How could carrots affect estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, fertility, cancer, and gut bacteria?

✪ “A woman at a clinic for fertility accidentally found out that giving the infertile women an antibiotic, a lot of them said their headaches were cured by taking the antibiotic. And they looked at their blood hormones and saw that where they had had previously high cortisol and estrogen and low progesterone in their blood, the antibiotic had reversed that pattern, increased their progesterone, and lowered both their estrogen and cortisol. And they figured out that the antibiotic had stopped a bacterial process that was blocking the liver's detoxifying action.

When your thyroid is low, the liver excretes estrogen into the gut, trying to get rid of it. But a low thyroid person has sluggish digestion, and that excreted estrogen is reabsorbed from the gut back into the liver and creates stress hormones and accumulated high estrogen, blocking progesterone production. And so the antibiotic was improving their intestinal health and, therefore, their hormonal health.

And I tested the idea of just eating a big carrot every day and had women with this pattern of high stress hormones, estrogen, and low progesterone. And within three days of a daily carrot salad, they had experienced the same hormonal change that taking an antibiotic did. (Add) any vinegar and basically any fairly saturated oil (like coconut oil).” Ray Peat ✪ “In women and rats, antibiotics were found to cause blood levels of estrogen and cortisol to decrease, while progesterone increased. This effect apparently resulted from the liver’s increased ability to inactivate estrogen and to maintain blood sugar when the endotoxin stress was decreased.

[Endotoxin is an inflammatory, anti-thyroid, and anti-metabolic product of some bacteria.]

Now that hog farmers’ use of antibiotics to stimulate growth has been discouraged, they have sought vegetables that have a natural antibiotic effect, reducing the formation and absorption of intestinal toxins (like endotoxin). The human diet can be similarly adjusted to minimize the production and absorption of the bacterial toxins.” — Ray Peat

High cortisol causally increases the risk of obesity, insulin resistance, T2D, insomnia, depression, fatty liver, low thyroid hormone T3, high blood pressure. Here are some tips for keeping it under control. 🧵 ☆ Vitamin C lowers stress-induced cortisol release.

(ACTH is increased in stress, and ACTH increases cortisol.)

“Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) excess following adrenal stimulation with ACTH exerts an inhibitory effect on cortisol secretion and consequently it may be of no benefit in conditions of stress.” PMID: 173480

“The study shows that female patients with functional hypercortisolemia or elevated levels of DHEA-S can be treated with vitamin C to bring level of these hormones closer to a normal range.” PMID: 38010274

I prefer vitamin C sources from foods, such as fruits, fruit juice, and acerola powder.

High cortisol causally increases the risk of obesity, insulin resistance, T2D, insomnia, depression, fatty liver, low thyroid hormone T3, high blood pressure. Here are some tips for keeping it under control. 🧵 ☆ Vitamin C lowers stress-induced cortisol release.

(ACTH is increased in stress, and ACTH increases cortisol.)

“Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) excess following adrenal stimulation with ACTH exerts an inhibitory effect on cortisol secretion and consequently it may be of no benefit in conditions of stress.” PMID: 173480

I prefer vitamin C sources from foods, such as fruits, fruit juice, and acerola powder.

"I think I am hypothyroid, but how do I know if tests aren't reliable?"

"Which supplement should I take?"

"How much thyroid hormone do I need?"

I get these and similar questions every day. They are reasonable questions without simple answers. Here’s why. There Isn’t One Single Hypothyroidism

We use the term hypothyroidism to refer to different conditions that lead to low thyroid hormone activity.

True hypothyroidism is when the thyroid gland cannot produce enough thyroid hormones, and there are multiple reasons why this happens.

How To Lower Excess Prolactin 🧵👇

High prolactin causes:

>Fatigue
>Anxiety
>Infertility
>Low libido
>Depression
>Weight gain
>Amenorrhea
>Osteoporosis
>Gynecomastia
>Prostate growth
>Vaginal dryness
>Inability to orgasm
>Lower LH and FSH
>Sleep disturbances
>Painful intercourse
>Lower Testosterone
>Erectile dysfunction
>Migraine and cluster headache 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."

Depression is a state of low brain energy that can be caused by low thyroid hormone.

Let’s take a look at the role of the thyroid system in depression 🧵 Glucose oxidation is reduced in brain regions associated with depression¹.

This means less efficient use of the brain's primary fuel, as well as lower CO2, and increased lactate. Lithium, when effective, lowers lactate in these regions in bipolar depression².

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.