By Mary Shomon
Raymond Peat, Ph.D. is editor and researcher of a popular and well-known monthly newsletter on nutrition and health, as well as author of a number of cutting-edge publications that look at aging, nutrition, and hormones from a biochemical perspective. Some of the key points Dr. Peat makes are:
- Estrogen blocks the release of hormone from the thyroid gland, and progesterone facilitates the release. Estrogen excess or progesterone deficiency tends to cause enlargement of the thyroid gland, in association with a hypothyroid state.
- Instead of taking dietary supplements, it is far safer in general to use real foods, and to exclude foods which are poor in nutrients. For example, magnesium is typically deficient in hypothyroidism, and the safest way to get it is by using orange juice and meats, and by using epsom salts baths.
- Men should be aware that leg cramps, insomnia and depression are often the result of hypothyroidism. Heart failure, gynecomastia, liver disease, baldness and dozens of other problems can result from hypothyroidism.
- He considers even the lowest TSH within the “normal range” to be consistent with hypothyroidism; in good health, very little TSH is needed.
- When too little protein, or the wrong kind of protein, is eaten, there is a stress reaction, with thyroid suppression. Many of the people who don’t respond to a thyroid supplement are simply not eating enough good protein.
- When a person is using a thyroid supplement, it’s common to need four times as much in December as in July.
