This is the story about how I successfully restarted my thyroid and stopped my thyroid medication! I can’t say what I did will work for you, but perhaps it will get you thinking about ways to treat your autoimmune disease. Here’s what happened…

In January of 2018, I developed symptoms that eventually led to a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroid disease, resulting in a low-functioning or non-functioning thyroid gland. (You can read my post about my diagnosis). I was immediately put on thyroid medication and my symptoms improved. I was relieved, but I also started doing research on how to naturally change this course my body was on. I wanted to restart my thyroid if possible so that I would not be dependent on medication for the rest of my life. I was also worried about another autoimmune attack and which organ might be next!

In autoimmune disease, the immune system produces antibodies that attack healthy organs. My anti-thyroid antibodies were sky high which meant that my thyroid was being attacked. I wanted to find a way to stop my body from producing these antibodies, and stop attacking my thyroid. Was it possible that I could even restart my thyroid? I hoped so.

My doctor suggested I take probiotics and L-Glutamine to heal my most-likely leaky gut. She also suggested I take a multi-vitamin containing zinc, selenium and B vitamins, and avoid iodine. And, she suggested I follow the Auto-Immune Protocol (AIP) Diet. I found the AIP Diet to be quite overwhelming and restrictive and decided to cut out a few key foods first.

I began researching Hashimoto’s and found Izabella Wentz’s information to be very helpful. In her research, she found that the majority of people with Hashimoto’s felt they reacted to gluten, soy, dairy and sugar. I was already gluten and soy-free; I decided to cut dairy and refined sugar. Dairy had come up on a sensitivity test for me a long time ago, but I had continued eating it. I knew it was time to let it go! And sugar, well… once I cut it out I really didn’t crave it.

Stress is a huge trigger for autoimmune. I decided that in addition to changing my diet, I would consciously try to lower my stress. For me, this meant giving up some control in my life. Battling with teenagers, rushing around in traffic, worrying about work relationships — I needed to reduce these and other stress-inducing triggers as much as I could. I did a lot of deep breathing!

All of this worked. To give you an idea of the change I (and the doctors) saw, first you need to understand the normal reference intervals for the thyroid tests, and where I started:

NORMAL RANGE:

• • Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) = 0.450-4.500 (if TSH is too high, you have a low-functioning thyroid or hypothyroidism; if TSH is too low, you have a over-functioning thyroid or hyperthyroidism)
  • Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Antibody = 0-34 (if high, you are producing antibodies that can attack your thyroid)
  • Thyroglobulin (Tg) Antibody = 0.0-0.9 (if high, you are producing antibodies that can attack your thyroid)

MY RESULTS, March, 2018:

• • TSH = 101 (yikes!!)
  • TPO Ab = 171 (yikes!)
  • Tg Ab = 6.8 (and another yikes!)

I went on thyroid medication to lower my TSH right away on doctor’s orders, but at the same time, I made the lifestyle changes I mentioned above.

The success of my lifestyle changes was evidenced by the results of the antibody tests. After just one month, I had lowered my antibodies (TPO = 123 and Tg = 5.5). They were still high, but coming down. After six months, they were even better (TPO = 15 and Tg = 3.7). I then became overmedicated because I had turned my thyroid back on and didn’t need the medication anymore. Though my doctor kept lowering the dose, it was still too much. I had lost too much weight and felt like I was on speed. I had trouble sleeping and was anxious. At nine months, my doctor suggested I could just stop taking the medication altogether. I did and haven’t taken it since. My TSH finally landed in the normal range, and by about 15 months after my diagnosis, my antibodies were gone! (TPO = <9 and Tg = <1.0)

Most importantly, I feel great! Today, I am gluten-free, soy-free (except for tamari once in while), dairy-free (but I can tolerate small amounts if necessary or accidental) and sugar-free (though I can cheat a tiny bit on this). Though my path won’t work for everyone, I hope that it might inspire people to think about lifestyle changes in the treatment of autoimmune disease. There are many doctors who do not believe that diet can affect, even reverse, autoimmune disease, but there are doctors who do. I was lucky enough to be supported by doctors who did believe it was possible.

What treatment has worked for your thyroid disease?

