Thyroid suppression on low carb/keto diet

[Tatyana]

I had some bloods done today, and guess what, a low carb diet doesn't suit me at all.

I have been doing the anabolic diet, which is five days low carbs, typically less than 30g/day, and then on the weekends, carb up.

I have been eating around 2000-2200 kcals/day on low carb days for the last 2.5-3 months, and 3000 kcals/day on the weekends (at least) .



June 6 - high carb/high protein/low fat comp diet

(all normal good results)

Cholesterol 4.4 mmol/L

HDL 1.95 mmol/L

Total:HDL ratio 2.32

Cortisol: 209 IU/L

TSH 1.58 IU/L


December 22 - low carb/high protein/high fat off season anabolic diet (elevated cholesterol and thyroid suppression)



Cholesterol 6.7 mmol/L

HDL 2.13 mmol/L

Total:HDL ratio 3.2

LDL: 4.2 mmol/L





Cortisol 424 nmol/L (170-540 for early morning)



TSH: 5.24 mU/L (0.4-5.0)

FT4 - 11.3 pmol/L (12-23)

May be consistent with primary hypothyroidism



As my results are a bit abnormal, one of our consultants added on thyroid antibodies to check for Hasimoto's disease.



Thyroid antibodies: 9 ng/L (negative)



Needless to say, I am going to stop the anabolic diet and go back to eating carbs, protein and fat everyday.





They say low carb diets suppress the thyroid gland, I am just going to say, NO KIDDING.



I was only worried that my cholesterol may have been bad, and it was far worse than I thought it would be.



Even if I corrected the cholesterol by eating less animal fat (take out the cheese and butter), I still have the thyroid suppression.



My GP is going to freak, and I will probably be a case study again for grand rounds.

 

[ironwings]

Glad you had the tests done Tat. Keep us posted.

Have you found that your body fat has gone up significantly as well?

What is the "normal" range for TSH? (goodness, I should know this)

 

[Thandie]

I had some bloods done today, and guess what, a low carb diet doesn't suit me at all.

I have been doing the anabolic diet, which is five days low carbs, typically less than 30g/day, and then on the weekends, carb up.

I have been eating around 2000-2200 kcals/day on low carb days for the last 2.5-3 months, and 3000 kcals/day on the weekends (at least) .



June 6 - high carb/high protein/low fat comp diet

(all normal good results)

Cholesterol 4.4 mmol/L

HDL 1.95 mmol/L

Total:HDL ratio 2.32

Cortisol: 209 IU/L

TSH 1.58 IU/L


December 22 - low carb/high protein/high fat off season anabolic diet (elevated cholesterol and thyroid suppression)



Cholesterol 6.7 mmol/L

HDL 2.13 mmol/L

Total:HDL ratio 3.2

LDL: 4.2 mmol/L





Cortisol 424 nmol/L (170-540 for early morning)



TSH: 5.24 mU/L (0.4-5.0)

FT4 - 11.3 pmol/L (12-23)

May be consistent with primary hypothyroidism



As my results are a bit abnormal, one of our consultants added on thyroid antibodies to check for Hasimoto's disease.



Thyroid antibodies: 9 ng/L (negative)



Needless to say, I am going to stop the anabolic diet and go back to eating carbs, protein and fat everyday.





They say low carb diets suppress the thyroid gland, I am just going to say, NO KIDDING.



I was only worried that my cholesterol may have been bad, and it was far worse than I thought it would be.



Even if I corrected the cholesterol by eating less animal fat (take out the cheese and butter), I still have the thyroid suppression.



My GP is going to freak, and I will probably be a case study again for grand rounds.

Yeap! I have a few clients who were on the Keto diet before coming to me and wind up with the same issues you found you have, in addition to their metabolism sort of shutting down, and now are working on getting healthy again.

Fortunately you caugh it on time.

 

[Tatyana]

Glad you had the tests done Tat. Keep us posted.

Have you found that your body fat has gone up significantly as well?

What is the "normal" range for TSH? (goodness, I should know this)

TSH: 0.4-5.0 mU/L

FT4 - 12-23 pmol/L

My bodyfat is in the normal range for a woman, around 22-25% right now.

