In praise of our own body cravings and beets

I have been eating beets and kidney beans I take on odd cravings when I feel unwell. Beets have been on this strange list since my first bad reaction to an proton pump inhibitor. I bought and ate an armful of beets making family look at me strangely as I refused to share I NEEDED all the beets the entire pot or a cake making size bowl full.

choline is in beets:
In addition to their unusual betalain and carotenoid phytonutrients, however, beets are also an unusual source of betaine. Betaine is a key body nutrient made from the B-complex vitamin, choline. (Specifically, betaine is simply choline to which three methyl groups have been attached.) In and of itself, choline is a key vitamin for helping regulate inflammation in the cardiovascular system since adequate choline is important for preventing unwanted build-up of homocysteine. (Elevated levels of homocysteine are associated with unwanted inflammation and risk of cardiovascular problems like atherosclerosis.) But betaine may be even more important in regulation of our inflammatory status as its presence in our diet has been associated with lower levels of several inflammatory markers, including C reactive protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. As a group, the anti-inflammatory molecules found in beets may eventually be shown to provide cardiovascular benefits in large-scale human studies, as well as anti-inflammatory benefits for other body systems.
Just thought I would look and see what beets were doing for me.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?...odspice&dbid=49

High TSH, Thyroid stimulating hormone, means you are low in thyroid. TSH is the hormone that tells your body to produce more thryoid hormone which it does if you are low.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?...profile&dbid=88
nutrients in beets but you can use this site to find nutrients in any food.

I am not crazy about eggs but LOVE bacon will also try to get more choline in my diet from kidney beans and beets as they seem to be what I am liking just now.

Your right I just looked it up the second time so much for my searching... can I trust myself eekk?
thanks don't know how I messed that up
It makes no sense that I can't sleep or maybe I just don't know enough about it yet.
thanks for the heads up.

Now... I must have borscht. With a dab of sour cream on top...

You wrote this:



Here in Germany you would qualify as hypothyroid with that TSH number. Many thyroid experts say that a "good" number - i.e. reflecting a thyroid which is working properly and not needing thyroid-stimulating hormone in the system to compensate for its low function - is around 1.

Some of the typical symptoms of hypothyroidism (low thyroid function) are sleeplessness and anxiety, as well as low magnesium. The low magnesium all by itself can contribute to sleeplessness and anxiety, so getting some decent magnesium would be a really good idea!!!

Here's a list of symptoms from a good website:

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/basics_...pochecklist.htm

If you have a TSH of six, you really need to find out if you have the thyroid antibodies of Hashimoto's.

amanda

low thyroid function is connected with insomnia.

Vitamin D3 saved me. I think if people are taking vitamin D2 (synthetic) it might do harm over too high a dose.

I suspect the real reason for official concern is not that it hurts us -- get real, half their recommendations gradually kill people, slowly and profitably -- but that D3 is one of the best things for the immune system and notoriously deficient in people. In short, I suspect the concern is because it makes you healthier.

But I may be getting cynical . . .

PJ

I will have to look that up

Splash of olive oil or pat of butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 pound of cubed or shredded beef. Leftover roast is perfect.
12 cups beef stock or broth
6 large beets, peeled and roughly chopped
1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream, chopped green onions for garnish

Preparation

1. Heat oil or butter in soup pot on medium low heat. Add onions and salt, saute until onions are soft.

2. Add beef, cook for a few more minutes.

3. Add remaining ingredients except garnish. Bring to a boil, reduce and cook covered for about an hour.

4. If you prefer a cream texture for the borscht, you can use an immersion blender to puree the soup.

5. Serve topped with a dollop of sour cream, and sprinkled with chopped green onions or chives. Do not stir the sour cream in, as makes a nice visual contrast to the rich color of the soup.

It sure sounds good. I have been grating raw beets and adding it to salads. I have changed my diet no bread a lot of veggies and beets and kidney beans most days. Hope it helps still learning going to try borscht.

The thing that I find quite odd is this:
I go for a few days feeling ok. This past wkend I had a baby shower so planned ahead to get extra rest. I evens slept about 4-5 hours that day went fine. That night I slept again it feels like I am coming out of it. I had been sleeping 2-3 hours a night for a couple of months this comes and goes over the last few years. This trip around the fatigue was immense I just could not get up did only what I had to do which is little as I have not worked in a long time. Bathing exhausts me and the whites of my eyes always go red I actually have to lay down to recover from a shower. I was not always like this I have memories of tons of energy but that is all they are now memories. I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue years ago and have been treated with antidepressants I am off them for good now I will never take them again.
I have had spells like this for years and always thought it was the chronic fatigue. If this is an actual thyroid issue would it come and go like this? Some times it is profound I really cannot get up most of the time I just have low energy/stamina. I thought the thinking problem memory foggy brain was from not sleeping.
I am starting to wonder if it has been a thyroid issue all along if so why would it come and go? Anybody...
My doctor did not give me a req for blood work and is going on vacation I could not get past her receptionist she is thinking better than I today. She will be in urgent care on Thurs I can see her there it may be a long wait is all.
What is the name of the test?
My thinking/memory is so bad at this point I am wondering if she forgot the req or if she said it at all.

Well statins interefere with your body's ability to make cholesterol (necessary for your entire body), cause all sorts of really awful side effects for lots of people, and there has never ever been one scientific study that shows taking statins has *any* benefits for any women of any age or health condition.

So would *I* take a drug that has absolutely never been proved to be helpful ijn any way for women, and that has all sorts of dreadful side effect? Not on your life. Never ever. A good article to read:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/...eally_work.html

If you have Hashimoto's (which is the cause of hypothyroidism for about 80% of the women in the western world who are hypo) it *can* vary as Hashi's can come and go in intensity. To have your thyroid tested properly at the very least you need to test Free T4, Free T4, Thyroid antibodies (anti-TPO and TgAb. YOU NEED BOTH), and should have your ferritin level checked as well.

I has diagnosed with Hashi's two years ago, October 2009, but from one tests I dug up recently I know I was actually hypothyroid at least back as early as the late 1990s, but could not get the doctor to treat me for me. In fact it was not until May of this year I finally began getting treated properly, and it has made a lot of difference! I also supplement daily with D3 as proper D3 status is also important for thyroid function. But I've cut back the dose as I know live in Florida and get more intense sunlight. We'll see how that goes.

I haven't read this entire thread, but just thought I'd add on my interesting experience with Vitamin D3. I started taking 3000 IU about 8 months ago and upped it to 5000 IU about 5 months ago. Then my doctor asked me to start taking 5,000 IU daily (after some hormone bloodwork) about 4 months ago. He was pleased I was alrerady taking 5,000 a day.

The odd thing happened a couple months ago, when I upped it to 10,000 IU (for some health benefit I read about on the net that escapes me at the present senior moment LOL) and within a month of upping to 10,000 IU, I noticed I couldn't seem to get my foods salty or sweet enough. Everything tasted "off" to me, too. And my appetite dropped way off about the same time.

It was when my husband and I were sharing a pkt of salted peanuts in a hotel room recently on a trip and I asked him if they tasted salty to him or "funny". He told me they tasted like they ought to and were VERY salty.

So I started doing some internet searching on all the various supplements I take and on "loss of sense of taste" and learned that too much D3 can cause that. And a loss of taste is often accompanied by a reduction in appetite. BINGO!

So I backed off to my 5,000 IU of Vitamin D3 about a month ago and just this past week, my sense of salty/sweet taste is coming back. My tried and true recipes taste like I know they should. My appetite is coming back. And salted peanuts taste RIGHT once again! All's well in my food world now.

So although the literature says you can take as much as 20,000-30,000 units of D3 a day......I caution people on taking above 5,000 without trepidation. The list of side effects for high levels of D3 or actual D3 toxicity is pretty scary, a lot worse than just losing your tastebud sensitivity.

If you read back you will find I started on this thread because of a bad reaction to Vitamin D3. It was low compared to what other people take. I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue/fibro in 1994. I doubt I have ever had my vit D tested until I broke my foot too easily and had a bone density test then was told by the doc to take Vit D3 had a reaction... heart pounding blinding light in my eyes and a severe headache ... then had my thryroid checked and was sent to an endo who did some tests on urine and blood that btw did not include thyroid tests... she had me take 4oo iu of vit D3 for a month.. after a couple days had anxiety and could not sleep ... at the end of the test a month long where I took it most of the time (stopped to sleep a couple times) my vit D was lower on blood tests... it has been suggested here that I was low on magnesium that is why the low blood test... bah very confusing to me just now still.... latest blood tests shows high TSH....
having another test.
BTW at a chronic fatigue site I visited many people there complain of the same reaction to Vit D3 so it may just be us that have this problem.. appears to be that way. Another site I found many people blame Vit D3 for causing migraines maybe they too are low on magnesium... it would be interesting to find out. I wonder if there is a test for magnesium I will ask when I see the doctor. I just wish there was an easier answer.