This past year for me has been very, very stressful due to my husband
leaving his job and starting a new business, and we moved twice with two
young children. Also two deaths and a divorce in our family, and my Mom's
downward spiral with her health. So enormous stress this past year or so.

I seem to have gone through a Hoshimotos Thyroiditis autoimmune attack.
My TSH had climbed through the year up to 10 (should be less than 4.0). I
have been having generalized achy feelings and sore throat / achiness at
thyroid area, which goes with thyroiditis. I was also diagnosed with
thyroid cancer almost 7 years ago. I never did any Western treatment
(refused the surgery they recommended to remove my thyroid). I am only
doing natural healing, mostly using my diet.

I have to admit that I haven't been following the diet you suggested this
past year in the exact way you had recommended. This was because of all
of the changes from moving and stress in my family. I stopped making
myself the priority yet I have not been consuming junk food of any kind
and avoid all sugar. I have mostly been eating what you recommended but
often missing juices and not getting the order of things or not always
doing everything you suggested.

By this past summer I was more and more not following your recommended
diet. I have two young children and a very busy house and found it too
hard to do everything. I also wanted the comfort of warm food during all
of the stress. I am always organic and careful not to eat junk. When I
have cooked I try to eat things more raw still, but warmed or partly
cooked.

After European Thermography showed that I have an insulin problem, I did
a fasting-insulin level test with my last thyroid labs. The result was
8.8. From what I have read and learned it should really be around 3.0. I
wondered if too much raw honey could contribute to any problem here. I
was sloppy, over-estimating with the measuring and probably eating more
raw honey than I should be. I have also learned that auto-immune
(Hoshimotos Thyroiditis) can also cause an attack on insulin receptors
and lead to insulin problems and Diabetes Type 1. I am concerned that I
could be attacking these receptors from the auto-immune process.

I also have had mid-upper abdominal aches / discomfort. I read that the
auto-immune can also attack the parietal cells in the stomach and cause
stomach aches. I couldn't really perceive exactly what organ was the
location of the discomfort.

I grew up on constant Penicillin due to a dog that was a strep throat
carrier and gave me strep throat very frequently. I now wonder if I have
a leaky gut that is still not healed. I have read that there is a very
strong correlation of leaky gut and all auto-immune illnesses.

With you away for so long in Asia, and because I wasn't feeling great and
my labs weren't good, I recently met someone new locally who did some
testing on me and found me to be allergic to eggs and dairy, as well as
whey. This would severely interfere with your suggested diet.

This is based on specific immunoglobulins showing up after exposure to
each of these potential antigens. I am told this is a newer test and much
more accurate than any of the tests from the past. This testing was done
by Cyrex Laboratories. @(https://www.cyrexlabs.com)

The testing was due to my complaints of a lot of achiness lately and my
labs with a large increase in TSH. The question was, am I reactive to
gluten (which I don't eat anyway and any other foods when there is leaky
gut, such as egg, cow's milk, casein, and whey?

It has been recommended that I stop eggs and dairy (including whey), as I
could be reacting to them with a constant inflammatory response. This
could be a problem for my immune system and be aggravating the
auto-immune Hoshimotos.

I have never asked you if you have direct experience seeing thyroid
cancer and/or Hoshimotos Thyroiditis heal before? Also how much do you
understand about leaky gut and auto-immune? (Which I hear are very
intimately connected).

This has created great confusion for me about what to do with my diet. I
have come much more off of your diet over the past couple of months due
to this information. But, I have really wanted to talk to you and get
your input and come see you again.

I would like your opinion whether I should make any changes or continue
with the diet you suggest originally April 2010. I last saw you in New
Jersey in early May 2011 and at that time you suggested that I was doing
well and should continue on the original diet plan.

The Diet:

So this is what I did very accurately for a little over a year (though I
didn't usually have white and red meat at every meal) and I was too full
on this diet and ate the amount that felt right, which was less than a
full cup of meat you suggested at my two meat meals. It is over the past
year that I wasn't doing as good a job sticking to your suggested diet
accurately and going down hill.

