At the end of last year (you may remember from this post), I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and started drug therapy. My thyroid levels were “very bad” and we (us encouraged by the doctor, of course) are pretty sure that hypothyroidism has been the cause of my infertility for the past 2+ years. We aren’t sure it is the only cause, but you gotta start somewhere. Unfortunately, after reviewing blood work at the beginning of the year, my thyroid was still real sluggish. My doctor educated me on the connections between gluten and hypothyroidism (crazy!) and she put me on gluten-free trial diet for six months. It has been 3 (I’ll go in for more blood work this week) and I have to say it is the easiest diet I have ever been on. Almost every restaurant has a gluten free menu, and thanks to lots of comments on Instagram–I’ve even learned grocery stores carry gluten free cookie, cake and brownie mixes. I kinda wish I hadn’t discovered those. Chris also whips up gluten-free dinners nightly for all of us.
I can count on one hand, the meals Chris has made more than once our entire marriage. He loves experimenting with new flavors and ingredients–but one go-to favorite is his tacos. We actually had them even before I went gluten free, but now I request them weekly.
Hi Julia. Sorry to hear about your hypothyroidism. I’ve suffered from IBS and leaky gut syndrome for years, and just recently stumbled upon J.J. Virgin’s food intolerance eating plan in her book, THE VIRGIN DIET. It’s more about highlighting the types of food intolerances that often go undetected, and putting an elimination plan into action. I have discovered things about certain foods that I never knew existed! Stage One deals with elimination, while Stage Two concentrates on reintroducing them back into our daily diet. It’s definitely not another DIET book – it’s more a sensible eating plan for those of us with allergies, food intolerances, thyroid conditions, eczema, etc. Top of her list of trigger foods which must be eliminated are the following: GLUTEN, CORN, SOY, DAIRY (inc yogurt & cheese), SUGAR (inc artificial sweeteners + Agave), EGGS & PEANUTS. It sounds complicated, but following a more Paleo food or Veggie option, makes it easier to replace or eliminate these ingredients.
Also FYI, did you know that SOY is an inhibitor to thyroid function? I didn’t, and it blew me away! I have long suspected that I’m hypothyroid, but I fall into the border-line category and have received no treatment as such. Your meds can be replaced, as Janie Bowthorpe explains in her book. Two very good books I highly recommend to you are:
Stop The Thyroid Madness – by Janie A Bowthorpe
The Thyroid Diet Revolution – by Mary Shoman (new out)
I hope I’ve been of some help. Do cut out the corn and soy – they’re more filler and inhibitor!
Cheers Hx
I would love more gluten free recipe ideas! My husband has developed a wheat allergy and we’re trying to make the switch to gluten free and I’m totally clueless!
My in-laws have Celiac disease, which means they can’t eat gluten. We have very high chances of having a child with Celiac, but nowadays the adjustment isn’t too hard to make. You don’t miss as much after awhile.
Gluten free seems like such a wise decision to tighten up any diet. Im just afraid I would wimp out after a week! Those tacos look delish! Tacos are a weekly, sometimes twice a week meal! Yum!! You need to send me ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner while you’re here!!
I can eat so much stuff!!! Just nothing with wheat in it. We’ll talk.
Looks delish! I was just doing some research on coconut oil to use in my cooking, read that it can help with thyroid problems and thought of your post this morning. Might be worth looking into! Anyway, keep up the beautiful work – love seeing the kitchen upgrades!
We used to use coconut oil for cooking everything!! And then we ran out and stopped. :/ Sounds like it is time to get back on that wagon.