Additional Gut Healing Roadblocks To Be Aware Of

Welcome to Healthy Gut Healthy Thyroid!

This is your weekly roundup of the BEST actionable steps for those people with thyroid and autoimmune thyroid conditions who want to restore their health…by healing their gut. Whether you have hyperthyroidism or Hashimoto’s you will benefit from the content in this newsletter.

In today's issue:

• Main Topic: Additional Gut Healing Roadblocks to Be Aware Of

• Podcast Review: Conquering SIBO and Post Infectious IBS with Lindsey Parsons

• Ask Dr. Eric: Is it safe to eat sourdough bread and healthier forms of wheat?

Additional Gut Healing Roadblocks

In April 2025 I published an article on “Gut Healing Roadblocks”, but there are many more to discuss, and so consider this “part 2” of that article.

In some cases gut healing can be relatively simple, as there have been people with digestive symptoms who eliminated their symptoms and significantly improved their gut health by making a few basic changes to their diet. On the other hand, in many cases healing the gut can be complex. While eating a healthy diet is without question important, diet is often just one piece of the healing puzzle.

It's easy to get discouraged when you're not seeing things head in the right direction, but just remember that healing isn't always linear. There will often be ups and downs along the way. You might experience a period where you're feeling great, only to have symptoms flare up again.

This doesn't necessarily mean you're moving backwards or that the protocol you’re following isn't working. Sometimes healing involves setbacks, adjustments, and periods of slower progress before you begin moving forward again.

That being said, there definitely are times when someone hits a genuine roadblock. And if these roadblocks aren't addressed, they can delay progress and make it much more difficult to achieve lasting results.

What I'd like to do in this article is discuss seven additional gut-healing roadblocks people experience.

Roadblock #1: Having a Negative Gut Healing Mindset

Having a positive mindset is so important when it comes to healing not only your gut, but your overall health as well. While it's perfectly normal to have some skepticism, this doesn't mean that you can't still maintain a positive outlook.

In other words, if you constantly have a negative mindset and tell yourself things such as "I'll never get better," "I'm a tough case," or "nothing ever works for me," this really can have a negative impact on your recovery. Your thoughts affect your actions, and your actions affect your results.

In addition, you don't want to compare yourself to others or expect perfection. Everyone heals at a different pace. Some people notice improvements within a few weeks, while others take several months before they begin to see significant changes. Just because someone else healed faster than you doesn't mean you're doing something wrong.

Finally, try your best not to become discouraged by setbacks. This is one of the biggest challenges people face during their healing journey. You might have a bad week after several good weeks and assume that all of your progress has been lost. Most of the time this isn't the case. Healing is rarely a straight line. As long as you're continuing to move in the right direction overall, temporary setbacks are often just part of the process.

Roadblock #2: Not Being Strict Enough With the Diet

Although diet is usually just one piece of the puzzle, it's an important piece. If you eat inflammatory foods on a regular basis, it will be difficult to heal.

In a previous newsletter I discussed the different inflammatory foods, and so I won't discuss them again here. But I'll remind you that in some cases, even having some of these inflammatory foods on an occasional basis can serve as a gut-healing roadblock.

While some people might be able to get away with occasional exposures, the truth is that everyone is different. Some people are far more sensitive than others. What seems like a small dietary indiscretion can sometimes trigger symptoms, increase inflammation, or slow down the healing process.

As a result, if you seem to be hitting a roadblock in your gut-healing journey, you might want to re-evaluate your diet and see if there are areas where you can clean things up further. And if you find it difficult to avoid certain inflammatory foods while away from home, you may simply need to do a better job of planning ahead.

Roadblock #3: Being Too Restrictive With the Diet

This might seem contradictory to what I just said, but there's a big difference between doing everything you can to avoid inflammatory foods and becoming overly restrictive with healthy foods.