My weight was up to 141 lbs a couple of months ago (up from original
weight right before I first saw you of 110 lbs). In the past two months
off of your diet, my weight has fallen to 130 lbs. I am 5 feet 1 1/2
inches tall.

My periods had been irregular for a good year now. Female hormones levels
show low proges- terone and otherwise normal. I have missed my period for
3 months now. I am 50 years old.

I am scheduled for a thyroid ultrasound on 10/30th to re-check the
thyroid nodules (diagnosed as papillary carcinoma by fine needle
aspiration in 11/2005). I have had 16mm one on right side and 6mm one on
left side. The one on the right side had been getting smaller prior to my
last ultrasound (done 2 years ago).

So - without having seen me in over a year, what would your thoughts be
and what would you suggest?

What are your thoughts in regard to:

Thank you so much for your input on this Aajonus! I have missed seeing you and
would have just stuck with you and come for an apt, but when you were so far
away for so long, I felt uncomfortable with everything and just started to see
the local person. I have felt confused what to do. I need to gain confidence
again on what would be best. Thanks!!!

I suggest that you read my books and watch my DVDs many times so that you
will understand how your body truly functions healthfully rather than the
way pharma/medicine wants you to believe your body malfunctions. Also, I
hope that you realize that your downward-spiraling health directly
coincides with your fall from your body's dietary needs because of your
time-constraints and stress.

I wrote my books to give everybody the knowledge to be able to take care of
their bodies without outer guidance. I know that it takes many years to
understand the body enough to feel confident about health choices and 2
years is usually not enough time when applying the diet fully. I can always
be contacted by email if not by phone. Please contact me when you need
help.

Firstly, the easiest way to follow any diet properly is to prepare the
foods for the entire day in the first hour of your day before children are
awake and demanding. That first hour should be yours to eat the foods
necessary to begin your day healthfully, and to prepare foods for the day.
Usually, within 4 weeks on all dietary programs that I suggest, people are
able to prepare the entire day's foods in 40-45 minutes except on days when
they need to juice. It is a relief that we can juice once every 4-5 days
and keep the juices relatively fresh for 4-5 days if prepared as I suggest
in my books and recipe DVD.

Secondly, there is no such thing as an autoimmune disease except in theory
and shoddy scientific support. With that theory, the pharma/medical
industries terrorize people into believing that our bodies are stupid, to
be feared and attack rather than nurture themselves.

We must objectively see that even with all of the toxic abuse to which we
subject our bodies, they seem to rebound 95% of the time. That shows that
our bodies are filled with great intelligence and unrestrained love rather
than vengeance at our abuses.

Thirdly, our bodies will use cleansing bacteria, parasites, fungus and/or
virus to dissolve industrially contaminated cells/tissue. They are termed
infections. The industrial toxins are the invaders, infecting the body.
Calling our janitorial bacteria, parasites, fungus and virus our enemies
turns us against our cleansing and healing processes. That only benefits
the pharma/medical industrial complex. Our janitors are part of the cure.
They are not the causes of diseases as pharma/medicine has people
believing.

When we have caustic industrial chemicals in thyroid cells, from time to
time, our bodies will try to remove those poisons and the cells they have
damaged, crippled or killed. The TSH levels will increase proportionate to
the toxic cells being dissolved and waste discarded. Realistically, the
body is not attacking itself. It is merely trying to improve its localized
and overall health by removing poisons and the contaminated cells. We
should embrace infections (cleansings) and nurture our bodies'
cleansing-processes rather than fear them, and not panic when they occur.

In the last 30 years, I have suggested diets for several people (12?)
diagnosed with so-called autoimmune thyroid disease (Hoshimoto). None have
died from it and all have improved considerably. Most are completely
asymptomatic. The foods I suggested provided the nutrients their bodies
needed to gradually cleanse and heal.

