Why I'm Always Cold

This is going to be one of those boring, "I learned something about myself and I'm putting it in writing" posts, so if that doesn't interest you, move along... :-)

Last weekend I was on Facebook creeping around other people's posts, and I read over a conversation going on between my friend The Empress (The Empress knows who she is) and several of her friends. One of her friends mentioned that she'd recently discovered she had hypothyroid and listed some of the symptoms she'd been experiencing, and I was like, "Whoa! That sounds familiar!"

I started doing some research. Symptoms that I experience on a regular basis that can be linked to hypothyroid (though there are over 300 possible symptoms that can be stand-alone or linked to a thyroid problem) are: weight gain, difficulty losing weight, feeling cold all the time, cold hands and feet, stiff/sore muscles (for me it's the calves in particular always feel like they have knots in them), sleep problems (can't go to sleep in under 30 minutes to save my life), acne, foggy thinking, slow recovery after activity (I can exercise but then I can't think about doing it again for a couple of days at least), carpal tunnel, retention of fluids, dry skin (why is my skin dry when I'm retaining fluids!?!), digestive issues, and I used to have gallstones before I had my gallbladder removed years ago. The fact that I could tick that many boxes on a list of 50 possible symptoms (and even more on a list of 300 that I found), made me start to wonder if maybe there wasn't something to this thing.

Unfortunately, the only way to diagnose with 100% certainty is medical testing, and I'm still in the process of getting insurance, and Cover Oregon is slow. However, I did read many articles written by diagnosed hypothyroid sufferers who had made great improvements to their condition and even reduced the amount of medication they needed to take for it simply by changing their diet.

First off, I learned that most people with thyroid issues have low levels of Vitamin D, magnesium, and selenium. I already had Vitamin D supplements in the house (though I wasn't taking them), and acquiring magnesium supplements was easy enough. Grocery store. Selenium, as I learned is best obtained from a natural source. The best and easiest way to get all the selenium you need in a day is to eat 3-4 Brazil nuts. What's harder is finding Brazil nuts that aren't in a can of mixed nuts. Finally found them in bulk at Fred Meyer after checking a few other stores I visit more regularly. 

While at Fred Meyer I stumbled upon quinoa pasta. I am already a lover of quinoa, and I am also a lover of pasta. Unfortunately, most pasta is made with wheat, and wheat is a thing that a hypothyroid person does well to avoid. 

One article I read estimated that 90% of hypothyroid cases are linked to AITD (Auto-Immune Thyroid Disorder). Apparently the protein in gluten, called gliadin, is nearly twinsies with your thyroid in terms of molecular structure. Close enough that when gliadin gets out into your bloodstream, your immune system goes into "kill it with fire" mode. And while your body is out killing gliadin, it also starts killing your thyroid because it looks pretty much the same on a molecular level. It's a case of mistaken identity, really, but the end result is that if you do have AITD, eating gluten causes your body to attack its own thyroid gland. Scary stuff. Even worse, one article I read suggested that if you eat gluten it can take your body six months to stand down red alert and stop trying to kill gliadin or things that look a lot like it (like... your thyroid). So gluten is really the biggest no-no unless you're among the 10% that doesn't have the AITD and just have thyroid problems because of something else.

Another thing on the big-time naughty list for hypothyroid diet was artificial sweeteners (and indeed processed foods of pretty much any kind). This made me kind of sad, as my Diet Coke addiction is well known, and it's sweetened with aspartame, which is one of the worst offenders on the artificial sweetener spectrum. 

I've done flirtations with the so-called "Paleo Diet" before (even fairly recently), but it was my love affair with pasta and Diet Coke that undid me every time. Quinoa pasta, while slightly more expensive than the regular stuff, fills the void and is gluten-free. I'm hoping that will help me stay the course this time, and I shall explain why in a bit.

I've tried to quit Diet Coke before too, and each time the caffeine-deprivation headaches, which were pretty intense and sometimes went on for four days or longer, would make me go crawling back to the nearest 7-Eleven. As it turns out, however, The Empress is a purveyor of Advocare products, which are good stuff and should be checked out if you're into that sort of thing. One of the goods available from Advocare is a miraculous little thing called Spark. It is a power which is mixed into water. It has some caffeine in it, yes, but the rest of it is chock-full of vitaminy goodness and none of the weird unpronounceable chemicals that are in Diet Coke (or any other soda, really). So I purchased a box from the Empress, made my plan, and resolved to try it for a week to see how I felt. I'm only 6 days in right now, and here's the update:

I weighed myself Monday morning and initially told myself that I wouldn't do it again until Friday morning. Yeah, that lasted about two days. I weighed in for the first time Wednesday morning. At that point I was already down two pounds. (Please note that I weigh at exactly the same time of day on the same scale, in the same spot, and wearing nothing so clothes don't confuse the issue.) Thursday I was down two more.  Friday morning I was down another 0.8, and this morning (Saturday), another 0.2, for a grand total of 5 pounds lost in only 6 days. This much, however, is probably only apparent to me and the scale at this point because I have many pounds to lose. The fun continues in the next paragraph, however.

I felt a little sluggish Monday and Tuesday as I tried to adapt to both an abrupt change in diet and the sudden absence of a Diet Coke in my hand. The Spark, however, helped to keep the headaches minimal. By Wednesday morning, though, I noticed that I had gotten out of bed more easily and felt

less like I was dragging through my day. This feeling increased on Thursday, and Friday it felt like the world wasn't keeping up with me. This morning (Saturday), I woke up warm. You don't even know what that's like for me. I got out of bed and I was warm. I took a shower and stayed warm. I came out into the kitchen and made breakfast and continued being warm. I went to the store and was comfortably warm, and it is NOT warm outside today. Generally I am too cold unless the mercury rises above 70 degrees. Today's high was 61. At the time I was out we probably hadn't hit 60 yet. It just felt like my metabolism had turned itself on today. I kept eating a little something and then being hungry an hour or so later and eating something else, then getting hungry again an hour or so later and eating something. Today I've been feeling pretty incredible. Not much like myself, but more like the self I'd like to be. 

So, here's a rundown of what a food day is looking like for me right now:

Breakfast:

Either a scrambled egg with ham and cheese OR gluten-free banana pancake with blueberries (I learned that if you mash up a banana and mix an egg, then cook it, it's pretty much a pancake. Who knew??)

Snack:

3 Brazil nuts and either banana chips OR clementine oranges

Lunch: 

Either quinoa pasta OR straight up quinoa, with side dishes of raw cucumbers, red bell peppers, a string cheese, and lots of Tajin. If you're not familiar with Tajin, look it up and then get some. It will change your life (and your vegetables) for the better.

Dinner:

Whatever we make around the house. I'm not yet forcing Train and the Chamaco to eat like me, so if Train cooks I eat what he cooked, just less of it than I used to. When I cook I've been trying to make things that, if not completely friendly to clean eating, are at least only slightly horrible.

Since I've had good results in the first six days, I plan to continue. Updates will probably follow. :-)

 Picture is completely unrelated, but I like it.