My Exact Diet & Supplements for Vitamin A Detox shares with you what I did first and what I do now for a low vitamin A diet. I share my own progress and what other members of my family experienced. And, most importantly, I tell you exactly what I eat each day, which many of you have said would be helpful.

This diet likely takes about 3 years to allow the body to detox vitamin A, and the process has been streamlined a lot since I began.

As always, please see Dr. Smith’s forum for deeper research and insights, or to have a doctor’s help with mineral analysis and blood testing. Or, tap into Grant Genereux’s blog to read his latest insights and observations. Both forums offer community support where you can ask questions and read dialogue on topics.

Diet & Supplements for Vitamin A Detox: The first thing I did

When I started the vitamin A detox diet, I had to first remove all the supplements I was taking that contained Vitamin A. I also looked for and removed my supplements that contained precursors to Vitamin A or compounds in the same family, such as carotenoids and retinyl esters — from whole food vitamins and organ meats.

With taking out unsuitable supplements, I needed to make sure my body still had what it needed, certain B vitamins, for example, and minerals.

This article outlines which supplements I now take to support my body and the detoxification of Vitamin A.

Supplements I stopped taking

Essential oils: For the first six weeks of the diet, I was working to overcome a histamine intolerance. I had done a lot of research to decide my strategy. In addition to doing the low A diet, I took tea tree oil internally with a carrier oil. (This is not generally allowed on the diet. It was something I decided to do on my own.)

When that process was over, and indeed I had overcome MCAS and my histamine intolerance, I stopped using all essential oils, due to their carotenoid content, except the 3 herbs allowed on the diet that have corresponding EOs: rosemary, cloves and mint. Now, I no longer use any essential oils.

I also stopped taking liver pills, multi-organ pills, vitamin D, glutathione, a B complex, a mineral complex (more recently), iodine, a variety of supplements I used for my histamine intolerance, alpha lipoic acid, a variety of amino acids, probiotics — and B12 shots about 2 years into the diet, when I no longer needed them.

My supplements now for vitamin A detox

As each body is unique, the supplements I list here are definitely not all ones you should consider for yourself. These are the supplements that I personally have found helpful for my body:

• Vitamins B1 and B3 — I buy the NOW brand of both of these, because they’re clean and inexpensive. But recently, I started taking the TTFD form of B1 (here) to see how it might benefit my digestion. I do think it’s worth considering for anyone taking B1. (Some on the diet also take B2, and others may include more based on testing.)
• Zinc — I have recently increased my dosage on this, with seemingly great benefit. It’s helping me to sleep better and have better digestion. (I do not take more all at once, but the same dosage more often.)
• Selenium
• Magnesium
• Activated Charcoal
• Lactoferrin from Dr. Smith for liver health: helps repair bile ducts and liver injury, and encourages epithelial cell growth. Start at a very low dose, as it can flare up old symptoms. (When you buy it, look for the more detailed information on how to take it.)
• SunFiber — For best regularity.
• TRS — This nano-particle zeolite spray helped me detox so much excess estrogen that I was finally able to get off of Calcium d-Glucarate (needed for excess estrogen issues). TRS has also been amazing for detoxing my brain. I won’t go into all of the details here because there isn’t room, but I’ll write more on it at some point. TRS detoxes heavy metals, plastics and all kinds of toxins, super gently but noticeably! (You have to buy it through a distributor, so I became one. You can get it here. You’ll need to click the Shop Now button. I buy the three-pack to save money, and the company recommends doing the spray for 6 months minimum to see various effects from the beginning and then as you continue. Start with 1 spray daily, and work up to 2 in the morning and 3 at night.)
• Vitamin D from my sun lamp (I have the Fiji model from this site.)
• K2
• To support digestion: Serrapeptase (this is taken on an empty stomach or 2 hours after a meal and 1 hour before eating) and/or digestive bitters. Serrapeptase really helps to digest beans, if that’s a struggle for you. But, it must be taken as directed above.
• Unique to me for hormone balancing pre-menopause — DIM and Black Cohosh. I got off of Calcium d-Glucarate as soon as I could due to Dr. Smith’s recommendation to not take any calcium-based supplements.

Most people starting out on the diet are recommended to also consider taking molybdenum. It seems to mess with my mental health, so I stay away from it, at least for now and until I do testing. Best choice is to do testing with Dr. Smith to see what your body needs.

Gentian

Perhaps the only supplement our family used that is unique for this diet was our digestive aid, which is homemade Gentian Bitters. This tincture is a deep yellow color, which should make any of us hesitate to take it. And yet, it seems to have helped me more than most other supplements over the years.

Not only does gentian root tincture aid digestion, one study shows its ability to repair the body on a cellular level. I can only attest to my own personal experience with this bitter herb.

Dr. Smith introduced lactoferrin this last year, and I was able to increase my dosage pretty quickly to a full capsule I think because of the liver benefits of taking gentian all these years.

I don’t need Gentian very often anymore, partially because I now take Serrapeptase. But, of course, my long term goal is to not need any digestive aid.

I get a rash within one day when I eat any foods with vitamin A or precursors of it, and gentian has never caused this reaction, so it may be fine.

Two stages of our diet

Below, as I outline what we eat on this diet, you’ll see we’ve done two stages of the diet:

1. A low vitamin A and low aldehyde diet
2. We added in medium oxalate and low salicylate, to see what added benefits it would have. This is the diet we’re doing right now.

Once I considered oxalates that still existed in our low A diet, I felt it would be good to reduce them to watch for the benefits. I believe more humans should seriously consider the toll oxalates are taking on their health, whatever their diet.

How my family reacted to a low vitamin A diet

I have outlined my symptoms, but also my family members’, because each of us has had such striking reactions to detoxing Vitamin A. About six weeks into the diet so much had happened that I found this article was the best way to keep track.

My own reactions and improvements

• Within the first two weeks of going low vitamin A, I saw dramatic improvements: better mental health and the chronic skin rash on my face went away.
• Had nausea daily for at least a week and then off and on in the weeks that followed.
• I started the diet with chronic intermittent blurred vision in my left eye (like a cloud that came and went). This continued to come and go until week 6; then it was gone until I added more oxalates into my diet, without meaning to.
• Shortly after week 2, cystic acne and bladder urgency (I have a history of IC) developed.
• At about 6 weeks, I got a serious kidney infection. I was able to avoid antibiotics my using Allimed and tea tree oil (here’s how). This was a painful experience.
  • Interestingly, my kidney infection was a staph infection, not e-coli, which it usually is. The count was >100K. So a major staph infection in my kidneys, bladder and urethra. I find this interesting because staph infections are usually on the skin. Another skin link to Vitamin A detoxification. (Oxalates may also play a role in this infection, as I believe I initially went pretty low oxalate all at once on the diet, without realizing it, which can cause kidney problems).
  • Other symptoms included painful urination and blood in the urine.
  • Allimed is garlic-based, so not allowed on the diet, and it was only preventing the infection from getting worse, not resolving it.
  • My doctor had me take 2 rounds of different antibiotics, which I hadn’t done in about 30 years. I accepted her suggestion because the infection was dangerous. Neither antibiotic helped as much as the Allimed.
  • So then I put myself on high dose colloidal silver (here’s how). That worked! By three weeks in, the issue was completely resolved. Colloidal silver is our go-to remedy for many applicable conditions.

Kid 1

• Skin breaking out within the first week, followed by depression week 2. Both of these normalized, but this child stopped being on the diet because she lives abroad in a situation where she can’t control her diet, for now.

Kid 2

• History of yellow skin on head and flaky behind the ears: Both got worse week 2. Then all got better! (Later, probably my fault in reintroducing certain foods (?), his flaky behind one ear got worse again.)
• Nausea and vomiting at breakfast time during the first week of the diet. (History of appendicitis and gall bladder/liver issues.) Took gentian for liver, gall bladder and digestion support and ginger tincture.

Kid 3

• History of hyperactivity and pessimism: Both of these symptoms worsened intermittently. Then, as I’ll talk more about below, we saw major improvements in both of these areas!

Husband

• Boils, one on his bum and one as a stye on his eye that lasted at least 3 weeks. Our ND said this was likely vitamin A detoxing. Amazing. I used homeopathics to help them rupture and resolve as quickly as possible. The one on the bum responded really well to homeopathics. The one on the eye just needed longer and took a full 3 weeks to run its course.

Boils

Actually, most of us got boils!

• 4 out of the 5 of us got some kind of a boil! Very strange and surprising to us. I also got one on my inner eye lid like my husband. One of our kids got one on his bum, and one on a leg. Our N.D. told us this was vitamin A pushing itself out. I haven’t met anyone else on the diet who’s had this happen, so it’s hard to say. Amazing that we all got this symptom.
• Have any of you had this symptom on the diet?? Please comment below, if so.

Our current diet after over 2-1/2 to 3 years on the diet

Our setback — aldehydes

My one BIG mistake on this diet was reintroducing aldehydes, without meaning to. I totally forgot about them in the midst of having a super busy life.

Basically, we were feeling so well that I added in kombucha, then a little more kombucha, then chocolate chips on our overnight oats. We were also eating oat yogurt and other fermented foods and sourdough bread. We seemed fine, but then gradually rashes started developing. This oversight was a big mistake that slowed our progress and increased mild symptoms, mostly skin related.

I started having a red scaly rash around my eyes. My youngest son got a red blistery rash around his nose. And our oldest son had a rash behind his ears.

I went back to the basics of the diet to see what I was doing wrong and realized my mistake.

So the big change we made after 2 years on the diet was to “go back to the beginning”, and make our diet simpler again.

I removed all fermented foods, chocolate and most lectins from our diet. And, BINGO, they were the problem.

Our properly fixed diet

After re-removing aldehydes, this was a snapshot of our daily diet (and this would be a fine example to follow):

• Breakfast: Parsnip Waffles and a big serving of meat, usually grass-finished burgers (oftentimes 1/2 pound burgers for my sons and husband), but sometimes other meats like organic turkey thigh, wild red meat (my husband hunts) or occasionally clean chicken and apple sausages or Applegate Farms’ turkey breakfast sausages. We also ate oatmeal for breakfast, sometimes Buckwheat Porridge, and ate a lot of my other waffle recipes as well: Rice and Beans Waffles and Oatmeal and Beans Waffles.
• Lunch: Usually leftovers from dinners or breakfasts. Sometimes I bought Niman Ranch deli meats, like Corned Beef, and it didn’t seem to be a problem. We also ate a lot of peeled cucumbers, peeled apples and berries with lunch and for snacks.
• Dinner: All different cuts of beef: stew meat, short ribs, steaks, ground beef, prepared in various ways. Chicken thighs and whole chickens. Once a week, white fish that’s low in fat and very cleanly sourced: Petrale sole or cod, and occasionally wild sea scallops. Veggies: We ate a lot of parsnips, asparagus, cucumbers and green beans. Some romaine lettuce and peeled zucchini. White rice, white rice noodles, Jovial brand rice pastas, sprouted brown rice, baked potatoes, boiled and fried cassava root.

An outline and list of our diet for vitamin A detox

These are the options (in list form) from which we eat in an average day:

BREAKFAST

We always eat a big breakfast. We eat a big portion of meat first and follow it with a delicious carb dish:

• big thick juicy grass-finished ground beef patties or organic turkey thigh patties
• soaked oatmeal or hulled barley porridge — toppings: berries, maple sugar, oat milk, small amount of heavy cream or butter for the boys; I now eat my oatmeal and barley savory, with no sweetener. I use a little cream, a little oat milk and good salt. It’s actually wonderful, and I enjoy it more than when I used to use sweetener on it. I find it more satisfying! A great lesson.
• Bean and Oat Waffles or Rice and Beans Waffles — toppings: berries, maple syrup, butter for the boys. I put on only scant butter and sea salt. Some days I use 1 to 2 teaspoons of maple syrup or a little sprouted pumpkin seed butter. To go without syrup, I cut my waffle into sections and eat it like toast.

