Light is the most effective treatment for Hashimoto’s

↓ TSH
↓ Waist
↓ Weight
↓ Antibodies
↓ Inflammation
↓ Medication use
↑ Thyroid hormone (T3)
↓ Structural abnormalities

47% no longer needed thyroid meds!

But it has to be done correctly.

Let’s look at the research 🧵 A 2010 pilot study showed remarkable results with light therapy.

➥ T4 needs ↓ 60%
➥ 47% discontinued meds
➥ TPOAb ↓ 40%

Two sessions per week for 5 weeks.

Normal thyroid vascularization occurred in one quarter of the participants — signaling reduced inflammation and swelling.

Thyroid tests 🧵

You can experience low thyroid symptoms even when blood tests are fine.

TSH/T4 tests can detect problems with the thyroid gland, but they are BLIND to all downstream thyroid hormone issues.

Even T3 tests are limited.

What matters?

T3 activating cells. TSH is the most common thyroid test, and some consider it the gold standard marker of thyroid hormone activity; however, it does not directly test thyroid hormones, and therefore, it should not be relied upon.

You can have low T3 in the blood or low cellular T3 activity, and still have a normal/low T3 level.

Now, higher TSH can indicate that the body is requesting more thyroid hormones from the gland, but not receiving them, as thyroid hormones typically lower TSH levels. So high TSH can be an indicator of primary hypothyroidism - a problem with the thyroid gland. However, it is not a reliable indicator of thyroid hormone activity, and there are many factors that can go wrong between the gland and the cell.

TSH is a pituitary hormone secreted in response to low levels of thyroid hormones under normal conditions. The TSH response to thyroid hormone is primarily determined by T3 levels in the pituitary and hypothalamus, which are HIGHLY efficient at converting T4 to T3, compared to most other tissues.

That last point is of particular importance to individuals with conversion issues or those taking T4/levothyroxine, because other tissues can be hypothyroid, meaning they have low T3, while the pituitary has plenty of T3 - meaning the TSH is misleading.

TSH is also lowered by stress!

Psychological stress, overtraining, caloric restriction, carbohydrate restriction, and fasting are just a few stressors that can decouple the relationship between thyroid hormone levels and TSH.

TSH is an unreliable marker of thyroid hormone levels in many contexts. Although it can identify primary hypothyroidism, it should never be taken as a gold standard for thyroid hormone T3 activity.

Low metabolism, fat gain, chronic disease?

It could be thyroid hormone deficiency.

There is a whole-body system for delivering thyroid hormone to cells.

A failure of any part causes hypothyroid symptoms - often resistant to standard treatment.

Here's how that system works! 🧵 The hypothalamus releases TRH.

TRH stimulates the pituitary gland to release TSH.

TSH is what tells the thyroid to create and release thyroid hormones.

Any problem with the hypothalamus and any factors that affect TRH output can lead to low thyroid hormone production.

Ray Peat on magnesium 🧵

“Getting enough sodium in the diet helps to retain magnesium, but both of them are lost easily when thyroid function is low; when the thyroid status is good, the requirement for magnesium is easily met by ordinary foods. The things I most often recommend for magnesium are the water from boiling greens such as beet, chard, turnip and kale, and coffee.” “Magnesium carbonate is a very good supplement, except that it can cause intestinal irritation. People tell me that they don't have bowel irritation from magnesium glycinate. Either Mg chloride or Mg sulfate with baking soda can be absorbed through the skin. Both carbonate and glycine are beneficial in themselves, but each of the compounds has its own impurities. Supplements of citrate have other effects on metabolism, that could be harmful.”

Cyproheptadine, serotonin, and migraine. 🧵

4-8 mg of cyproheptadine (CH) reduced imgraine frequency by about 75% in people who had no success with migraine medications.

“Frequency of migraine during the three-month period was 2.6 episodes per month, representing a significant reduction from the pretreatment frequency of >10 per month.” PMID: 24255866
5-HT2B is a serotonin receptor implicated in migraine.

“Our data support the hypothesis that 5-HT2B receptors located on endothelial cells of meningeal blood vessels trigger migraine headache through the formation of nitric oxide.”

Tips to Boost Thyroid Hormones🧵 Lower Stress:

Cortisol and adrenaline inhibit thyroid hormone conversion, reducing the amount of active thyroid hormone available and increasing reverse T3, which creates a vicious cycle.

