Hashimoto's - autoimmune thyroid condition that can vary between hypo- and hyperthyroid symptoms.
*a question from a reader and a free ebook from Izabella Wentz, a pharmacist who had/has Hashimoto's autoimmune thyroid disease.
The question from Dizzy states that she has Hashimoto’s and she was told NOT to take iodine - but Dr. Brownstein says to take it for that condition - so she is confused. Thyroid conditions are confusing. True. And was made more confusing by the erroneous Wolff-Chaikoff research conclusion.
Hashimoto's, I learned, is very confusing to live through as it can fluctuate between low and high levels of thyroid hormone based on the phase of tissue breakdown.
When the thyroid tissue is being attacked by our own immune cells, then damaged cells may leak excess thyroid hormone into circulation causing hyperthyroid symptoms. At other times too little thyroid hormone may be prosent because the body removes the excess of thyroid hormone.
Gluten is also likely part of the confusion. It is a chemical similarly shaped to the thyroid gland so molecular mimicry antibodies can be set up against it due to dietary gluten that leaked through an unhealthy gut lining.
Soy and dairy are also common sensitivities seen in Hashimoto’s according to a free ebook by Izabella Wentz, PharmD, ‘Supplements for Subduing Hashimoto's Symptoms’. (pdf in my Sync file) Supplements she recommends include stomach acid supporting Betaine HCl & Pepsin, probiotics, methyl forms of folate and B12, thiamine B12, magnesium glycinate, vitamin D3. *Addition, astonishingly, I don’t think she recommends iodine (?) I should reread it though. ….No, I didn’t miss it:
From the Table of Contents: #1: NALTREXONE, #2: PROBIOTICS, #3: SELENIUM, #4: BETAINE WITH PEPSIN, #5: SYSTEMIC ENZYMES, #6: MODUCARE, #7: THIAMINE (B1), #8: B12, #9: VITAMIN D, #10: MAGNESIUM, #11: FERRITIN
From the text: “The following nutrients are often going to be deficient even with a nutrient dense diet: selenium, vitamin D, the B vitamins (especially thiamine and B12), ferritin, zinc, and magnesium.”
“Most people with hypothyroidism, intestinal permeability, toxins, and adrenal stress have numerous nutrient depletions.” Izabella Wentz, PharmD, (pdf in my Sync file)
** A different blog post on the topic of iodine and thyroid, (shared by Nattering Naybob, thanks!), provides more specific recommendations and her article goes into detail about the substitution that can occur with an excess of fluoride, bromide or chloride present in the body instead of adequate iodine.
“I also recommend taking a comprehensive multivitamin that contains iodine. While writing my book, I custom formulated a multivitamin that is specially designed for patients with Hashimoto’s and Graves. It contains 300 mcg of iodine, in addition to selenium, zinc, and other key nutrients for thyroid health.
However, as I mentioned, too much iodine can have a negative impact. That’s why I recommend keeping dietary and supplemental iodine intake between 150 and 450mcg daily.” - Amy Myers, MD, The Iodine & Thyroid Connection (amymyersmd.com)
Addition regarding how iodine likely would be needed and helpful during autoimmune thyroid conditions -
Picture a jigsaw puzzle where you have not many of the correct shape and a whole bunch of a close match, fits, but doesn't look right. The picture does not work even though the space was filled. Dr. Brownstein's method, (which I used, minus the selenium - my mistake), his method is to flood the body with excess iodine for one month, and then to continue providing it with plenty, equal to the amount in the Japanese diet.
The recommendation by Amy Myers of 150-400 mcg is more conservative, the RDA or slightly more. Her 300 mcg one-a-day is a better amount than typical but wouldn't be enough to counter balance the jigsaw puzzle box full of wrong pieces, all competing for the space.
The higher dose may be needed more in our goitrogenic environment with its overload of wrong shaped puzzle pieces.
The fluoride and bromide are also likely toxic to the body so flushing them out may help other problems too. My fibrocystic breast pain went away and only returned somewhat more recently when I was feeling like I was going hypothyroid again.
