Dear Thyroid^TM

I’ve been reading a bunch of 2010 top food trend predictions this past week and they got me thinking. I decided to make a list too. While everyone else may be predicting the most popular conventional and consumer-driven food choices for this upcoming year, I’d like to make some health and food predictions that I hope will become popular — especially in our lovely little (or, not-so-little!) thyroid community.

1. Superfoods are trendy these days, and usually happen to be exotic, inaccessible foods that most people have never heard of, let alone are willing to track down at the health food store and shell out the money to purchase. But we’re all familiar with coconut, and I truly consider it to be a superfood. Healthy variations of coconut (preferably organic, minimally-processed, unsweetened) are widely available on the internet and in grocery stores. Though coconut products are not recommended for hyperthyroidism patients, as coconut is known to speed the thyroid, those with hypo symptoms can use it liberally in their diets. I use coconut shreds in my salad for lunch everyday, and coconut oil in my cooking at night. Because it’s full of fat (good, plant-based fat), it satiates and leaves me feeling full and satisfied, and stabilizes my blood sugar so I’m not hungry an hour later and also don’t get the shakes. It’s good at speeding up the thyroid, aiding in weight loss, and treating underlying infection, all while strengthening the immune system.

2. Let’s kill “everything in moderation” this year. A little endocrine disruptor here, and a few bites of soy there — we may put it out of our minds, but it still does affect our bodies. Instead of believing everything in moderation is okay (ie: “a little can’t hurt you”), let’s remember that our bodies are already sick. Anything we can do to lighten their load is worth the effort.

Though, I also don’t think we need to get down on ourselves (or get neurotic). What I’m talking about here are the conscious choices we make that we know aren’t good for us. We simply cannot possibly avoid every chemical in the air, water, food, food packaging, etc. around us. It is so pervasive. But, when we can choose — when we have the conscious choice — let’s choose a lower toxic load for our bodies.

3. More and more of us have decided to go gluten-free, and also identify and eliminate other food allergies. For most of us, these choices have equaled big health gains. My hope for the New Year is that we’ll keep spreading the good word, providing our fellow thyroid patients with sound gluten-free (and food-allergy) resources for them to determine if adopting a GF lifestyle is for them. And hey, gluten-free eating is becoming very mainstream. Even those who aren’t “sick” are finding they feel better when eliminating wheat and other grains from their diet.

4. And finally, this year, I’d like to see the creation of a patient-centered symptom list. I’ve mentioned it over and over — the “acceptable symptoms” list for thyroid patients and the various incantations of thyroid disease is limiting, misleading, and exclusive. I’d like to propose that we create our own list. Meaning, share your symptoms with us — all of them. Whether you just have thyroid disease, or you have two or three or four other diseases and conditions to contend with… what are your symptoms? Because many of the symptoms we experience can be things we don’t want to talk about openly, I propose we keep it anonymous. I’m going to be ironing out the details in weeks to come, but for now, if you feel comfortable, email, Twitter, Facebook, or comment some of your symptoms — whether they’re on the “acceptable list” or not; whether you think they’re thyroid-related or not. Make sure to mention that it’s a symptom you want to add to our list. I’d like to display this somewhere for those pre-diagnosis, or those new to thyroid disease to learn from, and use as a legitimate resource, versus the ten-bullet symptom list they’ll find at their doctor’s office. It can also be used as a resource when their doctor tells them their symptom is “simply not related to thyroid disease”.

What are your health resolutions for the New Year? What trends do you hope catch on? What symptoms do you experience that you think need added to the list?

Until Next Week,

Love Always,

Liz

Have a question, comment, story, love letter, or rant/rave to send me?: Liz@DearThyroid.com

It was in Kansas City over the winter holiday that I found Dr. Mercola’s The No-Grain Diet in a little used bookstore.  It was an unexpected find and the best present to buy myself because I’m a big fan of his (big is an understatement).  His ideas make so much sense to me, and he provides the scientific research to back up his claims.  He’s also very meticulous and delves into things in a very deep way, not leaving anything out of his line of vision.  In my opinion, he’s very unique in this way. I also like him because he slants negative — telling us the things to avoid, what’s dangerous — those things to be wary of.  I enjoy that because I think most of us already innately know what’s healthy; what’s more important is learning what isn’t healthy in this toxic environment of ours.  Not to mention, he’s very aware of thyroid, endocrine, and autoimmune health.