LUNCH

We keep lunches really simple, so I only cook 2 meals a day, and the kids learn to fend for themselves some of the time.

• leftovers
• more fresh meat patties
• lettuce, cucumbers, peeled apples
• baked goods, leftover rice or hulled barley

Lately, I cook a big pot of hulled barley each morning. The boys can have a waffle or barley for breakfast and the other at lunch time. I leave the waffle batter out for them. They need lots of carbs.

DINNER

I usually make a nice dinner, but sometimes it’s also pretty simple, depending on how much time and energy I have. For example, my family loves green salads, but sometimes I just peel and slice cucumbers to provide a fresh veggie. I never let making meals increase my stress levels.

That priority comes first: Low stress cooking and eating is an important key to wellness.

— MEAT OPTIONS

• beef or wild red meat/game — I make short ribs, stew, soup, pasta with ground meat, stir fries, tamales (recipe coming) and more
• chicken thighs or whole roasted chicken
• ground turkey thigh made into meatballs or hash (like this one but without the onions and sage; you could sub in mushrooms or another VAD diet veggie, plus rosemary)
• white fish, sauteed or baked

— CARB OPTIONS

• beans — types of beans according to the Eat Right for Your Blood Type insights to reduce gas (This and many other tips come from Dr. Smith. If you support his work by becoming a member, he also has more information on which probiotics to use for your unique body that might help to reduce gas, bloating and digest beans better.)
• white rice, rice noodles and white rice flour (ideally in lesser ratio to beans to protect B1 stores)
• Millet and Brown Rice Ramen by Lotus Foods — These are good if you can tolerate millet. I make a rich meat stock and serve the noodles in the stock with various meats on top, mung bean sprouts and sometimes cooked veggies in the stock.
• sprouted brown rice, Jovial rice pastas
• oats
• hulled barley — I cook it in the Instant Pot on the Manual setting for 23 minutes. Ratio is 1:3, grain to water. We all love it and digest it well.
• masa and hominy — This is our latest discovery, and we just love it. Here’s a recipe for Chickpea Polenta with Masa that tells more about what masa is and why it’s so much gentler than corn.
• Oat Bread
• Rice Bread

— VEGGIE OPTIONS

You may or may not tolerate all of these:

• parsnips (lots of fiber)
• peeled potatoes
• peeled zucchini
• artichokes, if not fresh, then frozen or canned, well rinsed of citric acid
• mushrooms (not shiitake)
• green lettuces (We eat romaine, butter and iceberg, all organic of course.)
• peeled cucumbers
• green beans
• asparagus
• water chestnuts
• celery
• mung bean sprouts

— SNACKS AND CONDIMENTS

• berries
• peeled apples
• grapes
• raw cream — We limit this to 2 tablespoons daily per person, or close to this. Sometimes I cheat, but I do think it makes a difference. Too much fat complicates the detox of vitamin A.
• Bean Milk
• oat milk (Malk brand)
• occasional nut milk, but not often due to PUFAs
• odds and ends baking/cooking ingredients: psyllium husk powder, salt, baking soda, coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup, refined coconut oil, Kerrygold butter, refined avocado oil, apple cider vinegar, tapioca flour, occasional egg whites, balsamic or rice vinegar, very occasional Dijon mustard, coconut aminos, black pepper, ginger root and ginger powder, dried rosemary, dried dill, dried mint, certain nut and seeds, including chestnuts

— DESSERTS AND TREATS

Too much sweetener or fat isn’t recommended, but I do love to bake and feed my boys treats, snacks and plenty of carbs.

This muffin recipe is a great one for occasional treats. This is a great cake recipe.

HERE are all the vitamin A detox diet recipes I’ve created and published so far.

The emotional side of being on this restricted diet

My husband and the boys will hit 3 years on the diet in September. I hit 3 years in April.

My goal with this section is to be really honest. While there are some admirable souls who can eat REALLY SIMPLY on this diet and be content, I know a lot of you want to know what it’s like to be on this diet with kids who are little picky … or with your own personal limitations.

Compromises

For the first 2+ years on the diet, the compromises I made were so my boys would be happy but still make progress. They definitely have pushed back and “fought” me at multiple junctures, wanting more foods or wanting to be done with restricted diets in general.

As a mom, I don’t actually like restricting their diet. But I also see that while I have them in our home (my 18 year old will be off to college soon), this is my one/last chance to get them as healthy as possible. So, I give them pep talks as often as is needed and remind them of the progress we have made, and the progress we have yet to make — symptoms I’d like for them to no longer have.

No diet can be completely free of vitamin A or the compounds that limit its detoxification. So our goal is to minimize these foods as much as possible while still enjoying life and food.

If you are that rare person that can do a super restricted diet without any compromises, that’s better.

Which foods

Our compromises the first 2 years on the diet were simply: Applegate Farms hot dogs, Niman Ranch deli meat (certain ones), lots of berries, dates and raisins, generous amounts of maple sugar on their oatmeal, tapioca or rice puddings, and a decent amount of butter or cream on occasions — like homemade ice cream occasionally.

None of these compromises seemed to make any difference at all to their bodies. I personally am more sensitive. I did and do include very little sweetener in my diet, if any. I eat no fruit and limit carbs like tapioca. And I limit my butter and cream.

As I’ll discuss now, we no longer eat hot dogs or any deli meat, but they also didn’t seem to bother us. And we pulled out other foods as well if they were high in oxalates or salicylates.

Low oxalate and low salicylate

Recently, we also decided to go medium-low oxalate and low salicylate to see how the combined diet would help some of our remaining symptoms. And we’ve seen results within the first weeks: skin, mood, lungs and joints.

