Idiot Warning - Raw Thyroid Gland Overdose?

[wild-bee]

I think I've been really stupid. my butcher sells sweetmeats very cheap and I thought I could fix my thyroid problems without doing any research.

Should I expect long term damage from eating a tablespoon of chopped raw sheep thyroid every day for a week? Couldn't get out of bed all day sleeping and shivering, then hot and sweating all night.

feel 'ok' now 3 days later with slightly high pulse

 

[Westside PUFAs]

No long term damage but it will take a while to get back to neutral. Thyroid is no joke. It's very delicate. That's why it was taken out of snausages. I had a similar reaction to Armour thyroid. The hormones are deactivated by cooking at high temps. Which is why a fish head soup wouldn't do anything but placebo. But raw, you're throwing something into the mix that will do what you experienced. We're supposed to have our liver do most of the thyroid work properly. And only if our own isn't producing enough t4 or our liver isn't converting it then we have to take it. And even then people still struggle because the dosage is so delicate.

 

[Ukall]

Which is why a fish head soup wouldn't do anything but placebo.

So are you saying that a Fish Stock cooked slowly (not so high temperatures I guess) during the night is useless at least regarding thyroid hormones?

 

[Westside PUFAs]

Yes. Anything well above 98f will deactivate the animals hormones. There may be trace amounts of hormone like substances but not the active thyroid hormones. Minerals, amino acids, fats, and starch can take the heat and still be used anaerobically but hormones are sensitive to heat. The known vitamins are also destroyed by too high temps.

 

[Ukall]

So all those saying to make some fish stock or even bone broth with the glands for our thyroid is bull****...?
Well, if there are some traces of it... Yay!, I guess?

 

[Westside PUFAs]

I wouldn't eat fish or bone stocks for "hormones." I would eat them for minerals and maybe some other nutrients.

 

[Ukall]

Yes, you are right about that.
But, since I watched this video - - I understood fish heads would 'boost' thyroid function.
She said "beneficial aspects and thyroid strengthening properties" though. But, I always thought she was talking about thyroid hormones to be honest.

 

[InChristAlone]

How high did your temp get? It could have acted like a temp reset, which Steve Richfield's website fix low body temp is about. He claims if you pushed your temp too high you could use synthroid to save you from thyrotoxicosis not sure how that works though. Now you just need to try to maintain it so you don't suffer adrenal crisis.

 

[scarlettsmum]

No long term damage but it will take a while to get back to neutral. Thyroid is no joke. It's very delicate. That's why it was taken out of snausages. I had a similar reaction to Armour thyroid. The hormones are deactivated by cooking at high temps. Which is why a fish head soup wouldn't do anything but placebo. But raw, you're throwing something into the mix that will do what you experienced. We're supposed to have our liver do most of the thyroid work properly. And only if our own isn't producing enough t4 or our liver isn't converting it then we have to take it. And even then people still struggle because the dosage is so delicate.

If cooked thyroid is no longer useful why would they take it out of sausages besides for reasons of mad cow disease? Am I missing something?

 

[squanch]

Most freeze dried thyroid products contain 130mg of thyroid tissue per capsule.
Assuming the water content of fresh thyroid is somewhere between 50-70%, you would need 260mg-430mg of fresh thyroid to get that. Which is definitely a lot less than a tablespoon...

Are you sure you actually had raw thyroid though? Sweetbreads are generally thymus glands, not thyroid. I't s not legal to sell raw thyroid as far as I know.

 

[squanch]

So all those saying to make some fish stock or even bone broth with the glands for our thyroid is bull****...?
Well, if there are some traces of it... Yay!, I guess?

I wouldn't eat fish or bone stocks for "hormones." I would eat them for minerals and maybe some other nutrients.

You could go full Jack Kruse and do some fish head smoothies...

 

[wild-bee]

argh so embarrassed! thanks for all your replies. not sure how high my temp went but back to cold feet now. yes definitely took more than the capsules, about 15-20g. got sick but put it down to dodgy yogurt and kept going. I shouldn't be allowd out! Pretty sure it was thyroid gland from the throat, not thymus which is lower down?

 

[tara]

Thyroid is no joke. It's very delicate.

+1!

The hormones are deactivated by cooking at high temps.

What temperature?
I'm still convinced I got some benefits from chicken neck soup, and Mittir reported breaking out in a sweat from generous servings.

Anything well above 98f will deactivate the animals hormones.

Not all of them - do you know this to be true of T4 and T3 specifically?
Peat has described boiling in acid as one of the later stages of manufacturing progesterone.

If cooked thyroid is no longer useful why would they take it out of sausages besides for reasons of mad cow disease? Am I missing something?

Good question. I understood there were cases of people getting dangerous overdoses from getting to much from meat accidentally laced with thyroid.

Most freeze dried thyroid products contain 130mg of thyroid tissue per capsule.
Assuming the water content of fresh thyroid is somewhere between 50-70%, you would need 260mg-430mg of fresh thyroid to get that. Which is definitely a lot less than a tablespoon...

I thought NDT was 130mg thryoid tissue after the fat and water was removed? Not sure what proportion of the thyroid tissue is fat (or water). But I agree that 1tbls seems like a big risk.

Are you sure you actually had raw thyroid though? Sweetbreads are generally thymus glands, not thyroid. I't s not legal to sell raw thyroid as far as I know.

Good point. Unless OP got it fresh from the sheep?
I've seen sweetbreads sold here, and not been able to find out which gland they are. The cooking instructions were pretty rigorous.

argh so embarrassed! thanks for all your replies. not sure how high my temp went but back to cold feet now. yes definitely took more than the capsules, about 15-20g. got sick but put it down to dodgy yogurt and kept going. I shouldn't be allowd out!

Just take care of yourself now and learn from your mistake. :) I think you may be past this, but if your temps go way high again , raw cabbage juice is a possible goitrogen that could help bring it down.
If it gets dangerously high or low, seek medical help.

Pretty sure it was thyroid gland from the throat, not thymus which is lower down?

I don't think I could reliably dissect a sheep and find the thyroid and thymus, but I think you are right that the thyroid is in the neck, and the thymus in the upper chest.

If I had access to a definite sheep thyroid, I'd blend and dilute it to get homogeneity, freeze it in icecubes or similar, and be very cautious about starting small and titrating up very slowly, probably cooking it to reduce risk of microbial assault.

 

[wild-bee]

thank you Tara
my butchers have their own animals and abbatoir, they seem confident on which bit is which.
I'd rather eat it fresh and raw but if I tried again would start very small and perhaps throughout the day so it's not all in one go.
but now not sure as read you should fix adrenals first if you have problems with them, then thyroid.

 

[wild-bee]

Are you sure you actually had raw thyroid though? Sweetbreads are generally thymus glands, not thyroid. I't s not legal to sell raw thyroid as far as I know.

Hi squanch, no turns out we were not sure and I bought thymus gland after all. Next time their inspector came in he couldn't locate the thyroid in a sheep carcass

 

[lamassu]

I've tested fish head broth and noticed a strong pro thyroid/metabolic effect after consuming