Dear Thyroid^TM

(Written by Elaine, Graves’ disease patient)

Dear Mr. Graves,

Why I give you that endearment is beyond me. I guess it’s a force of habit when writing letters to use “Dear”. You are anything but dear to me. I guess you know that by now. I’m not in a good mood today, so I thought I’d take it out on you. As the saying goes, “What goes around comes around.” You’ve given me such a hard time over the years. You have actually made my life miserable. So now my mind is working a bit better and I can now think halfway straight again. I thought I’d give you a piece of my mind. A very small piece, as you have managed to mess with a good part of my mind already.

I’m still trying to get all my mind back. I still have bad days. “Brain Fog’” some call it. Sometimes I can’t remember how to spell a simple word. Sometimes I even forget what I’m writing about in the middle of the sentence. I just sit, looking at what I just wrote with no comprehension of what I was saying. Do you know or even care how much I’ve missed out on because of you? I have had to give up certain functions in my life because I had such a hard time remembering things. I feel like I lost so much of my memory of people and past events, and yet somehow I still miss them.

I’ve even started writing down names of old school friends, places I have been, and things I have done just to jog my memory. I cry when I can’t remember a relative’s name or something as simple as how to spell a word. This has been so frustrating. It’s downright painful at times. I wish I could make you hurt the way I do. I just want to be able to write and not misspell a simple word without having to use a dictionary for everything. You’ve taken away my self confidence. I WANT IT BACK. All of it. You had no right to take my memories. The more I write, the more pissed off at you I get. My grandchildren have to remind me of things. If not for them I’d be really lost. I’ve had to ask my 10-year old grandson how to spell a word, remind me of what I’m doing, remind me where I’m going.

Thankfully I have patient people around me. But, what about the people with nobody to remind them or who have no patience with them? Nobody should feel this lost and upset. Nobody should be embarrassed by their forgetfulness. This isn’t just old age, it is YOU. Someone else who does not have a “Mr. Graves” may not understand what I am talking about. But, there are thousands who do. Who feel the pain of losing a part of ourselves. What have you done to us ?

I forgot my name….but you know who I am

–

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For those who haven’t been following this column and my health journey from the beginning, I’d like to ask you to head on over to The Nourished Life blog and read a piece I wrote for the site this week.  But before you do that, let me give you a little background.

I based this column, How To Kick Your Thyroid’s Ass, on a Dear Thyroid letter I wrote, in which I mentioned I was working on kicking my thyroid’s ass, meaning, it wouldn’t get the best of me and I would find some way to get it working better.  That one line prompted this entire column, whose focus is on natural lifestyle choices, and food and the many ways it can help or hurt the body.

In short, food is science too, and I think that often gets overlooked.  Dietary choices aren’t only a means to lose weight or a caloric equation, they are scientific reactions within the body that can prevent, or contribute to disease.  And it’s funny to me that dietary solutions to symptoms and illness get marked as “alternative” because, since when is science an “alternative” approach?  In my opinion, dietary solutions aren’t in the financial interest of a doctor or pharmaceutical company, which is why they have been branded as “fringe”, “alternative”, “unsafe”, and “ineffective”.  The reality is, however, some doctors and researchers dedicate their entire lives to the discipline of food science.  Take the Rudd Center at Yale for example.  These people spend their waking lives studying food, it’s scientific components, and the effect of those on the body.  So how does this get lost in the doctor’s office?

You can hate me (in the comments section, wink wink), but I believe that our current medication-only approach in much of Western medicine (for the chronically-ill) is inevitably flawed because it does not address root problems of sickness.  Addressing root problems are considered alternative and controversial, and actually support financial interests that have nothing to do with the patient.  Patients who are on medication for years and never truly feel good or normal (even with balanced numbers) know this all too well.  My post for The Nourished Life blog goes in to this.

If we start looking at food as scientific reactions within the body, we can start relying on it more for better wellness and be less scared of its “alertnative-ness”.  Goitrogens, food allergies, inflammation, hormones, genetically-modified foods, vili damage, iodine deficiency or overload, enzymes, antinutrients, bacteria, lectins, amino acids, fatty acids, chemicals in industrial food, food contamination (mercury in fish, ammonia in beef, aflatoxins on nuts and seeds), irradiation, and the list goes on — all science.