How she did it:

• She used one package Pamela’s Vanilla Cake Mix to make two 9-inch layers (you could do 8-inch layers instead)
• She doubled the recipe of vanilla frosting. She actually used a mix that is no longer on the market, but there are other frosting mixes you can buy or you can make the vanilla frosting from scratch (it’s easy — check the internet). To make it dairy-free, you can use dairy-free butter (like Earth Balance) or shortening (like Spectrum Organic Shortening).
  • note: she had frosting left over but felt that one batch of frosting wouldn’t be enough
• She frosted in between the layers and covered the cake, and then used the extra frosting to make the orange web and the black spider using a piping bag and tips. The googly eyes were purchased at a cake decorating store. She noted that she added the red sprinkles because it is a black widow.

Happy Halloween!

Let me take you back…

When my daughter was a toddler, she would get a rash on her face and body when she ate eggs. She tested positive for egg allergy at 18 months, so we avoided it from then on.

When my daughter was 4 years old, I wrote a hopeful post, citing research that showed that 68% of children would outgrow their egg allergy by the age of 16.

When she was 6 years old, after a positive skin test, we attempted an egg food challenge anyway, because the doctor thought that despite the test, she could possibly be able to tolerate egg. We did the challenge with a scrambled egg in the doctor’s office. It didn’t go well… they had to give her epinephrine. Below is a before and after photo showing how her face and entire upper body became flushed. (She is smiling in second photo because she already got the epinephrine and was a bit hyped up.)

After that, we continued to avoid eggs and I still baked without eggs.

The next year, she ate a cupcake that was given to her by a friend at school (you can read about that accident here), and she had no reaction, which prompted me to ask for a baked egg challenge. The protein of the egg changes when baked, and becomes more tolerable to some people. It turned out she could eat eggs baked into things, but still reacted to uncooked egg on the skin test and so we never pursued another scrambled egg challenge at that time. Years went by, and every time we skin tested with egg, she reacted.

She is now 15 years old, and I think it was a pancake that she tried recently — and had no reaction. Hmmm, that’s not a baked egg. After that, she ate more pancakes. Next she really wanted to try French Toast. I was hesitant, nervous even, but given that pancakes didn’t seem any more cooked than French Toast, I let her take a bite, then wait. By the time the wait period was over, the French Toast was cold and she didn’t want it. But there was no reaction, so the next day, more French Toast. No reaction whatsoever. A few days later, we moved on to scrambled egg, which I purposely over-cooked, and gave her the tiniest little amount. The next day, more. Eventually, and quite quickly, she was eating an entire scrambled egg!

The freedom! The happiness! She began cooking things she could never have before — fried rice, more french toast, omelets, orange chicken, fried mozzarella sticks. And trying new products with gusto, like ravioli (gluten-free), mayonnaise and Ranch dressing.

Let me just say that I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND DOING ANY KIND OF FOOD CHALLENGE AT HOME. But, we did, with caution, knowing she had already tolerated eggs in some form for quite some time (I would also NEVER do this with nuts!). The question is, why was she still reacting on her skin test all those years, and how long has she been not allergic to eggs? Did we possibly miss out on years of deprivation?

I will be curious to re-test egg on the skin the next time we go to the allergist to see if she is still reacting. If so, what other foods might she be reacting to on the skin that she is not really allergic to? Maybe I am too hopeful, but I see how much adding in one food to a food-allergic child’s diet can enhance one’s life!

Once again I would like to say: do not try food challenges at home if your child has a potentially life-threatening allergy and always consult your allergist before introducing foods to the diet.

This was a huge crowd-pleaser in my family! They gave me all sorts of compliments, which is really what I’m after when I try a new meal!

I like to serve sauteed green beans and Coconut Rice with this dish.

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Gluten-Free Asian-Inspired Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Keyword gluten-free

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground chicken
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, freshly grated
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 2 tablespoons San-J GF Teriyaki Sauce
• 2 tablespoons San-J GF Orange Sauce
• 2 tablespoons San-J GF Tamari
• 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, not "seasoned"
• 1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and diced
• 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 head iceberg,Bibb, butter or romaine lettuce leaves, washed and dried

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks, until browned.
• Add the garlic, ginger, onion, carrot, teriyaki sauce, orange sauce, tamari, maple syrup and rice wine vinegar. Toss the mixture to coat all of the chicken. Cook until onions become translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the water chestnuts and the green onions and cook 1-2 minutes.
• Serve in a bowl, with another plate or bowl of lettuce leaves. Each person can scoop the chicken mixture onto the lettuce leaves and eat like a taco.