Keep in mind regarding decision making that the mental effects of hypothyroidism is a challenge too. Fight the molasses of brain fog or apathy or depression and try some new things. Whatever you have been doing all along hasn't been working, therefore, change of some sort is needed would be the logical conclusion. Then you have to consider choices and decide. ...and take action. Plan the steps, commit to it with a friend, ....sometimes it might take a little momentum to get on with trying something new
Our mitochondria need iodine to function correctly and it protects them as an antioxidant.
Naltrexone vs Pomegranate Peel Extract
She also recommends a medication, low doses of Naltrexone has been found to help reduce Th17 T-cells which are more prevalent in autoimmune disease. Pomegranate peel extract would do that for you too, without a prescription. (Čolić, et al., 2022)
“Twelve cytokines associated with the function of T-cell subsets were analyzed in PHA-stimulated PBMC cultures in different concentrations of PoPEx (Figure 8). The level of TNF-α was significantly decreased at the concentrations of PoPEx from 12.5–200 µg/mL, dose-dependently, whereas IL-6 was downregulated only at higher concentrations (100 µg/mL and 200 µg/mL). Both T helper (Th)1 cytokine (Interferon-γ) (IFN-γ) and Th17 (IL-17A and IL-17F) cytokines were significantly downregulated at all concentrations applied, dose-dependently.” […]
“The level of IL-10, a key Treg cytokine, was increased at lower concentrations of PoPEx (12.5 µg/mL) and significantly decreased at 50–200 µg/mL of PoPEx.” (Čolić, et al., 2022)
From my pomegranate paper, Table 3.
Immunomodulatory on T-cells, varying effects by dose and type of T-cell.
The effects of pomegranate peel extract (PoPEx) on the adaptive immune system was investigated by Čolić, et al, 2022 with a range of concentrations (range 6.25–400 µg/mL) used for treatment of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Complex immunomodulatory effects on T-cells were observed. T-cell effects varied with dose and type of T-cells. Doses starting at 12.5 µg/mL of PoPEx suppressed Th1 (IFN-γ), Th17 (IL-17A, IL-17F, and IL-22), and Th9 (IL-9), and pro-inflammatory TNF- α and IL-6. Responses by Th2 (IL-5 and IL-13) and Treg (IL-10) cells and frequency of CD4+CD25hiFoxp3+ cells was upregulated by lower concentrations while higher concentrations increased the frequency of T-cells producing IL-10 and TGF- β.
Cytotoxicity occurred at concentrations of 100 µg/mL and higher. It increased apoptosis and oxidative stress, and reduced autophagy. Non-cytotoxic doses had the opposite effect, increasing autophagy and reducing apoptosis and oxidative stress. Non-cytotoxic doses also inhibited PHA-induced PBMC proliferation and led to a decrease in CD4 expression. (Čolić, et al, 2022)
“A new finding in our study was related to the effect of PoPEx on Tregs. We observed an increase in the proportion of CD4+CD25hiFoxp3+ cells in PBMC cultures treated with lower concentrations of PoPEx which correlated with increased production of IL-10. Our findings are similar to the results of Lu et al., 2020 [90], who showed that the treatment of mice with EAE with PoPEx was followed by an increased proportion of CD4+Foxp3+ and CD4+IL-10+ in the spleens and brain infiltrates. Tregs are phenotypically and functionally heterogeneous cell populations. Human Tregs produce IL-10 and TGF-β, two main pleiotropic immunosuppressive cytokines which play key roles in protecting the host from infection-associated immunopathology, autoimmunity, and allergy [102,103].” (Čolić, et al, 2022)
Molecular Mimicry, Thyroid tissue and Gluten
Once you have an autoimmune condition, the activated antibodies will attach to any matching proteins and trigger a white blood cell to come and kill and engulf that thing - which if it is a thyroid gland cell, that is self-destruction. Whether to take iodine or not, is a secondary point. The primary need with an autoimmune condition is to remove any of the offending substance if that is possible and in this case it is - stop, TOTALLY STOP using gluten containing foods extremely strictly for best results, and also totally stop using corn products. It doesn’t contain gluten but it does contain a substance that adds to leaky gut membranes. We need to heal the gut lining and stop dietary proteins from entering the blood stream where it can then add to the risk of more antibodies being formed against it.
