paleo-Keto) you can read the first chapter of her book for free, it makes a lot of sense. Her website is a labyrinth of interesting articles. Although I’m not 100% on board with some of it. I made her PK bread yesterday with Aldi ground flaxseed and it’s delicious, better than any GF bread I’ve made. drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/The_Pal...

So I’m more paleo than Keto but have been a long term carb dodger (48 years), have never really liked chips/pasta/pizza etc.

I think Dr Sarah Myhill’s point about Keto is being in ketosis to the correct degree initially using ketostix to test your urine is a sensible route, drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/The_Pal... that way you can avoid metabolic hinterland (where your body is swinging between burning carbs and keto) she calls this metabolic syndrome and I’ve definitely been in this much of my adult life not helped by Hashi’s becoming more hypo as I’ve aged. I do worry about the more dangerous keto acidosis though so if it was me I’d definitely test with ketostix and read up when starting out. Remember with Keto you’ll have a few rough days as your body starts to burn fat and adjust. 🦋💚🦋

[HypoHelen2867 in reply to Regenallotment]

thank you

[RedApple Administrator]

HypoHelen2867, Dr Myhill has been an advocate of the Paleo-Ketogenic diet for decades. Might be helpful to browse her website. drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Categor...

[Lulu2607]

Hi. Lots of advice here Helen but please be careful. You need to know what you're doing with these eating plans and any radical change to your diet could have adverse consequences. Nearly ten years ago I was under severe stress and tried to eat healthily to boost my immune system by adding various supplements to each meal, mostly of the seed variety and juices etc but I ended up very ill and I think I probably damaged my immune system by overdoing it. It was probably already very sensitive anyway as I hadn'been diagnosed hypo at that point but was heading that way as I found I had high levels of thyroid antibodies shortly afterwards. I would advise making small changes to start with and see how you feel. Cutting out too many food groups at once or changing too many things at once is like an assault on the body. Hopefully your dietician can advise you. It will get better when you find what works for you.

[Hidden]

Hi Helen, sorry to hear you are struggling to lose weight. I have some first hand experience to offer up that you may find useful.

I did the keto diet for 14 months and it is hands down, the worst decision I have ever made for my health. For the first 6 months I was as thin as a rake, but over time I developed electrolyte imbalances, nutritional deficiencies and ultimately, the diet completely tanked my adrenals. I piled weight back on that I didn’t even have when I started. The adrenals go some way towards propping up a hypothyroid system, a keto diet relies heavily on them to create blood sugar in the absence of dietary carbohydrate. The pressure on my adrenals appears to have simply made them give out. I ended up in A and E, on the eve of COVID, with a fecal impaction. The knock on impact of chronic ketosis on my thyroid has been severe and I still live with the after affects 2 years later.

Please know that while, of course, everyone is affected differently by diets there are absolutely no long term, substantial studies studying the safety or efficacy of ketogenic diets. In fact, the keto diet actually down regulates your t4 conversion to t3 because it is technically a hypometabolic state (meaning your metabolism is instructed to slow down due to the perceived state of “starvation mode” it is entering.)

If you are struggling with weight loss, the answer is to fix your metabolism, aka, your thyroid. My advice nowadays is to get optimal on your hormone replacement. Putting yourself into either a calorie deficit or a state of ketosis to lose weight will only add pressure to a hypothyroid system that is already struggling to burn fuel at an appropriate rate. It’s like a car - if the engine is poorly functioning, the answer isn’t to put tiny bits of fuel in and make tiny sporadic journeys in it, the answer is to fix the engine itself (your mitochondria) and then fill your fuel tank right up to the top in the safe knowledge that you will burn that fuel efficiently and well.

In terms of a diet that actually optimises thyroid function, I now follow a pro-metabolic diet, aka the ray peat diet. It is worth looking into quick fixes are almost always too good to be true!

I know that Sarah Myhill has been mentioned as an advocate of the keto diet on this thread, but I want to highlight that she herself states that you must not enter ketosis in a hypothyroid state, because sufficient thyroid hormone is so essential for fuel burning.

I hope that helps and please know that I don’t want to scaremonger you. I am just sharing what I wish someone had told me x

ps. I am a trainee nutritionist so I say some of this from a personal standpoint, and some of it from a professional one too

[Regenallotment Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

Wow amazing insight, thanks for sharing this. So valuable. 🦋💚🦋

[Hidden in reply to Regenallotment]

that’s kind of you to say 😊 I’ve spent hours and hours researching this stuff so I’m really happy to be able to share it, especially if it can help someone avoid what happened to me x

[HypoHelen2867]

👍😀👏