My story of food and health and my Hashimoto’s in un-medicated remission started with food science.  Over the months, I’ve recommended a ton of great books, the ones I used in my journey, in hopes you’ll also benefit from it.  Another book I’d like to suggest today is “Win The War Within” by Floyd Chilton, Ph.D.  This book explores the epidemic of inflammation in our country, and how so many diseases are actually related, though they may not seem like it, via inflammation: diabetes, asthma, lupus, eczema, inflammatory bowel disease, allergies, cancer, obesity, arthritis, dementia, atherosclerosis, psoriasis, and so many others.  Because autoimmune diseases, by nature, are inflammatory diseases, I’d suggest this book to anyone with autoimmune thyroid disease, or any inflammatory condition.  Along with extensive science and research, Chilton also provides a food plan that has been proven to reduce inflammation and inflammatory disease.  Let’s use this science to our advantage.

Until Next Week

Love Always,

Liz

–

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Written by Lolly (Graves Disease/Hyperthyroidism)

My ThyLolly sucks, you made my heart go beat-box.

You were as sweet as sugar, you little fucking bugger

Ha ho my ThyLolly sucks,

Now you had to leave me,

Because it really grieves me,

You left me all fucked up.

I hate ya, I hate ya, I hate ya so,

That I want you to know

I need ya, I need ya, I needed ya so

That I had to let you go

My ThyLolly sucks, you made my heart go beat-box

You set my body on fire, You left me with no desire,

My ThyLolly sucks, my ThyLolly sucks.

Love thylolly

I was speaking to another Dear Thyroid lady this week about candida (that is, my immune system that is slowly recovering from being over-run by the stuff), and the most effective treatments in combating it. I do take several probiotics every day to help with this (I will be posting a resource list for HTKYTA in weeks to come, so you can see just which products, probiotics too, I find most effective and helpful). But, I know, intellectually, that a probiotic is not the best source of beneficial bacteria that I could potentially be ingesting. Naturally fermented foods are actually the best source for this immune-boosting, gut-healing bacteria. This means I have to get over my mental barrier with fermented foods. I may be a very adventurous eater, but I have a real problem with some fermented foods. It’s just a mental block, and it’s keeping me immobilized by candida.

Recently, I started trying (yet again) to incorporate real, healthful fermented foods into my diet — the same foods and the same way traditional cultures have eaten for thousands of years (kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, pickles, etc.). But keep in mind that fermented foods vary and some are pasteurized, heated, or force-fermented and devoid of good bacteria. So today, I’ve compiled a list of probiotics we can acquire from untraditional sources — those other than a pill supplement; that is, from real foods with live cultures.

Zukay sells a line of salsas, salad dressings, and relishes, all full of probiotics and live cultures: carrot ginger, cucumber mint, red pepper cilantro, sweet basil onion, and others. All products are raw and contain no soy. This would be a simple way to introduce fermented foods into your diet — simply add to salads, atop proteins, or dip with chips.

The Body Ecology Diet website (based on the book by author Donna Gates) offers a line of probiotic drinks that are fermented and contain the good bacteria we need, while still being tasty and refreshing. It is interesting to note that many of these drinks are grain-fermented, some from sources of gluten. However, the website claims that due to fermenting, no detectable gluten has been found in the products. Flavors include passion fruit, coconut, dong quai, whole grain, and innergy.

Recently I came across Coconut Aminos (essentially, a condiment that is used as a substitute for soy sauce), at Whole Foods. Besides being raw and naturally fermented, other health benefits include the fact that this product is soy-free and gluten-free (great for thyroid peeps who haven’t found a replacement for soy sauce or other soy- and gluten-derived condiments). The product is also rich in minerals, and essential amino acids that the body requires for muscle rebuilding and nervous system function.

And lastly — Rejuvenate Foods.  I’m a fan of the company and have been eating more of their raw sauerkraut recently, as well as on and off in the past. It’s good; yummy in fact, and I can actually feel a difference within minutes of eating — I feel better, and lighter (physically and mentally). Though, they also offer entire lines of other items, including salsas, kimchi, fermented salads and veggies, and various nut and seed butters. I buy their products at my local health food store.

Which fermented products do you use? Do you have a mental barrier with fermented foods too? Would you consider trying any of these, or other products that are fermented and contain good bacteria?

Until Next Week,

Love Always,

Liz

Also, Quin and Ericka, please email me your shipping info — you were announced as last week’s Shakeology winners, but we haven’t heard from you! Email me your addresses to claim your goodies!