Dessicated thyroid may increase mitochondria for ketone production

[Josh]

I was just searching around doing some research.

As you may know, mitochondria in liver cells break down fat into ketone bodies that we can use for energy.

This sports article has some good information about exercise and increasing mitochondrial density. However, what jumped out was it has a mention of a study where rats were fed dessicated thyroid, and it dramatically boosted mitochondria in the heart and liver. I have been unable to track down the study. Let me know if you have any luck.

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0129.htm

This may be very useful for us adapting to low carb eating. I'm definitely going to give it a try.

Don't eat too much though people.

[Sally]

Great article!  Thanks!

[edmon171]

That is great news. I have been taking dt a few days a week and I could feel it still working on the days I don't take it so this probably explains that effect.

I'd be interested to see a similar study for strength training. I know certain exercises, squats for instance, really get my sweat and heart rate going like I just did some sprinting.

[sabertooth]

Why eat desiccated Thyroid, when raw is so much better.

I believe the key to optimal adaption to low carb paleo diet is eating the whole animal. Eat the entire liver, kidneys, spleen, lymph nodes, thyroid, thymus, adrenals, brains, eyes, tongue, ect,and drink the blood.... all raw.

[edmon171]

I would have fresh, I just don't know where to source it right now. So I supplement the hard to find stuff like brain and thyroid with raw dessicated. Do you know any good mail order sources for grass-fed organs?

[paper_clips43]

Why eat desiccated Thyroid, when raw is so much better.

I believe the key to optimal adaption to low carb paleo diet is eating the whole animal. Eat the entire liver, kidneys, spleen, lymph nodes, thyroid, thymus, adrenals, brains, eyes, tongue, ect,and drink the blood.... all raw.

Do you eat a whole Thyroid all at once? From what animal?

[sabertooth]

I eat Whole sheep.

I will usually eat it in bits and pieces. Unlike other organs, thyroid and the other sweetbreads seems to keep fairly well if I leave it encased in the surrounding tissue of the animals I hang in the fridge.

I never bother to separate it from the neck meat, and will eat it a sliver at a time whenever I carve out a slice of neck meat.

[Spirit Bear]

I've been taking desiccated thyroid for 6 months now and recently reduced my dosage because it increased my anxiety and restlessness significantly when I was taking a full grain, even though my blood test was within normal parameters.

I've never eaten raw thyroid, but I know there are a lot of hormones concentrated in the tissue due to the potency of desiccated thyroid. I can only guess that when the thyroid gland is eaten whole the hormones are poorly absorbed (desiccated thyroid is supposed to be taken on an empty stomach with only water), otherwise people would temporarily experience a rapid heart rate, among other obvious symptoms after eating it that occur when too large a dose of the medication is taken.

I would advise people to be careful eating thyroid tissue if they have hormonal imbalances, adrenal issues, or stress in their life. It goes for all organs, but it's especially important to choose healthy animals for harvesting the thyroid because of its function in the body. Huge quantities of blood flow through the thyroid every minute, so impurities will pass through it en masse, and toxins from the mouth also drain through it. If the animal has oral or sinus infections those organisms have easy access to the thyroid.

Hormones are meant to be kept in balance, you should never ingest hormones or drugs trying to achieve some particular goal like losing weight, building muscle, or having more energy. If you want to maintain health you'll have to get there using natural means. That means eventually addressing the underlying reasons why we need to take hormones or drugs in the first place.

I have no experience with eating raw thyroid, and I don't mean to discourage anyone from taking desiccated thyroid, but be aware that if you take desiccated thyroid without having an underactive thyroid in the first place, you'll likely push yourself into the realm of hyperthyroidism and start suffering the symptoms of that state.

[edmon171]

Do you take the armour? I'm sure the pigs they get that from are quite unhealthy from all the grain and have unbalanced thyroids from the large percentage of soy in the feed. Plus the pills are made with dyes and fillers. I take a dessicated cow thyroid from grass-fed cows that uses only dessicated liver as the filler. I'm not taking it for the hormones, just to encourage my thyroid to heal any damage taken over the years, so I take it 3 days a week to avoid building up the hormones in my system. My thyroid tests normal to hyper before I started, but I don't trust the tsh test. Objectively I have many symptoms of hypo. The first time I took it I felt the effects of hyperthyroid for the first time, I wouldn't call it suffering. Actually it got me high. It was like having a lot of strong coffee, but without any anxiety. I quickly built up some sort of tolerance or resistance to the hormones and now its a very mild effect.

[sabertooth]

The first time I took it I felt the effects of hyperthyroid for the first time, I wouldn't call it suffering. Actually it got me high. It was like having a lot of strong coffee, but without any anxiety. I quickly built up some sort of tolerance or resistance to the hormones and now its a very mild effect.

I remember the first couple of times I had eaten the entire raw thyroid at one sitting, something similar happening. There was some kind of hormonal effect thats difficult to describe. I dont notice such effects anymore, though now days I will eat all the glands and organs of a slaughtered animal over the course of a couple of weeks.

This rationing of the bodies organs and glands is a way for me to get a better balance of nutrition throughout the month, instead of just eating all the organs and glands during the first few days after a kill, and then having to go three weeks on just muscle meat and fat. 

I believe my approach of eating the entire animal and rationing the organs and glands is a good way to rejuvenate the glands and organs of the body, without having to worry about becoming overloaded in certain hormonal substances, which may occur with the use supplements.

By eating the entire variety of tissues in an animal you can insure that you will get all the complelmetary nutrition one needs to build a well balanced being.

I believe it is of the utmost importance that if you chose to eat the all organs and glands of the whole animal that you make sure that animal is a pure and as healthy as you want to become. Its health and vitality will be transfered onto you. If its tissues are pure, vibrant and healthy, then consuming it will help to build vibrant and healthy glands and organs in your own body..

However,On the flip side, if the animal is not optimally healthy then the organs and glands could have concentrations of substances which would have an adverse effect on health. I am particularly concerned about so called grass-fed operations that use chemical wormers, vaccines, sub quality hay, poor water and GMO alfalfa.

These practices are the norm for grass-fed operation in my area, and the organs from these animals taste so bad that I will not eat it, no matter how hungry or broke I am.   

Chemical wormers, water pollution, moldy hay, vaccines and GMO alfalfa, can all have adverse effects, which lead to the accumulation of toxic substances in the organs and glands.