Because I follow Dr. Mercola’s writing via his website, I assumed The No-Grain Diet would be an extension of the same voice and extensive research.  However, I was definitely surprised by this book because it is nothing like the Dr. Mercola I have come to know and like via the internet.

The No-Grain Diet is very light on research.  It’s more of a very basic primer in grain consumption.  The main reason Dr. Mercola advocates eliminating grains in this book is because it causes a destructive cycle of blood sugar and insulin spikes.  This, then, leads to weight gain and health problems.  That’s it — no more research.  No mention of antinutrients, candida overgrowth caused by grains, mycotoxins on grains, genetic modification of some grains, that many grains are bleached with chemicals and endocrine disruptors, or the opiodic nature of grains.  There is a one-paragraph mention of gluten intolerance.

Most of this book felt like one big prologue.  He keeps leading into teasers for what the grain-free diet will be like.  It gets tiring — you can only read so many times that in the next chapter there will be more information on such and such.

Mercola delves deeply into the emotional issues surrounding grain over-consumption. He provides his own technique for overcoming an emotional food addiction, via the Emotional Freedom Technique, which is a sort of acupressure.  It’s a simple tapping of one’s fingers on certain pressure points on their body to release tension.  Because of all of that, this book is ideal for someone really battling carbohydrate addiction.  For anyone who feels they’re struggling with this, The No-Grain Diet would be an invaluable resource because it provides tools to not simply restrict carb consumption (as on traditional low-carb or low-calorie diets), but to overcome and conquer it.

There is a great section on which kinds of foods we should be eating: good fats, clean protein sources, probiotics, certain dairy products, fresh vegetables, green juices, low-sugar and low-starch goods, and organics whenever possible.  These very specific recommendations of Dr. Mercola’s prove that he’s very in-tune with the state of our food supply and the many ways it can be toxic to our bodies.  He also explains why clean water for drinking and bathing is important (chlorine and fluoride), as well as why getting enough sunlight and sleep and exercise is biologically important.  There are also a ton of yummy-looking recipes to get you launched on your grain-free eating plan, as well as gradations to the diet so you can choose a level that’s comfortable for you.

If you’re looking for delicious grain-free recipes (and so many of them at that), as well as the tools to conquer carb and grain addiction, this is the book for you.  If you’re hoping for extensive food science, keep looking; that’s just not what this book is about.  For me, this was disappointing.  The book is a quick read, however, which is great for anyone really serious about grain-free eating — you can read it quickly and then get started on the eating plan right away.  More than anything, The No-Grain Diet is a very practical approach to healthy eating and is ideal as a how-to manual.

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If you have a health story or healthy New Year’s resolution you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment!  We all need all the support and encouragement we can get and this is the best time to make your personal health commitments public — so we can learn from each other.  Also, we’re having a discussion about oats and oatmeal over on our forum.  Be sure to learn more about this grain and share your knowledge with us!

And before you go — this week we’re pleased to announce a giveaway of probiotic supplements from Swanson Vitamins! Wooo hoooo!  We all love our probiotics, right?  I take one or two daily and put my bodily flora as top priority (sounds funny, but I’m not kidding). To enter to win this most fabulous, one-of-the-best probiotics out there, simply leave a comment telling us one happy, lovely, warm and fuzzy moment from your winter holiday.  To gain another entry, link this post on your Twitter, Facebook, Digg, or StumbleUpon, or email this post to five friends.  Leave a comment telling us what you did and how many entries you have.  We will announce the winner next week in this column, as chosen by Random.org.

Until Next Week,

Love Always,

Liz

Have a question, comment, story, love letter, or rant/rave to send me?: Liz@DearThyroid.com