Orange Juice Has Similar Effects As ANTI-thyroid Drug In Rodents: Increase In TSH, Decrease In T3/T4

zarrin77

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Should we really be drinking orange juice?

Comparative effect of Citrus sinensis and carbimazole on serum T4, T3 and TSH levels

Article (PDF Available)
Abstract
Background: There are previous independent reports on the anti-thyroid property of Citrus sinensis. This isoflavones and phenolic acid-rich natural agent is widely consumed as dietary supplement, thus the need to investigate its comparative effect with a standard anti-thyroid drug on T4, T3 and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Objective: To compare the effect of Citrus sinensis and carbimazole (CARB) on blood levels of thyroid hormones (T4 and T3) and TSH. Materials and methods: Male wistar albino rats weighing 100-150 g were employed in this research. The rats were randomly assigned to four groups of seven rats per group. Group I served as control and were administered distilled water while groups II-IV were administered with 1500 mg/kg of Citrus sinensis (fresh orange juice; FOJ), 0.1 μg/g of levothyroxine (LVT) and 0.01 mg/g of CARB, respectively, per oral once daily for 28 days. The animals were sacrificed under chloroform anaesthesia and blood sample collected by cardiac puncture and processed by standard method to obtain serum. TSH, T4 and T3 were assayed with the serum using ARIA II automated radioimmunoassay instrument. Results: The results showed that TSH level was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in LVT treated group compared with the FOJ group. T4 was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in the FOJ and CARB groups compared with the control and LVT groups. LVT significantly increased T4 when compared with FOJ group. T3 was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in the CARB group compared with the control. Conclusion: These findings suggest that FOJ alters thyroid hormones metabolism to reduce their serum levels with a compensatory elevations of TSH level in a direction similar to CARB.

From the Introduction:

”The phytochemicals like isoflavones found in Citrus sinenesis has anti-peroxidative activity.9 Studies have shown that Citrus sinensis extract significantly decreases the level of serum thyroxine (T4) in rats.10 The anti-thyroidal role of Citrus sinensis might be mediated through the inhibition of thyroid peroxidase (TPO)11 the key enzyme in thyroid hormone biosynthesis, as it contains the phenolic compound naringin, which inhibits the activity of TPO.11-13 Due to its anti-peroxidative activity, Citrus sinensis extract has anti-thyroidal properties, which suggest its potential to ameliorate hyperthyroidism.14”

(Image of results attached)

Supporting Evidence:

Note: Other fruits / polyphenols might have similar effects as well:

The effects of pomegranate juice on pituitary-thyroid axis in adult male rats

—————————————————————————-
However, pineapple juice seems to INCREASE thyroid hormone to a fairly large extent:

Pineapple juice supplementation activates thyroid gland and attenuates hyperlipidemia in rats:

Supplementation of euthyroid rats with pineapple juice for 8 weeks reduced the body weight and elevated serum T3 and T4 levels, compared to normal controls. While, supplementing hypothyroid rats with the pineapple juice normalized serum levels of T3, free cholesterol and its percentage of esterification, LDL-C, HDL-C, atherogenic index and LCAT activity, as well as serum, heart and hepatic MDA concentration and GPX activity.

https://www.researchgate.net/public...d_gland_and_attenuates_hyperlipidemia_in_rats
Perhaps we should be more selective about which polyphenols / phytonutrients we are choosing?
 

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Vinny

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Should we really be drinking orange juice?

Comparative effect of Citrus sinensis and carbimazole on serum T4, T3 and TSH levels

Article (PDF Available)
Abstract
Background: There are previous independent reports on the anti-thyroid property of Citrus sinensis. This isoflavones and phenolic acid-rich natural agent is widely consumed as dietary supplement, thus the need to investigate its comparative effect with a standard anti-thyroid drug on T4, T3 and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Objective: To compare the effect of Citrus sinensis and carbimazole (CARB) on blood levels of thyroid hormones (T4 and T3) and TSH. Materials and methods: Male wistar albino rats weighing 100-150 g were employed in this research. The rats were randomly assigned to four groups of seven rats per group. Group I served as control and were administered distilled water while groups II-IV were administered with 1500 mg/kg of Citrus sinensis (fresh orange juice; FOJ), 0.1 μg/g of levothyroxine (LVT) and 0.01 mg/g of CARB, respectively, per oral once daily for 28 days. The animals were sacrificed under chloroform anaesthesia and blood sample collected by cardiac puncture and processed by standard method to obtain serum. TSH, T4 and T3 were assayed with the serum using ARIA II automated radioimmunoassay instrument. Results: The results showed that TSH level was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in LVT treated group compared with the FOJ group. T4 was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in the FOJ and CARB groups compared with the control and LVT groups. LVT significantly increased T4 when compared with FOJ group. T3 was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in the CARB group compared with the control. Conclusion: These findings suggest that FOJ alters thyroid hormones metabolism to reduce their serum levels with a compensatory elevations of TSH level in a direction similar to CARB.

