• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

has anyone used MCT oil to get into ketosis?

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,095
About anxiety, I think coconut oil pushed me into hyperthyroidism. Never got that tested, but syptoms checked, incl. alarming catabolism and weight loss (I have been underweight ever since). High thyroid hormones will unbalance sex & other hormones. I think this is what benefits people who are trying to lose weight.
If you are going to do keto I would suggest looking at Terry Wahls' ketogenic diet
I was about to make that same suggestion, I would follow her diet if only I could tolerate as many crucifers as she recommends. However, @brenda who has Hashi's as well is having long-term benefits from this diet.
 

Hanna

Senior Member
Messages
717
Location
Jerusalem, Israel
Another good reason not to exclude dairy from the diet completely (as well as the calcium and protein of course) :p

I'm afraid dairy consumption does no good for our epithelial barrier .See same paper in Concluding Remarks :

Composition of dietary intake can have signicant impact
on the microbiota, and consequently on the epithelial barrier.
Considering bacteria fermentation, diets enriched in milk fat
can promote the increase in barrier permeability and bacterial
translocation along with the decrease in TJ proteins and TER.
 

arewenearlythereyet

Senior Member
Messages
1,478
I'm afraid dairy consumption does no good for our epithelial barrier .See same paper in Concluding Remarks :

Composition of dietary intake can have signicant impact
on the microbiota, and consequently on the epithelial barrier.
Considering bacteria fermentation, diets enriched in milk fat
can promote the increase in barrier permeability and bacterial
translocation along with the decrease in TJ proteins and TER.
Oh well you can't blame me for trying to preserve dome sense of a balanced diet amidst all this exclusion dieting ;)
 

brenda

Senior Member
Messages
2,270
Location
UK
However, @@brenda who has Hashi's as well is having long-term benefits from this diet.

@Gondwanaland

I started off on it but soon found that level 2 was not strict enough and level 3 too strict, in that I had to give up grains (and she allows them on level 2) and could not go into ketosis because of my thyroid. I joined the FB group for autoimmune protocol elimination/provocation diet and have done much better though my throid is still a problem and I probably still have Lyme. I could not do the 8 cups of veg either.
 

ebethc

Senior Member
Messages
1,901
About anxiety, I think coconut oil pushed me into hyperthyroidism. Never got that tested, but syptoms checked, incl. alarming catabolism and weight loss (I have been underweight ever since). High thyroid hormones will unbalance sex & other hormones. I think this is what benefits people who are trying to lose weight.

I was about to make that same suggestion, I would follow her diet if only I could tolerate as many crucifers as she recommends. However, @brenda who has Hashi's as well is having long-term benefits from this diet.

interesting.... I've never read that MCT's impact thyroid! yes, I would know the symptoms w/o checking, too.. They're pretty distinct.. I had a bad reaction to maca, which has iodine in it.. It's another one of those "wonder supps" that ppl are always pushing, but IMO you have to be very careful, esp if you've got any thyroid problem..

What is catabolism, and how do you know it's happening?
 

ebethc

Senior Member
Messages
1,901
@Gondwanaland
I started off on it but soon found that level 2 was not strict enough and level 3 too strict, in that I had to give up grains (and she allows them on level 2) and could not go into ketosis because of my thyroid. I joined the FB group for autoimmune protocol elimination/provocation diet and have done much better though my throid is still a problem and I probably still have Lyme. I could not do the 8 cups of veg either.

Aren't grains bad for hashi's, or just wheat?

Is ketosis bad for hypothyroid ppl?
 

Richard7

Senior Member
Messages
772
Location
Australia
I found was sent to the article in this video
by which is great as it cites all the research papers properly on the slides.

The speaker Dr John Bagnulo seems to think that A2 dairy is ok.

I am taking a lot of probiotics grown on A2 milk to repopulate my gut after the antibiotics, so hope he is right.
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,095
What is catabolism, and how do you know it's happening?
I am just skin and bones.
The speaker Dr John Bagnulo seems to think that A2 dairy is ok.
There is something else besides being A1 or A2, it is the proline bonds. Both Jersey and Buffalo milk are mostly A2 casein, but Buffala's milk contains more proline than Jersey's. Despite Buffala's milk beta-carotene content being very low, it is enough to produce debilitating xanthine oxidase when pasteurized. I know because Buffala's is the only A2 milk I have access to. A2 is wonderful as I get no rashes or itchyness from it, but I do get a lot of uric acid if it is whole fat.
 
Last edited:

brenda

Senior Member
Messages
2,270
Location
UK
Aren't grains bad for hashi's, or just wheat?

Is ketosis bad for hypothyroid ppl?