Normally we want the body to identify and remove foreign proteins from the body, but in this case, the look-alike gluten set up antibodies that are now also leading to an attack on the thyroid gland. There may be other reasons that autoimmune antibodies form against the thyroid gland, but an unknown reason can’t be managed as well as a known suspect. It is worth trying the strict gluten free diet as it can lead to rapid improvement in symptoms and long term resolution or remission.
Aside: Rutin is found in pomegranate peel.
Reducing bromide and fluoride in the diet and water and medications can help support normal thyroid hormone production and it might help mitigate autoimmune causal factors. The metals are not good for health and are hard for the body to excrete.
In follow-up to the last post Are You Iodine Deficient?, (Substack), I found some evidence in an ebook about Hashimoto’s written by a Pharmacist who developed Hashimoto’s herself.
“Levothyroxine (generic for Synthroid) which contains the T4 hormone, is the most commonly prescribed medication. Believe it or not, it was the number one drug in the United States in 2013 and 2014.”
- Izabella Wentz, PharmD, “Supplements to Subdue Hashimoto’s Symptoms”.
*Visit her site for a free download - thyroidpharmacist.com **I couldn't refund the same offer, she has another better sign up offer, so I am sharing the one I have screenshots from.
I believe it. Harvard University researchers have tried to tell us that the reason the average person’s core metabolic temperature is now about a degree lower than it used to be is because we are ‘less inflamed’ due to the ease of modern life. Uh no, modern life is more inflammatory and when the core body temperature drops that low the sensible person thinks about hypothyroidism and iodine deficiency.
“The Root Cause of Hashimoto’s
Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune condition where the immune system begins to attack the thyroid gland, in a case of mistaken identity, as though the thyroid gland was a foreign invader. When we think about Hashimoto’s, we know that there are triggers, or root causes, that lead to the immune system attacking the thyroid. This results in a destruction of the thyroid gland as it can no longer produce the thyroid hormone. Root causes include
food sensitivities, [like gluten],
nutrient depletions, [like iodine & selenium],
infections, [EBV is mentioned],
toxins, [like glyphosate, (Oliveira, et al., 2023)]
and an impaired stress response.” [That might include lack of magnesium, zinc, and B vitamins - includes myo-inositol, omega 3 fatty acids, and/or lack of a balanced amount of vitamin A and D. The thyroid hormone and activated hormone D and Retinoic Acid all interact in various ways and problems with one can cause problems with the others’ immune and gene transcription functions. EBV likely affects vitamin A and glyphosate negatively effects CYP enzymes needed for vitamin D metabolism.]
From: “Supplements to Subdue Thyroid Symptoms”, by Izabella Wentz, PharmD, (pdf in my Sync file)
Current treatment tends to be to provide Synthroid as it gives the overworked or attacked thyroid gland a break. Antibodies are not worried about apparently. Izabella Wentz, PharmD, disagrees with that, increased thyroid antibody levels are associated with anxiety OCD, and other mental symptoms. Misdiagnosis may occur.
“Selenium and myo-inositol are two supplements that have been shown to lower thyroid antibodies, and I often recommend them for those with Hashimoto’s, as research has shown that they also happen to reduce obsessive-compulsive symptoms. [9] Taken together, they are especially effective!”
[…]
“As mentioned in the study regarding blood sugar, Hashimoto’s patients with antibodies over 1,000 IU/mL were found to have lower serum HDL levels. [15] Researchers are still working to understand the full extent of how thyroid antibodies impact cholesterol levels.” [*All blood lipid levels are affected and it isn’t understood apparently.]
- Izabella Wentz, PharmD, Why Thyroid Antibodies Matter. (thyroidpharmacist/blog)
The article opens by informing us that self-tolerance is lost in autoimmune disease and that is the ultimate cause of autoimmune thyroid problems. I think, cool, yes, agree, and read on……………………… the article never mentioned vitamin D or Tolerance cells. #facepalm This pharmacist is a young and very attractive female whose website is fancy and she has many major media logos on it suggesting media appearances in many venues. She is the author of four books and appears to be a major presence in autoimmune thyroid care - and had the condition herself - yet, doesn’t seem to know about vitamin D and autoimmunity. I would kindly think she just wasn’t writing about solutions in the article, yet she included the combined use of selenium and myo-inositol for reducing thyroid antibodies.
