163 Effective Strategies to Manage Inflammation and Reduce Hashimoto's Symptoms with Dr. Tom O'Bryan

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The Case: 

• Nancy has Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism and suffers from frequent flare-ups.
• She’s experiencing fatigue, anxiety, jitters and is in constant pain. 
• She also finds that she can’t lose weight and often has brain fog. 

Controlling Common Symptoms of Hashimoto’s 

While these are common symptoms of Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism, Nancy was eager to better manage her condition. When I met Nancy in my Hashimoto’s program, I knew that inflammation was the driver and to get to the bottom of her thyroid mystery, I knew just who to share Nancy’s case with as he’s often called the “Sherlock Holmes for chronic disease”. Dr. Tom O’Bryan is an expert in food sensitivities, environmental toxins, and the development of autoimmune diseases. He’s on the faculty at the Institute for Functional Medicine and the National University of Health Sciences. He’s also the author of You Can Fix Your Brain and The Autoimmune Fix. I’m looking forward to his new docuseries, The Inflammation Equation, being released widely on March 20th. He joins me on the show to explore Nancy’s case and right away, we discuss what is at the root of many autoimmune diseases (including Hashimoto’s): inflammation.

Inflammation: Our Body's DoubleEdged Sword

Inflammation isn't inherently bad. Dr. O’Bryan explains that it’s actually our immune system's way of protecting us from invaders like germs. Imagine your immune system as a highly trained army ready to fight off any threat. Inflammation is how it sends in the troops to battle an infection. And while this is a necessary acute response, if it keeps happening and inflammation becomes a chronic state, the inflammation can stop being helpful. 

Dr. O’Bryan reminds us that chronic, low-grade inflammation is linked to most chronic diseases, including Hashimoto's as well as diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer.  With Hashimoto’s, the inflammation causes the immune system to attack the thyroid. 

What Triggers Chronic Inflammation?

Many things can trigger inflammation but Dr. O'Bryan mentions some incredibly pervasive and somewhat surprising culprits:

• Microplastics and nanoplastics: These tiny plastic particles are increasingly found in our environment, even in bottled water! Our bodies see them as invaders so the immune system launches an attack. Unfortunately, these attacks can damage healthy tissues like the thyroid.

This is where things get interesting for Hashimoto's patients.

Our confused immune system, constantly battling these microscopic plastics, starts mistaking healthy thyroid cells for invaders. It creates antibodies that attack the thyroid, leading to the symptoms we experience with Hashimoto's.

Why We Need to Address Inflammation, Not Just the Thyroid

So, we've established that inflammation is the real culprit behind Hashimoto's, not a malfunctioning thyroid itself. Dr. O'Bryan uses a powerful analogy to explain this.  Imagine your body as a chain, constantly regenerating with new links (cells) replacing the old and damaged ones. Your immune system normally creates antibodies to remove these old cells, making way for the new.

Here's where things go wrong with Hashimoto's:

• Microplastics and other environmental toxins act like invaders, triggering the immune system to attack.
• These attacks also damage healthy thyroid cells, causing the immune system to create antibodies against the thyroid itself.
• As you continue to consume these toxins (like bottled water with nanoplastics), the cycle perpetuates. More damaged thyroid cells, more antibodies, and a progressively weaker thyroid.

This is why focusing solely on fixing the thyroid misses the mark. Dr. O'Bryan emphasizes that we need to address the root cause: the inflammation causing the immune system to attack the thyroid. It's like trying to fix a broken chain by replacing a single link when the real problem is the force pulling the chain apart.

Where Does Inflammation Hide?

It’s clear that in order to get a handle on Hashimoto’s symptoms, we need to deal with the inflammation but what triggers this inflammation in the first place?

Dr. O'Bryan encourages us to ask ourselves: "Where might the inflammation be coming from?" This simple question can be a powerful starting point. By being open to possibilities and exploring the root causes, we can start to identify and address our individual triggers. Here are two areas to start investigating: 

1. Environmental Triggers

We often think of food sensitivities as the main dietary culprit for inflammation.  Dr. O'Bryan highlights the importance of considering environmental factors as well. Aside from the microplastics, he also mentions mold as a potential trigger.  Many people may not realize that exposure to mold in their homes or workplaces could be contributing to their inflammation.

2. Diet

Of course, diet still plays a crucial role in managing inflammation. We’ve covered this in many episodes but Dr. O’Bryan places particular emphasis on the role of gluten in Hashimoto's. Gluten sensitivity is a common concern for Hashimoto's patients because of the link between gluten and the HLA genes.

Gluten’s Impact on Hashimoto's 

Dr. O'Bryan shares some very interesting studies in this episode to showcase the science behind why gluten can be such a problem for people with Hashimoto's. Here's a breakdown of his key points:

• Our Ancestors Didn't Eat Wheat: We haven't evolved to properly digest wheat, a relatively new addition to the human diet.
• TollLike Receptors: The Gut's Sentinels: These receptors guard the intestines, identifying and flushing out potential threats from food.
• Gluten Mimics a Threat: When we eat wheat, the incompletely broken-down gluten molecules resemble harmful bacteria to our toll-like receptors.
• Leaky Gut and Inflammation: This mistaken identity triggers an immune response, leading to leaky gut and inflammation.
• Not Everyone Gets Gut Issues: While some people experience digestive problems with gluten, others may feel the effects in different ways, like through thyroid issues.

Dr. O'Bryan emphasizes a crucial point: all humans experience some level of inflammatory response to gluten. The difference lies in how it manifests. For some, it might be gut problems, while for others, it shows up as thyroid symptoms like those experienced with Hashimoto's.

The Problem with Traditional GlutenSensitivity Tests

Dr. O'Bryan feels that traditional gluten tests haven't always been reliable. He uses the Wheat Zoomer test because he finds it to be a more comprehensive test that identifies gluten sensitivity more accurately. This is important because gluten isn’t a problem for everyone. In fact, Dr. O'Bryan doesn't advocate for everyone to go gluten-free.  

However, for those wit...