Fourthly, all allergen tests are performed in a laboratory (not in our
bodies) with proteins processed from the foods tested on our chemistry, I
reiterate, removed from our bodies. When eating a raw diet, we do not eat
altered proteins that cause most allergies, unless we eat genetically
modified (GM) foods or foods contaminated with agricultural industrial
chemicals.

Allergen-tests are performed with processed, altered proteins. Very
frequently, the tests will give positive allergic reactions because of the
processed, altered proteins. Raw proteins are not altered as those used in
the tests. As I stated above, we will not have allergies to raw non-GM
non-industrial-chemical- contaminated proteins. The implication that those
tests apply to raw food is another measurement-trap convincing us that our
bodies are stupidly hurting themselves. The conclusion drawn from that trap
is that we need some magic bullet, some supplement, homeopathic or
pharmaceutical drug. THOSE SUBSTANCES ARE NOT FOOD. They are all processed
with laboratory industrial chemicals, even if called natural and derived
from foods.

Most people eating cooked and processed foods will have varying degrees of
allergies to cooked and processed proteins similar to those used in
allergen tests. Stated in another way, those tests do not reflect what
occurs in natural circumstances inside our bodies on a raw Primal Diet®
regimen.

I have assisted over 2,000 people with leaky gut. Crohn's Disease is an
advanced case of leaky gut.

Intestinal health is greatly dependent on mucus. Mucus is of paramount
importance to protecting intestinal walls from being eroded by normal
digestive activity, that is, normal acidic digestive bacteria and acidic
enzymes (digestive juices). Mucus is so important to intestinal walls, that
intestinal walls are called mucous membranes.

When mucus is not enough or is too thin, intestinal walls are gradually
deteriorated. As deterioration occurs, intestinal walls become thin and
weak. Sometimes they become very irritated, causing inflammation.
Inflammation is an increased blood flow and resultant swelling and fever.
Both swelling and fever are necessary for properly cleansing and healing.

In such a weakened intestinal state, eating too much at once or eating
foods that have a tendency to collect and bulk will tear weak and thin
intestinal walls. Frequently where tears in the intestinal walls occur,
undigested food passes through the tears and into the gut outside of the
digestive tract. That is "leaky gut".

Our bodies must move those undigested food particles to as safe a location
as possible to complete the digestion of those particles. If they remain in
the body as undigested particles they can cause serious disease including
severe necrosis and death.

Our bodies choose one of two areas to store undigested food particles that
pass through intestinal walls: either in fat deposits or in joints. In fat
deposits, the body can store it for decades without much bother except
excessive weight and size gains. In cartilage, because cartilage are very
resilient tissue that can withstand highly acidic environments, our bodies
can digest those undigested particles.

However, food was not meant to be digested at joints, thus gradual
deterioration of cartilage usually occurs. The first symptoms are joint
pains. Then swelling may occur as deterioration continues, such as in
Crohn's Disease. Or massive cartilage deterioration occurs wherein all
cartilage disappears, such as osteoarthritis. Ninety-percent of arthritis
is caused by leaky gut, not bacteria. Other causes of arthritis are caustic
toxins stored in joints, such as from vaccines and industrial agriculture
and food- processing chemicals.

The form of bacteria that is found in arthritis is actually a form of
bacteria used to digest the undigested food particles and damaged
cartilage, not breakdown and digest healthy cartilage-cells. However, the
joint-area digestive-process simultaneously gradually erodes the cartilage
to varying degrees.

However, poor mucous production is the cause of leaky gut, and leaky gut is
the problem in most cases of arthritis. The simple cure is to eat the raw
foods that help the body produce lots of mucus quickly and constantly.
Remedy the cause first and foremost along with localized remedies.

At this point, we must ask, "What causes poor mucous production?" As all
functions of our bodies are 99% dependent upon bacteria, bacteria in the
intestinal walls helps mucus-production. Antibiotics and other industrial
chemicals damage those bacteria as well as digestive bacteria, drastically
reducing mucous formation and digestive abilities.