• Re my lungs, I’ve had a pre-existing condition there since I was 18. Within the first few days on this diet, I saw healing in my lungs…!
• Joints: Some improvement in my big toe, that’s swollen and a little painful (low key gout). Big improvement in my wrist and right hand/arm where the radiation from my old lap top caused some problems.
• Son 2: Still no improvement in the stubborn rash behind his ear. This rash seems to be affected by lectins, but it’s only gone away once, and that was when we first went on the strictest low A diet, and I can’t now seem to replicate that healing for him. Nor does he like my experiments, or I’d do more! 😉 This son’s skin has improved in other ways, though, on low ox and low sal — a better complexion with less acne. (I think he’s going to let me go back one more time to our initial low A diet, very low lectin, to see if it helps his ear.)
• Son 3: Long term (many months) face rash better in a few days and gone within a week! Less moody, kinder, better balanced energy (less ADHD type behavior).

In short, we have seen major benefits from this diet. We plan to stay medium-low oxalate for longer than low salicylate because oxalates take longer to detox.

How I do this diet emotionally (pep talk)

Yes, it’s no fun to eliminate foods high in oxalates, but we each must weigh our health goals and remaining symptoms to see if it’s worth it. For me, it’s worth the sacrifices. I love being “weller and weller”!

Contentment

And, my daughter told me this week that she thinks I have the gift of contentment. I am very grateful for her sweet observation. And think she must be right.

I am blessed to be able to be very grateful for whatever I’m eating. A big juicy burger from local pasture-raised beef cooked over medium high heat with good salt is always delicious for me, even if I eat 2 a day, 7 days a week.

I have observed MANY of my clients switch to this mindset as well. We simply focus on enjoying what we can have, and don’t live in a place of focusing on what we can no longer have.

Brief grieving for foods we miss, yes, but we don’t stay there.

There is too much to be grateful for … and all good quality foods can be savored and loved.

Food addictions

Frankly, what’s really happening is that most of us are addicted to foods and hedonism.

I certainly was, about 20 years ago, and up until 15 years ago. It took me 3 years to overcome my addiction to sugar; even when I wasn’t eating it, I craved it. But eventually that day came! And I no longer love sweets.

If you care enough about getting well, you will be willing to make this transition, too.

Determination to pursue what’s true

Take one day at a time, look for community support, find alternatives to old favorites, have a plan when you’re in social settings that set you up to succeed, and be determined to get well.

Pursue truth: Is this diet what your body needs? Then do it. Is vitamin A a toxin? Then eliminate it.

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How I Reversed My Hashimoto’s is my story of the steps I took to regain my energy, put my autoimmune disease into remission and get my lab results back into the normal range.

I do not assume that everyone will be able to remove thyroid hormone medication on a permanent basis. But ultimately, I believe the causes of Hashimoto’s and hypothyroid (as well as most thyroid conditions) can be addressed and affected, often times significantly.

We have options beyond medication, and they include lifestyle and dietary choices.

Even with medication, thyroid conditions may worsen if the causes are not addressed. And oftentimes, new autoimmune diseases will develop. That’s why it’s important we look at the cause of our conditions and try to change what we can.

What are Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism

They’re different but related.

Let’s just quickly set the stage:

1. In the brain, under normal circumstances, the hypothalamus gland produces a hormone (TRH) that tells the pituitary gland to make Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH).
2. TSH tells the thyroid to produce hormones: about 80% T4 and 20% T3. T3 is actually the more powerful and active form of thyroid hormone in the body. It is primarily produced in the liver where it is converted from T4. (We’ll talk more about this later in terms of liver detox.) These hormones affect many body systems.
3. With hypothyroidism, the thyroid is unable to produce enough hormones, so the hypothalamus and pituitary glands, sensing low levels of these hormones produce more TRH and TSH, to signal the thyroid. High TRH and TSH but low T3 or T4 indicate hypothyroid.

As relates to point #2 above, some doctors miss the hypothyroid diagnosis because they only test for TSH and T4. But many people do not convert T4 to T3 well, and that is a common and problematic form of hypothyroid that requires a different form of intervention. (source)

Doctors also need to test Free T3, Total T3 and Reverse T3.

Hashimoto’s

A diagnosis of Hashimoto’s means another level of dysfunction: and that’s antibodies.

Antibodies are usually produced by the body to fight off invaders, viruses or bacteria, for example.

In the case of autoimmune diseases, the theory is that antibodies attack one’s own systems and organs. With Hashimoto’s, antibodies attack the thyroid and decrease thyroid function as a result.

Therefore, sometimes Hashimoto’s causes hypothyroid.

Because Hashi’s is considered an autoimmune disease, when we try to put it into remission, it’s important to have a 3-pronged approach:

1. As with any autoimmune disease, take extreme measures to reduce stress and inflammation.
2. Remove factors that reduce thyroid function.
3. Add elements that support thyroid function.

Let’s look together at how I reversed my Hashimoto’s in this way.

My Hashimoto’s story

Similar to many who develop autoimmune diseases, I was on heavy antibiotics as a child, I wasn’t breastfed, and my family already had a history of digestive issues. As a teenager, I got Epstein-Barr Virus.

Before having children, I had one autoimmune disease. After having my first child, a hormonal imbalance settled in, as did chronic stress and insomnia. After my second child, my digestion became impaired, and nutrient deficiencies started affecting me.

And after my third child, I became very sensitive to chemicals and environmental toxins.

Having children is one of the greatest blessings in my life (and well worth it), but has been very hard on my body.

Fatigue, lack of physical strength and energy, feeling cold, heavy irregular periods, and brain fog were my primary hypothyroid symptoms. I also felt moody, occasional depression and had dry hair and skin.

When my doctor told me I had Hashimoto’s, I started crying. That makes me laugh a little now, but I remember feeling so discouraged and overwhelmed at the time. And I was very sorry to have one more autoimmune disease.

