Hashimoto\'s Thyroiditis Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause

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If the die-off is severe, the probiotic dose may need to be reduced to
prevent more autoimmune damage. Otherwise, immune modulation
may be attempted to desensitize the body from the toxic effects (see the
Immune Balance chapter).

Consider the following when choosing a probiotic:

1. Multiple strains of beneficial bacteria (not just L. acidophilus)


2. Concentration of active bacteria expressed as CFUs (colony
   forming units). These should be in the billion range per capsule.

Examples of Beneficial Bacteria Species (Probiotics)

Bacillus subtilis

Bifidobacterium bifidum

Bifidobacterium breve

Bifidobacterium infantis

Bifidobacterium longum

Lactobacillus acidophilus

Lactobacillus brevis

Lactobacillus bulgaricus

Lactobacillus casei

Lactobacillus delbrueckii

Lactobacillus DDS-1

Lactobacillus helveticus

Lactobacillus lactis

Lactobacillus plantarum

Lactobacillus reuteri

Lactobacillus rhamnosus

Lactobacillus salivarius

Streptococcus thermophilus

The downside of diet, probiotics, and supplements is they can take six
months to two years to change the bacterial flora. In the meantime, the
autoimmune process may still be propagating. Thyroid medications, el-
emental diet, and immune modulation (see Chapter 15) are crutches we
can use to help us along the way during our healing journey.

Prebiotics

Fiber is poorly digested by all humans and usually serves as food for
our gut bacteria. You may have heard about prebiotic fibers like inulin
and fructooligosaccharides (FOS), which are used alongside probiotics
to feed the good bacteria and encourage them to grow. Unfortunately, in
the presence of gut dysbiosis, this wonderful food gets eaten by the bad