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Dr. Udo Erasmus
on Thyroid Disease, Weight Loss, and the Optimal Diet for
Thyroid Patients
May
2002 ... Based on an interview by Mary Shomon (www.thyroid-info.com) |
Dr. Erasmus' direction changed when he was
poisoned while working with pesticides, and when conventional
approaches didn't work, sought to find solutions in nutrition.
Dr. Erasmus concentrated his research on the effects of fats
and oils on human health, and became an expert in this area,
leading to his best-seller Fats and Oils. This book also became
his thesis and earned him a Ph.D. in nutrition in 1986. The
book is now available in expanded, revised, updated form as
Fats That Heal Fats That Kill, which is in its 10th printing,
with over 150,000 copies sold. |

I had an opportunity to interview
nutritional expert Dr. Udo Erasmus, regarding the role of essential fatty acids in thyroid
and metabolic health. By way of introduction, Udo Erasmus received
his BS degree in Honors Zoology with a major in Psychology,
followed by graduate studies in Biochemistry and
Genetics from the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Erasmus has pioneered the
technology and formulation for pressing and packaging fresh
oils, ensuring that they remain
nutritious, and believed so much in the power of essential fatty
acids that he worked for years to create the famous "Udo's
Oil," a balanced essential fatty acid oil that is recommended
by nutritionists and holistic practitioners around the world.
More than 15 years of exploring the practical aspects of fats
has earned Dr. Erasmus authoritative status in the field, as
well as the nicknames "The Fatman" and "His Royal
Oiliness!"
To understand Dr. Erasmus' life
work -- the
study of essential fatty acids -- it's important to start
with the basic premise -- what is an essential fatty
acid? There are a variety of different types of fats,
the only two that are considered "essential," are
Omega 3 fats, and Omega 6 fats. These fats must be consumed
directly from food sources. Other fats, such as Omega 9 (monounsaturated)
fats, and saturated fats -- among others -- are not considered
essential because they can be produced by the body by consuming
other sugars and starches.
Omega 3 fatty acids come from foods
like flaxseeds, green leafy
vegetables, and high fat, cold water fish such as albacore tuna,
sardines, Atlantic halibut and salmon, coho, pink and king salmon,
Pacific and Atlantic herring, Atlantic mackerel, and lake trout.
Omega 6 fatty acids are found in sesame and sunflower seeds
and other seeds and nuts. Some fish and animal meats also provide
a derivative form of Omega 6. When it comes to fish, Dr. Erasmus
always prefers the fish themselves to fish oil supplements -
which he claims can easily become ineffective or even toxic.
According
to Dr. Erasmus, since 1900, Omega 6 consumption has increased
by about 2 times the previous levels, primarily because
of increased use of certain vegetable oils in food preparation,
while Omega 3s are now only 1/6 of previous levels. This
means that we get too much Omega 6 and too little Omega
3 fatty acids.
It's far more important
to bring in the good fats than to avoid the bad fats.
Low-fat and no-fat take us in the wrong direction. We
need a right-fat approach. |
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Ultimately, imbalances and deficiencies in essential
fatty acids are, according to Dr. Erasmus, the cause, a
trigger, or a contributing factor to many diseases and conditions,
and addressing those deficiencies through proper foods,
or use of healthy oils, can have huge implications for health.
- Increased energy, performance, and stamina
- Reduced risk factors for cardiovascular disease,
especially
- high blood pressure, triglycerides
- Improved brain function, including mood, intelligence,
behavior, and vision
- Reduced depression
- Improvement in glandular and organ function,
including liver, kidneys, adrenal and thyroid
- Faster recovery and healing
- Healthier babies and pregnant women Improved
digestion
- Decreased infection
- Better skin, hair, and nails
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According to Dr. Erasmus, essential
fatty acids are critical to thyroid function because,
first, they are required for the integrity of the structure
for every membrane of every cell. Second, they increase energy levels in the cell. And
third, there is some evidence that essential fatty acids,
especially Omega 3s, improve the efficiency of the hormones
on the receptor sites.
To understand the importance of
the receptor issue, think
about the situation of diabetes. Pre-diabetes, the condition
that is considered a marker for future diabetes, is also
known as insulin resistance. Insulin is in the body, but
it isn't being utilized because saturated fats block insulin
receptor function, and ultimately receptors become desensitized
-- and ultimately immune to and unable to receive -- insulin.
Essential fatty acids are required for receptor function
and can make diabetics more insulin sensitive. So diabetics
taking essential fatty acids may need less receptors, and
ultimately, less insulin.
Dr. Erasmus believes that this same mechanism takes place
with other hormonal functions, such as the androgens, pineal
glands, adrenal glands -- and specifically, the thyroid.
