does low carb cause hypothyreoidism and increased cortisol?

[WithoutSugar]

hello!

does low carb cause hypothyreoidism and increased cortisol?

I can understand that low carb is stressfull for those not fat adapted and may increase cortisol, but is that permanent?

also, does it mess with thyreoid hormones? T3/T4 conversion and availability?

 

[Brunneria]

I find low carb a great deal less stressful than the consequences of eating carbs.

People become fat adapted at different rates, but I doubt if any raised cortisol for a few weeks will outweigh the benefits of low carbing for the months, years and decades to follow when they are fat adapted.

Can you provide some links or references to explain why you think that these things happen, so that we can understand why you are asking the question?

We have quite a lot of anecdotal evidence discussed on the forum to suggest that diabetes and thyroid problems often occur together. But correlation does not necessarily imply causation - and people with messed up endocrine systems have messed up endocrine systems. Overlap seems likely (that is just a common sense opinion), which is why I am interested to know if you have any concrete evidence of studies on this.

 

[asparagusp]

There are a lot of articles on this online - https://www.google.co.uk/#safe=strict&q=carbohydrates+thyroid

 

[Brunneria]

Thanks asparagus

I had a look at three of those links, and i am none the wiser.
One was an anti Paleo rant (a kind of post low carb anti Paleo), but i didn't think Paleo was particularly low carb?
Another was an anti Keto article, saying how dreadful the person felt on keto, listing all the symptoms of hypothyroidism. None of which I get while keto.
The third suggested that cruciferous veg can contribute to hypothyroidism. I've heard that before, and am open to the idea - so i can see a link - but there is no rule saying that a low carber must eat huge amounts of cruciferous veg...

So i guess I am still none the wiser.

My own experience is that I have been lower carbing for decades, low carbing for maybe 15 years, and very low carbing for 3 - and i feel great (i actually feel better the lower i go), and my thyroid seems to be in excellent shape.

I would love to hear more from people though, because I know we have a fair few hypo and hyperthyroiders on the forum. There really ARE links between the various endocrine and autoimmune disorders, so I don't know how to go about isolating diet as a specific cause?

 

[WithoutSugar]

so you are saying there is no research that finds low carb causes hypothyreoidism?

or prolonged increased cortisol?

as asparagus, I read about it online on several occasions, not only on anti-keto blogs

 

[asparagusp]

Speak with your medics. They should be able to help.

 

[Brunneria]

@WithoutSugar
Heavens no. I am not saying there isn't. I am saying that i haven't seen it.

Can you give some concrete evidence? I would like to read it.

It is just that the three I read from asparagus' list didn't seem to offer anything coherent.

 

[asparagusp]

"It is just that the three I read from asparagus' list didn't seem to offer anything coherent." Eh? I gave one Google link with many many articles!

 

[britishpub]

I didn't realise Doctor Google did out of hours consultations too.

The bloke certainly earns his ££

 

[Brunneria]

"It is just that the three I read from asparagus' list didn't seem to offer anything coherent." Eh? I gave one Google link with many many articles!

Yup.

And i read three of them - and they were all contradictory.

 

[chalup]

If you look hard enough and play with the numbers enough you can link anything to anything. Saliva causes cancer when taken orally in small doses over a long period of time. A high number of cases of thyroid disease are autoimmune and there is evidence to support that people with diabetes, types 1 and 2, have a higher incidence of other autoimmune diseases than the general public. Psoriasis, MS, Arthritis, Addisons, Hashimotos, Crohns, Lupus, Coeliac, and others are very common in diabetics. I am not going to waste my afternoon digging up a ton of googly articles. The links are easy enough to find if you want to.

 

[AndBreathe]

Thanks asparagus

I had a look at three of those links, and i am none the wiser.
One was an anti Paleo rant (a kind of post low carb anti Paleo), but i didn't think Paleo was particularly low carb?
Another was an anti Keto article, saying how dreadful the person felt on keto, listing all the symptoms of hypothyroidism. None of which I get while keto.
The third suggested that cruciferous veg can contribute to hypothyroidism. I've heard that before, and am open to the idea - so i can see a link - but there is no rule saying that a low carber must eat huge amounts of cruciferous veg...

So i guess I am still none the wiser.

My own experience is that I have been lower carbing for decades, low carbing for maybe 15 years, and very low carbing for 3 - and i feel great (i actually feel better the lower i go), and my thyroid seems to be in excellent shape.