Common, often easily corrected causes of high cortisol and adrenaline:
Lack of quality sleep.
Lack of carbohydrates.
Lack of sodium.
Lack of potassium.
Lack of magnesium.
Lack of calcium.
Fasting.
Chronic caloric restriction.
Noise pollution.
Shallow breathing.
Black coffee on an empty stomach.
Constant media/device stimulation.

Other things that may help:
Vitamin C from acerola powder.
L-Theanine.
Glycine.

Many people suffer from hypothyroid symptoms despite normal labs because thyroid hormone isn't acting inside cells.

Wilson’s T3 Protocol addresses this by temporarily resting the thyroid with supplemental T3 - resolving conversion issues on withdrawal. 🧵 T3 is the active thyroid hormone. It is what controls metabolism. T4 is only a precursor.

However, the gland releases mostly T4, which must be converted into T3 to have its effect.

Reverse T3 (rT3) is another product of T4. rT3 causes issues when it becomes elevated.

Selenium is one of the most important nutrients for thyroid health, especially for those with thyroid autoimmunity. Let’s take a look at some of the research. 🧵 First, why is selenium important?

Selenium is required for thyroid hormone conversion.

A deficiency can lead to hypothyroid symptoms, even if hypothyroidism is not diagnosed.

More importantly, selenium calms autoimmune thyroid processes, Hashimoto’s, Graves', and thyroid eye disease, and it can accelerate the normalization of thyroid hormone levels during extreme stress.

The thyroid threads so far.

1] The thyroid system.

https://x.com/lowmegatron/status/1884997130902773841

2] Thyroid hormone tests.

https://x.com/lowmegatron/status/1897692536606466293

The thyroid hormone T3 is essential for a fast metabolism - but the thyroid gland only releases a little T3 - and a lot of inactive T4. The local conversion of T4 to T3 is critical for metabolic health.

Here are some tips for optimizing conversion. 🧵 Eat enough.
Eat regularly.
Eat carbs.

Caloric restriction, fasting, and low-carb diets decrease thyroid hormone conversion. These diets program the body to survive famine, slowing the metabolism by creating reverse T3 instead of T3.

https://twitter.com/1744031563187150848/status/1884997190772306390

Ray Peat on sugar and cancer... 🧵

"There have been many attempts to starve a cancer by lowering the blood sugar, but the tumor is sending out signals to provide sugar and protein, amino acids and fatty acids that it needs to grow." “If you look at the blood sugar in an animal or person carrying a tumor, their blood sugar generally is at least normal, and even if they don't eat any sugar, they'll still keep their blood sugar at about the same level.”

A man admitted to the hospital for rheumatic fever had complete remission from diabetes. His diabetes recurred a week after his release. 🧵 "The possibilities first entertained were that the previous diagnosis of diabetes was inaccurate or that spontaneous remission had occurred: neither seemed likely, and the diagnostic dilemma was resolved by the reappearance of sugar in the urine one week after discharge."

How To Lower Prolactin 🧵👇 Optimize thyroid.

Low thyroid hormones increase the TRH stimulation of prolactin.

Sub-clinical hypothyroidism is associated with elevated prolactin.

"The cases (of hypothyroidism) had significantly lower levels of total testosterone and free T4 and higher serum prolactin levels."

How to lower or block serotonin.🧵 Aspirin (ASA) lowers serotonin.

"Aspirin treatment (1, 2, or 4 mg/kg/day) increased survival rate, and attenuated right ventricular hypertrophy and pulmonary arteriole proliferation in an MCT-induced PAH rat model. The effects of ASA may be related to the reduction of plasma 5-HT."

Fat-soluble vitamins can help with endotoxin. 🧵

Endotoxin causes:
Low Testosterone
Erectile Dysfunction
Obesity
Type 2 Diabetes
Depression and Anxiety
Lack of Empathy
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
Cardiovascular Disease Vitamin D deficiency causes “leaky gut”.

The symptoms of leaky gut syndrome are caused by endotoxin-induced inflammation and energy down-regulation.

Reducing excess histamine can improve migraines, heart health, breathing, and skin conditions. One way to solve histamine issues is to maximize histamine detox. Here is what you need to know. 🧵 The most significant histamine reducers are the enzymes DAO and HNMT.

