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Resistance to the idea that autoimmunity could not happen began waning in the 1960’s. By then, life had changed drastically in many ways. Processed foods were introduced into mainstream eating habits, medication / vaccination use steadily inched upwards into the norm rather than the exception, plastics became part of our everyday world, fluoride was added to water, personal care products had a growing ingredient list of words that were barely pronounceable, herbicides were used ubiquitously and parents let their kids run behind the trucks that were spraying DDT for mosquitoes
! Thankfully the DDT spraying has stopped, but other pesticides quickly took its place. The toxin list has grown by leaps and bounds over the decades. Today, our bodies have to wade through the toxic soup
known as the standard American life. Genetically, we haven’t changed appreciably, yet we are now part of the sickest generation in recorded history.
may express genes differently when exposed to chronic stressors. If you are going to put together a perfect crime scene,
this is the way to do it!
Stage One is the silent stage. The body has begun losing its tolerance to its own tissue, but to the western health practitioner, there will be very few “hard core” symptoms. You though, as the CEO and chief sleuth
, will feel “off”. What does “off” feel like? Well, that depends! It may be something as subtle as spending more (or less!) time in the bathroom. Perhaps it might be a rash that comes and goes. Maybe it means you are having difficulty finding the zest for life you once had, or you just have a little harder time waking up in the morning or falling asleep at night. Stage One is very important, as catching “things” early can be a game changer in the outcome. Lab work identifying elevated TPOAb and TGAb antibodies (for Hashimoto’s) can be very revealing. Neither test is very expensive when you pay out of pocket. Sadly, insurance companies often refuse to pay for these as “maintenance” labs. If your request is refused, I highly encourage you to pay out of pocket elsewhere and have the tests run annually with other labs.Stage Two is considered the reactivity stage and actual destruction to target tissue has begun. Symptoms are much “louder” and harder to ignore inside your own body. In fact, it may be this stage that finally sends you to a healthcare practitioner, though you’ve felt “off” for perhaps even years.In Stage Three, westernized medicine officially acknowledges the autoimmune disease. Significant destruction of the targeted tissue has occurred and there may even be collateral damage occurring elsewhere throughout the body. At this stage, damage can be seen by an MRI or ultrasound in addition to the elevated antibodies and actual symptoms.
detour to talk a bit about gluten. Unless you live in an untouched area of the wilderness with no internet, you’ll likely know that many people have issues with gluten. Generally, you hear about gluten and digestive disturbances such as celiac disease (another autoimmune disorder affecting the small intestine), but did you know that gluten is commonly a trigger for worsening both Hashimoto’s (hypothyroid) and Grave’s (hyperthroid) disease?
It takes very little to cause great distress in gluten hypersensitive individuals…… like less than 1/20th of a teaspoonful according to some experts, and even less than that according to others.The after effects of a single gluten consumption/use can be felt for weeks to months after the occurrence in the gluten hypersensitive individual.Gluten flies under the radar and hides in the most seemingly innocuous of places: soy sauce, corn flakes, salad dressings, marinades, seasonings, processed deli meats, body and beauty care products, and candy (glucose syrup or dextrose can come from wheat) are just a few on the list.Some thyroid medications (and other medications and supplements too!) contain gluten as an inert filler ingredient. Currently the FDA does not have strict labeling requirements regarding the labeling of gluten positive medications. At the time of this writing, all brands of levothyroxine (except Mylan which is certified gluten free) contain gluten, as does the thyroid medication Cytomel. (And yes, I agree. Why in the world would the pharmaceutical industry use inflammatory gluten as a common filler, especially in a medication for a population prone to be gluten sensitive? As I’ve said before, we’re worth more as a commodity if we are sick than we are if we are healthy friends.
)Other aliases of gluten include starch, pregelatinized starch, sodium starch glycolate, dextrin, dextrate, dextro-maltose, maltodextrin, sodium starch glycolate and more. Sneaky Pete, indeed!Resoundingly no. Although if someone is found to be gluten hypersensitive, it’s a good idea to avoid it as much as possible. Modern wheat and the ancient grain Einkorn are two very different grains containing different types and ratios of gluten. Not only is Einkorn considered to be vastly more nutritious than modern wheat, the troublesome type of gluten (the “D” genome) doesn’t appear to be present in Einkorn according to Dr. Davis, author of “Wheat Belly”. If you aren’t sure if Einkorn is a safe form of grain for you, try incorporating it into a food challenge. Einkorn is also much more highly digestible and because of its starchstructure, is less apt to cause blood sugar spikes.