I found this study from France called Cross-reactivity of a new food ingredient, dun pea, with legumes, and risk of anaphylaxis in legume allergic children. In it, they studied 36 patients who were in three groups:

GROUP 1:

• • Allergy to legumes (one or more of the following: lentil, dun pea, green pea, soybean, broad bean, lupine, chickpea)
  • No allergy to peanut

GROUP 2:

• • Allergy to one or more legumes +
  • Allergy to peanut

GROUP 3:

• • No allergy to legumes
  • Allergy to peanut

They tested each person’s reaction to dun pea, which is the ingredient that I confirmed was in the pasta that my daughter ate. They used skin-prick testing and also IgE antibody testing. Here is what they concluded about each group they tested:

GROUP 1 RESULTS – (Allergy to Legumes, No Allergy to Peanut)

• • 6 out of 6 patients had a positive prick test reaction to dun pea
  • 5 out of 6 patients had positive IgE antibodies to dun pea

GROUP 2 RESULTS – (Allergy to Legumes and Peanut)

• • 9 out of 9 patients tested positive to dun pea on both skin prick and IgE

GROUP 3 RESULTS – (Peanut Allergy Only)

• • 1 out of 13 peanut-allergic patients who regularly consumed legumes had a reaction to dun pea (and it was a mild reaction)
  • 4 out of 7 patients peanut-allergic patients who avoided legumes (perhaps because they felt they had some sensitivity) had positive skin prick to dun pea, and 3 out of 8 patients had positive IgE.

Bottom Line: if you or your child have an allergy to any legumes other than peanut, it seems the chance of having an adverse reaction to pea protein is high. Therefore, it would be wise to avoid products that contain pea protein as an ingredient until you can get further testing from your doctor.

On this trip, I was on the lookout for great dairy-free alternatives. What I found was a trend of using oats as the base for cheeses, milks and ice creams. Long gone are the days of finding only rice milk dairy alternatives (blech!). Here are some of the oat-based products I have found that are out now or coming out in 2020.

CHEESE

Miyoko’s

The new vegan options from Miyoko’s are nut-free, not cashew-based as their first line of products was. Rather, they are made with oat milk, coconut oil, several different beans and some other ingredients. They actually taste amazing and if you are missing cheese, I would highly recommend these dairy-free alternatives! They will be available in blocks, shreds and thick slices. They are gluten-free and soy-free too.

Ingredients of Pepper Jack: Miyoko’s Cultured Vegan Milk (organic Oat Milk (filtered Water, Organic Oats), Navy Beans, Organic Garbanzo Beans, Cultures), Organic Coconut Oil, Faba Bean Protein, Filtered Water, Potato Starch, Organic Brined Jalapenos (organic Jalapenos, Organic Vinegar, Salt), Organic Tapioca Starch, Natural Flavors, Contains Less Than 2% Of Calcium Sulfate, Organic Cultured Dextrose, Sea Salt, Konjac, Organic Locust Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum, Organic Yeast Extract.

OATzarella

New company Rucksack Foods has introduced an oat milk cheese alternative that is free of the top 8 allergens and gluten, and contains very few ingredients compared to other dairy-free cheese alternatives. The only oil they use is organic extra virgin olive oil. I tried both the Original and Italian Herb flavors of the cheese wheels — I preferred the texture of the Original but I did enjoy the taste of the Herb also (it just seemed a little more grainy). Will also be available in shreds.

Ingredients of Original: Water, Organic Gluten Free Oats, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Tapioca Flour, Agar Agar, Sea Salt. The Italian Herb also includes dried herbs and garlic powder.

BUTTER

Miyoko’s also has an Oat Milk Butter, so if you miss putting a spread on your toast, here’s your chance!

MILK & CREAMER

Oatly

Made with certified gluten-free oats (in the U.S. — they also make products in other countries), Oatly’s oat milks come in full-fat, low-fat and even “foamable” barista version.

