Meep

Hopefully it shoudl help, but keep in mind the other factors as well.

Drinking in moderation and occasionally shouldn't be much of a problem, BUT since alcohol is a stress on your liver, it does interfere with conversion. I like to have my beer once or twice a week, too, though, so who am I to judge?

I am glad you feel great. I know that I wouldn't with labs like yours (been there), but we are all different and have different needs.

Judging by your labs, there is no worry of that right now.

Yes, but not as directly as taking your meds and supplements and properly feeding the thyroid gland and liver.

Congrats on the weight loss, but, just because low-carbing helps you lose weight doesn't mean it is good for you.

On the Atkins website, they quote a medical journal article in which it is pointed out that TSH and T3 will both drop when you are on a low-carb diet. Atkins people clam that this is normal, but I disagree. T3 should remain at a fairly constant level regardless of weight (same concentration in your blood), and TSH is not stable enough to care about anyhow. They point out that the higher your fat intake, the more your T3 would drop on a low-carb diet.
Low carbing causes your T3 to drop, because it is a strain on the liver. The liver, because it is deprived of glucose and simple carbohydrates has to work extra hard to convert glycogen which was previously stored in your muscle tissue to glucose, which is a difficult process. This leaves little or no time for T3 conversion.

Low carbing causes your TSH to drop, because your body, sensing a deprivation of necessary nutrients (carbohydrates are a nutrient, too) wants to slow your metabolism. Why would you want to SLOW your metabolism to lose weight? The goal in weight loss is to RAISE your metabolism to help you shed the pounds, then maintain that higher metabolism to keep the weight off, right? Isn't that what a reputable nutritionist would tell you? So how is low-carbing good if it tries to lower your metabolism in two ways (dropping TSH and dropping T3)?

Another point to consider is that a great deal of the initial weight loss that is so "impressive" when low carbing is water weight. Glycogen attracts water. For every gram of Glycogen stored in your gody, there are 2.5 grams of water stored with it. When your body starts burning up glycogen for fuel, then you naturally start shedding water weight. There are other ways to lose water weight, like keeping yourself properly hydrated by drinking plenty of water (at least a half-gallon/two liters daily). Sodas, coffee, and tea don't count. Caffeine also liberates glycogen, thus the diuretic effect it has, but this is not the way!

Glycogen is what you get energy from when you release adrenaline. It is meant to be an emergency supply of energy in times of great stress, so depleting your glycogen by low carbing and ingesting caffeine reduces your body's reserve energy source and might leave you less able to react in an emergency situation when your body actually NEEDS glycogen.

Diet if you must, but be educated on the effects of the diet. Study not only the materials that support the diet, because they tell you only the "good" (you'll lose weight), but don't tell you the bad, but study the scientific literature on the diet that exposs the weaknesses, too. Weight the strengths and the weaknesses and make sure you know what you are getting into.

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Danny

I am not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV...