Hypothyroidism, bitters, adrenal fatigue & vit C
Hi James
Last few days I have done nothing but browsing through your CZ, MMB and YouTube-posts. I am truly amazed by your knowledgeability and willingness to help people. I was hoping you could share your thoughts on the following questions, for which I have not been able to find answers in prior posts;
Hypothyroidism
i) I haven't been able to find a post in which you address how to deal with hypothyroidism. The main reason probably is that hypothyroidism can have a wide variety of causes. You do recommend 'starting with treating the adrenals' and not taking thyroid medication (i.e. synthetic or animal thyroid hormones). Yet, apart from nettle leaf (tea?) I haven't seen you make any specific dietary recommendations.
a) Are there -in addition to your Thyroid Tonic- any specific foods(/herbs/supplements) you can recommend?
b) Would you -as frequently advised by others- recommend to steer away from gluten/wheat when dealing with hypothyroidism?
c) What about goitrogenic foods that have not been heated/fermented thoroughly (e.g. almonds, almond butter or a raw spinach salad)? Should these foods be strictly avoided or Is the danger of goitrogonic foods exaggerated?
d) Is it possible to naturally/herbally cure hypothyroidism that orginates from a hypothalamic/pituitary disorder?
Grape bitters
ii) You recommend grape bitters for all kinds of reasons. The regimen you suggest is 1/2 a dropper full, 3 times a day with meals.
a) In a 3-year old post (http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1422583#i) you state: "These herbs should not be taken for more than two weeks since they can kill the flora, damage the intestinal lining, and deplete potassium leading to a rise in blood pressure." You were referring to several herbs that are in most grape bitters. How big of an issue is this? Do you still recommend 1/2 a dropper full of grape bitters, 3 times a day with meals, even for people who are working on building their intestinal flora?
b) How long does it take for the liver to be completed 'cleansed' once having started your bitters regimen? Is it recommendable to keep using the bitters once this point has been reached?
c) I have been taking grape bitters (1/2 dropper, 3x daily with meals; I started 'slowly') for a few weeks now, as well as a 'licorice/yucca/chickweed'-powdermix (1/2 tsp, 3x daily 30 minutes before meals; put on tongue, swished away with water), TMG (3x a day 1mg with meals), zinc (1x 50mg) and bee pollen (2 or 3 tbsp a day). I have been feeling a bit ill, but attribute that to the (liver) detox/herxheimer reaction (albeit drinking plenty of water ~away from meals). However, last few days I have had an uncomfortably warm/burning feeling in my stomach after meals (no burping though). Might this be a sign I pushed my body to the point where it is producing too much stomach acid?? (even though you mentioned before that such a condition is very rare). If so, what should I do? Lower or quit the TMG? Of course I'd like to keep the liver-cleansing benefits of the grape bitters.. Maybe the licorice/yucca/chickweed-mix also acts as a digestive bitter and hence taking additional grape bitters is simply too much?
Adrenal fatigue
iii) I already purchased some Royal Jelly supplement based on someone else's advice. It is not completely clear to me what your opinion on Royal Jelly is. It apparently does contain steroids, so in that sense I would expect you to suggest to completely avoid it. On the other hand, I am pretty sure I have seen some post of yours stating Royal Jelly is not bad, but that bee pollen are just better. Overall; Would you recommend taking the Royal Jelly supplement I already purchased (as it may possible help a little, and not harm), or would you recommend to just give or throw it away?
Vitamin C
iv) I have noticed that my adrenals have a hard time dealing with large amounts of salicylates/phenols; substances that are found in significant quantities in virtually all natural vitamin C sources. (That is to say, it seems these 'salicylates'/'phenols' are the harmful substance, it might just as well be 'polysaccharides'; as you suggest here: http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1459572#i) Anyway, too much of these salicylates/phenols/polysaccharides seem to make me break out eczema. I am therefore aiming to gradually increase my natural vitamin C intake as my adrenals get stronger again, but for now I want to primarily foresee in my Vitamin C needs with some kind of (low salicylate/phenol/polysaccharides) supplement.
a) What do you think about this supplement: http://www.iherb.com/Solgar-Hy-Bio-Citrus-Bioflavonoids-Pure-Vitamin-C-Rutin-... Do you consider this an instable synthetic vitamin C supplement? (Note it does contain bioflavonoids. Does that mean it is stable and recommendable?)
b) Would this amla-berry-based supplement be a better choice?; http://www.iherb.com/Organic-by-Nature-Pure-Planet-Amla-C-Plus-500-mg-100-Tab... (If yes, what dosage would you recommend for this 500mg amla-C-sup. FYI: the packaging recommends 2 to 10 tablets daily.)
Finally, if you still got time, I would love to hear your opinion on so-called natural antibiotics (e.g. oil of oregano, grapefruit seed extract, garlic, etc). These things are frequently recommended on the CureZone forums. Do you feel these natural antibiotics are just as 'dangerous' as synthetic antibiotics? Do natural antibiotics only kill the 'bad biotics', or do they harm the good intestinal flora just as much as synthetic antibiotics? In other words; would you recommend to avoid natural antibiotics as much as possible or can they be considered 'safe' and used liberally (e.g. when having a flu)?
Your advice and thoughts are enormously appreciated!