How impactful can gluten be to a person with Hashimoto's?

Gluten can significantly impact individuals with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, mainly through triggering autoimmune responses. Experts explain that gluten can cause intestinal permeability or "leaky gut," which leads the immune system to attack the thyroid gland due to the similarity between the gluten structure and thyroid proteins. This results in molecular mimicry, where antibodies made against gluten also target the thyroid, exacerbating Hashimoto's symptoms 1 2.

Dr. Izabella Wentz notes that approximately 88% of people with Hashimoto's report improvement in symptoms such as increased energy, weight loss, and reduced brain fog when adopting a gluten-free diet. Remarkably, some even find this more beneficial than thyroid medications 2. Additionally, cutting out gluten has been shown to lower thyroid antibody levels, reducing the autoimmune activity against the thyroid 1.

Functional medicine practitioners Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. George Papaicolaou emphasize the importance of considering various triggers for autoimmunity, with gluten being a common and significant one. They assert the necessity to address all potential inflammatory triggers to manage Hashimoto's effectively 1.

Thus, for people with Hashimoto's, eliminating gluten from the diet can be a crucial step in mitigating autoimmune responses and improving overall thyroid function.