The FastDay Forum

Hi @tracieknits, sorry I've been AWOL for so long! Been crazy busy with work for Ways of Eating and my studies to be a nutritional therapist.

Can you find a functional medicine practitioner (FMP) near you? This is basically what I am studying but not being an MD I have to be a nutritional therapist instead. There are very few FMPs here in the UK (Dr Rangan Chatterjee of Doctor in the House fame is one), but there are lots in the US where the movement started. An FMP will look at your whole diet and your medical history as well, of course, your thyroid condition. For example, if you have anti-thyroid antibodies, these are often caused by gluten because gluten mimicks your thyroid hormone structure to an extent and so the antibodies formed from exposure to gluten (which gets through your gut wall due to it causing release of zonulin which opens up the tight junctions between the cells that line your gut and this can allow gluten to pass through to the blood stream). Although avoiding gluten cannot completely reverse this situation it can help keep the anti-thyroid antibodies low and so may improve your ability to respond to thyroid hormone. There are several micronutrients that can help thyroid function too. An FMP would be able to help you work out a way of eating that suits you (and this might not mean going as low as 60g carbs though I suspect it would involve keeping carbs lowish and avoiding gluten).

The FM process is very empowering as you begin to see the big picture about how your medical history, genes, life events and diet all come together to cause the symptoms you are experiencing and this helps to see a way forward to reverse or at least reduce the issues.

Good luck!

Thanks @Carorees!

If I run into any trouble, I will look that up

I don't doubt that my diet years ago was, at the very least, not helping things at all. My problem was that I had Graves' Disease, which is basically hyperthyroidism. After years of struggling with it, they finally irradiated my thyroid and it's dying. So while an intervention like that might have been helpful six years ago (if we knew about it) -- it's now too late. we made the decision to murder my thyroid because "nothing" was working. We never checked for any sort of gluten sensitivity or tried a dietary intervention (although, fasting did help somewhat with controlling my thyroid. Not completely, mind you, but behaving with my fast days helped soothe it somewhat). I'm having a very good response to the thyroid hormone -- if anything, I seem to be somewhat sensitive to it and am still on a low dose considering my weight (75mcg per day) So I will definitely keep what you say in mind in case I have trouble in that regard in the future.

BUUUT -- what you say perfectly applies to my sister. In many ways, we've always been opposites. I'm tall, she's short. I have been sturdier/plumper and she's always been delicate and thin. I have dark blonde hair and green eyes. She has red hair and brown eyes. She can tan, I only burn. She loves crowds and parties and I deeply prefer alone time or one-on-one social activities.

She was diagnosed with low thyroid (Hashimoto's) at about the same time I was diagnosed with hyper. Over many years of struggles with her thyroid, she's learned she has to eliminate all traces of gluten from her diet in order to feel remotely healthy. So I will ask her if she sees an FMP and suggest she look into it. Her husband is a physician (an orthopedist) so medical advice needs to be given to her very gently.

So I am keeping my eye on gluten, just in case.

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and a general update on my low carb journey: I started at reduced carbs (for an american) probably bouncing between the upper limit of what my last doctors orders were (150g) and 200g on a bad day. So after I left the doctor, I changed my diet to 120g 4 days per week, and 60g "fast(ish) days". I was aiming for the smallest eating window possible on my 60g days.

Well by the end of July, I've managed to squeeze down to 60g(ish) three days a week and 20g(ish) four days per week, with a noon to 8 or 9pm eating window.

I have lost 7.1lbs since I went low carb! And this time, I haven't felt sick at all. The last times I tried to go keto low carb, I felt AWFUL -- soooo sick. I think it's because i was going from a standard american diet high in carbs to only 20g/day. My body revolted LOUDLY. This time, I gradually reduced from an already reduced carb diet. and it's been fine. I got one headache, and so I went and grabbed an ounce of salty nuts, added a bit more salt to them, and ate them with a glass of water. 10 minutes later I was fine. I have been heeding the advice from dietdoctor.com and adding more salt to my diet.

So I think we're going to try sticking with this for a while. It would be lovely to drop more weight.

Sassy1 wrote: Just realised I had not read all the recent posts on this so caught up with them just now,

@Candicemarie, you are amazing with how you have been able to reduce your carbs so much AND be happy with it AND not miss them - just curious about what carbs you do eat - do you ever have any whole grains or starchy veg? I assume you used to love (all?) carbs, like Tracie??

Tracie, I have wondered whether going "cold turkey" on all sugary carbs and "white" foods is the only way (with time) to overcome desire for these foods. (As I have mentioned many times, I believe that there is a place for whole grains and starchy veg in one's diet, unless a health processional who you trust says otherwise.) But whether one is prepared / able to do that is another question. But given your situation and the doctor's advice, it does seem worth doing so. And you have made a good start!

(I like the sound of that broccoli dish, I must give that a go. And I have a similar salad to you for lunch, generally fish rather than chicken, and quinoa rather than croutons, and add in some walnuts and a few sultanas. The latter are my fave part!)

We will be with you on your journey! Good luck and best wishes.

PS @cblasz good to hear that you do like some veg!! And yes, I know I am a broken record and a bit of a pain on this, but fruit is not really a substitute for veg due to it having a much higher sugar content. Such a pity of course! I used to have A LOT of fruit but a reduction in how much fruit I have is one permanent change I have made to my diet. I still usually have more than the 2 recommended serves a day, especially in summer... All those lovely stone fruits...

Sorry I missed this post @Sassy1!! Thanks for your kind support, as always. And I totally agree about veg.

Well as I told Caro, I spent the last month cutting them down more gradually, and that was a lot easier for me. I'm aiming for 20g carbs ~ 4 days per week, and 60g on the other three days. I won't stress if we have more social activities and I go to 60g more often.

the dietdoctor.com website answered my question -- there's no magic "switch" point in carb consumption. Ketosis doesn't happen in a black or white, on or off kind of way. There are shades of grey and benefit from even small levels of ketones in your blood. He considers any reduced carb diet to be helpful and the 60g my endocrinologist recommended is considered "moderate low carb" by this website and endorsed. so that's great