Ingredients of Full Fall Oat Milk: Oatmilk (water, oats), low erucic acid rapeseed oil. Contains 2% or less of: dipotassium phosphate, calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, dicalcium phosphate, DHA algal oil, sodium ascorbate (antioxidant), tocopherols (antioxidant), riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin D2, vitamin B12.

Califia Farms

I really enjoy the flavor of this oat milk from Califia Farms. My husband likes the Barista version in his coffee. Some reviewers claim that this one does not froth as well as Oatly’s.

Ingredients of Oat Barista Blend: Oatmilk (Water, Oats), Sunflower Oil, Minerals (Dipotassium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Tricalcium Phosphate), Sea Salt

Silk

Silk has four flavors of their Oat Yeah Oat Milk: The Plain One, The Vanilla One, The Chocolate One and the 0g Sugar One. Nowhere do I see on the packaging or the website that the oats or the products are gluten-free.

Ingredients of The Plain One: Oatmilk (Filtered Water, Oat Flour), Sunflower Oil, Vitamin and Mineral Blend (Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2, Riboflavin, Vitamin B12), Malt Extract, Dipotassium Phosphate, Sea Salt, Gellan Gum, Locust Bean Gum,Natural Flavor, Ascorbic Acid (to protect freshness).

So Delicious

With three flavors of oat-based creamers, So Delicious adds to their huge line of dairy-free products. Choose from Creamy Original, Creamy Vanilla and Snickerdoodle.

Ingredients of Vanilla Creamer: Oatmilk (Filtered Water, Whole Oat Flour), Cane Sugar, Sunflower Oil, Pea Protein, Potassium Citrate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Vanilla Extract, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor, Gellan Gum.

YOGURT

Now more yogurts to choose from! There are too many to taste — you will have to be the judge and let me know which ones you like.

So Delicious Oat Milk yogurt comes in some unique pie-influenced flavors, like Strawberry Rhubarb.

Ingredients of Strawberry Rhubarb: Oatmilk (Filtered Water, Whole Oat Flour), Cane Sugar, Rhubarb Puree, Strawberries, Faba Bean Protein, Corn Starch, Strawberry Puree, Less than 1% of: Live and Active Cultures, Vitamin D2, Vitamin B12, Fruit and Vegetable Juice (For Color), Natural Flavor, Pectin, Calcium Citrate, Citric Acid.

Nancy’s also has probiotic oat milk yogurt.

Ingredients of Passion Fruit Banana: Oatmilk (water, whole oat flour), faba bean protein, banana puree, organic cane sugar, passion fruit juice concentrate, tapioca flour, coconut oil, banana natural flavor, passion fruit natural flavor, fruit & vegetable juice (color), citric acid, agar, LIVE NON-DAIRY YOGURT CULTURES: S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus, LIVE NON-DAIRY PROBIOTIC CULTURES: B. bififum lactis BB-12®, L. acidophilus, L. rhamosus LGG®

And so does Silk. Though their oat milk does not say gluten-free, the yogurt does claim to be free of gluten.

Ingredients of Strawberry: Oatmilk (Filtered Water, Whole Oat Flour), Cane Sugar, Strawberries, Faba Bean Protein, Corn Starch, Strawberry Puree, Pectin, Calcium Citrate, Fruit and Vegetable Juice (For Color), Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Live and Active Cultures, Vitamin D2, Vitamin B12.

ICE CREAM (“Frozen Dessert”)

Oatly

Oat-milk-based ice cream from Oatly has a nice, creamy texture and subtle oat flavor. If you don’t like the taste of oats, go for one of the stronger flavors, like Chocolate, Strawberry, Coffee or Mint Chip.

Ingredients of Mint Chip Frozen Dessert: Oat base (water, oats), chocolate chip (chocolate liquor, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin, and organic vanilla extract), coconut oil, sugar, dextrose, glucose syrup, low erucic rapeseed oil. Contains 2% or less of: mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, locust bean gum, guar gum, sea salt, natural flavor.

So Delicious

So Delicious has done it again — dairy-free and gluten-free frozen desserts in many flavors to choose from. (Be aware that these new ones contain pea protein which can be allergenic to people with peanut allergy.)

