Hi all,
just thought I would share my story with you guys. My downward spiral started many years ago when I caught mononucleosis, I was constantly ill for 10 months, feverish and could barely work. After 10 months of this ordeal I finally felt better, but never really got back to normal again. After a few years I suddenly felt worse, went to the doctor again, blood testing showed my TSH value and antibodies had skyrocketed, Hashimoto's disease. I had to take high amounts of levothyroxine medication (133 mcg) and really thought my thyroid was gone for good. The medication didn't help at all though, I barely could stand up and do some housework at this point.
Last year I did an elimination diet (AIP diet) and found out I can't tolerate wheat (gluten) and corn. This helped a lot, I felt so much better after going gluten and corn free. Then I read about leaky gut syndrome and started to make my own home-made milk kefir with real grains, which is supposed to be the most probiotic food on the planet. (I still love the stuff in my daily muesli with rolled oats, lots of cinnamon and blueberries).
At about the same time I read an interesting article about herbs and spices that are antimicrobial and thought this could help with the leaky gut syndrome and pathogenic bacteria/candida in the gut. I began to take one tbsp of clove powder, triphala, turmeric, cumin seeds, cinnamon, and dried oregano daily.
This was the last piece of the puzzle for me. After a few weeks of taking these herbs my thyroid started to work again, I'm free of medication for 10 months now. I don't know if I still have antibodies or not as I didn't go back to the doctor to test for it, I just know that I finally, finally feel good again. No fatigue anymore, I'm exercising again (I'm running again! I so missed running! lol) and I'm currently looking for a new job!
I did some research and these spices and herbs that I'm taking are not only antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory, they all are also very high in the ORAC value list of antioxidant foods. I'm eating a lot of nuts and berries like blueberries and other foods that are high on this list (drinking cold brew green tea and hibiscus tea instead of only water) and I'm wondering if this is the reason for my improvement?
Or maybe I was "only" suffering from leaky gut syndrome and the antimicrobial properties of these herbs and spices helped to wipe out the bad bacteria/candida together with going gluten/corn free and the milk kefir?
Maybe it's all of it together, I really don't know. But I'm believing that the high amount of antioxidant foods that I'm taking really was the reason for my recovery, and I'm thinking food is still very much underestimated in our illness.
Just thought I would share my story with you guys. Good luck to all of you!
just thought I would share my story with you guys. My downward spiral started many years ago when I caught mononucleosis, I was constantly ill for 10 months, feverish and could barely work. After 10 months of this ordeal I finally felt better, but never really got back to normal again. After a few years I suddenly felt worse, went to the doctor again, blood testing showed my TSH value and antibodies had skyrocketed, Hashimoto's disease. I had to take high amounts of levothyroxine medication (133 mcg) and really thought my thyroid was gone for good. The medication didn't help at all though, I barely could stand up and do some housework at this point.
Last year I did an elimination diet (AIP diet) and found out I can't tolerate wheat (gluten) and corn. This helped a lot, I felt so much better after going gluten and corn free. Then I read about leaky gut syndrome and started to make my own home-made milk kefir with real grains, which is supposed to be the most probiotic food on the planet. (I still love the stuff in my daily muesli with rolled oats, lots of cinnamon and blueberries).
At about the same time I read an interesting article about herbs and spices that are antimicrobial and thought this could help with the leaky gut syndrome and pathogenic bacteria/candida in the gut. I began to take one tbsp of clove powder, triphala, turmeric, cumin seeds, cinnamon, and dried oregano daily.
This was the last piece of the puzzle for me. After a few weeks of taking these herbs my thyroid started to work again, I'm free of medication for 10 months now. I don't know if I still have antibodies or not as I didn't go back to the doctor to test for it, I just know that I finally, finally feel good again. No fatigue anymore, I'm exercising again (I'm running again! I so missed running! lol) and I'm currently looking for a new job!
I did some research and these spices and herbs that I'm taking are not only antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory, they all are also very high in the ORAC value list of antioxidant foods. I'm eating a lot of nuts and berries like blueberries and other foods that are high on this list (drinking cold brew green tea and hibiscus tea instead of only water) and I'm wondering if this is the reason for my improvement?
Or maybe I was "only" suffering from leaky gut syndrome and the antimicrobial properties of these herbs and spices helped to wipe out the bad bacteria/candida together with going gluten/corn free and the milk kefir?
Maybe it's all of it together, I really don't know. But I'm believing that the high amount of antioxidant foods that I'm taking really was the reason for my recovery, and I'm thinking food is still very much underestimated in our illness.
Just thought I would share my story with you guys. Good luck to all of you!