For example, I commonly recommend an autoimmune Paleo (AIP) diet for people with Graves' disease and Hashimoto's. While AIP is certainly restrictive, it doesn't have to become excessively restrictive. The goal is to remove foods that may be contributing to inflammation while still maintaining as much dietary variety as possible.

Problems can arise when someone starts layering multiple diets on top of one another. For example, combining an AIP diet with a low-histamine diet, low-FODMAP diet, low-oxalate diet, and other dietary restrictions can quickly result in a very limited list of foods.

Similarly, you might read the previous newsletter on oxalates and decide to eliminate not only high-oxalate foods but many moderately high-oxalate foods as well. Before long, your food choices become extremely limited.

While it's important to eat an anti-inflammatory diet, you don't want to become obsessed with dietary perfection. The truth is that nobody is perfect. Trying to achieve perfection can create unnecessary stress and anxiety around food, which ironically can interfere with healing.

In addition, an overly restrictive diet can increase the risk of nutrient deficiencies and may reduce the diversity of your gut microbiome. Remember, one of the goals of gut healing is to improve microbial diversity, and eating a wider variety of healthy foods often helps accomplish this.

Roadblock #4: Ignoring Chronic Stress

I already discussed the impact of chronic stress on the gut in past newsletters, and so you shouldn't be surprised that it's one of the most common gut-healing roadblocks.

Just as a reminder, you're probably not going to eliminate all of your stressors anytime soon. Because of this, your focus should be on improving your stress-handling skills.

A lot of it comes down to your perception of stress. Two people can experience the exact same stressful event and have completely different physiological responses to it.

Chronic stress not only negatively affects the gut, but it can also affect numerous other systems in the body. You already know that it can impact the adrenals, but it can also interfere with sleep, blood sugar regulation, immune function, and hormone balance.

If stress is still a major factor in your life, then by all means make sure you get into the routine of stress management by blocking out at least five minutes per day for mind-body medicine. However, some people need to go beyond meditation, deep breathing, or prayer.

For example, vagus nerve exercises can help shift your nervous system from a sympathetic ("fight-or-flight") state into a parasympathetic ("rest-and-digest") state. Others might benefit from brain retraining programs, somatic work, counseling, or addressing unresolved emotional trauma. The key is finding what works for you and making it a regular part of your routine.

Roadblock #5: Not Finding All of Your Leaky Gut Triggers

While certain foods such as gluten can be leaky gut triggers, sometimes additional testing is needed to uncover other factors that may be interfering with healing.

For example, while you can assume that chronic stress is a trigger, I usually recommend adrenal testing to evaluate how stress is affecting the body. Sometimes the results reveal significant imbalances that need to be addressed before meaningful progress can occur.

Depending on the person's health history, other functional medicine tests may also be recommended. For example, an organic acids test might reveal fungal overgrowth, bacterial imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, or mitochondrial dysfunction.

A urinary mycotoxin test can help determine whether mold exposure is playing a role. Comprehensive stool testing may uncover infections, inflammation, low digestive enzymes, or significant dysbiosis.

The point is that if someone isn't progressing as expected, there may be hidden factors that haven't yet been identified. Sometimes finding that missing piece is what finally allows healing to move forward.

Roadblock #6: Not Removing All of Your Leaky Gut Triggers

While identifying leaky gut triggers is important, sometimes the problem is that the triggers haven't been fully removed. For example, gluten might be an issue, but the person continues to consume it intentionally or is unknowingly exposed through cross-contamination.

Another example is someone who has a gut infection and either doesn't follow the recommended protocol or follows it but doesn't fully eradicate the infection. This is fairly common. Someone might complete an herbal antimicrobial protocol for H. pylori or parasites and assume the infection is gone.

But some infections can be stubborn, and the only way to know with confidence whether they have been addressed is through retesting.

The same concept applies to mold exposure, chronic stress, environmental toxins, and other factors. Identifying a trigger is only half the battle. The other half is taking the necessary steps to remove or minimize it.

Roadblock #7: Relying Too Much on Supplements

Without question there is a time and place for nutritional supplements and herbs, but more supplements isn't always better. And they're definitely not a substitute for eating a healthy diet and addressing the underlying causes of dysfunction.

While I do recommend some general supplements for most people I work with, such as probiotics and omega-3 fatty acids, many other supplements are chosen based on a person's specific health history and test results.

One mistake people make is believing that if a few supplements are helpful, then taking twice as many supplements will lead to twice the results. Unfortunately, healing doesn't work this way.

In fact, I've worked with people who were taking 20, 30, or even more supplements per day, yet they weren't making significant progress. Sometimes they were spending hundreds of dollars per month on supplements while overlooking the basics such as diet, sleep, stress management, movement, and finding their triggers.

Supplements should support the healing process. They shouldn't become the healing process.

Final Thoughts

Healing your gut can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially when progress is slower than expected. The good news is that most gut-healing roadblocks can be overcome once they are identified.

Whether the issue is mindset, diet, stress, hidden triggers, or relying too heavily on supplements, the key is to stay committed and continue moving forward. Remember that healing isn't always linear. There will be challenges and setbacks along the way, but setbacks don't mean failure.

Stay focused on the fundamentals, be willing to adjust your approach when necessary, and trust the process. If you consistently do the right things over time, your gut—and ultimately your overall health—can improve in ways that once seemed impossible.

Which Hyperthyroid Healing Diet Should You Follow?

There’s no single diet that everyone with hyperthyroidism should follow. Diet selection is a highly personal choice that must consider individual health conditions, lifestyle, and preferences.

In my book, The Hyperthyroid Healing Diet, I explore three different diets in detail, explaining what each involves and how you can start implementing the right one for you. This book will benefit those with Graves' disease, toxic multinodular goiter, and subclinical hyperthyroidism.

There is a lot of confusion when it comes to the foods people with hyperthyroidism should eat and which ones they should avoid, and the truth is that there isn’t a single diet that fits everyone perfectly. That’s why The Hyperthyroid Healing Diet doesn’t just focus on one diet, but instead gives multiple diet options, while at the same time guiding you towards the one most suitable for your situation and condition.

Note: those who purchase The Hyperthyroid Healing Diet will also gain access to the online resources, which includes dozens of recipes, checklists related to the different diet options, and a few bonus chapters not included in the book.

By reading this book you will discover the following:

✅ The ideal diet for Graves’ disease, toxic multinodular goiter, subacute thyroiditis, and subclinical hyperthyroidism

✅ Hidden sources of common allergens and other ingredients to avoid 3 ways to detect specific food triggers

✅ How much protein those with hyperthyroidism should consume on a daily basis

✅ The truth about food sources of iodine

✅ How to increase muscle mass and bone density

✅ What diet you should follow if you’re a vegan or vegetarian

✅ Addressing weight loss and weight gain concerns

✅ What you need to do to achieve optimal adrenal health How to optimize your adrenals, improve sleep quality and duration, and heal your gut

✅ And much, much more!

Click Here to Order the Hyperthyroid Healing Diet

Save My Thyroid Podcast Review

I have a podcast called "Save My Thyroid", where I discuss how people with hyperthyroidism and Hashimoto's can save their thyroid and regain their health. And during each edition of this newsletter I'll briefly discuss a recent podcast episode.

In a recent podcast episode I chatted with Lindsey Parsens about Conquering SIBO and Post Infectious IBS. In this episode we explore the deeper root causes behind SIBO—especially post-infectious IBS. Lindsey shares her personal journey from food poisoning to chronic gut issues and autoimmune conditions, eventually leading her to specialize in helping others heal complex digestive disorders.

We dive into what really drives recurrent SIBO, explaining how an autoimmune response triggered by food poisoning can damage the migrating motor complex, leading to ongoing bacterial overgrowth. Lindsey breaks down the differences between hydrogen and methane SIBO, the role of fungal overgrowth (SIFO), and why many traditional approaches fail to provide lasting results. The conversation also covers testing options like the IBS Smart test, limitations of breath testing, and how to better assess the gut microbiome.

