I decided to create a series of episodes covering the different factors that can help you lower and eventually normalize your thyroid antibodies. Today, in part two of my series, I’m discussing how to lower your thyroid antibodies by addressing food triggers. While all of the episodes in the series will be important, this one might be the most important. I talk about the Triad of Autoimmunity, the role of elimination diets to identify food triggers, testing for food sensitivities, specific food categories and their impact on gut health, common food allergens, the role of iodine, pros and cons of intermittent fasting, and more. If you would prefer to listen to this part, you can access it by Clicking Here.
There could be many factors that can cause elevated thyroid antibodies. In this presentation, I’ll be discussing the impact of food triggers.
Before I begin, I want to mention how eliminating food triggers alone usually won’t normalize thyroid antibodies. They definitely can be an important piece of the puzzle though.
I also want to let you know that the first couple minutes, I might get a little bit technical, but after that, I think it will be pretty easy to understand.
Let me start off by discussing how food can be a trigger of thyroid autoimmunity. Certain foods can cause an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines. As the name suggests, these promote inflammation. They can also cause a decrease in what’s called regulatory T cells, or T-regs. There is also something called molecular mimicry, and this is when the peptide sequence of certain foods is similar to those of human molecules.
Certain food allergens can result in a decrease of something called oral tolerance, and this triggers an immune system response against various components of food proteins. In other words, eating certain foods can result in the immune system attacking the food proteins and potentially attacking bodily tissues with a similar amino acid sequence.
I mentioned oral tolerance. What is this? Oral tolerance plays a key role in preventing our immune system from attacking dietary proteins.
I also mentioned regulatory T cells, or T regs. These play a big role in preventing our immune system from reacting to food antigens. You want to have an abundance of these regulatory T cells. Having a decrease in these regulatory T cells can cause a loss of oral tolerance. This in turn can set the stage for a leaky gut.
A leaky gut is part of the triad of autoimmunity. I have spoken about the triad of autoimmunity in other podcast episodes, videos, articles, blog posts, and thyroid health-related books. According to the triad of autoimmunity, there are three factors necessary for autoimmune conditions to develop, including Graves’ and Hashimoto’s.
The first component of the triad of autoimmunity is a genetic predisposition. Just because you have a genetic predisposition doesn’t mean you will develop an autoimmune condition.
The second component of the triad of autoimmunity is exposure to one or more environmental triggers.
The third component is an increase in intestinal permeability. The medical term for this is a leaky gut.
You might be wondering whether all foods can potentially be triggers of autoimmunity or cause a leaky gut. The answer is no. Healthy foods sometimes can be problematic in other ways. I’ll talk about that soon.
There are definitely some foods that are more problematic than others. This includes common allergens. When talking about common allergens, the four main ones that are talked about a lot include gluten, dairy, corn, and soy.
Soy is a little bit controversial because without question, there are benefits to eating organic fermented soy. I wouldn’t necessarily categorize soy with these other common allergens. That being said, I usually do recommend for people to take a break from eating soy when healing. I’ll talk more about soy later.
When it comes to healthy categories of foods, sometimes it’s not a matter of them being triggers but either increasing intestinal permeability or maybe not actually causing the leaky gut but being a little bit harsh on the gut and preventing the gut from healing.
Let’s discuss some of these foods. Grains are excluded from both an autoimmune protocol or AIP diet as well as a standard paleo diet. The reason is because grains can be harsh on the gut. Can they actually cause a leaky gut? Certain grains with gluten potentially can. Gluten-free grains aren’t probably going to cause a leaky gut but can potentially prevent the gut from healing.
I do recommend to take a break from grains while healing. It does depend on the person, but we’re talking about autoimmune conditions. There are some people who might be able to get away with eating some rice or other gluten-free foods.
I should mention some of the gluten-free foods. Rice is gluten-free. Keep in mind that if you just buy regular rice at a health food store or a grocery store, just by itself, it’s gluten-free. If you buy pre-packaged rice or go out to eat and get rice as a side, it might not be gluten-free. Sometimes, rice will have wheat in it, if you get a box of not just plain rice, but rice with other ingredients. Similarly, if you go out somewhere, and you just get a side of rice with whatever else you’re eating. You want to make sure that it’s gluten-free.
Oats are commonly cross contaminated with gluten, so if you do eat oats, which I am recommending to take a break from all grains, including oats. But if you were to eat them, you want to make sure they are certified gluten-free.
There are pseudo-grains such as quinoa that are gluten-free. Millet and buckwheat are two others. You want to take a break from all grains, including gluten-free grains, while healing.
These all include different compounds like lectins, phytic acid, glycoalkaloids. Different foods will have different compounds, which can affect permeability of the gut or prevent someone’s gut from healing.
Let’s talk about legumes. Legumes are also excluded from not only an AIP diet but from a standard paleo diet. Soy falls in the legume category. Like I said, there are health benefits from eating organic fermented soy, but I usually recommend taking a break from soy.
