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Special Diets/Thyroid and Adrenal Glands

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Expert: RawPalaeoGuy - 8/21/2008


Question
If a person were suffering from Hypothyroidism and low-functioning “sluggish” adrenals and wished to supplement their raw diet with these glands from 100% grass fed animals:

1)How important is it to get them fresh versus frozen?  I have access to both but they would have to be shipped so getting frozen would save me money with shipping.

2)How often, how much,and how long would these glands need to be consumed to help the thyroid and adrenal glands recover? Please note, I realize how long may vary from individual so I'm just looking a general idea.

3) Lastly,have you heard of success stories of people who eat a raw diet who have also consumed raw thyroid and/or adrenal glands to improve disfunction with these glands?

Thanks in advance for your response,

-M

Answer
1) It's always best to get the glands fresh and unfrozen, if possible, as freezing does do some damage to the nutrients. Of course, if it breaks the bank, then you could  try the freeze-dried version to see if that has any effect. I'm surprised that frozen is viewed as more expensive by you. Looking online, I've found some US farms selling raw adrenals at rock-bottom prices, while freeze-dried adrenals in supplements(without any preservatives at all) cost the earth. It's true that many so-called "raw" adrenal supplements are very cheap BUT they contain unhealthy trans-fats such as magnesium-stearate, which block absorption of the nutrients etc. So far, the only chemical-free glandular I've found is Dr Ron's website:-

http://www.drrons.com/

2) No idea. I take something like a quarter ounce of adrenals each day and 90mg of raw thyroid in pill-form(I just open up the pill and swallow the contents, minus the gelatin of the capsule). The time taken for the glands to recover will vary very widely. I've read that those with really-wrecked adrenals/thyroid can expect to take as much as 2 to 5 years to fully recover - but your condition seems much more mild than that.

3) I've not heard of any direct stories, as yet. I can only state that they seem to have a (minor) positive effect on me. I suspect that I would have speed up my former health-reocvery on this diet, if I'd taken those raw glandulars, right from the start.

HTH,

RPG.  

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RawPalaeoGuy

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I can answer most questions on Raw Animal and Vegetable Food Diets such as the Primal Diet, an organic, raw-meat-based diet and a number of similiar all-raw or partially raw Paleolithic diets, such as the Instincto, Weston-Price, Neanderthin, Paleo and Stefansson Diets. Can also offer advice on how to resist social pressure to eat cooked foods etc. For further info on Raw-Animal-Food diets, it's a good idea to browse through GoodSamaritan's website, http://www.rawpaleodiet.com/ , and also to join the following two forums and read their message-archives :- rawpaleoforum.com and http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawpaleodiet/

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I have been 8 years on a 99%+ raw version of the Palaeolithic Diet and experienced numerous health benefits as a result, being fully recovered from my previous symptoms from my cooked-food days. My own individualised raw, paleolithic diet routine is mostly based on Aajonus Vonderplanitz's Primal Diet(ie 99% raw, usage of "high-meat",no processed supplements, using primarily naturally-reared, organic or wild sources of raw foods) but, for personal reasons, I have also been, to some extent, influenced by ideas from:- Instincto(ie:- taste/instinct,no raw dairy/no raw veggie juice), Weston-Price(eg: preferring grassfed meat to grainfed meat, incorporating a wide variety of raw organ-meats into my diet along with the usual muscle-meats, and Vilhjalmur Stefansson(high-fat diet, pretty high proportion of (raw) animal food), but also eating some raw carbohydrates such as raw organic/wild fruit/veg/honeycomb etc.). I'm also a firm believer in the feast-and-famine idea (ie Intermittent Fasting) as regards boosting one's energy levels, and giving my body a rest from constant digestion.

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Rawpaleodiet Community(Comprising rawpaleoforum , rawpaleodiet yahoo group and the rawpaleodiet.com website among others).

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No nutritional qualification(I don't believe in standard(misguided) nutritionist doctrine, so I don't feel the need). I simply rely on mine and many others' long-term experiences of raw, palaeolithic diets and I've read most of the books that are vaguely relevant to a raw-meat diet.

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