From the Introduction:

”The phytochemicals like isoflavones found in Citrus sinenesis has anti-peroxidative activity.9 Studies have shown that Citrus sinensis extract significantly decreases the level of serum thyroxine (T4) in rats.10 The anti-thyroidal role of Citrus sinensis might be mediated through the inhibition of thyroid peroxidase (TPO)11 the key enzyme in thyroid hormone biosynthesis, as it contains the phenolic compound naringin, which inhibits the activity of TPO.11-13 Due to its anti-peroxidative activity, Citrus sinensis extract has anti-thyroidal properties, which suggest its potential to ameliorate hyperthyroidism.14”

(Image of results attached)

Supporting Evidence:

Note: Other fruits / polyphenols might have similar effects as well:

The effects of pomegranate juice on pituitary-thyroid axis in adult male rats

—————————————————————————-
However, pineapple juice seems to INCREASE thyroid hormone to a fairly large extent:

Pineapple juice supplementation activates thyroid gland and attenuates hyperlipidemia in rats:

Supplementation of euthyroid rats with pineapple juice for 8 weeks reduced the body weight and elevated serum T3 and T4 levels, compared to normal controls. While, supplementing hypothyroid rats with the pineapple juice normalized serum levels of T3, free cholesterol and its percentage of esterification, LDL-C, HDL-C, atherogenic index and LCAT activity, as well as serum, heart and hepatic MDA concentration and GPX activity.

Perhaps we should be more selective about which polyphenols / phytonutrients we are choosing?
Thank you.
Do you know what kind of pineapple juice was used - fresh or commercial?
Thanks
 

lampofred

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I would guess it does that because it lowers stress-driven increases in metabolism. There are some GABA-like compounds in citrus. But it's not lowering thyroid by damaging your system as PUFA does.
 
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zarrin77

zarrin77

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Many studies that Peat (and Haidut) uses are also rodent studies, so where do you draw the line?

I doubt it does this by lowering stress hormones or through GABA. There are the others studies showing that these polyphenols directly inhibit TPO and 5'DI (the enzyme that converts T4 to T3). In fact, I linked to them in the original post above.

---------------
Just came across this when searching other polyphenols:

Ginger seems safe and protective for thyroid action
 
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zarrin77

zarrin77

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Thank you.
Do you know what kind of pineapple juice was used - fresh or commercial?
Thanks

From the paper:

"Preparation and administration of the pineapple juice

A ripe pineapple fruit was peeled and the whole fruit (pulp and stem) was cut into large pieces then squeezed using an electric squeezer. The fresh crude
juice was filtered, aliquoted and stored at -20oC until use. Undiluted pineapple juice was daily administered to rats by intragastric tubing for 8 consecutive weeks at a dose level of 0.75 ml/100 g b.w (equivalent to 525 ml/70 kg b.w. in human)."

I sort of doubt regular commercial pineapple juice would have the same effect. I would just eat fresh pineapple personally.
 
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This is what I suspected for a long time. Thanks a lot. My personal experience confirms it.
 

Vinny

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From the paper:

"Preparation and administration of the pineapple juice

A ripe pineapple fruit was peeled and the whole fruit (pulp and stem) was cut into large pieces then squeezed using an electric squeezer. The fresh crude
juice was filtered, aliquoted and stored at -20oC until use. Undiluted pineapple juice was daily administered to rats by intragastric tubing for 8 consecutive weeks at a dose level of 0.75 ml/100 g b.w (equivalent to 525 ml/70 kg b.w. in human)."

I sort of doubt regular commercial pineapple juice would have the same effect. I would just eat fresh pineapple personally.
Yep it makes sense. Thanks
 

Kvothe

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"The rats were randomly assigned into four groups of seven rats per group. Rats in group 1 served as control and were administered distilled water while groups II, III and IV were administered with 1500 mg/kg of Citrus sinensis (FOJ), 0.1 μg/g LVT and 0.01 mg/g of CARB, respectively, for 28 days according to their body weight."
@zarrin77 You want to tell me that about 300mg (0.3g) is enough orange juice to make a rat hypothyroid? God help us all :eek:

No, wait they didn't really give them fresh OJ.

Fresh orange fruit was obtained from Akpan Andem market in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Nigeria. The orange fruit was peeled and cut into two parts to make it easier to squeeze. After squeezing, the juice was filtered using filter paper, which was placed inside a funnel and the filtrate was preserved in the refrigerator at a temperature of about −4°C. The stock concentration of the sweet orange extract was determined by taking 2 ml of the sweet orange extract and then concentrated to dryness using a hot plate and an evaporating dish. The differences in the weight of the evaporating dish when empty and after evaporation was determined. This was repeated three times and the mean value was recorded as 90 mg/ml.
Maybe it's because English is not my native language, but the wording sounds like a clumsy highschool experiment to me. Plus, I am not entirely sure what they actually did, or why they call whatever concentrate they ended up making fresh orange juice. Maybe some one can help me out here.
 

gaze

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all those studies are testing the polyphenals themselves without the rest of orange juice. Orange juices pro thyroid action comes from the sugar and minerals. even if those extracted polyphenals are anti thyroid the whole product of the food has a net positive effect.
 
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zarrin77

zarrin77

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Much orange juice comes "from concentrate", which is exactly what they did in this experiment to make their orange juice.

