Gut-Thyroid Connection: How To Fix Your Thyroid Through Your Gut

[Mauritio]

Great article!
I've been waiting for you to make that connection. For me it seems gut health is the one ruler of my whole body.
when gut helath is better I sleep better , I have better mood ,libido, look better , more energy etc... and the same vice versa !
I think especially for younger people where there hasn't much structural damage happened ,they mostly have secondary hypothyroidism due to gut issues, which (theorerically) could be reversed pretty easily . Practically I've been trying that for the last 2 years


Btw @Hans will you do an article on cats claw ? Thanks for that tip. I've been taking it for the last 2 weeks ,not everday more like 4-5 times a week and its treating me really well . It must do something for the liver that other things don't .it might actually be due to gut benefits . I haven't figured out the mechanism.
It even seems to help me loose weight which is really hard for me.

 

[Mauritio]

"How many people do you know that are using thyroid and not improving?"

I notice that a lot in my patients . There was a man on thyroid and aspirin and I looked at him and was like :" how can you degenerate so much taking that stuff "?
I noticed that most people on thyroid meds actually look really hypo ,maybe they only get T4...

 

[Hans]

Great article!
I've been waiting for you to make that connection. For me it seems gut health is the one ruler of my whole body.
when gut helath is better I sleep better , I have better mood ,libido, look better , more energy etc... and the same vice versa !
I think especially for younger people where there hasn't much structural damage happened ,they mostly have secondary hypothyroidism due to gut issues, which (theorerically) could be reversed pretty easily . Practically I've been trying that for the last 2 years


Btw @Hans will you do an article on cats claw ? Thanks for that tip. I've been taking it for the last 2 weeks ,not everday more like 4-5 times a week and its treating me really well . It must do something for the liver that other things don't .it might actually be due to gut benefits . I haven't figured out the mechanism.
It even seems to help me loose weight which is really hard for me.

Sweet man. The gut really has its fingers in every pie in the body.
Theoretically, gut issues should be resolved easily lol, but sometimes it can be so hardheaded. It takes time to find what works for you.

Glad the cat's claw is working for you. It's potent anti-inflammatory in the gut and can block the inflammatory effects of endotoxins (like "inhibited lipopolysaccharide-induced iNOS gene expression, nitrite formation, cell death and inhibited the activation of NF-kappaB." (R)). It also protects the gut and most likely a lot of other tissue in the body as well.

 

[Vins7]

Great article! I definitely notice the connection.

I've been struggling with gut inflammation for years and never found the cause until recently. Now that my gut is less inflamed, I really feel so much better. My body is warmer and I have way more energy! It's been the thing that had the biggest effect on my health.

But the main irritant is red meat... I switched to seafood and poultry and recently started supplementing zinc as I am probably going to have a deficit now that I don't eat red meat.

The cause of your gut inflamation was only red meat?
Did your gut issues fix when you remover red meat?

 

[Broken man]

Interesting. I've heard of a few people that struggle to digest red meat. Have you tried digestive enzymes with the red meat before?

Its good summary but I hate how most bloggers repeat that bad food causes leaky Gut, Its not true, in most cases, Its because of toxins that stay in the body because body can't get rid of them. Like roundup and others toxins, that is Reason why things like LDN works, LDN is improving detox pathways.

 

[nikotrope]

The cause of your gut inflamation was only red meat?
Did your gut issues fix when you remover red meat?

From my usual diet, only red meat was the cause. It would give me headaches for at least 24h, my gut would be painful with lots of really bad gas, and bad bowel movements as well. It was difficult to understand the cause because it would mess my digestion and sugar (fructose) and some starches (oats and potatoes) would amplify the effect so I thought it was the cause for a long time.

But simply removing red meat allowed me to have sugar and starches back on the menu. I still have issues with beans but they were never part of my diet. And of course, if I eat junk food loaded on PUFA, I'm going to have similar issues (not as much as red meat though).

Now I'm almost ghost wiping, no more gas, no more headaches, no more pain, more energy, better sleep, better body temp. I had also a very bad chronic dehydration problem due to the inflammation and it got fixed too.