Extensive antibiotics use is the main cause of rapid development of leaky
gut in fetuses and children, as well as adults. It is very common in our
toxic environment, especially in certain toxic cities, and states where
agricultural poisons are heavily used.

To illustrate the severe harm that antibiotics do, a 5-days' regimen of
antibiotics destroys 1% of all bodily functions. That is, an entire 1% of
our body's ability to function digestively, muscularly, and neurologically
are destroyed.

If we eat a perfect diet, such as my Primal Diet®, our bodies can
regain/restore approximately 1.5-2.5% of lost bodily functions per year. On
standard diets, the body does not recover. On standard diets, the body
borrows from other parts of itself to strengthen the damaged areas but at
the same time this borrowing weakens the once stronger areas.

Gradually though years on standard diets, our bodily functions reduce to
the extent that we shrink in height from bone and cartilage deterioration,
and we reduce in physical and mental agility and endurance. In children and
fetuses, antibiotics often cause genetic damage, forever destroying proper
digestion when consuming standard diets.
See @Grow In Height After Age 21.

Reducing intestinal work is paramount. By reducing intestinal work, the
body can focus more on cleansing and healing intestines instead of
digestion, that is, instead of spending nutrients and energy synthesizing
digestive juices. To simplify digestive activity for easy understanding,
consider that 90% of digestion should be bacterial.

Bacteria eat the food we eat and their waste is our nutrition, absorbed and
utilized through intestines and the lacteal system. The lacteal system is a
webbed network connected to intestines that completes the digestive
process.

When we have large food particles in our stomach and intestines, our
stomach and intestinal walls must synthesize digestive juices such as
hydrochloric acids to dissolve the large particles. Once the large
particles are dissolved into a soup by digestive juices, intestinal
bacteria can consume the food we have eaten by 100%, nutrifying our body
easily.

Therefore, eating liquid food is paramount. Raw milk and raw eggs are ideal
foods for leaky gut because they are liquid and require only intestinal
bacteria to digest them. In fact, raw milk and raw eggs are resplendent
with bacteria that help our intestinal bacteria digest. The bacteria in
those foods are helpful not harmful. The only time that bacteria appear to
be harmful is in contorted laboratory tests that do not reflect how the
body truly digests and utilizes those bacteria.

Since raw meat is very necessary to restoring and healing as quickly as
possible, raw meat is necessary for any ill condition. However, we have to
take precautions to prepare meats in certain ways for particular health
conditions. When meats are relatively whole as partially chewed chunks, the
chunks are bulky and can collect in a particular intestinal section. As
mentioned above, collected chunks can cause tears in weak and thin
intestinal walls, and/or cause meat to be only partially digested, thereby
not getting the benefits of eating it.

A lot of digestive acids are necessary to dissolve meats into a soup for
the digestive bacteria to properly digest meats. For meats to be nearly
100% digested, meats must be cut into 1-inch cubes and then pate'd in a
food-processor.

I suggest that people suffering leaky gut eat lots of whole raw eggs from
chickens that are fed meat scraps, crushed raw bones, worms (maggots) and
fermented dairy. Eggs are the most easily digested food. Because they are
already liquid and contain lots of quick-reproducing bacteria, eggs digest
in about 30 minutes.

Although liquid, one cup of raw milk still requires about 6-10 hours to
completely digest. Eggs and milk provide nutrients for the body to produce
necessary mucus. Milkshakes (raw milk, raw eggs and unheated honey blended
together) help build the mucus necessary to protect and heal stomach and
intestinal linings quickly.

However, the digestive tract may be so compromised that a person may get
cramps from drinking milkshakes. If continual cramps occur, it would be
best to sip milkshake all day long. I suggest sipping on a quart of
milkshake throughout each day but taking a break from milkshakes one day of
every 12 days. If there is too much suffering when drinking milkshakes,
then consuming many raw eggs by themselves and sipping raw milk separately
is a preferable solution throughout each day.

