CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — If you do not tolerate dairy well but continue to eat it, it could make it more difficult to manage your low thyroid and to correctly absorb your low thyroid hormone.
There are two main ways you can be sensitive to dairy. The first is to have an inflammatory immune response to the protein in milk, called casein. This is very common in thyroid patients, and symptoms vary depending on how that person expresses inflammation.
However, you can also have a lactose intolerance. This means you have difficulty digesting the sugar in milk, called lactose. Symptoms are usually gut-related, such as abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, gas and nausea. (Other compounds one can react to in dairy are casomorphin, which can produce an opioid-like response, and milk butyrophilin, which is mainly found in milk fat.)
In addition to causing gut symptoms, lactose intolerance can also promote an overgrowth of harmful gut bacteria, which can lead to the malabsorption of nutrients. Additionally, studies show lactose-intolerant patients who reduce their consumption of lactose see TSH levels go down, which means thyroid function goes up.
It’s important to be aware of lactose intolerance because lactose is an ingredient in some thyroid medications. If you are lactose intolerant and taking one of these thyroid meds, you may have to take larger doses than you would normally need to compensate for the impact of lactose on your gut health and absorption.
If this is you, talk to your doctor about a thyroid medication that does not have fillers that trigger digestion or immune reactive issues. Thyroid patients show significant improvement in symptoms of lactose intolerance in two to three weeks after restricting lactose consumption.
Each patient has a unique biochemistry and makeup. See a doctor who will thoroughly evaluate your case before implementing any strategies or self-diagnosing with information mentioned in this post.
To learn more about our services and to schedule a free consultation, please visit our website. We work with your prescribing physician for optimal results. Do not discontinue medication or hormone replacement therapy without consulting your prescribing physician.
Written by JOSH REDD, chiropractic physician at RedRiver Health and Wellness Center.
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About Josh Redd
Josh Redd, MS, DABFM, DAAIM, is a chiropractic physician and author of the Amazon bestselling book “The Truth About Low Thyroid.” Redd owns seven functional medicine clinics in the western U.S. and sees patients from across the country and around the world who are suffering from challenging autoimmune, endocrine and neurological disorders.
He studied immunology, virology and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins where he is a MaPHB candidate. He also teaches thousands of health care practitioners about functional medicine and immunology, thyroid health, neurology, lab testing and more.
Resources
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