Brilliant presentation!

[dolphin5]

It’s good to hear that the right messages are getting out there. This presentation was at a Low Carb conference.

youtu.be/ZE6-FHf-0oY?si=1KS...(Not working as expected?)

[TiggerMe]

Very good 👏👏

The rT3 debate continues...

[FallingInReverse]

That was a great way to spend a half hour (although the presenter spoke slowly enough that I watched most at 1.5-2x speed).

It was great to hear someone making sense. I feel like the fact that it was at a low carb conference is like a Trojan horse. Like - how about some endocrinologist conference instead!

My question comes around minute 26.

First - what is she saying about (some) people being able to get off hormones.

Second - I have not heard anyone on this board ever talk about Keto/low carb in the last 6 months at least.

A) is it somehow adjacent/overlapping with gluten free benefits?

B) or is there any opinion here keto on its own is a good thing to try?

Thanks for sharing!

[dolphin5 in reply to FallingInReverse]

An important aspect of keto or a low carb diet is that it tends to make the body more sensitive to thyroid hormones. This means that TSH is likely to drop, and their FT3 and FT4 might drop, without the person feeling negative symptoms. Alternatively, they may just feel better.

In someone who still has a thyroid gland, and a fairly low need for T4 medication, it is possible that they might not need exogenous thyroid hormones any longer.

In someone like myself, with no thyroid gland, it may be that their medication dose can be reduced a little. (I used to take 10mcg Liothyronine per day, but now I tend to take 5mcg per day.)

From watching a very large number of conference presentations about low carb lifestyles, I believe that most people would benefit from it! Of course for those people with an autoimmune condition they would also benefit from the lack of gluten as well.

To see Dr Ben Bickman talk about thyroid hormones and low carb, watch this video:

youtu.be/8hNxMNWgVhQ?si=Rl-...(Not working as expected?)

[greygoose in reply to dolphin5]

This means that TSH is likely to drop, and their FT3 and FT4 might drop, without the person feeling negative symptoms.

What's the point of that? Why would you want your TSH to to drop if FT4/3 doesn't rise? Why would you want them to drop? None of that makes sense to me. And if you go too low carb, it will impact your conversion of T4 to T3.

[dolphin5 in reply to greygoose]

The point is that reducing carbs tends to increase sensitivity to thyroid hormones. That has to be good for everyone. Why would you not want that, especially if you are under medicated?

[FallingInReverse in reply to dolphin5]

dolphin5

What is the mechanism underlying being more sensitive to thyroid hormones? What does being more sensitive actually mean biologically/chemically?

Also curious, what was your hormone/med regimen at the time you went all keto, and how long before you felt a difference and when and how did it then impact your bloods?

[dolphin5 in reply to FallingInReverse]

I don’t know the mechanism. Ben Bickman might know as he’s the scientist who said that it happens. Being more sensitive to thyroid hormones means that they have a greater effect, so you don’t need as much for any given impact. This could be especially important if you are under medicated, as you might feel slightly better.

I eat a low carb diet, but not keto (I eat more carbs than a keto diet). I can’t remember how long the change took. It might have been about 6 months.

When I started eating low carb, I took T4 plus 10mcg of T3. But after a while my levels seemed to be increasing, so I dropped the T3 to 5mcg most days.

I use my resting heart rate to estimate my thyroid levels, and I adjust both T3and T4 to maintain my HR within the range where I feel most comfortable. I did this years ago by getting regular blood tests to assess whether my strategy was working, and I’ve been doing it since 2015, so my blood test results remain fairly stable.

[greygoose in reply to dolphin5]

It's reducing the TSH that I'm questioning. In what way is that a good thing? It's irrelevant.

[dolphin5 in reply to greygoose]

I imagine that tsh drops only in those who were not hypothyroid to start with, but that’s just an educated guess!! The important principle is the increased sensitivity to thyroid hormones, which has to be a good thing surely?

[greygoose in reply to dolphin5]

The TSH level is tied to the FT4/3 levels, not whether you're hypo or not. The pituitary doesn't know if you're hypo. And if you're not hypo, why would you be on thyroid hormone replacement. Sorry, just doesn't make sense.

[dolphin5 in reply to greygoose]

I’m well aware of the connection between tsh and the thyroid hormones. But I’m not going to have an argument!!

[TiggerMe in reply to FallingInReverse]

You'd like Dr Sarah Myhill's latest book "The Underactive Thyroid" she is all for Keto, worth looking at her website... can't tolerate Keto myself

[dolphin5 in reply to TiggerMe]

I eat more carbs than a keto diet, but no longer feel constantly hungry due to less carbs and higher levels of fat.

[Sat2]

a very interesting presentation that has consolidated what I have been learning over the months and clarified about reverse T3 which I hadn’t really understood previously.

[pennyannie]

NIKEGIRL