Crazy for the coconut

I do like coconut. I love the smell, the taste – not a huge fan of the water but the rest I enjoy. My shampoo smells of it too, delicious. And so to share another big change in our diet and that was the introduction of coconut oil. 

There have been loads of articles published in health magazines and on wellness websites recently telling of the amazing health benefits of coconut oil and I have to agree with them all, I think it is truly wonderful stuff. And wouldn’t you know, it just so happens to be incredibly helpful for thyroid sufferers like me. Yes, I am happy to say that the word is being spread about coconut oil!

And let me tell you, I cook with it, I put spoonfuls of it in my coffee and I even rub it onto my skin instead of moisturiser. I ingest this stuff any way I can. ‘But, why?’ I hear you ask! Well, I can explain.

For general health it is said to boost your immune system and play a preventative role in diseases such as cancer and diabetes. It also lays a claim to aid recovery from a serious illness: Alzheimers. Oh - and did I mention it will benefit your heart health too? It truly is a wonderstuff (is that is even a real word?).

 An interesting fact for some hypothyroiders is that coconut oil aids in weight loss.

But of course the crucial point for me is that coconut oil helps to support the healthy functioning of the thyroid gland. Quite literally, this makes me (and you) tick.

You see, it would seem that other oils we use, like nut, seed and vegetable oils, inhibit the way the thyroid gland and hormones work and how our body responds to those hormones. By removing these oils from your diet and replacing them with saturated fats like butter and coconut oil, not only will you have a more productive thyroid function but your body will respond better to it. Its a win-win situation!

For some interesting and in-depth reading on this please read this article: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/11/08/thyroid-health-part-two.aspx

So what do you think about that then? Are you asking yourself why you dont already have some in your kitchen? I hope so.

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Love your liver - Part two

So here I go, no messing about. I am about to make you recoil in horror, send a shiver down your spine. And to cash in a little on the title – that’s right – I am going to talk about how to love your liver, and this time I mean the foodstuff.

How outrageous of me, I know. Disgusting, bloody slime is how it should be named. Or should it? (It's at this point I really hope you continue reading – if you’re about to skip off and find another blog to read because this ain’t your ‘thang’ please hang on for a minute longer because ….well, you just never know what might happen.)

You see, I was recently encouraged to love my liver by eating the stuff because the truth is that liver is highly nutritious. The more I discover about the health benefits of this amazing meat the happier I am that we have introduced it into our diet. 

Basically, when eaten, the nutrients available in liver will boost your own liver function. For example:

Liver is full of B vitamins – B vitamins boost your liver function.

Liver contains vitamin A – vitamin A is an anti-oxidant and helps protect your liver.

Liver contains selenium – selenium is essential for you liver to convert T4 into T3 - (especially important for thyroidians!)

I think you can see where I am going with this….liver is absolutely jam packed full to the brim with vitamins and minerals that will do wonders for your health. And it is also very cheap! Which really helps when feeding a family.

So how did we start? Well I bought some chicken liver from our local poulterer, about 100g initially and added it into a bolognese sauce. I put it in the pan just after the mince and when it was sealed I put in the tomatoes and cooked as normal. Once it was cooked I blitzed the lumps away with my hand blender and served with grated carrot for the adults and gluten free pasta for baby. It was pretty tasty! Go on, I dare you to try it.

Quite importantly, as I was being encouraged to eat liver I was given the prized advice ‘to set one night a week for liver night or you may never get round to cooking it’ so now we have liver every Wednesday night. And a little gem of advice I took from another dear friend was, to aid the healing of a body part, you should eat that same part of an animal.  Good advice for us all there I think.

So that, friends, is a little insight to how I love my liver, and I do it every Wednesday night. You can let me know when you're ready and I will post a liver recipe for you. Bon appetit!

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Love your liver - Part one

Everyone has heard of it. You cannot survive without it. You only have one and it is a highly complex piece of machinery. Some people look after it and a few even eat it. I am, of course, talking about LIVER.

This has been the toughest subject to cover yet! I need to share some of the information I have picked up over the past few months with regards to the liver and how important it is. For the first time in my life I have been putting in a conscious effort to look after mine now and I really hope these posts will inspire you to look after yours a little more too! I warn you now though, the subject matter is huge and more complex than I can even start to imagine so I have decided to break it into several articles covering different aspects of liver starting with……

WHY? The eternal question….

To really understand the importance of this amazing organ you need to understand what it does for you, especially with regards to your thyroid. Most of us know it will process the alcohol we consume and are generally aware that we should take better care of it but why?
Well, there are over 500 known functions carried out by the liver (not all known to me personally but science has assured me that this is the case). Indeed, the liver is probably best known for its detoxifying role. But did you know that the liver also has an amazing capability to regenerate itself – like the cockroach that grows back a lost limb, the liver can renew damaged tissue to ensure optimum working capability at all times. ‘Thoroughly amazing’ I hear you whisper. Yet even more importantly, a little known fact is that the liver plays a crucial role in your thyroid function. Let’s get technical….

T time

If you currently take hypothyroid medication, as I do, you are likely taking a set amount of Levothyroxine – AKA T4 (I believe the name comes from the chemical make-up of the hormone, it is not simply a little nickname I have for my tablet). This is meant to replace the hormone that your thyroid would normally generate.

Still with me? Good.

Now, just so you know – T4 is not the only hormone secreted by your thyroid but it accounts for the bulk of hormone released (I understand it makes up approximately ¾ of hormone in the blood. There are other hormones like T1, T2, T3 and calcitonin.). But what’s important is that the T4 hormone will travel round your body in your blood stream and then when it enters your liver it is converted into T3.

This is a big deal, because T3 is what gives you your mojo, it’s the active hormone, the energiser. A lack of T3 can leave you feeling fatigued, drained, possibly depressed…..if you have been there – you know the symptoms.

What I have found is that my T4 pills are not enough. My body was simply not managing to convert the T4 into that glorious and energising T3 and that left my energy levels incredibly low. So what to do?
Well, I believe the better your liver function is, the better your conversion will be and thankfully I was introduced to ways of healing this vital organ. And that, friends, will be covered in the next post. I hope you will join me.

http://www.facebook.com/MyThyroidTherapy

Guilty secrets

It's waaaay past my bedtime. I actually did go to bed but was so restless I had to get myself out of there to maintain my sanity. I made myself a hot chocolate to see if that would help. I thought a wee snack would go down well with my hot chocolate, and I'm feeling ever so guilty about it. Cheese...... on crackers...... 2 of them, and they were tasty. I also had a piece of tablet, pure sugar rush straight to my head - that kinda stuff. Oh yes, it was nice. So, there. I've laid it bare for all to see. My midnight snack and my guilty conscience are now public property.

You see, the problem I have is that I am still in holiday mode and have only made a half hearted attempt at adjusting back to reality. My husband does not go back to work until Monday so that is my back to 'normality' date too.

I often wonder how others manage this slide back into 'the norm'. A week or 2 of indulgence may be enough to get folk off to a flying start in the new year, strictly maintaining new diet or exercise regimes. Or are there those like me, who seem to avoid the inevitable return to reality. I always assume everyone else to be the former and internally chastise myself for not being there too.

 Either way, next week will come around and I will share how we are coping (or not coping as it may well be) but more importantly I hope I can concentrate for long enough to get back on with the story of therapy for my thyroid ....watch this space.