DAO is the most important of the two, as histamine issues often center around gut production, where DAO destroys histamine.

Ray Peat on Weight Loss 🧵

“My recommendation is to eat to increase the metabolic rate, rather than any particular foods. Usually the increased metabolic rate, with adequate protein, causes some muscle increase, and when that happens the basic calorie requirement will increase. The increase of muscle mass should continue for several weeks, and during that time the weight might increase a little, but usually the loss of water and fat will compensate for the greater muscle mass. I have heard from several people that they think I recommend drinking whole milk, which I don't, because the amount of fat in whole milk is very likely to be fattening when a person is using it to get the needed protein and calcium. When a person wants to lose excess fat, limiting the diet to low fat milk, eggs, orange juice, and a daily carrot or two, will provide the essential nutrients without excess calories.” “Per calorie, sugar is less fattening than starch, partly because it stimulates less insulin, and, when it's used with a good diet, because it increases the activity of thyroid hormone. There are several convenient indicators of the metabolic rate--the daily temperature cycle and pulse rate (the temperature should rise after breakfast), the amount of water lost by evaporation, and the speed of relaxation of muscles (Achilles reflex relaxation).”

Here are some lesser-known histamine hacks. 🧵
𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘉𝘚, 𝘐𝘉𝘋, 𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦, 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘮𝘢, 𝘶𝘭𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢, 𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴, 𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴, 𝘧𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. The tocotrienol form of vitamin E (T3) reduces dermatitis by stabilizing mast cells and decreasing histamine release.

Tocotrienol and other forms of vitamin E reduce lipid peroxidation - the oxidative conversion of polyunsaturated fatty acids into more inflammatory byproducts. Lipid peroxidation byproducts like 4-HNE cause mast cell degranulation, releasing histamine and serotonin.

Learn more about free fatty acids and lipid peroxidation in this thread:

Here are some useful pointers on thyroid hormone supplementation. 🧵 It's best to read the prior threads first. The first thread explains the main mechanisms of thyroid hormone synthesis, transport, conversion, and the final destination of T3. T3 and T4 are thyroid hormones.

https://twitter.com/1744031563187150848/status/1884997130902773841

Combining selenium and myo-inositol reduces thyroid antibodies, lowers TSH, and increases thyroid hormones in people with hypothyroidism.

The combination also increased TSH in a hyperthyroid patient - it seems to normalize rather than simply increase thyroid function.

Selenium and Myo-inositol are important for thyroid hormone synthesis, and low levels may predispose to the development of hypothyroidism. People with hypothyroidism have a higher demand for myo-inositol.

Study 1:
“In the present study, we were able to demonstrate that, in subclinical hypothyroidism, patients with autoimmune thyroiditis, treated with Myo-Inositol and selenomethionine, experience a reduction of the increased TSH that selenomethionine supplementation alone was not able to promote. Concomitantly, the concentration of the two autoantibodies declined in both groups.”

Study 2:
“TSH, TPOAb, and TgAb antibody levels were significantly decreased in patients treated... a significant fT3, and fT4, increase, along with an amelioration of their quality of life, was observed. Remarkably, TSH values of the hyperthyroid patient increased from 0.14U/ml up to 1.02U/ml, showing a complete restoration of TSH values at a normal range.”

The amount of these nutrients used in the study is easily achieved through diet, too.

There is 83 μg of selenium in:
2 oz oysters, or
3 large eggs, or
10 oz mushrooms

There is 600 mg of myo-inositol in:
12 oz cantaloupe, or
15 oz orange, or
30 oz mandarin

Levels in orange juice seem to vary a lot, but most I can find are much lower than in fresh fruit.

Ray Peat on Endotoxin 🧵 "I'm inclined to think that even cancer is largely an endotoxin problem. Chronic, year after year, bad food, irritating the intestine, causing increased histamine and serotonin and estrogen. A constant stream of endotoxin flowing through the system, shaking up chromosomes, creating inflammation, fatiguing the repair systems. Finally, when the repair systems are down, to a certain extent, the cancers that are constantly popping up stop being removed. And so if you don't die of acute sepsis, then heart disease and cancer, I think, are the result of chronic exposure to the endotoxin."