I started Nature Throid, which worked well for me. I took 1 grain. This prescription doesn’t work for everyone. Read more here about the different thyroid medications commonly prescribed and the various thyroid disorders.

As with all of my autoimmune diseases (all 5 are in remission), I wanted to get to the root cause, and I wanted to feel better, if possible, without medication. I wanted to restore the natural function of my thyroid, the conversion in my liver of T4 to T3 and protect my thyroid from attack.

My timeline:

• Started Nature Throid in 2014.
• Worked hard on low stress and recovery, especially after the publication of my first cookbook, and in February of 2019, my doctor reduced my prescription to 30 mg (about half a grain) based on lab work.
• April of 2019 started the low vitamin A diet (just in time to include VAD recipes in my second cookbook, which I wrote devoted to a low-stress process).
• July of 2019, I went off of all thyroid medication, and never went back on, based on lab work and how I was feeling.

Here’s how I did it.

1. Low stress … this is a must!

So much stress had crept into my life, not just from having babies, but from owning two separate businesses with my husband over the years. This meant financial challenges and working really long hours, not to mention many problems that arose with staff, machines breaking etc.

Importantly, stress is not so much external events, but how our bodies interpret what’s going on around us. If we interpret an event as stressful, it’s stress — even if it’s not stressful to someone else!

Fight or flight

While taking adrenal supplements helped me feel better short term, I needed to exist in a “rest and digest” mode, instead of the “fight or flight” mode that so many of us adopt.

How many millions of Americans use beer, wine, chocolate, coffee or other “drugs” to finally relax or feel better each day? Tooo many! We need to exist in a place of rest without drugs.

MAKE CHANGES

When I realized this, I changed the way I worked significantly — how many hours I worked, how much time I spent at home (on purpose), how many errands I ran — everything.

I also ended a couple of relationships that weren’t healthy — and allowed myself to heal from the stress those toxic friendships had caused. Forgiveness played a role here, too.

We truly do not take stress seriously enough. I believe that if you want to put Hashimoto’s into remission, you must reduce stress dramatically all day everyday. Stressful “fight or flight” moments should be very rare.

Yes, this can be hard to navigate. So prayerfully proceed …

Otherwise, chronic stress causes an overactive hypothalamus gland, too much cortisol output and a weakened endocrine system — thus a slowed down thyroid, weight gain, poor sleep and more. (source)

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY AND NAPS

Many of us DO NOT listen to our bodies.

So, part of reducing stress is beginning to listen to our bodies better.

This means creating a lifestyle that allows naps, as needed, instead of perking up the body with caffeine.

I still take naps, usually about one every other day, oftentimes only for 10 to 20 minutes. But, they make a BIG difference. Naps reduce stress and fatigue, whenever it sets in — late morning, afternoon or evening.

I can now really FEEL stress when it begins to come on — so I can respond intentionally with what my body needs to reduce it: a walk, a bath, a nap, special breathing, a hug, prayer, stop working, laughter etc.

2. Leaky gut protocol

Intestinal permeability, or leaky gut, is now a common diagnosis. Due to various causes, the tight junctions of the gut are compromised, allowing proteins and other large molecules to leak into the bloodstream. These, in turn, are attacked by the immune system, as they’re seen as invaders (not where they’re supposed to be).

This immune system response is often a precursor to autoimmunity, a heightened and over-active immune response.

Overall, healing one’s leaky gut is necessary.

I do not think people need to go on a strictly defined wellness diet to do this. But specific diets can be helpful in defining parameters.

In recent years, traditional approaches include these diets: Ancestral, Gluten-free, Low-FODMAP, AIP, GAPS, Keto and Paleo.

The goal is to reduce inflammation and allow healing to happen.

Personally, I did all of these diets at different times, and I also eliminated my food intolerance, which was very important to my process. (You can read more about that here.)

Diet

Choosing a diet to support thyroid health means cutting out inflammatory foods:

• vegetable oils
• sugar and extra sweetener
• all processed foods
• hard to digest grains — This will be different for different people. Some do well eliminating grains completely for a time. Consider hard to digest grain compounds that may prevent the gut from healing: oxalates, lectins and gluten.
• nightshades — Foods in this family are notorious for causing inflammation.

Some people also benefit from eliminating one or more of these foods: nuts, seeds, eggs, dairy, citrus, chocolate, coffee, mined salt, all fruit and legumes.

Choose your diet by working with a doctor you trust. At this point in my journey, I suggest what I consider the best route, which is a low vitamin A and medium oxalate diet. You can reach out to Dr. Smith for lab work and to have a doctor on board with your process. Or, I take a limited number of clients for dietary consulting.

Adrenal precautions, carbs and the HPA axis

I think one contributing factor to developing Hashimoto’s for me was a diet too low in complex carbohydrates. The first thing I did when going off of the GAPS diet was to introduce cassava flour … and I felt so much better. (source)

To support the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal axis (a trio of glands that help to regulate the thyroid), choose a diet that supports stable blood sugar levels and includes the right amount of carbs for your body.

Limit or avoid simple carbs, though, again, to keep stable blood sugar levels.

3. Supplements that support digestion and thyroid

Before going on a low vitamin A diet, I eliminated many of the above foods and took a few important supplements:

1. Gentian Root digestive bitters tincture — Low thyroid often means low stomach acid … and decreased absorption of nutrients. This unique 2-ingredient digestive bitters works better than most digestive aids. It stimulates the production of bile, helping to cleanse the liver and GI tract of toxins, improves the pH of the stomach for digestion and helps to shut necessary valves for proper GI function. (Find it here, or make your own here.)
2. Selenium — Required for proper thyroid function, “The literature suggests that selenium supplementation of patients with autoimmune thyroiditis is associated with a reduction in antithyroperoxidase antibody levels, improved thyroid ultrasound features, and improved quality of life.” (source) I consider selenium a key mineral to supplement and still take it.
3. Magnesium — Mg helps to combat and prevent constipation, improves thyroid hormone production and improves circulation. (Find it here.)
4. Potassium — Hypothyroidism causes the body to lose potassium. When thyroid function is restored, potassium levels return. (Having both the serum and RBC lab tests done with your doctor may help you know your levels.) Not necessary for all Hashimoto’s patients. (Find it here.) (source)
5. Zinc — Aids in the conversion of T4 to T3, and its absence has been linked with poor T3 conversion. Zinc is anti-inflammatory, reduces antibodies and boosts the immune system. It may also indirectly decrease reverse T3. A hair mineral analysis may help you to establish dosage. (source) (I use this one.)
6. B vitamins — Work with a doctor to find which B vitamins you need. Personally, I take B1, B3, and I formerly gave myself B12 injections, but I no longer need them.
7. Vitamin K2 — It may or may not be necessary, but K2 was and is something I take to balance vitamin D, Magnesium and Calcium levels.
8. In terms of probiotics, I took Saccharomyces Boulardii. It has been linked to these benefits:
   • improves thyroid function
   • directs T cells to support thyroid function
   • reduces inflammation
   • aids gut conversion of T4 to T3

4. Low vitamin A diet

Many practitioners tell us that vitamin A is needed for proper thyroid function. Here I’ll cite several studies, and use myself as an example as well, to show you this isn’t true.

These studies show patients who have low vitamin A levels and high thyroid hormone levels:

• Patients with vitamin A deficiency, ” … had significantly lower vitamin A intake … and higher … FT4, FT3, and TSH than patients with normal vitamin A status.” (source)
• In a study from 1941, Dr. Garret Smith shares that rats fed cod liver oil had a significant depletion of thyroid cellular fluids.
• This study found, “In the thyroid, retinoids interfere with iodine metabolism …” whereas, ” … an increased concentration of retinol was seen in hypothyroidism.”
• Here we see lower blood levels of vitamin A (and higher zinc, which is protective) associated with better thyroid function in Italians who lived extra long lives.
• And, more studies here.

Personally, I have been on a low vitamin A diet since April of 2019. After several months on the diet, my doctor did lab work and took me off of my thyroid medication. She expected to put me back on it when the weather turned colder again, as my thyroid function usually dips too low when the weather is cold, but instead, I never needed to resume medication.

LIVER DETOX

Many people talk about liver detox and present many different ways to do it. A low vitamin A diet is a different approach to liver detoxification, but I believe more fact-based. (Read more about how and why here.)

Detoxing the liver of vitamin A better allows — frees up — the liver to convert T4 to T3.

And this!, I believe, is why going on the diet allowed me to go off of all thyroid medication and have renewed wellness.

LOW OXALATE

When I started the low vitamin A diet, I also started a diet lower in oxalates than I realized at the time. I do this intentionally now, but I did it unintentionally in the beginning.

The thyroid can be a repository for oxalate crystals. Autopsies in the 1970s and 80s show people who died with Hashimoto’s, and their thyroids were full of oxalate crystals. Embedded in the organ, oxalates cause inflammation and dysregulate systems. (source, begin at 23:30)

Consider starting a medium oxalate diet for the long term to gently detox these compounds — and free up your thyroid to function better.

Oxalate crystals in the thyroid may be a much bigger causal factor in Hashimoto’s than is yet realized.

5. Reducing estrogen

Estrogen surges have been linked to an autoimmune attack on the thyroid. (source)

I used DIM and Calcium D-Glucarate for years to keep my estrogen levels down, as I had other painful symptoms as well from too high of estrogen.

On the low A diet, I was finally able to go off of Calcium D-Glucarate. I still take DIM.

Estrogen fluctuations are one more trigger to consider, and balance if they’re a problem for you.

6. Detoxing environmental toxins

Certain toxins like mercury can bypass our barrier system and cause an immune response — which then becomes chronic and overactive.

One of my favorite supplements that I started after beginning the low vitamin A diet is TRS. I still take it and plan to continue.

This nano-particle zeolite spray crosses the blood-brain barrier to detox heavy metals, plastics, estrogens and more.

You have to buy through a distributor, so I became one. You can use my link here if you’d like.

(I buy the three-pack to save money, and the company recommends doing the spray for 6 months minimum to see various effects. It’s best to start the first day with 1 spray, then increase each day, assuming no major detox symptoms, gradually by 1 spray each day until you reach 5 sprays daily, 2 in the morning, 3 at night.)

7. Vitamin D from the sun or similar

Vitamin D has been shown to improve T cell function and reduce autoimmunity. (source)

Getting on the low vitamin A diet and learning from Dr. Garrett Smith, as well as Grant Genereux, helped me to finally have the courage to go off of vitamin D pills.

Vitamin D is a hormone, and taken orally raises serum levels, but does not get utilized properly by the body. It may even be toxic taken orally.

I started by using a good tanning bed with UVB rays responsibly, and then recently, I purchased a sun lamp (I chose the Fiji model here).

Conclusion — How I Reversed My Hashimoto’s

As you go through the process of trying to reverse Hashimoto’s or other thyroid issues, it’s important to find the underlying issue(s) — because part of your approach needs to be focused on that particular cause.

Look into resolving things like SIBO, hormone imbalances, food sensitivities or intolerances, vitamin A toxicity, an overabundance of oxalates, vitamin or mineral deficiencies, pre-existing infections/illnesses, stress factors, leaky gut, environmental toxins and estrogen levels.

Regarding mindset, a couple of years ago, I was gifted with a phrase I remind myself of daily, as needed: Choose joy.

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Additional Sources 1, 2, 3

Why to Not Eat Organ Meats is also an article about why I personally stopped eating organ meats after many years, and how my health was affected by organ meats.

Because different organs have different nutrients, this article does not assume that all organ meats are unhealthy in the same ways. While one organ may be quite high in vitamin A, another one isn’t; but it may be high in copper.

Overall, this article espouses that most organ meats are not healthy, and looks at why.