So, it is a possibility that orange juice from concentrate might have a different effect than fresh orange juice. Yet, the fresh orange juice would still have a high concentration of those polyphenols, which were shown by multiple studies to have anti-thyroidal effects.

Now, if you want to say that orange juice will still, *despite* having anti-thyroidal polyphenols, be able to increase thyroid function, please provide evidence of this.

I am not looking for a "logical" argument here (which would technically be nothing more than a hypothesis), but I am looking for actual evidence with oranges or orange juice. If there is none, then the evidence I cited and linked to above is all that we have at this point.
 
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zarrin77

zarrin77

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Actually if you read this correctly (I know English isn't your first language):

"The stock concentration of the sweet orange extract was determined by taking 2 ml of the sweet orange extract and then concentrated to dryness using a hot plate and an evaporating dish. The differences in the weight of the evaporating dish when empty and after evaporation was determined. This was repeated three times and the mean value was recorded as 90 mg/ml."

This is saying how they determined what the concentration was.

The "extract" was simply freshly squeezed orange juice that was run through a filter.
 
L

Lord Cola

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Why did they filter the juice through filter paper? I don't know what kind of filter paper they used, but when I filter orange juice through the filter paper that I usually use all I get is clear liquid that looks very different from orange juice.
 
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zarrin77

zarrin77

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Why did they filter the juice through filter paper? I don't know what kind of filter paper they used, but when I filter orange juice through the filter paper that I usually use all I get is clear liquid that looks very different from orange juice.


To remove the solids. I'm not sure why yours doesn't look like orange juice, but filtered orange juice is quite common.

In any case, the only thing this would do (filtering) is reduce the amount of fiber / polyphenols, so this doesn't make it easier to ignore.
 
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Lord Cola

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To remove the solids. I'm not sure why yours doesn't look like orange juice, but filtered orange juice is quite common.

In any case, the only thing this would do (filtering) is reduce the amount of fiber / polyphenols, so this doesn't make it easier to ignore.
Have you tried filtering orange juice through filter paper? It looks completely different from that strained through your usual strainer. I'm not sure if running it through filter paper would "only" reduce the amount of fiber and polyphenols. It would be a stretch to call the resulting liquid "orange juice".
 

boris

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I wonder what Peat thinks of this study. Maybe someone who‘s in contact with him can ask?

I noticed that storebought orange juice from a carton makes me immediately cold. But fresh squeezed oranges never did that, even imported and sour ones.
 
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Lord Cola

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I wonder what Peat thinks of this study. Maybe someone who‘s in contact with him can ask?

I noticed that storebought orange juice from a carton makes me immediately cold. But fresh squeezed oranges never did that, even imported and sour ones.
I've had the same experience with all store bought orange juice, and fresh squeezed orange juice made from unripe oranges. I'm guessing my response at least partially has to do with unripeness. Sweet fresh squeezed oj makes me warm and feel great overall.
 

Kvothe

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Much orange juice comes "from concentrate", which is exactly what they did in this experiment to make their orange juice.

So, it is a possibility that orange juice from concentrate might have a different effect than fresh orange juice. Yet, the fresh orange juice would still have a high concentration of those polyphenols, which were shown by multiple studies to have anti-thyroidal effects.

Now, if you want to say that orange juice will still, *despite* having anti-thyroidal polyphenols, be able to increase thyroid function, please provide evidence of this.

I am not looking for a "logical" argument here (which would technically be nothing more than a hypothesis), but I am looking for actual evidence with oranges or orange juice. If there is none, then the evidence I cited and linked to above is all that we have at this point.

Let's just say that an argument that is based on one paper with the quality of this one would be quite weak. Doesn't this study seem a little odd to you?

1. They used 1500mg/kg of OJ. For a ~ 200g adult albino wistar rat that is 300mg of OJ. For an adult human (70kg) this would be 105g of OJ. If you consider the standard factor for animal ---> human dose that is used as a standard to convert animal doses into human doses, you would get a human dose of 17.5g. If these quantities of OJ are enough to cause significant thyroid suppression, OJ should be considered a more dangerous health hazard than smoking or air pollution.

2. Why did they administer the OJ to the rats using a syringe and cannula? It's juice, you could just feed it to them.

3. What the hell is this supposed to mean - the median lethal dose of orange juice? The median lethal dose of OJ is 5g/kg? Do they mean the concentrate? If so, why do they mention that, if they gave fresh OJ, or rehydrated concetrate to the rats? Honestly, how can you take this seriously?

"The median lethal dose was estimated by the method of Lorke. 20 There was no mortality at the highest dose of 5000 mg/kg, therefore 30% of 5000 mg/kg was used, that is, 1500 mg/kg body weight."

I am not saying that the phytochemicals in OJ and other fruits might not theoretically be a problem. I am just saying that this study looks more like a very clumsy highschool science project than scientific evidence.
 
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murdoc

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there are tons of studies that demonstrate the health benefits of OJ in HUMANS...Total cholestserol, lipid profile, inflammatory markers...
maybe the thyroid inhibiting effect comes from the carotenoid content...but all in all OJ seems to be a very safe food.
 

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