I still think my liver is in bad shape from years of gut inflammation and it will take time to get everything better. It's just been one month and every week I feel a little better.

 

[PaRa]

probably lack of HCL if you have a hard time with beef, as it's not even that fatty

 

[nikotrope]

probably lack of HCL if you have a hard time with beef, as it's not even that fatty

I'm not so sure though. I've tried Betaine HCl and it didn't have any effect on my digestion of red meat. Even lots of it. It doesn't mean HCl is not a problem, but it's probably not the only problem.

 

[Vins7]

From my usual diet, only red meat was the cause. It would give me headaches for at least 24h, my gut would be painful with lots of really bad gas, and bad bowel movements as well. It was difficult to understand the cause because it would mess my digestion and sugar (fructose) and some starches (oats and potatoes) would amplify the effect so I thought it was the cause for a long time.

But simply removing red meat allowed me to have sugar and starches back on the menu. I still have issues with beans but they were never part of my diet. And of course, if I eat junk food loaded on PUFA, I'm going to have similar issues (not as much as red meat though).

Now I'm almost ghost wiping, no more gas, no more headaches, no more pain, more energy, better sleep, better body temp. I had also a very bad chronic dehydration problem due to the inflammation and it got fixed too.

I still think my liver is in bad shape from years of gut inflammation and it will take time to get everything better. It's just been one month and every week I feel a little better.

Can gut inflamation produce chronic dehydration?
I feel that i'm not never well hydrated.

 

[nikotrope]

Can gut inflamation produce chronic dehydration?
I feel that i'm not never well hydrated.

I couldn't find the article I read recently but inflammation in general causes chronic dehydration. On the topic of this thread, (gut) inflammation puts you in a state of hypothyroidism which will cause chronic dehydration for many people.

If you are not well hydrated, there are plenty of solutions on the forum you can try. Personally, I felt best using this protocol: The Water Cures Protocol: What it is and What it Does.

Which I don't need now that my gut feels better.

 

[Nebula]

I’ve been noticing a lot better digestion and maybe thyroid function from cold water immersion. The last few weeks I’ve been swimming and wading neck deep in a river near where I live. It’s maybe about 60 degrees F. I stay in for a half hour. I wonder if it’s mostly from increased vagus nerve tone?

 

[Hgreen56]

my gut get constipated by taking calcium rich foods.
any solution for this?
1 can bamboo shoots, 1 carrot, 2 gr magnesium citrate a day , doesnt work.

 

[charlie]

my gut get constipated by taking calcium rich foods.
any solution for this?
1 can bamboo shoots, 1 carrot, 2 gr magnesium citrate a day , doesnt work.

Could be a B1 deficiency. Cascara sagrada can be helpful. Also making sure to get some walking in during the day.

 

[Vileplume]

@Hans I always love your articles because of their depth. You provide a bunch of information every time. Thank you.

So far, the things they seem to speed up transit time and/or digest fast (watermelon, Magnesium, lots of fresh squeezed OJ, milk) also make me pee a lot and cause my sleeping pulse to plummet, no matter how much salt I take. More solid foods (meat, fruit) seem to help me not pee so much, but then I get a knot in my stomach. I can’t seem to find the right balance.

 

[Hans]

@Hans I always love your articles because of their depth. You provide a bunch of information every time. Thank you.

So far, the things they seem to speed up transit time and/or digest fast (watermelon, Magnesium, lots of fresh squeezed OJ, milk) also make me pee a lot and cause my sleeping pulse to plummet, no matter how much salt I take. More solid foods (meat, fruit) seem to help me not pee so much, but then I get a knot in my stomach. I can’t seem to find the right balance.

My pleasure man, I'm glad you find them helpful.
It's interesting that fruit juice is fine, but then whole fruit is not, since the whole fruit is still a significant source of liquid, unless it's dried out ofc. Maybe you're sensitive to the fiber? Is there some whole fruit you do better on compared to others or is basically all whole fruit the same for you?

