Does anyone follow Dr Alan Christianson on social media or read any of his material? I find his video's very very informative and enjoy his content. He seems to be a very big supporter of an iodine controlled diet, and thyroid disease can be controlled by regulating iodine intake as appose to thyroid meds.
What peoples thoughts on this? Does anyone think this is possible? My thyroid scan back in the spring showed no active inflammation and an approximation of 70 - 80% of the thyroid tissue remaining intact. So it has got me thinking, could my symptoms be controlled by a diet as Dr Christianson suggests?
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joey82
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I’m sure that you know that Dr Alan Christianson is an integrative practioner.
I think such assertions are dangerous. Nothing can replace thyroid hormones. I see from your profile that you are hypothyroid / Hashimotos. I would urge you not to go down this unthinkable path
Thats what I've always thought. But do you need 100% of your thyroid to feel 100% in your body & mind? Or can the the thyroid gland compensate if its lost some of its tissue?
Just thinking out aloud, not subscribing to his thoughts and ideas.
Compensation for inability of the thyroid to deliver precisely the T4 and T3 required comes in several forms. One of which is to preserve T3 availability to the body (and brain!) at all costs. That is the imperative.
We sometime see T4 dropping and T3 rising as the thyroid gland itself deteriorates. Thus potentially meaning individuals retain much of their body and mind ability - until suddenly that tactic fails.
I suspect this is why so many end up in crisis with massively elevated TSH and low T4 and T3 having not realised there was anything much wrong. Maybe just feeling less well but often ascribing that to age, stress, not eating so well, failure to exercise sufficiently, etc.
If you have, say, half your thyroid removed, just to take a simple situation, then your body can respond in many ways. One is likely to try to re-grow some thyroid tissue - which will involve adding thyroid cells and blood vessels to supply the extra thyroid tissues, etc . Another is to shift the balance of thyroid hormones produced. If regrowth of thyroid tissue is successful, the shift in balance of hormones might also reverse. It is a complex set of processes which affect each other.
Some people seem to do quite well after a partial thyroidectomy - others not so well.
But in the case of an autoimmune thyroid disease, there might be limited ability to regrow any thyroid tissue. So the shift in hormone balance is probably more significant.
I'm assuming in the case of thyroid disease, Hashi's in particular, it's impossible to re-grow thyroid tissue. But what if, you can get your antibodies' into remission? Can the the glad then, possibly, re-generate itself?
I've recently seen and hashi's advocate who had to reduce her NDT intake as she was showing signs of being hyper. Could this be the case? Her anti body levels remained below range and in remission for some time.
It is extraordinarily difficult because we do not have proper data, nor understanding, about how things change day by day, week by week, etc., in Hashimoto's.
We know that many who have had two or more tests see very similar results - but others see very different results.
I am not aware of anyone with properly diagnosed Hashimoto's who has spontaneously recovered. Nor of any proved approach to achieving that.
But we do see many with Hashimoto's go through periods of hyperthyroidism or over-medication. Hence the word Hashitoxicosis.
I think remission would better describe that situation. Anti body levels in range for a period of time. I think diet and life style can help a lot with this.
Very important to realise that there is a difference in that salt in the USA is usually iodised. Therefore, there is a significant iodine source in the diets of many in the USA that simply does not exist for most of us in the UK.
I would like to know what exactly he thinks the thyroid does with the iodine. And at what level iodine is controlled in this diet. Is it low iodine? High iodine? Does he even test iodine levels?
It all sounds very suspicious to me. Iodine is just one of the ingredients of thyroid hormone. Some people add extra iodine thinking it will result in more thyroid hormone, without taking into account the other ingredients. But, as I always say - forgive me if you've heard this before - doesn't matter how many eggs you add to the batter, if your oven is on the blink you ain't going to get a cake!
And if we're talking about Hashi's, it has little to do with iodine, anyway. Although we do know that excess iodine can trigger Hashi's, I'm pretty sure the it doesn't work the other way. And once the damage has been done to the thyroid, and is so bad that you need thyroid hormone replacement, it is irrepairable - nothing to do with antibody levels, by the way. They are the result of the disease, not the cause of it. And antibody levels are no indication of the gravity - or otherwise - of the disease. So, I think your 'hashi's advocat' lacks a basic understanding of thyroid!