Ingredients of Oat Milk S’mores: Oatmilk (Filtered Water, Whole Oat Flour), Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Tapioca Syrup, Cane Sugar, Cocoa, Pea Protein, Apple Juice Concentrate (For Color), Chocolate Liquor, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Locust Bean Gum, Sea Salt, Sunflower Lecithin, Xanthan Gum.

Van Leeuwen

This popular NY-based ice cream shop Van Leeuwen has just come out with a new vegan line of oat milk ice creams. Be aware that though it seems like they have taken care to use gluten-free ingredients, including their oat milk, their cookie dough used in some flavors is not gluten-free.

Ingredients of Caramel Cookie: oat milk (filtered water, gluten-free organic oats), coconut cream, organic cane sugar, organic virgin coconut oil, cocoa butter, gluten-free oats, buckwheat flour, brown sugar, rice flour, canola oil, vanilla extract (grain alcohol, vanilla bean), salt, organic carob bean gum, baking soda.

Chloe’s Oatmilk Pops

Chloe’s has branched out from fruit pops to include their oatmilk pop line. They come in three flavors: Mint Chip, Salted Caramel and Raspberry Chip and are certified gluten-free. Be aware that they contain pea protein which can be allergenic for some with peanut or legume allergy.

Ingredients of Salted Caramel Pops: Oatmilk (Water, Cane Sugar, Tapioca Syrup, Hydrolyzed Oat Flour, Coconut Oil, Pea Protein, Flaxseed), Natural Salted Caramel Flavor, Sea Salt, Contains Less Than 0.5% Of: Sunflower Lecithin, Locust Bean Gum.

CAUTION: Ingredients in products may change. Please always check current packaging for ingredients and allergens before consuming any product.

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think?

Here is my go-to list, especially for people new to the gluten-free diet. While there are many other products I have enjoyed, these are the foods I come back to regularly, the ones I feed my family, the ones I offer to my guests, the ones I bring to a potluck. This is just a start. I will continue to update this list over time, and feel free to leave your opinions/favorites/questions in the comments – I would love to hear what you like and I’m sure others would appreciate the information also.

Pasta

Jovial – I love the Capellini. The trick is to not overcook and to rinse the pasta right after draining it.

Tinkyada – Lots of great shapes and good texture. Do not overcook. Rinse pasta.

Packaged Cookies

Pamela’s SimpleBites – Chocolate Chip and Ginger Snapz are my favorite flavors of these mini cookies. Great for lunchbox treats too.

Pamela’s Graham Crackers

Allergen-Free Cookies:

Cybele’s Free to Eat Cookies – a softer texture

Enjoy Life Crunchy Cookies

HomeFree Mini Cookies – a crunchy texture

Baking Mixes

Pamela’s – you can’t go wrong with these baking mixes for everything

All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour

Namaste Foods Perfect Flour Blend

Pamela’s All-Purpose Flour

Packaged Bread

Loaves: Canyon Bakehouse – Mountain White and 7 Grain, and the Heritage Style Honey White and Whole Grain

Hamburger Buns: Canyon Bakehouse

Bagels: Canyon Bakehouse Plain Bagels and Everything Bagels

Crackers

Milton’s – not a rice cracker, more like a wheat cracker

Crunchmaster Multi-Seed Crackers

Whole Foods 365 Sesame Rice Crackers

Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers

Jilz Crackerz Almond Flour Crackers

Homemade Bread:

Pamela’s Bread Mix

Homemade Pizza:

Pamela’s Pizza Crust Mix

Packaged Pizza:

Amy’s Rice Crust Pizza – I add extra cheese and my own toppings

Against the Grain Three Cheese Pizza and Pesto Pizza – rich tasting, with eggs and cheese in the crust

Asian Food:

Feel Good Foods – I like the Chicken Potstickers and Chicken Egg Rolls

Bars (FYI – I don’t eat bars with soy flour or soy protein in them):

Kind Bars – I prefer the not-so-sweet ones

Pamela’s Whenever Bars

Ice Cream Cones

Edward & Sons Let’s Do Gluten Free Ice Cream Cones

Ice Cream with GF inclusions

So Delicious Cookie Dough

Strauss Cookies & Cream

Coconut Bliss Ginger Cookie Caramel