Some people would do fine with legumes if properly prepared, if you soak the legumes or put them in a pressure cooker.
If someone is a vegan or vegetarian, it might be difficult to follow an AIP or regular paleo diet. This is a case where I might make an exception and hope the person heals even though they are eating legumes. Typically, legumes are excluded from both an AIP diet and a regular paleo diet.
Nightshades also are excluded from an AIP diet. Nightshades include tomatoes, white potatoes, eggplant, and peppers. They do have some health benefits, but in some people, they can cause inflammation or affect permeability of the gut. Usually, I tell people to take a break from them.
Nuts and seeds. A lot of people can tolerate them, but it also depends on the person and what nut they are eating. Almonds and cashews, as much as I love them, especially cashews, they can be harsher on the gut.
When I was dealing with Graves’, there was no AIP diet back then. This was 2008 when I was diagnosed. I was following just a regular paleo diet. I wasn’t eating eggs because I’m not a big egg person. I’ll talk about eggs next. I was eating nuts and seeds and hit a roadblock in my recovery, so I decided to take a break from them for a couple months. Things got back on track. Was it a coincidence? Could be.
For some people, I wouldn’t consider nuts and seeds a trigger or even causing a leaky gut, but they can sometimes be harsh on the gut.
I mentioned almonds and cashews can be harsher on the gut than other nuts, like pistachios and macadamia nuts, which are less harsh. You can prepare nuts in a certain way. You can soak them or sprout them.
Ultimately, it’s up to you. If you are following a strict AIP diet, you would be avoiding nuts and seeds. If you are following a paleo diet, that will allow you to eat nuts and seeds. Even in that case, you might want to limit the nuts and seeds you eat and not overdo it. Maybe just focus on eating certain nuts and seeds.
Let’s talk about eggs. Eggs are included in a paleo diet but are excluded from an AIP diet. Eggs make a great breakfast food. They’re a good source of protein and nutrients.
The problem with eggs is they are a common allergen. I wouldn’t classify them with gluten, dairy, and corn. They don’t fall in the same category of those foods. They are still considered a common allergen. When someone is following an elimination diet, they are typically told to eliminate eggs. There are compounds in the egg whites, which can affect the permeability of the gut.
It’s really up to the person. If someone is really stressed out about following the AIP diet and are following a regular paleo diet, they might do fine with eggs. If someone is willing to take a break from eggs while healing, I would recommend doing so.
I want to shift gears and talk about iodine, mainly the food sources of iodine because we are talking about food here. Iodine in some people can be problematic. I personally had a good experience with iodine many years ago, so I am not anti-iodine. Eating higher sources of iodine such as sea vegetables or certain types of seafood or shellfish can be a problem for some people with Graves’ and Hashimoto’s.
In my book The Hyperthyroid Healing Diet, I talk about iodine in food. I actually talk about iodine in all three of my books. I get into the greatest detail in this aforementioned book though; there is a separate bonus chapter on food sources of iodine.
It depends on the person. Some people might be able to get away with eating sea vegetables and/or shellfish. I would just be careful not to overdo it because iodine might be problematic in some people.
As far as how much iodine should you consume, some will suggest 200mcg or less of iodine per day when it comes to food and if any is in a supplement you’re taking, like a multivitamin. I find that a lot of people can consume more iodine than that, 300-400-500mcg. It does depend on the person.
The mg doses of iodine, usually you won’t get that from eating food. Maybe if you are eating kelp. Most of the time, if you’re eating other food sources, you probably won’t get really high with iodine. As far as exceeding 500mcg and getting into the mg dose, it’s usually supplementation that causes that.
Just be aware that food sources of iodine can be a problem. I wouldn’t say necessarily that they would be a trigger. Potentially they can be. They may be exacerbating in some people the autoimmune response, but not really one of the main triggers. If someone is taking high dose supplementation, that’s a different story.
Let’s now talk about how to detect food triggers. Two of the main ways are through an elimination diet or food sensitivity testing. There are benefits and limitations of each. Benefits of an elimination diet, which is what I typically recommend to my autoimmune thyroid patients, is there is no cost, whereas when doing food sensitivity testing, it can get expensive. AIP is a type of an elimination diet.
The limitation is that you might react to some healthy foods. Not to say that something like broccoli or avocadoes will be a trigger for Graves’ or Hashimoto’s, but some people might be sensitive to them and as a result might have some inflammation. If you do a food sensitivity test, it might pick it up. That’s a benefit of the food sensitivity test.
One of the limitations is not all of them are reproducible, which is not a good thing if you spend money on a test. Not that most people would do this, but if you took two blood samples at a time and sent them to the same lab for a food sensitivity test, and put two separate names on it, if they came back with different results, that wouldn’t be a good thing. The test was not valid at all. That is a concern with some food sensitivity testing, especially IgG food sensitivity testing.