…So I read her free ebook on supplements which the article pop-up had offered, and indeed vitamin D is a recommendation but its role with regulation of Tolerance cells is still not discussed. I will discuss it later.
Vitamin D and magnesium are teammates - vitamin D needs magnesium to function properly.
Double Brownie points for the magnesium coverage, 5-6 pages on the topic, one of the largest sections.
She does have a supplement line now too, called Rootcology - she likes to get at the root of the problem. Low stomach acid was a precursor for her case of Hashimoto's … and that leads to gut dysbiosis … and that leads to leaky membranes and protein in the blood and if vitamin D is low, … then autoimmune intolerance may be created with molecular mimicry antibodies being created against a food particle that looks like a human protein. … The antibodies cause immune attack on the thyroid gland … and that causes bad health and odd thinking or brain fog.
Later is here - funny story, I went to my site looking for my info on vitamin D and Tolerance regulatory T cells, and looked through my page on G5. Preeclampsia & TRP Channels …. a few times …. there was only a little bit on vitamin D….????…..oh, wrong page. I was looking for page G4. Autoimmune Disease & Vit. D which opens with:
1. Vitamin D helps immune cells to be "tolerant," and not over-allergic.
"What does stress have to do with autoimmune disease? or vitamin D?
You want me to take a bath? [with Epsom salt or magnesium chloride flakes]
Are you kidding me?"
Answer: "No."
The body needs vitamin D and magnesium in order to protect against allergic sensitivity within the immune system. Some types of immune cells can be made to be more or less “tolerant” of foreign protein - such as the DNA of an expectant infant, which is “foreign” to its mother’s DNA. The baby has half the DNA from the father too.
[The placenta is very rich in vitamin D compared to the rest of the body - as if nature had a plan…that we shouldn’t muck up with glyphosate….]
…
5. Vitamin D helps mom know that baby is a friend instead of a foe.
This information about vitamin D is not part of standard education about the nutrient - yet. The area of immunology during pregnancy and early implantation is advancing.
The fetus plays a role in decreasing the activity of the maternal immune T cells. A decrease in the internal level of tryptophan within the maternal T cells seems to be involved. A diet containing large amounts of tryptophan was associated with more fetal loss than a standard diet in animal research. For ethical reasons this field of research takes place with lab animals or murine animals. (G.19)
"And third, fetal survival depends on tolerogenic mechanisms
that block maternal T cell responses." (G.19)
The estrogen level of the mother may affect the ability of the fetus to inhibit her immune T cells:
"Estrogen treatment and pregnancy both induced FoxP3 protein expression to a similar degree both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that high estrogen levels during pregnancy may help maintain fetal tolerance by promoting regulation (G.20.65). Trophoblast-derived chemokines have also been implicated (G.21.63)." (G.22)
It had previously been known that estrogen has protective effects against autoimmune disease. Symptoms for some types can improve for a woman during her pregnancy and then flair back up after delivery.
"Estrogen has been shown to protect against the development of autoimmune disease, yet the mechanism is not known." (G.20.65)
The study found that estrogen treatment led to an increase in the FoxP3 protein in CD4+CD25− T cells. These are a type of regulatory T cell of the immune system which are essential for protecting against self intolerance - ie autoimmunity:
"Recently, in a TCR-transgenic mouse model where full protection against spontaneous experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis could be achieved by the transfer of wild-type CD4+CD25− T cells, Furtado et al. (G.23.47) showed that responsiveness to IL-2 was required for the suppressive function." (G.24)
Having walked this around a block or two, I'll get to the point, cholecalciferol, vitamin D3, helps the body make adequate supplies of Treg immune cells, and it is better at it than calcitriol. (G.25) Calcitriol is a synthetic form of vitamin D3 called "Rocaltrol", (G.26), I'm not sure of the exact difference chemically - but they both can help our body tell us who is friend and who is foe.
