To be honest if I am without the thyroid meds my body can convert, I balloon, tried repeatedly with the synthetic levothyroxin, no go, a Dr suggest a genetic test and it turns out I can't convert it, the natural one, made from pig's thyroid, works like a charm and if I adjust my diet to "thyroid friendly", totally fine. I had to give up being vegetarian, because most vegetarian options are full of options that are really bad for the thyroid, mine is auto immune (Hashimoto's) and apparently that is linked to the gluten intolerance (also autoimmune) I want to avoid having more autoimmune issues, so being extra careful. The bummer is that most glutenfree food is full with soy. As somebody who absolutely loves pizza, pasta and bread, I sometimes act like Pavlow's dog when I smell fresh bread, going for a meal is a real problem, especially since a lot of restaurants don't understand the cross contamination.
But you know another thing that really supports the thyroid is coconut oil (cold pressed, organic) and does help with weight loss. As daft as it sounds, it depends less on the calories I eat and more on what I eat, however before my thyroid was adjusted (you would not believe the before and after, I felt 10 years younger, more energetic and asked if they are giving me drugs because I feel like I am on such a high), I used MyPlate a lot and found out that I was often not eating enough, basically making my body think it needs to preserve calories. Never eat less than 500 calories than you burn (you burn 2000, you need to take in at least 1500 to avoid the "energy saving mode" and the metabolism slowing down), over time I found out that some foods seem to work better for me than others, and that with some things I really don't need to count calories. I totally miss soy and tofu, it was a staple of my diet, still not very keen on meat (won't even go near pork, the smell alone grosses me out), I love red wine, but cut that out (too many histamines, same with parmesan and most hard cheeses, stuff I also love) and I do eat a lot of natural yoghurts now (found a few they don't bulk up with gluten, that stuff is in everything) and drink kefir, a fermented milk drink, at least 3 times a week to help building and maintaining healthy gut bacteria.
My medical friends recently shared a research project where they found out that artificial sweetners and ready meals tend to destroy healthy gut bacteria, which can cause massive weight gain. I always thought that whole leaky gut stuff is just a scare story, over the holidays and with the whole stress with dad passing away, my diet totally slipped, as a result, I felt rotten, my skin reacted more, asthma (usually it doesn't bother me unless I am near mold, flowering hazelnut trees or parrots) raises it's head again. I am totally back on the healthy eating wagon and I noticed my urges have totally changed. Instead of craving sweet, salty and starchy, I am craving cilantro (coriander leaves) and eat them by the bushel, I think I could do much worse diet wise.
