And then, at some point in a woman's life, everything started to mean something else.
That lack of energy at 7 a.m., even after a supposedly restorative night's sleep. That completely unreasonable feeling of being cold. Hair that no longer looks like hair. A gut screaming for help (ah yes, apparently it's the second brain). Clothes getting tighter from Monday to Sunday. A mood that has forgotten what a laugh is, and anxiety that seems to have taken up permanent residence in your chest.
So, off you go to the endocrinologist.
Blood tests. A few serious looks.
"No thyroid hormone. Your thyroid has decided to retire. You have one of those Western autoimmune diseases: Hashimoto's."
Very fancy, and now what?
"Now you live your normal life and take this little pill forever. First thing in the morning. On an empty stomach."
"Forever? And can I eat everything?"
"Yes, forever. Of course you can."
"Everything?"
"Yes. Just don't forget the pill."
Well, the lady quickly understood the importance of that tiny little pill. After all, it was replacing the hormone her body had decided to stop producing.
But surely that couldn't be all?
Some of the symptoms stubbornly refused to leave.
And so the research began.
Progressive, proactive, integrative endocrinologists, nutritionists specialising in autoimmune diseases, never go to ChatGPT but going anyway.
And then came the advice:
"Madam, if I were you, I'd avoid wheat. And gluten."
"But I absolutely love bread!"
"You can still eat bread. Try spelt. Or buckwheat. Or cornflour. Or those fancy sourdough bakeries with ridiculously long fermentation times."
"But they're so expensive!"
"Then bake them yourself."
And so the lady discovered, rather reluctantly, that modern wheat, and all that excess gliadin, were perhaps not her best friends after all.
It became surprisingly easy to understand why her body seemed to be permanently hosting an inflammation festival.
Because apparently having a thyroid that has gone completely useless wasn't enough.
Now she couldn't even have her beloved bread. Just simple bread.
But eventually, the lady realised: it's not just about the pill.
It's about learning to listen to what your body can actually handle.
It's about finding a new "cuisine." A new routine. A new relationship with food.
Everything becomes slower.
Everything becomes heavier.
So, you start preferring fish to meat.
Cooked food to raw.
Olive oil to whatever you used before.
Goat and sheep to cow.
Water to wine (well).
Exercise to endless scrolling.
And, somehow, you learn that taking care of yourself and living with hypothyroidism is not a punishment.
It's just a different way of living.
So, don't give up.