There are practitioners who believe
that thyroid hormone resistance is not a rare occurrence, and is actually a more
common sign of impending thyroid disease, much like insulin
resistance is a precursor to diabetes. This issue of receptors
is critical, because according to Dr. Erasmus, "With
proper essential fatty acid nutrition, what will sometime
happen is that you get fewer receptors but they work better."
This would mean that proper levels of essential fatty acids
might make the thyroid hormone receptors work better, so
that thyroid hormone actually accomplishes its mission.
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Dr. Erasmus also points to the
role that essential fatty acids play in preventing
and reducing inflammation. In particular, essential
fatty acids make hormone-like eicosanoids that regulate
immune and inflammatory responses, and Omega 3s in
particular have anti-inflammatory effects that can
slow autoimmune damage.
Inflammation of the thyroid -- known as goiter
-- is central to many cases of autoimmune thyroid
disease, and inflammation is seen in almost all autoimmune
diseases in general. |
Says Dr.
Erasmus:
"I believe that inflammation is at
the core of nearly everything that goes wrong in the body,
including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems.
We know that Omega 3s decrease inflammation.
If proteins are the juice, fats are the insulators, not just
of nerves, but cells and membranes.) Protein reactions lead
to inflammation, allergies and autoimmune disease. Essential
fatty acids seem to help to prevent the proteins from becoming
hyperactive -- and therefore triggering these various immune
reactions."
When thyroid
function goes down, the metabolic rate goes down, and the
body burns fewer carbohydrates. Dr. Erasmus believes that
people with hypothyroidism should switch from grains and starches
to green vegetables as their primary source of carbohydrates.
Green vegetables, plus good fats and proteins, should form
the core of the diet.
Sufficient
essential fatty acids help increase energy and suppress appetite,
thereby aiding in weight loss. In addition, they have been
found to block the genes that produce fat in the body (saturated
and Trans Fat do not have this same effect) and increase
thermogenesis -- the burning of fat.
Dr. Erasmus
actually feels that Omega 3s work better than the heralded
conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). He feels that CLA may have
some negative side effects, particularly at higher doses.
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According to Dr. Erasmus,
for a thyroid patient to lose weight, they need:
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- Green vegetables (While he says the efforts
at 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day are
a step in the right direction, the reality is that
we should strive for more like 1 fruit, and 8 or
9 vegetables each day.)
- Good fats
- Protein
- Proper digestion
- Limited carbohydrates. ("If you gain weight,
you're not burning enough carbs," says Dr.
Erasmus. How much should you limit them? "Until
your weight is normal!")
- Exercise
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In addition to supplementing with essential fatty acids,
he also recommends proper balance of zinc, vitamin C, and
digestive enzymes.
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Certainly,
if we could also focus our diet on vegetables, fish, and good
fats from other foods, we'd be working toward redressing the
imbalances in essential fatty acids.
But when
diet is less than optimal, or you can't get enough of the
foods that provide the right balance and quantity of Omega
3s and Omega 6s, then an option is to consider a supplement,
such as Dr. Erasmus' oil, known as "Udo's Oil." Udo's
Oil is an organic blend of oils, from fresh flax, sesame
and sunflower seeds, as well as oils from evening primrose,
rice germ and oat germ. This is a product I personally
use and recommend, and have seen a number of people stabilize
their thyroid function and lose weight after switching
over to Dr. Erasmus' dietary recommendations, plus use
of his oil.
Dr. Erasmus
recommends a tablespoon of oil per 50 pounds of body weight
per day in winter. That would mean 4 tablespoons a day for
a 200 pound person in winter. The way you know you've taken
enough oil is, according to Dr. Erasmus, your skin is not
dry, flaky or itchy -- common complaints in the winter. Summer
dosages can be dropped slightly, and again, dryness of skin
should be used as the evaluation.
For weight
loss, Dr. Erasmus has said that working with obese people,
he has had them on as much as 5 tablespoons of oil a day.
For rheumatoid arthritis patients, he's had them on as much
as 10 tablespoons a day.
At high
levels of oil, calorie intake goes up, so to reduce overall
caloric intake, Dr. Erasmus recommends taking out carbohydrate
calories - particularly starches, grains and fruits -- to
make up for the calories in the oil, and concentrate the diet
on healthy protein, green vegetables and the oil.
Is
supplementation with essential fatty acids the answer
for you? It may be worth trying for a few weeks
to start, to see if you start to feel any of the short-term
benefits, and notice a difference in your skin. Just
remember that to avoid weight gain, you should decrease
the amount of carbohydrates you are eating, in order
to offset the oil's calories and maintain an optimal
amount of daily calories. |

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research articles, scientific studies, athlete statements
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