Do you have poor sugar metabolism/hypoglycemia and/or allergies? I used to experience ear flushing from a surge of adrenaline when my blood sugar was rising after having been low (cold extremities often preceded it) or a histamine reaction if I consumed something allergenic (itchiness often accompanied it). Prior to supplementing thyroid and optimizing my diet, I experienced pretty severe hypoglycemic episodes to the point of convulsing and passing out daily and by tracking my blood sugar (testing my urine with a refractometer) throughout the day, I determined that my BS was crashing around 10 am and 2 pm and was highest (normal) in the evening, when my previously cold ears would warm up with the rest of my extremities. It felt like my ears were on fire.

@Insr, the udders and equipment are treated with a (natural) disinfectant, yes. I don’t know of any farm here that doesn’t disinfect them, but the majority sell raw dairy so maybe they’re extra cautious to prevent contamination and/or it’s a law. I’m not sure. It will be interesting to see if your prolactin also comes down. I noticed yours is at the higher end for a man. I had in my notes that Ray said a normal range for men is 4–7. Mine averages between 10 and 11.

You’re welcome, @Mossy. Fingers crossed you get to try the heirloom soon.

@insufferable said in Bloodwork shows elevated TPOAb (Hashimoto's disease):

There is also a lot of iodine in dairy now, not for natural reasons, but because it is added to the cows' feed (often as ethylenediamine dihydroiodide), and because iodophor is used to disinfect milking equipment. There is iodophor in your milk!

In Denmark, 1 cup of milk has 27mcg iodine.

In Norway, 1 cup of organic milk in the summer (so the cows are probably eating pasture only) has 14 mcg iodine.

But in the US, 1 cup of normal milk has 84 mcg. (56% of the RDA)

Chickens are also given extra iodine in their feed (probably in the form of calcium iodate) and so 1 egg has 26 mcg iodine. (I don't know what the natural level for eggs is.)

Regarding iodine added to animal feed: "The iodine content of food of animal origin, if produced taking account of the currently authorised maximum content of iodine in feed, would represent a substantial risk to high consumers. The risk would originate primarily from the consumption of milk and to a minor extent from eggs. The UL for adults (600 µg/day) and for toddlers (200 µg/day) would be exceeded by a factor of 2 and 4, respectively." (Europe's upper limit is 600mcg apparently, but the USA's upper limit is 1100mcg)
https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/3100

Maybe iodine naturally present in food isn't bad even in a moderate excess and there's something especially wrong with the "unnatural" types of iodine that they add to salt, animal feed, and that they use to disinfect dairy. Maybe the body attacks the thyroid, when the thyroid takes in these "weird" types of iodine.

I will definitely stop using iodized salt and see what happens on my next bloodwork. I'm considering stopping dairy (and eggs?) too.

What do you think? I've never heard anyone, mainstream or alt-health, talk about this! (aside from Ray being against too much iodine, but he must not have known about the milk)

If this helps ease concerns, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and brought my elevated TPO level down on a (pastured) dairy-based diet. I was averaging daily at least 2 liters of milk, a few ounces of cheese and 2–3 eggs. The goats were given free choice minerals that contained kelp and in the spring would load up on it so much so that I could taste the kelp in their milk—it tasted fishy. Even still, my TPO level normalized. I’ve avoided iodized salt since before finding Ray’s work because of the anti-caking agents. I used a French Celtic salt by Eden and a sea salt by Jacobsen Salt Co., but now use Morton’s canning & pickling salt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrkF8rWFvQU

@Mossy, direct from the store. It was a difference maker when I ate them cooked, yes—I’m currently experimenting with a raw diet and only eat the yolks. I experienced bloating from non-heirloom eggs, but never the heirloom. I question if it has more to do with the hens’ diet. In the pictures below, the two eggs and two egg yolks at the top are heirloom and the egg and egg yolk at the bottom are non-heirloom. The pictures don’t do the color justice. The yolk of the chocolate colored egg is almost red, the yolk of the blue is just slightly lighter and the yolk of the non-heirloom is a tangerine orange. To get such dark yolks, the hens’ feed likely contains natural colorants like marigolds but setting color aside, the flavor is also more pronounced. The heirloom is just better to me all-around.

@secondkelping said in Did Peat every comment on anxiety-associated behaviors like nail-biting, hair-pulling, pacing, tongue-chewing, etc.?:

Just wanted to know if Ray ever mentioned these behaviors in any way. I have made good progress in not biting my nails or chewing my tongue these days (yes, I do all the things in the question) not the others though (still doing a lot of pacing and pulling out my hair unfortunately). But I wanted to know if there was a link between metabolism and these behaviors. I have improved my metabolism a lot but I still struggle with these things and need some ideas on how to completely stop these behaviors for good.

Any ideas would help a lot?

All these behaviors slowly started in early adolescence due to high stress from social situations in my life at that time. My weight-gain started at the same time as well. I've really improved my metabolism, but I don't know what to do to really move forward on conquering these behaviors for good as I've been improving my health...

I remember Ray saying that a potassium deficiency can make one startle easily but overall, he usually mentioned low thyroid function as the main cause and my anxiety, and hypoglycemia that induced it, vanished when I started supplementing thyroid so maybe as you continue to improve your metabolism, the last of your anxious habits will vanish? The first time I can remember having anxiety was when I first started school and the boys bullied me. I began biting my nails, but I soon replaced the habit with a less destructive one. I kept a silky ribbon in my pocket that I rubbed. No one could see it and it calmed me. My uncle, who also has anxiety, rubs the silk lining in the pockets of his coats so it apparently is a thing. lol

@Wamoti, below is the brand I have. It’s the one many of the old Ray Peat Forum members were using back in 2015 when we were experimenting with FOS. I’m not sure if they still carry it, but I got it from the pharmacy at Walmart:

@the_black_jew, right, not all of them have one. Ys with one can be located via their website:

https://www.ymca.org/find-your-y?distance=175&type=branch&facilities[]=75

About 16 years ago when my spine collapsed and I was relearning how to walk, I joined the Y down the street from me to use their pool as part of my rehabilitation and they had a climbing gym that they had recently built. I’m not sure if they still do this but at the time, the Y gave a discount on membership fees for those who were disabled and low income.

@gg12, have you explored what it is exactly that you fear most about dying?

I’ve witnessed a lot of death, some in tragic ways, have felt passings even when not physically with the dying, felt the fear that they were experiencing, the loss of breath, i.e., the breath of life, the release of all anxiety and pain until there was nothing left but an indescribable peace, received confirmation that they are still very much “alive” and well, and have cheated death a few times myself, and I can say with surety that I’m far less afraid of dying than I am of not having lived, like really lived. It helps that I receive confirmation from those no longer embodied that we continue to exist outside of these human meat suits we wear for a brief time, but my belief still requires some faith in this current world. A book you might find helpful in easing your fear of death is Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani. She had a near death experience and miraculous recovery from end stage cancer. And to answer your last question, I was raised Catholic but I’m spiritual, not religious.