What often happens is, as helvella says, Hashi's people often go through periods of false hyperthyroidism. This is due to the dying cells, durin an autoimmune attack on the gland, depositing their stock of thyroid hormone into the blood, causing FT4/3 levels to rise sharply. This is only temporary. As the excess hormone is used up/excreted the levels will drop to hypo again. However, during that drop one can have a period - sometimes quite a long period - of euthyroidism. This is when people start saying they have 'cured' their Hashi's by whatever method, or that their Hashi's is 'in remission'. But it will not last. Sooner or later they will become hypo again. And neither antibodies nor iodine has anything to do with any of that.
I agree with Hidden that is a very dangerous statement to make. It could incite a lot of people, who don't know any better - or who are so desperate they'll try anything! - to come off their thyroid hormones. Although I fail to understand why anyone would want to do that. It's not like taking a drug that can harm you. You may have problems with it - I had problems with levo - but stopping it altogether is not the answer. And taking it is better than the alternative!
I completely agree with you! Personally, I am shocked by the number of alternative/natural doctors claiming that you can heal Hashi´s and eventually come off meds. Their treatment protocols involve everything from high iodine intake to lymphatic drainage and infrared saunas, along with a special diet and a lot of supplements. And, more often than not, they sell those very supplements to "support your thyroid back to health".
My thyroid scan back in the spring showed no active inflammation and an approximation of 70 - 80% of the thyroid tissue remaining intact.
Are you talking about an ultrasound? If so, how does it show active inflammation? The only way to do that with Hashi´s (as far as I know), is to have blood analyses right after an autoimmune attack. Your antibodies will then be high.
And how does an ultrasound show how much thyroid tissue remains intact? Just curious as I´ve had two thyroid ultrasounds and they did not show any of this, just the size of the gland. And, although it was still of normal size at the time of diagnosis, it was already severely damaged and dysfunctional.
When you say ...'an iodine controlled diet' do you mean a low iodine diet? Sorry I've not seen any of Dr Alan Christianson's material.
I find this interesting....'thyroid disease can be controlled by regulating iodine intake as appose to thyroid meds'. Don't thyroid hormones (Levothyroxine) contain iodine?
I'm still without a hypothyroidism diagnosis but I did find that I had a severe iodine deficiency when I tested and that has likely been the cause of my below range FT4.
I believe I have (or had) what is described as Acquired Hypothyroidism due to my plant based diet. I also fitted the criteria for Central Hypothyroidism but was never able to get a diagnosis. I've never had high antibodies so my issues are possibly not autoimmune.
After having half my thyroid removed due to a suspicious nodule and being prescribed thyroid hormones for tiredness I'm now starting to feel less 'thyroidy' but a long way to go yet.
Interestingly I was told by my endo to not supplement with iodine as it could complicate my situation.
Ok. Yes I was surprised though with being severely deficient I wanted to start to help myself and did consider a supplement but decided to wait and get levo prescribed instead.
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
I read about Dr. C´s new book, The Thyroid Reset Diet. On the cover, he claims that a low iodine diet can reverse Hashimoto´s in as little as four weeks, and that dietary change is all that is needed. However, that would require Hashimoto´s to be caused by excess iodine. If it´s not, I don´t see how a diet low in iodine could then reverse the condition.
Personally, I think statements such as these are dangerous. There may be some people who manage to restore thyroid function (for instance, if they are hypothyroid due to iodine deficiency, taking supplementary iodine would logically restore normal thyroid function), but the problem with Hashi´s is that once it is diagnosed, most of the time the thyroid gland has already suffered extensive and irrevocable damage. And no diet in the world, low iodine or otherwise, can reverse that damage.
Interestingly enough, other alternative doctors suggest high doses of iodine to reverse/cure Hashi´s. Iodine is either described as a blessing or a curse, depending on the doctor.
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