Thyroid-suppressing amino acids in protein sources

FunkOdyssey

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Using cronometer.com, here's the amino acid composition of a typical daily serving of approximately 30g protein from various sources:

Milk
Cystine: 0.2g
Methionine: 0.8g
Tryptophan: 0.4g

Cheese
Cystine: 0.2g
Methionine: 0.8g
Tryptophan: 0.4g

Chicken
Cystine: 0.4g
Methionine: 0.9g
Tryptophan: 0.4g

Egg
Cystine: 0.6g
Methionine: 0.9g
Tryptophan: 0.4g

Beef
Cystine: 0.3g
Methionine: 0.8g
Tryptophan: 0.2g

Gelatin
Cystine: 0.0g
Methionine: 0.2g
Tryptophan: 0.0g

If we rank these protein sources from best to worst from a thyroid-perspective we get:

Gelatin > Beef > Milk & Cheese > Chicken > Egg

It seems beef is a notable exception to Peat's statements that muscle meats are thyroid-suppressive. In fact, beef appears to be better than milk, and is equally low in PUFA.

It seems to me, your thyroid would be in better shape if the bulk of your daily protein came from a combination of gelatin and beef, rather than dairy.

And egg is just terrible.
 

charlie

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This is definitely very interesting. :confused
 

charlie

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Well, I think the calcium in the milk and cheese is why we need the dairy so much. Along with other great things in contains.

Wonder what cronometer says about fish like cod, flounder, or maybe even shrimp?
 

kiran

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I imagine beef has it's downsides with respect to iron content though.
 

nwo2012

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kiran said:
I imagine beef has it's downsides with respect to iron content though.

Yes iron and phosphorus spring to mind.

I asked RP about tryptothan in milk and should we use gelatin to balance it.
His reply

Other nutrients in milk, such as the high ratio of calcium to phosphorus, are protective, but some extra gelatin is probably beneficial for adults.
 

jaakkima

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Do we need to consume these thyroid inhibiting aminos and how often/ how much? What wo uld constitute a well "balanced" consumption of amino acids?
 

Ari

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jaakkima said:
Can anyone advise on my previous question?

According to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_ ... _in_humans

we have to eat tryptophan and methionine, because our body can not make them.

The second part of your question is more difficult to answer, as it is variable depending on the life stage of a person, and limiting based on available food sources that are beneficial, meaning, you can't pick and choose the amino acid makeup of every food you eat.

More reading can be had here: http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/trypt ... ging.shtml

And on the bottom of the wiki page.
 

Ari

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Rolan said:
Hmm, interesting.

Does anyone have any further thoughts on the original post?


Just a few thoughts

1. Milk has more calories per gram of protein than beef. Whole milk contains more fat and sugar than beef per gram protein, and thus, for the same caloric intake, you would be ingesting less tryptophan.

Just did a quick breakdown, and for 296 calories of milk, you are ingesting 16 grams of protein, but for 277 calories of 'steak', you are ingesting 25 grams of protein.

2. In the presence of iron, tryptophan oxidation is promoted/increased. (Someone else should answer this though: are oxidized forms of tryptophan harmful or waste?)

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 4601003697

(also in the presence of ascorbate... no more milk and oj?)

Not even taking into account the difference in minerals and sugars between the two sources of food, I would lean towards drinking milk over ingesting beef if tryptophan ingestion was a concern.

3. As far as eggs go, if thyroid suppressing AA's are a concern, it would be advisable to eat only the yolk, maybe? I haven't looked into separating eggs like that, but based on some info I looked up, the white is where most of the AA's that throw off the ratios come from. Of course the Yolk has PUFAs to be worried about, but it also has all of the vitamins and minerals that make it worth eating in the first place.
 

kiran

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jaakkima said:
Do we need to consume these thyroid inhibiting aminos and how often/ how much? What would constitute a well "balanced" consumption of amino acids?

The answer is that no one really knows. We know that animals live longer when these aminos (methionine, etc) are limited, but we have no way of measuring their "quality of life".

Some quantity may be necessary for growth and repair.
 

gretchen

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I thought beef was bad because once glycogen stores go kaput then the thyroid shuts down. Also, what about phosphate to calcium ratio. I thought this was the main reason for including dairy.

Personally, I like meat, but it makes me a lot more tired than dairy, though I can't say for sure. It is the easiest food for me to digest but I don't crave it like I used to.
 

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