 

[Elie]

Its good summary but I hate how most bloggers repeat that bad food causes leaky Gut, Its not true, in most cases, Its because of toxins that stay in the body because body can't get rid of them. Like roundup and others toxins, that is Reason why things like LDN works, LDN is improving detox pathways.

Hi @Broken man, are you referring to Low-dose naltrexone (LDN)? how would you get this? any reliable online sources that require no prescription?

 

[Vileplume]

My pleasure man, I'm glad you find them helpful.
It's interesting that fruit juice is fine, but then whole fruit is not, since the whole fruit is still a significant source of liquid, unless it's dried out ofc. Maybe you're sensitive to the fiber? Is there some whole fruit you do better on compared to others or is basically all whole fruit the same for you?

I find that interesting too. It does seem to be the fiber that causes it — melons are decent but cause some stomach knotting, pineapples are okay too, and papayas sit great in my gut but are hard to find. Kirkland/Costco OJ digests so well, but along with the milk comes out to a lot of liquid, which makes me pee a lot, disrupting sleep too. I also notice that with more time on these liquids (without fiber), my sleeping heart rate drops, but my nighttime erections increase. When my stomach is clear, every time I wake up, I have an erection. The stomach knots from fiber kill my sex drive and nighttime erections. If I could just eat OJ and drink milk I’d be happy, because I love them and they make my stomach feel cleared out. I wonder if my body will adjust to more liquids over time, or if I’m making my hypo worse with these liquids.

 

[mostlylurking]

Hi all,

Thyroid is so widely prescribed and used and often times, hypothyroidism or hypothyroid symptoms are caused by gut issues and inflammation. So if you resolve that, thyroid should start working normally again and this takes away the need to take thyroid.

I've written an article on this specific article:
Gut-Thyroid connection: How to fix your thyroid through your gut » MENELITE

Let me know your thoughts.

My thoughts: I really do think you have got this backwards. Without good thyroid function you can't heal your body, including your gut. Having lived with leaky gut and being allergic to pretty much everything, I can honestly report that my gut problems did not go away until I got my thyroid medication optimized; the long time (15 years) dose was doubled to 3 grains, or 180 mg of natural desiccated thyroid, that includes T3.

If your thyroid isn't working, you need to address it with a thyroid supplementation that includes T3.

I do not understand your aversion to thyroid supplementation, but I do understand that it is a very common position of the medical industrial complex.

Thyroid function is damaged by diet, by polyunsaturated fats mainly. Diet is extremely important. But you seem to be anti-milk and pro-meat which results in unhealthy calcium/phosphate issues. I have had very good results by following Ray Peat's diet suggestions; I'm going to stick with what works for me.

 

[Hans]

Its good summary but I hate how most bloggers repeat that bad food causes leaky Gut, Its not true, in most cases, Its because of toxins that stay in the body because body can't get rid of them. Like roundup and others toxins, that is Reason why things like LDN works, LDN is improving detox pathways.

I missed your post when you posted it. It's been proven that things like gluten and lectins can cause leaky gut. Other things that cause an immune response can also contribute to leaky gut.
Enhancing detoxification pathways will only take you so far, because gut inflammation also damages the liver. So reducing gut inflammation will also improve liver function, as of other organs.

 

[Hans]

I find that interesting too. It does seem to be the fiber that causes it — melons are decent but cause some stomach knotting, pineapples are okay too, and papayas sit great in my gut but are hard to find. Kirkland/Costco OJ digests so well, but along with the milk comes out to a lot of liquid, which makes me pee a lot, disrupting sleep too. I also notice that with more time on these liquids (without fiber), my sleeping heart rate drops, but my nighttime erections increase. When my stomach is clear, every time I wake up, I have an erection. The stomach knots from fiber kill my sex drive and nighttime erections. If I could just eat OJ and drink milk I’d be happy, because I love them and they make my stomach feel cleared out. I wonder if my body will adjust to more liquids over time, or if I’m making my hypo worse with these liquids.

Maybe you can dehydrate/concentrate the milk a little and see if that helps. Or try yogurt or cheese.