Another important solution to poor digestion is consuming small amounts
(1/2-1 tsp.) of no-salt raw cheeses every 30-45 minutes. The small amounts
of raw cheeses absorb the toxins that gradually accumulated in and around
stomach and intestinal walls like a sponge. Eating the cheese frequently
prevents the toxins from entering food that will be digested. It will
prevent our bodies from recycling the toxins with our food.

Because all dried foods are bio-active-enzyme deficient, they are difficult
to digest. The body has to borrow enzymes from other areas to digest dried
foods or allow them to pass through the digestive tract without digestion.
No-salt raw cheeses will pass through our intestines relatively undigested.
Since raw cheeses absorb toxins inside stomach and intestines and will not
be digested, we can use raw cheese as a marvelous remedy to remove toxins
from contaminated stomachs and intestines.

Fermented foods are not good for leaky gut until there is enough mucus
covering mucus membranes. Fermentation tends to thin mucus, the opposite of
what is needed in leaky-gut conditions.

Your thyroid is not your problem. The industrial chemicals stored in it are
the problem. Remember 2 things:

Your lymphatic system is principally responsible for dissolving, sorting,
recycling reusable substances and discharging waste and toxins. Our necks
contain one of three major networks of lymphatic glands. We should expect toxins
to accumulate in the neck on toxic diets and lifestyles. We should expect that
we will have symptoms for 40 years on a perfect diet to remove all of the toxins
ingested, injected and inhaled from our industrially toxic world.

It is a fact that our bodies ALWAYS act beneficially toward our better health
whether we feed our bodies the proper nutrients or not. When we give our bodies
the proper nutrients and take long hot baths daily to remove waste and toxins,
our bodies act most efficiently toward better health.

Aches and stiffness are caused by accumulations of waste stored in the
tissues, usually muscles and tendons. Waste collected in muscles and
tendons results from congested lymphatic system and blockages in pores.
Long hot baths (between 105-110F.) gradually helps relieve those symptoms.
Mixing about 1-2 tsp. raw apple cider vinegar with 2 ounces raw milk and 2
ounces of whey 2-3 times daily can help remove accumulations from the
muscles, and very gradually from tendons.

Your TSH will fluctuate. When your body is removing toxins from your neck,
lungs and heart, your TSH will elevate. That is a cleansing process. Do you
think that you should arrest the cleansing process?

There is no fasting-test that will measure whether your blood-sugar levels
are proper. Blood-sugar levels vary considerably depending on how much is
needed in the body for the activities being performed by the whole body.
When your body is not involved in cleansing processes, the blood-sugar
levels can soar without any ill effects.

The only measure of poor blood-sugar levels is whether you can function or
not. If you literally cannot stand after lying or sitting for awhile, if
you get extremely disoriented even after eating, and if breathing is all of
the energy you can produce, you have a low blood-sugar problem that could
be insulin-related.

If you are able to get out of bed, literally, after a night's sleep, you do
not have an insulin/glycogen problem. The fasting/insulin test is simply
another trap to get people addicted to insulin or other drugs. Consider
that you do not have a blood-sugar level problem unless you have the
symptoms I stated in the preceding paragraph.

Hormone levels will fluctuate with nutrition and toxicity levels. Because
hormones are predominantly fat, our bodies often use hormones to bind with
toxins to neutralize those toxins. It is another method our bodies use to
promote and manifest better health. The pharma/med world wants you to be
addicted to hormone supplements/medication or drugs that lower hormone
levels. They do not profit if you get healthy.

I suggest that you enjoy our God-given raw dairy, raw eggs and unheated
honey. They are the most easily digested, absorbed and utilized foods on
this planet. How do you think all infant mammals grow so fast? When the
body is growing and/or healing, tiredness should be expected. Just like a
baby, our bodies need to eat and sleep or nap often (even if for only 10
minutes).

Consider that excess fat is very necessary for protecting the body from
toxins stored within itself and those entering it. Your excess weight is
very beneficial, measurably reducing symptoms.