If someone does a food sensitivity test, and it has a lot of findings, then it’s usually a leaky gut. A few dozen foods, including healthy ones like broccoli, lettuce, avocado, asparagus, all these healthy foods, eliminating the food might not be the problem. It might be a matter of just healing the gut, which is easier said than done.
I have episodes on my podcast where I talk about healing the gut. I talk about it in my three thyroid-related books and blog posts and articles. That’s also something to keep in mind.
Another limitation depends on the food sensitivity test. With IgG food sensitivity testing, you need to be eating the food in order for it to test positive. If you’re avoiding certain foods, you wouldn’t expect those foods to come back positive. In some cases, a person will, which means they are either getting exposed to that food and they don’t know it, or we have to question the accuracy of the test.
I like an elimination diet. I’m not saying there is not a time and place for food sensitivity testing. If someone is hitting a roadblock, that might be a time when you might want to consider food sensitivity testing, to see if it shows if they are reacting to something. Maybe if they only react to three, four, five foods, they could easily eliminate those foods. If they are showing 20 foods, 30 foods that they are reacting to, then the solution might not be eliminating those foods but really focusing on gut healing.
When following an elimination diet, you want to eventually reintroduce foods. If someone is following an AIP diet, I would recommend following it for at least 30 days. Ideally, 90 days. Regardless of whether it’s 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, or even longer, you want to reintroduce foods slowly, one at a time, every 3-4 days. If you reintroduce multiple foods at the same time, and you have any type of reaction, then you wouldn’t know which of those foods is causing a reaction.
Sometimes, it can be challenging to know if you’re getting a symptom because of a specific food. An example I commonly give is let’s say someone has eliminated eggs. After three months, they reintroduce eggs, and then they get headaches. Is it possible the headache is due to a stressful day and not the eggs? It is possible.
In that case, you might want to document that you are getting headaches, take a break from the eggs for another few weeks, and once the headaches subside, reintroduce the eggs. If you get the same symptom, it probably is a sensitivity to the food, and you might want to eliminate that food again for another 3-6 months, or longer than that possibly.
Reintroducing foods, I talk about this in my book. I have podcast episodes. If you want more information, I recommend checking out those resources.
Let’s talk about diet more. You might be wondering is there a certain diet that you should follow? I have spoken about AIP. Should you follow AIP? Is it okay to follow a regular paleo diet? In some cases, I mention maybe even vegans and vegetarians would be a little more flexible and follow what’s called a plant paradox diet, which is by Dr. Steven Gundry.
I do recommend for most people who have Graves’ or Hashimoto’s or the antibodies for both to follow an AIP diet. But there is no perfect diet for everyone. Some people might not be ready to follow AIP. It might be too stressful.
Maybe they are eating fast food on a regular basis and a lot of refined foods and sugars. The goal should be to take a break from gluten and introduce some whole, healthy foods. We want to set them up for success. We don’t want someone to start any diet and then feel like they can’t follow it. A lot of it is mental, but still. Whatever the reason, if someone is unable to follow it, and then they go back to old habits, we don’t want that to happen.
If someone has Graves’ or Hashimoto’s, AIP is great. A lot of people find it restrictive because they are not eating enough protein, not eating enough variety. AIP, not to say it’s easy, but you want to make sure you’re eating enough, especially getting enough protein.
If someone is not willing to follow AIP, I would say paleo would be the next thing. Plant Paradox, if someone is vegan or vegetarian. I talk more about these in other resources.
I want to wrap up this presentation by talking about fasting. Some have asked me over the years whether intermittent fasting can play a role in lowering thyroid antibodies. I do like intermittent fasting. I actually incorporate intermittent fasting on a wellness basis.
When I was dealing with Graves’, I wouldn’t have wanted to incorporate intermittent fasting because I was losing a lot of weight, and my adrenals weren’t in good shape. Those are some of the things we look at. If someone doesn’t have healthy adrenals, if someone has hyperthyroidism and is losing a lot of weight, they might not be a good fit for intermittent fasting. Maybe in the future, they can incorporate it, but intermittent fasting isn’t for everyone.
Most people would be okay doing 12-14 hours. 12 hours, most people should do. There are some exceptions. 16-8 is a common intermittent fasting routine. That depends on the person. Some people will go beyond that, 18-6, or 20 hours per day fasting. I think this can get extreme if you are doing it on a daily basis. The problem is that if you have such a small eating window, you might not get enough nutrients. Also, you might not get enough protein.
I like fasting. I interviewed a few experts on the podcast: Cynthia Thurlow, Dr. David Jockers. You can check out their episodes. I’m definitely not against fasting, but I would be cautious.
That’s pretty much all I wanted to cover. Food can play a big role when it comes to at least lowering thyroid antibodies just by itself. It’s usually not going to completely normalize antibodies, but it is an important piece of the puzzle. I would do things from a dietary standpoint, which is why I decided to put together this presentation as well as other presentations that focus on helping to lower your thyroid antibodies.
I hope you found this information to be valuable. As usual, I look forward to catching you in the next episode.