It went up after I finished competing and started to eat a lot more.

 

[Tatyana]

Yeap! I have a few clients who were on the Keto diet before coming to me and wind up with the same issues you found you have, in addition to their metabolism sort of shutting down, and now are working on getting healthy again.

Fortunately you caugh it on time.

Defo, I did set out to experiment.

This is not a full keto diet, as in THEORY eating carbs on the weekend is meant to avoid the thyroid suppression and metabolic slowdown.

I expected my cholesterol levels to be a bit worse, so that wasn't a total shock, although my consultant was quite amazed at how much difference diet could affect it in such a short time.

I knew it takes three months for cholesterol levels to change, and I have been doing this now for three months.

I think keto diets may work for some people, obviously there are genetic variations that would allow for this.

It obviously does not work for me, I have evidence in black and white.

In this current climate of 'carbs are bad', I do think I was a bit swayed by the popularity of low carb diets.

I know I can get to single digit bodyfat eating 200 g of carbs/day (I count everything).

I would advise people to have blood work done, as I have felt quite fine on this diet, the only advantages I have found for myself are:

-high fat is great for my hair and skin
- I wasn't as hungry as I am when I eat carbs (or rather diet on carbs)



Flipping heck, it does make me think that the combo of low carbs AND reduced calories could really be a metabolic death blow for some people.

Yes your metabolism recovers, but there are many who say that they have to constantly watch what they eat now.

 

[Thandie]

Defo, I did set out to experiment.

This is not a full keto diet, as in THEORY eating carbs on the weekend is meant to avoid the thyroid suppression and metabolic slowdown.

I expected my cholesterol levels to be a bit worse, so that wasn't a total shock, although my consultant was quite amazed at how much difference diet could affect it in such a short time.

I knew it takes three months for cholesterol levels to change, and I have been doing this now for three months.

I think keto diets may work for some people, obviously there are genetic variations that would allow for this.

It obviously does not work for me, I have evidence in black and white.

In this current climate of 'carbs are bad', I do think I was a bit swayed by the popularity of low carb diets.

I know I can get to single digit bodyfat eating 200 g of carbs/day (I count everything).

I would advise people to have blood work done, as I have felt quite fine on this diet, the only advantages I have found for myself are:

-high fat is great for my hair and skin
- I wasn't as hungry as I am when I eat carbs (or rather diet on carbs)



Flipping heck, it does make me think that the combo of low carbs AND reduced calories could really be a metabolic death blow for some people.

Yes your metabolism recovers, but there are many who say that they have to constantly watch what they eat now.

Absolutely a metabolic death blow for some people.
Also, some people takes them a year to recover their metabolism. And as you said, have to constatly watch what they eat. They also become fearful of having to go through that again.

 

[Thandie]

Although I am not happy to hear that you had such a negative experience I AM happy that you caught it quickly. I used to be a fan of the whole high fat/high protein/low to zero carb diet for a few years until I got better educated (mostly through being my own guinea pig - but never had the black and white scientific data that you now do - it was just how I felt).

Fat is not evil. All protein is not good. And carbs are not evil. A body needs ALL THREE.

I can't tell you how many times I have been shot down POINT BLANK on this board in the past when there was a different element that was prevalent for even suggesting that the die-hard, old-school (or one might say new fangled atkin's school fad diet) might not be the best approach and that it was even counter productive... Heck, that might not be totally true. Believe it or not, I think I was shot down hard ONCE and then I sorta just stopped coming around for a very long time.

I swear this thread should be a stickie.

I do honestly believe that the key to success is balance and education. Every body responds differently to different activities, different substances and of course, different macro manipulations in their diet. But there is a HYUGE difference between manipulating macros and all but eliminating any single one of them.

I can completely relate. I was also shot down a few times for trying to diplomatically warn some people against this diet. I finally decided to stay away and mind my business.

 

[Tatyana]

I think low carb diets can work for some people, but they are not the 'magic diet' that so many think they are.



I think it is best to have a more balanced approach to diet.