Sluggish Thyroid? Are You Making These 3 Common Dieting Mistakes?

• Weight regulation
• Energy
• Fertility

A healthy thyroid keeps the body warm, youthful, and energized.

Unfortunately, many extreme diets can inhibit the thyroid from doing its job and fulfilling the body’s needs.

When it comes to optimal thyroid function, these are the most common traps that we fall into while dieting:

1. Under-Eating and Over-Training

This could mean athletes that want to maintain a certain body image or elevate their performance. It could also mean counting calories, back-to-back yoga, long hours at work, and even unhealthy weight loss goals.

The risk for compromised thyroid function arises when we do not have enough energy (food) to meet our needs and level of physical activity.

If you have ever cleansed the body by fasting, you may have experienced the sense of euphoria that can eventually replace gnawing hunger. This euphoria is caused by a release of a group of stress hormones, like cortisol. It is also an evolutionary adaption that kept our ancestors going – in spite of hunger.

It turns out that both exercise and stress can reduce the feeling of hunger. That’s not all. Competitive athletes, those on strict programs to lose weight, can under-eat or over-train to the point of:

• Anemia
• Bone loss
• Absence of menstrual period
• Low levels of testosterone
• Reduced libido
• Low energy

When red flags like anemia and missed periods begin to pop up, levels of the stress hormone cortisol are normally off balance throughout the day. Also known as your circadian rhythm, these highs and lows are natural, healthy, and indicate that your hormonal system is on point.

When we under-eat or over-train, thyroid-stimulating hormone levels, also known as TSH, can show up on a lab as low. The levels of active thyroid hormone may be normal to elevated.

If you have ever had your thyroid tested, you know that most physicians look at levels of TSH in the body. More TSH means that the brain is asking for an increase in the production of thyroid hormones.

While this marker alone is never a good indicator of thyroid function, when TSH levels are low and thyroid hormone levels are normal to elevated, you may not be meeting your body’s energy requirements.

In other words, by simply eating more nutrient-dense foods, you may find a dramatic shift in thyroid function. This can mean a faster metabolism, a warmer body, regular menstrual periods, and a healthy libido.

2. Veganism

A vegetarian diet typically allows dairy and eggs, whereas a vegan diet has removed all foods that come from an animal. This includes dairy, eggs, and honey.

Vegetarian and vegan diets have been found to interfere with a regular menstrual cycle. (1)

Many times, those on a vegan diet are continuously in an energy deficit. As in the case of those who under-eat and over-train, too little food can lead to exhaustion of the hormonal system and a poor thyroid function. (2)

Those on a vegan diet will often make up for missing energy requirements with wheat, corn, and soy. Besides the fact that these foods are some of the most genetically modified foods on the planet, they are also common gut irritants and thus can cause allergic reactions.

The integrity of gut mucosa and the immune system balance have a close relationship. In fact, poor gut function often plays a role in autoimmune flare-ups. One factor that may affect the health and performance of the thyroid is an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

If you eat a vegan diet and struggle with thyroid function, you may want to see if you can eliminate wheat, corn, and soy from your diet. Signs of poor thyroid function may include:

• Weight gain, especially around the middle
• Hair loss
• Low body temperature
• Infertility

In the case of Hashimoto’s, the thyroid often bounces between underactivity and overactivity. Signs of an overactive thyroid include:

• Nervousness and anxiety
• Poor sleep
• Heart palpitations
• Tremors

3. Low Carb, Atkins, and Paleo Dieting

Diets that limit carbohydrate consumption from 0-100 grams of carbohydrates a day are a popular way to meet weight loss goals.

However, when the body does not have enough glucose, which it pulls from carb-heavy foods, hormonal changes take place. These hormonal changes, which help the body to conserve glucose and protein, involve the stress hormone cortisol and the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3).

T3 is the most active thyroid hormone. When it comes to carbohydrates, T3 helps to move glucose into cells. (3)

Low levels of active T3 in the body can mean that there is less glucose moving into cells and less glucose being used throughout the body.

One role that the stress hormone cortisol plays is that it keeps blood sugar from falling too low. Once blood sugar begins to dip, cortisol prompts the liver to make glucose. Low blood sugar, or too little dietary carbohydrates, can push the body into a hypothyroid state where there are:

• Low levels of active thyroid hormone T3
• High levels of stress hormone cortisol

Research has found that reduced levels of active thyroid hormone and higher levels of cortisol are also found in situations of starvation and total fasting. (4)(5)

A Healthy Diet for Sluggish Thyroid: Try the Principle of 80/20

One of the easiest ways to support thyroid function is to make sure that the body has nutrient-dense sources of energy. While many diets and weight loss programs tell us that sugar makes us fat or that the body does not need carbohydrates to be healthy, we know that health is all about balance!

At Body Ecology, we encourage each other to practice the Principle of 80/20. This means that while 80% of a meal is made up of fermented vegetables, non-starchy vegetables, and sea vegetables, we suggest that the remaining 20% of a meal is:

• A starchy vegetable
• A grain-like seed such as quinoa, millet, buckwheat, or amaranth
• An animal protein such as meat, eggs, or fermented dairy

Fruit is another source of glucose that is also brimming with antioxidants and phytonutrients. When just starting out on the Body Ecology Diet, make sure to stick with sour fruits, such as:

• Lemons
• Limes
• Berries
• Kiwi
• Grapefruit
• Green apples

During the fall season and early winter, sour fruits like green apples, cranberries, and pomegranates are easy to find. They combine best with a protein fat, such as fermented dairy or nuts. Or, simply enjoy fruit alone and on an empty stomach.

Investigate the Benefits of Seaweed

If you really want a boost and don’t have the time or desire to eat seaweed – or if you want to give your thyroid extra support, try Ocean Plant Extract. It is made from the potent Laminaria Japonica, a powerful sea vegetable that Russian doctors used to help people recover from nuclear fallout.

If you are struggling to optimize thyroid function, keep in mind that the thyroid is like a little furnace in the body. It has a special relationship with energy and glucose.

The principles of the Body Ecology Diet can help to protect thyroid health and hormonal balance, while restoring the health of the digestive tract.