You’ll also learn about effective treatment strategies, including when to use antibiotics versus herbal antimicrobials, the emerging use of MSM, the controversy around berberine, and the critical role of prokinetics in long-term management. If you want a clearer, more balanced understanding of why SIBO keeps coming back and how to manage it effectively, you’ll get a lot out of this episode.

Ask Dr. Eric

During every issue I'll answer a question or two that I think can benefit most people with a thyroid or autoimmune thyroid condition. If you'd like for me to consider your question for a future edition of this newsletter email your question to [email protected].

QUESTION: IS IT SAFE TO EAT SOURDOUGH BREAK AND HEALTHIER FORMS OF WHEAT?

Dr. Eric, is it safe to eat sourdough bread and healthier forms of wheat such as Ezekiel bread? And if the answer is “no”, is it okay to eat these after I have healed?

Thanks for your question! It's actually quite common for people to ask whether they can eat sourdough bread, sprouted breads, and other "healthier" forms of wheat.

With regard to sourdough bread, while the fermentation process may make gluten easier for some people to tolerate, I still recommend avoiding all forms of gluten while trying to restore your health, and that includes sourdough bread.

Many years ago, some research suggested that people with Celiac disease might be able to safely eat sourdough bread,¹ but subsequent research has shown this not to be the case.² So if you have Celiac disease, you definitely should avoid sourdough bread unless it is specifically gluten-free. But even if you don't have Celiac disease or a known gluten sensitivity, I still recommend avoiding it while healing.

The reason for this is that gluten has been shown to potentially increase intestinal permeability (leaky gut) in susceptible individuals, and some evidence suggests it may affect gut barrier function more broadly. So it's not just about whether someone reacts to gluten with obvious symptoms. Even if you tolerate it well, there is still a concern about the effect it may have on gut health.

Ezekiel bread is made from sprouted grains and legumes, and I do agree that it's healthier than conventional bread. Sprouting can improve digestibility and reduce certain antinutrients. However, it still contains wheat, and because of this I also recommend avoiding it while healing.

As for whether you can eat these types of bread after you have restored your health, this honestly depends on the person. Some functional medicine practitioners recommend that people with autoimmune conditions such as Graves' disease and Hashimoto's permanently avoid gluten, even after they have restored their health. And there are certainly plenty of gluten-free alternatives available these days.

That said, even after healing, the goal should be to eat mostly whole, nutrient-dense foods. Just because something is gluten-free doesn't automatically make it healthy. A gluten-free cookie is still a cookie, and many gluten-free products are highly processed.

I will say that some people seem to tolerate healthier forms of gluten after healing, including traditional sourdough bread, while others do not. Everyone is different.

I'll wrap this up by saying that even if you can tolerate gluten from a symptom perspective, you don't necessarily know what effect it might be having on your intestinal barrier. This describes me as well. I don't feel bad when I'm accidentally exposed to gluten, or even when I occasionally eat something that contains it. But that doesn't mean there wouldn't be consequences if I consumed gluten consistently.

In other words, symptoms don't always tell the whole story. The absence of symptoms doesn't automatically mean a food is helping your health—or even that it's completely harmless. This is one reason why I continue to minimize my gluten consumption even after being in remission from Graves' disease. While I don't believe everyone needs to be perfect, I do think it's wise to be cautious when it comes to gluten, especially if you have an autoimmune condition or are actively working to heal your gut.

Additional Thyroid-Related Resources

Click Here for Conquering SIBO and Post Infectious IBS with Lindsey Parsons (episode 244)

Click Here to access hundreds of thyroid-related articles and blog posts

Click Here to join the Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s community

Click Here to purchase one of Dr. Eric’s thyroid-related books

Click Here to work with Dr. Eric and his team

References:

(1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20975578/

(2) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4425136/

That’s a wrap