I would love to hear more from people though, because I know we have a fair few hypo and hyperthyroiders on the forum. There really ARE links between the various endocrine and autoimmune disorders, so I don't know how to go about isolating diet as a specific cause?

For me, the other thing is with our Medic's apparent will to only test thyroid function superficially - TSH as opposed to any meaningful breakdowns - there are, in my view, many thyroid related conditions out there walking around bearing the "Normal" label.

Cause and/versus effect? With our current accepted levels of testing, there's not a massive chance we know.

Of course, those are my personal views.

 

[Indy51]

It seems to be a common meme among anti LC Paleo folks. From the stuff I've seen/heard around the blogs and podcasts, it seems to be a particular kind of female it happens to - young, overstressed, overachieving, overexcercising and undereating - many of them also lose their periods as well. Hashimotos seems to be rampant among that population. If you stress yourself enough (some of the crossfit routines these people do would stress anyone - they also seem to think "more is better" and it almost seems like an element of 'exercise high' addiction going on?) you will get intestinal permeability and set yourself up for autoimmune conditions. It would probably happen to them no matter what diet they were eating, IMO.

They'd also be really bad candidates for intermittent fasting - the blogosphere is full of anecdotes about the 'dangers' of IF for women as well. As with anything, there will always people who push the envelope to extremes. The real danger to this population is most likely themselves

 

[carol43]

Don't get me on thyroid issues again. My anti-bodies are sky high, only found this out by a private blood test.

 

[amber22]

I have had Hashimoto's disease, diagnosed since 2002. My type 2 diabetes was diagnosed in December 2015 and I have been low carbing since then. I feel really well. I have my annual thyroid test next month but I have no reason to suspect that there is anything wrong with my thyroid.

 

[WithoutSugar]

Speak with your medics. They should be able to help.

are you serious now? they have never heard ketogenic diet or low carb

 

[WithoutSugar]

these are the pages I read and one is paleo-pro:
http://paleoleap.com/thyroid-a-paleo-introduction/
https://chriskresser.com/is-a-low-carb-diet-ruining-your-health/

 

[Indy51]

these are the pages I read and one is paleo-pro:
http://paleoleap.com/thyroid-a-paleo-introduction/
https://chriskresser.com/is-a-low-carb-diet-ruining-your-health/

Both are pro-Paleo and there is a definite anti LC faction within Paleo circles. Kresser speaks from the perspective of a health care practitioner who basically sees sick people all the time, so his view will necessarily be influenced by that population.

That said, there is no one diet that will suit everyone but condemning a diet that works for many people on the basis of the exceptions is hardly fair either. I was diagnosed with hypothyroid at the same time I was diagnosed with Type 2 - yet all my thyroid readings have been normal since I adopted a LCHF diet.

Dr Ron Rosedale argues that the thyroid works more efficiently under LC and that "normal" lab ranges won't apply. Who's right, who's wrong? No doubt the argument will continue but all any of us can really do is listen to our bodies.

 

[uart]

I was hypothyroid for most of my adult life. I had been on a low fat (high carb) diet during most of that time as well. And yes this was not just by TSH measurements, but by T3 and T4 as well.

Curiously my thyroid levels have been perfectly normal for the past 20 months (confirmed by several tests). I've actually just received my latest test results that it's still good (for the first time in over 30 years!). Coincidentally (or perhaps not) I switched from a low fat diet to a LCHF one about 21 months ago. Go figure?

 

[tim2000s]

If you take the first three articles, at least one of them is selling a diet protocol to fix Thyroid issues, so I'd always be tempted to take an article like that with a pinch of salt. This one, for example, http://www.forefronthealth.com/low-carb-thyroid-dangers/ links to two NIH papers to provide "gravitas" that have limited bearing on the point the page is trying to make.

If you then read through the remainder of the articles on the first page, rather more of them are "secondary" sources rather than "primary" sources, meaning that they all reference various papers to try and make their point. If you dig into these primary sources, none of them really looks at Low Carb diets and metabolic markers for Thyroid.

When you go and ask doctor google to show you hard research on this topic, she finds it rather difficult to find any.

Digging through that google search, I'd suggest the best that you can draw, in terms of conclusions, is that a low carb diet may cause a person with a higher genetic likelihood of having a thyroid issue into a physical presentation of it, but equally, that the evidence is sparse, and that the risk can be ameliorated by taking a slow and steady entry into low carb, rather than a quick jump off a cliff.