Why organ meat is recommended

Organ meat is recommended by many health gurus because it is nutrient-dense in certain respects: iron, B vitamins as well as other vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fats (brain meat).

If some researchers have misunderstood the components in organ meats, they are also full of vitamins and compounds that are dangerous when eaten in large amounts: vitamins A, D, E, the mineral copper and purines.

Organ meats eaten in other countries

Which countries have the longest life spans in recent history? Hong Kong. Japan. Macao. Switzerland. Singapore. Italy. Some individuals in these cultures occasionally eat organ meats, but they are not staples of the diet.

What these countries’ diets have in common are actually restful mealtimes, plenty of clean protein, especially fish, refined grains (white rice and bread made without processed ingredients) and zero emphasis on “super-foods”. (These countries also have many lifestyle choices in common.)

Native cultures are often cited as being a good model for eating organ meats, but there is no evidence that they ate a lot of organ meat — that helped them live longer or without disease.

American doctors are not authorities on the subject of nutrition

The fact is: Americans are not healthy. (We rank 46th for life span.)

U.S. doctors should not be defining what is healthy, partially because we are too arrogant. We create diets for healing, and instead of calling them theories, we call them fact. The people who follow these diets are guinea pigs in an experiment that isn’t rightly defined as such.

There is no scientific data for “eating the rainbow” and lots of organ meat, how this affects patients long term … except for the fact that low oxalate and low vitamin A groups are full of people who became toxic eating this kind of “traditional” diet.

Countries like Finland, in contrast, have recommended their citizens avoid eating liver and other high sources of vitamin A to avoid the related health risks.

Most organ meats do not taste good

If most of these body parts do not taste like delicious food to most people, perhaps we have one more clue that most organ meats aren’t food.

Organs are now marketed to us in capsules, not only for convenience, but also because they are unpalatable for most people.

Why to Not Eat Organ Meats: My story

As someone who enjoys a mostly Ancestral diet — meaning no processed foods or refined sugars, whole foods grown without

pesticides, pastured meats, raw dairy and predigestion of certain ingredients — I started out eating organ meats and saw some energy benefits from the high dose of B vitamins.

But overtime, symptoms developed that I realized traced back to the organ meats I’d been eating for years: depression, kidney and thyroid problems, skin issues and newly developed autoimmunity.

Dangers of eating liver

Some of the symptoms I experienced are common side effects of organ meat toxicity.

Other dangers include liver damage, diarrhea, mental confusion, irritability, nausea, vomiting, inflammation, leg pain, blisters, hair and weight loss, skin peeling, reduced semen quality, headaches, obesity, growth retardation and orange tint to the skin. (sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

My main source of organ meats was liver pills. I took 3 to 6 pills a day for years. I stopped noticing any benefit from them energy-wise, but I continued because we’re told they’re: a great source of vitamins, minerals, amino acids — essentially the food form of a multivitamin.

Let’s look at dosage recommendations and what levels cause toxicity!

What dose of organ meat causes toxicity

As a study of 41 cases of vitamin A toxicity concluded, “The data also indicate that prolonged and continuous consumption of doses in the low ‘therapeutic’ range can result in life-threatening liver damage.”

Many wellness diets espouse eating large amounts of regular organ meat. What do we mean when we say large amounts? The surprising fact here is that individuals have varying tolerances. But certainly repeated doses over the course of weeks and years is toxic.

Standard recommendations have patients eating 3 grams of desiccated liver daily, which contains just under 1000 IUs of vitamin A, or 1 ounce of fresh liver.

Some sources recommend 20 grams of fresh organ meat daily.

Organ meat math

At the recommended dose, it only takes 22 days to eat a pound of liver. That means it only takes about 1/3 of a year to eat an entire 5 pound liver — the size of a small moose liver, which is known to be highly toxic.

The liver can not detox excess vitamin A fast enough to prevent toxicity — whether eaten all at once or taken in high supplemental doses over time.

Eating an entire liver causes acute vitamin A toxicity, can cause death, or require years of recovery.

Therefore, organ meat math says: it only takes about 4 months to consume toxic amounts of vitamin A as a regular daily supplement.

If you’ve eaten organ meat or supplemented for 4 months, it sounds to me like your liver is full of it and needs to detox. What happens if you don’t? The body continues to store vitamin A, but in new and surrounding tissues to protect you from it.

But eventually this consumption catches up with us.

Vitamin A toxicity

Let’s look more closely at the concept of chronic vitamin A toxicity.

I was taking the best organ meat supplements — not just liver, but also kidney, marrow and brain, to name a few. All from two great companies who source their animals well.

What I didn’t put together at the time is that just like someone can suffer from acute vitamin A toxicity, from eating too much liver all at once, a well-documented occurrence, chronic vitamin A toxicity is also a real and common danger. That might sound dramatic, but our liver is only so big, and it stores vitamin A. Once it’s full, the toxicity spills over to our other tissues.

Similarly, in order for the liver to “process” vitamin A, it actually detoxes it through the same means it detoxes glyphosate and other poisons. But it can only process it so quickly. If more is coming in than what’s able to be ushered out, you have toxicity.

As WebMD says,

It is possible, and even dangerous, to consume too much vitamin A. Eating large amounts of liver can lead to symptoms of vitamin A toxicity. Your own liver cannot process the excess vitamin A quickly enough, so eating a significant amount of liver regularly might lead to hypervitaminosis A.

The original rat studies on vitamin A showing it was important for wellness were based on one test poorly designed by scientists who didn’t understand the precursors of vitamin A. The rats were poisoned with high doses of vitamin A through precursors of it, and it was concluded they died from a lack of the vitamin instead of toxicity.

What happens to the body on the a low vitamin A diet

You can read more about the Vitamin A detox diet and the concept in general here.

I have spent the last three years detoxing vitamin A, and far from being dead like the rats, I am in my best health since having children — with renewed strength and all of my autoimmune diseases in remission (I’ve had 5, not to mention an incurable bladder disease, also in remission).