The AIP disallows all grains. I never got into ketosis, and have to make sure l have some carbohydrate in the evening so that my blood sugar does not dip through the night which stresses the adrenals.
 

arewenearlythereyet

Senior Member
Messages
1,478
interesting.... I've never read that MCT's impact thyroid! yes, I would know the symptoms w/o checking, too.. They're pretty distinct.. I had a bad reaction to maca, which has iodine in it.. It's another one of those "wonder supps" that ppl are always pushing, but IMO you have to be very careful, esp if you've got any thyroid problem..

What is catabolism, and how do you know it's happening?
I worked with a major supplier/importer of maca and other so called superfood ingredients. When I challenged them to give me the low down on the vitamin and mineral composition etc they said they couldn't because they didn't test them and it was natural so didn't need testing. This meant that no claims could be made. I subsequently found out that most of these so called superfoods were actually less nutrient dense than a pumpkin seed or an almond which are a lot cheaper gram for gram.

I agree be careful and best avoided since the supply chain doesn't seem to worry itself too much about testing (in the uk anyway) so it could have unacceptable levels of heavy metals, pesticide residues etc.
 

ebethc

Senior Member
Messages
1,901
The AIP disallows all grains. I never got into ketosis, and have to make sure l have some carbohydrate in the evening so that my blood sugar does not dip through the night which stresses the adrenals.

I didn't know that about stressing adrenals.. interesting.. thanks
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,095
I worked with a major supplier/importer of maca and other so called superfood ingredients. When I challenged them to give me the low down on the vitamin and mineral composition etc they said they couldn't because they didn't test them and it was natural so didn't need testing. This meant that no claims could be made.
My personal experience with Maca is as follows:
In 2015 I bought a bag of powdered maca at a local food store. Then I took only a tip of a tsp on a Sunday morning just before driving ~15 miles. Then the most amazing thing happened, I turned music on, pumped up the volume and sang along! It hadn't happened in years before that, and I don't think it happened again since then.

I could never repeat the effect. I took it in the following day and got hypothyroid. But I am not sure it contains iodine. More serious info I read about it reported glucosinolates, which inhibit the thyroid. Glucosinolates can be destroyed by cooking, so last week I took that same Maca powder (it is stored in a tightly closed container and still holds its sweet, nutty aroma) and diluted 4 tsps in 2 ounces of hot water. It immediately produced the bad smell of burnt hair reported by people who buy gelatinized Maca. I stored it in the fridge and have been adding a tsp of it in my morning coffee, with no effects so far - not good or bad. I am slowly increasing the dose, so let's see where it takes me.
 

arewenearlythereyet

Senior Member
Messages
1,478
My personal experience with Maca is as follows:
In 2015 I bought a bag of powdered maca at a local food store. Then I took only a tip of a tsp on a Sunday morning just before driving ~15 miles. Then the most amazing thing happened, I turned music on, pumped up the volume and sang along! It hadn't happened in years before that, and I don't think it happened again since then.

I could never repeat the effect. I took it in the following day and got hypothyroid. But I am not sure it contains iodine. More serious info I read about it reported glucosinolates, which inhibit the thyroid. Glucosinolates can be destroyed by cooking, so last week I took that same Maca powder (it is stored in a tightly closed container and still holds its sweet, nutty aroma) and diluted 4 tsps in 2 ounces of hot water. It immediately produced the bad smell of burnt hair reported by people who buy gelatinized Maca. I stored it in the fridge and have been adding a tsp of it in my morning coffee, with no effects so far - not good or bad. I am slowly increasing the dose, so let's see where it takes me.
I'm a bit jaded on it because I associate it with work and problems. I hope you find some benefit from it @Gondwanaland :) I won't tell you about herbicides in goji berries :wide-eyed:
 

ebethc

Senior Member
Messages
1,901
My personal experience with Maca is as follows:
In 2015 I bought a bag of powdered maca at a local food store. Then I took only a tip of a tsp on a Sunday morning just before driving ~15 miles. Then the most amazing thing happened, I turned music on, pumped up the volume and sang along! It hadn't happened in years before that, and I don't think it happened again since then.

I could never repeat the effect. I took it in the following day and got hypothyroid. But I am not sure it contains iodine. More serious info I read about it reported glucosinolates, which inhibit the thyroid. Glucosinolates can be destroyed by cooking, so last week I took that same Maca powder (it is stored in a tightly closed container and still holds its sweet, nutty aroma) and diluted 4 tsps in 2 ounces of hot water. It immediately produced the bad smell of burnt hair reported by people who buy gelatinized Maca. I stored it in the fridge and have been adding a tsp of it in my morning coffee, with no effects so far - not good or bad. I am slowly increasing the dose, so let's see where it takes me.

be careful! I hated the stuff... 2nd worst crash after arginine