, here’s a high five…. It’s toxin free!
looking structure in our neck we often don’t think about, the thyroid is certainly complex and so easily affected by outside influence!
(and red cabbage ) yeah! Let food be thy medicine friends!
. The clues
you find along the way will help you get to your destination. Sometimes you’ll need to stop and ask for directions from a local, someone who knows the territory well. Part II of dotting i’s and crossing t’s may very well require the assistance of an iodine savvy endocrinologist 
or astute thyroid knowledgeable health professional who can help you find your perfect balance. You’ll need someone who listens to your clues, is willing to dig with you, understands the Great Iodine Debate, and doesn’t put you in a box with everyone else. seasoned sleuther, it’s clues like this (the scrubbing) that make me look even closer at what this “outside the box thinking” doctor had to say. (This is another reason I rely on my personal library more than the internet when digging for clues.)Let’s start with a simple DIY: The Iodine Patch Test.
You’ll need 2% colorized tincture of Iodine. The clear stuff won’t work!Paint a 2-3 inch sized area with the iodine on clean dry skin. Apply to the stomach, inner thigh, or inner forearm….. Somewhere that won’t get rubbed constantly by clothing.Let the solution dry completely before allowing it to touch anything. (it will stain!)Monitor changes in color to the patch over a 24hour period.Proponents of this DIY test say that if the patch is still visible after 24hours, then levels are likely ok.If the patch has lightened considerably or vanished in fewer than 24 hours, it may indicate an iodine deficiency. If the patch lightens significantly or disappears in less than 18 hours, it may indicate a more significant deficiency. Make note of how fast the iodine vanishes.Evaporation, ambient temperatures, and rubbing clothing may play a part in the outcome, so take that into consideration.If results have piqued your curiosity, you may want to engage the assistance of one of the health professionals I mentioned earlier.There is a second test called an Iodine Loading Challenge. This is considered a more reliable “official” test, and is based on the amount of iodine found in the urine after loading the body with a large iodine/iodide load. (generally 50mg iodine/iodide, a tablet version of Lugol’s for adults)1st morning urine is discarded, but all urine after that is collected for 24 hours including the first morning sample at the END of the 24hrs. This urine will be sent off to a lab and evaluated.Results are based on the following premise: A body deficient in iodine will hold on to iodine. Example: a 90% excretion would indicate an iodine sufficient state, while below 90% would indicate varying degrees of deficiency depending on how low the % is.This test should run about $50-60 (plus the cost of the iodine/iodide combo tablets which are pretty inexpensive)
Q: Can you get too much Iodine?Q: Does everyone benefit from “more” iodine?
on the move causing various degrees of mayhem until they have been excreted.Q: Is it possible to have an allergy to iodine?
or shellfish 
, contrast dyes, iodine antiseptics. Iodine’s molecule is small and too simple (structure wise) to cause an antibody response, but when it’s combined with another substance, it could play a role in the allergic response. Example: some people may have a topical reaction to the antiseptic povidone-iodine but have no reaction to potassium iodide.Q: What happens when you take thyroid hormone replacement therapy AND you have an underlying iodine deficiency?Q: Is there a link between iodine deficiency when combined with years of thyroid hormone medication and breast, ovarian, uterine, and prostate cancers? There are some pretty compelling studies 
out there indicating it is likely so. It has been theorized that the continual unrecognized iodine deficiency combined with an increased metabolic rate (from the thyroid medication) may account for the increased incidence (Remember, iodine is needed for programmed cell death which includes keeping aberrant cellular reproduction in check.)Q: Can kids be iodine deficient and can they be tested?
Iodine: Why you need it (5th edition) by Dr. David Brownstein MDWhat Doctors fail to tell you about Iodine and your Thyroid by Dr. Robert Thompson MDThe Iodine Crisis by Lynne Farrow