Interestingly, there are hundreds like me in low vitamin A support groups. These groups are full of people who became toxic from vitamin A while doing the Wahls Protocol, a Weston A. Price style traditional diet, the Carnivore diet with organ meats included, the GAPS diet, while taking Accutane (topical vitamin A medication for acne) or otherwise “eating the rainbow“.

Reduced thyroid function with long term organ meat intake

For me, one of the wonders of going on a low vitamin A diet was no longer needing thyroid medication.

Due to reduced stress and intentional living, I had already been in the process of putting Hashimoto’s into remission. But my doctor wanted me on small amounts of thyroid intermittently, especially during winter months. After starting the low A diet, my energy and mood increased, and I no longer needed the supplement at all.

Of course, this is in contrast to most people’s thinking, that vitamin A boosts the thyroid.

While organ meats may provide a temporary boost in energy, due to their high levels of B vitamins, minerals and/or iron, I would observe that vitamin A catches up with those strides — and ends up dragging energy levels back down.

Read more here about how and why vitamin A reduces thyroid function — and thus: organ meat reduces thyroid function.

Purines and uric acid from organ meats

It’s no longer popular in wellness circles to oppose the consumption of organ meats. They’re just so highly esteemed in the current paradigm for what are considered nutrient-dense foods.

That’s why when a functional medical doctor reluctantly advises cutting out organ meats, we ought to hear why.

Dr. David Perlmutter is a neurologist who now specializes in uric acid and its negative effects on the body. He zeroes in on alcohol, fructose and purines as the culprits. Purines are a food compound that raise uric acid in the body. His suggestion is to isolate foods that deliver a lot of purines and limit these foods:

… organ foods, organ meats like liver and kidney … (source)

Wellness advisors are very good at focussing on the benefits of organ meats, but they do not honestly look at the other compounds found in these tissues. So here we have one: purines, which can lead to high levels of uric acid.

Not enough wellness practitioners have yet admitted this controversy: their recommendation to increase organ meats contradicts the existence of purines and the damage they cause. Purines from organ meat can’t be disputed, so no one should eat them regularly.

Gout

How I discovered this concept was through a swollen, painful toe joint. I researched the cause of what some call arthritis and others call gout, and found that elevated uric acid is one culprit.

Elevated uric acid is now linked to these conditions: PCOS, blood sugar problems and diabetes, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s.

So then, why would we knowingly eat a food rich in purines, organ meat, when we can find plenty of B vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in good tasting, definitely safe foods? We do not need organ meats to get well, and in fact, I believe they are making us sicker.

Purines are one more reason why.

Copper toxicity

Liver, heart, kidney and brains are high in copper.

Copper is one controversial mineral. I won’t get into arguing with certain wellness practitioners who claim copper is needed for optimum health.

I will say that zinc is a copper antagonist: zinc balances copper. But when you have too much copper, it can undermine your zinc levels:

Unlike zinc, copper can readily accumulate in the body into toxic concentrations. In order to maintain adequate zinc levels, a higher dose of zinc compared to copper is required daily … proper intake of copper to zinc should be a 1:8 ratio. When properly concentrated in the right balance, zinc behaves like the bigger brother blocking copper in food and in the body from being absorbed. (source)

Zinc is incredibly important to the body, much like Magnesium. No one’s going to argue about taking these two minerals; they’re essential and for many people should be supplemented. (source)

So to keep the point simple: too much copper throws off one’s zinc levels = not good.

Eating a lot of organ meat — liver, heart or kidney — will raise copper levels in the body and throw off that 1:8 ratio.

Vitamins D and E in organ meats

Organ meats are high in vitamin D

The best way to get vitamin D is from the sun. The body knows how to convert sunlight into this nutrient so it is usable by the body.

When consumed through food or supplement, it raises levels of vitamin D in the blood. This signals the body to balance vitamin D levels with calcium. So calcium is pulled from bones to compensate. Foods high in vitamin D do not necessarily allow the body to assimilate the vitamin. (source)

While small amounts of vitamin D from foods is normal and fine, organ meats high in vitamin D may create weaker bones and an imbalance of vitamins and minerals in the body over time.

Organ meats are high in vitamin E

Regarding vitamin E, I am completely sharing the work and insights of Dr. Garrett Smith on this topic. His observations include:

• Vitamin E may protect the body from vitamin A toxicity by causing its storage in the liver (and so reducing its blood levels and symptoms temporarily).
• The body produces antibodies (a toxin response) to vitamin E used in shots. (source)
• Vitamin E depletes vitamin K. (source)
• This so called vitamin is detoxed and excreted through the same pathways as chemical toxins. It is treated as a toxin by the body. (source)
• Pectin, a known binder of toxins, grabs onto not only vitamin A, but also vitamin E, reducing levels in the body. (source)

Supplementing with vitamin E is much more serious, but eating regular amounts of foods that are high in vitamin E doesn’t seem advisable. Organ meats are touted as being an excellent source of vitamin E.

Eating a lot of organ meats = high vitamin E intake.

Why are organ meats bad for you

In conclusion, while organ meats do offer a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals and protein, they also contain concentrated amounts of compounds that are dangerous when eaten in large volumes:

• purines — Known to cause gout, purines in organ meats increase uric acid, endangering blood sugar levels, neurological and cardiovascular health and causing inflammation.
• vitamin A — Pulling out this one food compound from my diet allowed me to overcome depression, MCAS (extreme histamine intolerance), endometriosis and to fully put my Hashimoto’s into remission. Since going on a low vitamin A diet, my body has been able to restore itself. Excess vitamin A causes problems with skin, kidney, thyroid, mental health and more.
• copper — Too much copper is toxic to the body and reduces zinc levels. Zinc is needed for over 300 functions in the body.
• vitamins D and E — Consuming vitamin D hormone throws off calcium levels in the bones and may also cause potassium wasting. It is possible that vitamin E is a toxin, and the body treats it as such. Eating foods high in vitamin E may not be advisable.

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