My Protocol for Hypothyroidism + Starch/Fat sensitivity
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My Protocol for Hypothyroidism + Starch/Fat sensitivity
For me this protocol was developed over 6 months of trial, error and deductive reasoning and I do not know how long it would take if you followed the full protocol from day 1.
The health condition itself is quite complex, but the solution to resolving the individual symptoms are quite simple and straightforward, requiring just the right combination of common nutrients.
Symptoms
- Low Energy
- Insomnia
- Low body temperatures
- Starch sensitivity
- Fat sensitivity
Secondary: tongue discoloration, reactive hypoglycemia, general gut discomfort, frequent spitting, frequent night time urination
Diagnosis
The symptoms suggest digestive insufficiency due to elevated adrenaline and low thyroid.
This means the pancreas are not producing sufficient digestive enzymes to break down starch, as well as the liver not producing enough bile acid to break down fat.
One might argue that this is a vulnerable state for the gut to be in and that some of these symptoms could be caused by a type of gut dysbiosis, like SIBO. While that is true I would argue that you should not focus on that. The reason is that actively fighting off dysbiosis is very energy intensive and will likely make you even sicker in the process. The focus should be on recovering digestive capabilities first, and afterwards the body should be able to heal from dysbiosis by itself, without further intervention.
Phase 1: Stabilization
First we need to remove the digestive stressors: fat and starch. This leaves us with Low Fat Milk, Fruits, Fruit Juice, Low Fat Meat and Sugary, Gelatine-based Sweets.
Thyroid / Body temperature
Of course we should take a thyroid supplement, personally I was been taking NDT. Thyroid dosing is complicated and is often discussed in this forum so I will not go into it further.
We can improve our body temperature a bit by taking 500mg Aspirin + 1mg Vitamin K1 per day. Taking Vitamin K prevents the side effects of Aspirin.
External warmth is very significant for raising internal body temp. If your body temperature is very low a hot shower can work wonders.
Stress Reduction
- Salt reduces Adrenaline. We need about 5g or one tea spoon per day.
- Stress hormones spike if you don't have enough Calcium. We need 1000mg/day, which we can get from 1l of milk.
- One cause for night time stress spikes is liver glycogen depletion. Fructose encourages Gluccose to be stored as liver glycogen, and Potassium enhances this mechanism. We can get both from Oranges or Orange Juice.
- We need sufficient carbs as energy source, a few hundred grams per day. We can add simple sirup to milk or juice to increase the amount of carbs.
-- To make simple sirup, simply dissolve large amounts of sugar in hot water. The mixture will stay liquid and will allow you to sweeten cold drinks.
Once stress is reduced the insomnia should be resolved.
If you have trouble falling asleep try hydrating 2 teaspoons of gelatin with a bit of cold water, dissolving that in a bit of hot water and then adding a bit of fruit juice. I found this to be by far the most effective way to calm down at night.
Do not take B3 or Aspirin at night, it will have the opposite effect as the body will increase stress hormones to counteract their stress reductive effects.
Preventing deficiencies
- Vitamin B1 is used up quickly by a high sugar diet and is required for both general energy metabolism and gastric acid production.
- Vitamin B3 is quickly used up during periods of stress, by supplementing it we greatly increase our stress capacity and need to do less active stress managment.
- Vitamin B9 and B12 are needed by the liver for detoxification. If we want to get healthy again we need to make sure our liver can do it's job properly.
- When supplementing, try to use the bioactive form of each B Vitamin. Thiamine TTFD instead of Thiamine HCL. Niacinmide instead of Niacin. Folate (5-MTHF) instead of Folic acid. Methylcobalamin instead of Cobalamin. There are some Vitamin B complex formulations out there that only contain bioactive forms.
- Zink is also needed for detoxification.
- Supplementing Zink can cause Copper depletion, we need Copper for the enzymes that break down Serotonin and Histamine.
Phase 2: Recovering Fat digestion
Add 1000mg Taurine/day. This should raise bile acid, allowing you to digest more fat.
Eat at least 1 egg yolk per day for Cholesterol and Choline. Egg whites should be fine, but some people have trouble digesting those.
Somewhere in this stage you should start to be able to eat small amounts of starch and fat. Limit yourself to very small portions, if you don't it will likely trigger a stress cascade, requiring you to spend a week or two restabilizing again.
Phase 3: Raising Gastric acid
Take 650mg Betaine HCL with every meal, this will increase gastric acid, allowing for better absorption of minerals and proteins.