6. Pair bonds may be better for the chance that baby is conceived too.
There seems to be a very, very strong biological urge in men to be the "only one" and it may be to help assure that his sperm will be the ones that succeed at impregnation and research does suggest that familiarity by the woman's body may help her ovum to recognize sperm with the familiar DNA and reject/kill off by apoptosis any sperm that try to enter the ovum with unfamiliar DNA. Natural fertilization is safest for the baby because in test tube fertilization the sperm is made to enter the cell by the technology instead of letting the ovum do whatever it would normally do - which allows sperm DNA to enter but not sperm mitochondrial DNA, while the test tube fertilization allows the sperm mitochondrial DNA to enter the ovum making the babies genetically different than most other humans who only have maternal mitochondrial DNA. (G.27)
*I added section 6 as a bonus. See: G4. Autoimmune Disease & Vit. D, for the rest and a link to pdf with the reference list. Aside - rereading my old work shows me that I have improved in organization and should really rewrite those pages.
ZINC
Also critical - don’t forget the zinc if you want to produce plenty of T-cells - good Tolerant ones or any at all - the thymus gland needs to have plenty of zinc. Healthy microbiome species also need plenty of zinc.
**I should probably rewrite this too, but it is late.
The question/comment: Dizzy, Apr 19, Liked by Jennifer Depew, R.D.
I have Hashimotos and I’ve been told to NOT take iodine but I believe Dr Brownstein says I should take it. I’m so confused.
My reply: Jennifer Depew, R.D., Apr 19, Author
The standard medical industry messaging about iodine is largely false/wrong or even deliberately wrong - but the health people are educated with the wrong information so they believe it.
See this post: https://open.substack.com/pub/denutrients/p/iodine-and-an-old-lie-still-being?r=os7nw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I would want to read a bit more about Hashimoto's but I think it is an autoimmune issue - totally restricting gluten might be an important strategy. Also the bromide and fluoride in our lives would likely be adding to autoimmune reactions. High dose iodine plus selenium could be the needed treatment to help the body clear out stored bromide and fluoride that is making your thyroid hormone not functional.
This type of issue - controversy between the medical industry and alternative recommendations is a personal hurdle to investigate and consider trying or not trying on your own - or hire a naturopath who knows the real story - not all functional practitioners know about iodine though is what I noticed eventually.
Consider that Dr Brownstein is hassled by the FDA and suppressed by the current system - which has been shown to be a dangerous and not safe or effective system....
But, it is something that you as an adult will have to consider for yourself.
I had to choose to be a "non-compliant patient" as I found the doctor recommendations weren't helping me. But I did listen and modify some of my own strategies occasionally based on what the doctor was saying.
We are in a dangerous situation is the honest way to look at "for-profit healthcare". It is not a good idea to ask for help from people who either are wrong and don't realize that, or who know they are wrong and don't care because curing illness is not their real goal.
Here is a post I wrote in 2015 about being a compliant patient https://open.substack.com/pub/denutrients/p/whether-to-be-compliant-or-to-be-healthy-seems-like-an-easy-question-to-answer?r=os7nw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
*It is IMPORTANT to NOT get "non-compliant patient" written in your medical chart if you have psychiatric symptoms because the for-profit system will get a judge to force treatment on you and force commitment against your will. Especially if female it seemed to me - females are just crazy bipolar patients who need lots of psych drugs.
Disclaimer: This information is being provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of Fair Use and is not intended to provide individual health care guidance.
Reference List
(Čolić, et al., 2022) Čolić M, Bekić M, Tomić S, Đokić J, Radojević D, Šavikin K, Miljuš N, Marković M, Škrbić R. Immunomodulatory Properties of Pomegranate Peel Extract in a Model of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Culture. Pharmaceutics. 2022 May 27;14(6):1140. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14061140. PMID: 35745713; PMCID: PMC9228601. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9228601/
(Oliveira, et al., 2023) Oliveira JM, Zenzeluk J, Bargi-Souza P, Szawka RE, Romano MA, Romano RM. The effects of glyphosate-based herbicide on the hypothalamic-pituitary thyroid axis are tissue-specific and dependent on age exposure. Environ Pollut. 2023 Oct 1;334:122216. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122216. Epub 2023 Jul 19. PMID: 37479171. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37479171/
I’ll see my naturopathic physician in May so I will discuss the iodine with her again. In the past she has said no iodine.
Thank you for this post!