At this point you should be able to eat full meals again, but do not overindulge, you should still keep your digestive stress levels in check.
After a few days on Betaine HCL you will feel sick. This is completely normal and expected. The increased gastric acid is killing the opportunistic bacteria that settled in your stomach. Dead bacteria release toxins that need to be cleared by your liver. This will last for a few days until most of the bacteria in your upper GI tract are dead.
After this the tongue should clear up and with that all of the symptoms should be gone.
Edits:
- 26/05/2025: Made diet suggestion more concrete, mention the need for Fructose and Potassium for preventing nightime adrenaline by helping refill the glycogen stores of the liver.
- 01/07/2025: Completely overhauled protocol with new information, adding the Betaine HCL step.
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Let me know how this goes. I've been dealing with gut issues myself. How do you react to protein? I've found recently that red meat by itself is remarkably effective at clearing up my white tongue. Also anything that that helps with bile also goes a long way for me. High dose vitamin C helps stimulate bowel movements, I also think it makes the stomach more acidic or perhaps increases bile. Helps quite a bit with stomach acid and with endotoxin. Gives me weird side effects though. Also alcohol on an empty stomach helps me quite a bit.
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@pittybitty 3 cigs a day minimum
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@RandomUser Going pretty well, after adding the Taurin most of the digestive symptoms resolved. Though I did have a little resurface of the nighttime adrenaline, which seems to have been due to replacing Oranges with Grape Juice in my diet because Oranges went out of season. Without the Oranges I must have not gotten enough Potassium, leading to empty liver glycogen stores, leading to night time adrenaline. I have since added Potassium and that seems to have resolved it.
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@pittybitty I can confirm that this protocol is indeed healing! I’m basically doing this now, not without a lot of trial and error to get here. Fantastic run down for anyone to follow.
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@pittybitty Nice, how many litres of milk and juice are you aging a day?
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@GlucoseGal glad to hear that, made my day honestly
@Testiclies just the one of each, I am adding simple syrup to them now to up the calories
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There is something pretty important I have overlooked.
Calcium heavy and sugar heavy diets both reduce gastric acid. Low gastric acid causes poor mineral and protein absorption. The undigested proteins then are fed on by nasty strains of bacteria, and low gastric acid allows far more pathogens to enter the digestive tract, leading to SIBO or gut dysbiosis.
Long term we can offset this with ample coffeine and protein rich foods, but short term we should take Betaine HCl (625mg with every meal) to restore gastric acid and recover from the dysbiosis/SIBO.
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@pittybitty
Hi,
My analysis- “The symptoms suggest digestive insufficiency due to elevated adrenaline and low thyroid”.
=> Stress could indeed make the things worse.
A low thyroid could bring a lot of lacks but … - “You should not focus on that” (dysbiosis as the cause of a vulnerable gut).
- fighting against SIBO / SIFO requires energy.
- “likely make you even sicker in the process”.
=> Right. Killing overgrowth bacteria (SIBO) and fungus (candidiasis) induces a Herxheimer crisis (mainly from LPS toxins).
- “The focus should be on recovering digestive capabilities first”
=> Too late. Explanation follows. - “Afterwards the body should be able to heal from dysbiosis by itself, without further intervention”
=> You dream. Sorry to be cash. If you don’t change the behavior and the root of the problem, homeostasis won’t take place. The tipping point has been crossed.
And if you think you could repair the leaky gut with some appropriate supplements without getting rid of WGA and prolamins from wheat, it won’t happen.
Explanation: WGA (wheat lectin) and gluten prevents the gastric brush barrier from recovering / reestablishing itself. And if you combine this problem with sluggish bowel movements (MMC), you've hit the jackpot.
Edit: You recover during the night if you haven't abused too often.
Both WGA and glutelin are wheat proteins, they have different structures, functions, and impacts on health.
Note: You’re free to try to experiment but don’t wait too long:
The brain could be targeting the wrong thing (autoimmune disease) when faced with an intruder it cannot control. Too much low-grade inflammation. See Jaqueline Lagassée if you need convincing. Keep the mind open, please.
I can give a more explicit link if a reader wants it.
- “The symptoms suggest digestive insufficiency due to elevated adrenaline and low thyroid”.
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I am fully healed now, no remaining symptoms. I can eat everything again, no longer need the NDT and have full energy throughout the day.
I am still eating as during the protocol, just removed some supplements and with more "cheating". Greatly increased amount of eggs since those seem to do the liver a lot of good. Tongue discoloration comes back when I cheat with too much starch but no actual rebounds.
I have updated the OP with all the details.
