Water, High Fiber and High SHGB

I have recently read the site of a man who has written a book questioning the validity of Doctors who advocate drinking high volumes of water and eating a high fiber diet (or supplementing with mass quantities of psyllium or something similar). As I find his argument compelling, I am thinking of ordering his book. Here is his site:

Obviously I don’t think he is advocating extremely low fiber, just against the really HIGH FIBER.

I mention this in this forum, because yesterday at the Doctor I got a handout stating that a high fiber diet can lead to high SHBG. Now I haven’t had time to research this more, but I thought I would pass this on in case some of you were having problems with high SHBG even though you might have eliminated the most common culprit: high levels of estrogen. I have indeed done this (lowered estrogen…possibly TOO much), yet have a slightly elevated SHBG.

According to this sheet, here are some factors that may cause HIGH SHBG:

hyperthyroidism
thyroxine therapy
significant weight loss (recent)
smoking
caffeine
HIGH FIBER DIET
oral estrogens or high levels of endogenous estrogens and estrone metabolites
oral contraceptives
Medications: Tamoxifen, carbamazepine, dilantin and other anti-convulsants, clomiphene, metformin, and rifampin

High SHBF results in lower levels of tesstosterone.

For all categories

Evaluate and normalize thyroid function
DHEA supplementation may reduce SHBG
androgens generally lower SHBG
Minimize exposure to xeno-estrogens (don’t heat food in plastic containers)

Glad you posted this. I take meds for my thyroid and labwork for thyroid levels show i’m in the high range now. But my SHBG was high also. I’ve had trouble trying to pin down the cause(s), but this is the first time I heard about thyroid meds influencing SHBG. Very interesting.

Eugene Shippen in “The Testosterone Syndrome” references several drugs that increase E by overloading liver P450 enzyme pathways. Page 211 in the paper back version. Trazodone is very bad for this and can sometimes lead to low T + gyno. Many drugs [most?] have this effect. As well as grapefruit and alcohol.

Anything that increases E2 will increase SHBG as a secondary effect. I have never read that P450 loading directly increases SHBG production in the liver.

Carbamazepine is reported to speed up the P450 enzyme system; lowering E. This seems to be a conflict. Trazodone also has this P450 speedup effect.

Note the spelling variation:
“”“Carbamezapine �?? Carbamepazine was originally developed for prevention of seizures, but is also now used for treatment of bipolar disorder. It is usually taken twice per day. The most common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, low sodium level, rash, itching, low white blood cell count, and fluid retention. Blood testing to monitor the carbamazepine level, liver function, and blood counts is recommended every 6 to 12 months.”“”

Some of your material appears here:
http://www.homeopathicdoctor.ca/GSDL/Sample_Reports/Endo/r_whha_hrt.pdf

Note that flax seed is stated to be the major concern for fiber.

Google [“flax seed” SHBG] and you will find research showing no significant effects. Perhaps the amounts consumed need to be very large. I am now suspicious of such claims.

Very interesting stuff entheogens.

One thing on that list that gives me pause is caffeine. That’s the second time this week I’ve seen that caffeine may be indicated in high E/SHBG. I’ve already read - but never seen any actual research - that green tea increases SHBG.

Anyone ever actually see any research supporting this^^?

minor edits…

No matter how much I learn about SHBG, it seems to only get more confusing to me…

[quote]Chushin wrote:
I assume SHGB can be checked via bloodwork?[/quote]

Yes, it can.

Sorry if i’m hijacking the thread but it might be worth checking this thread if you haven’t:

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_senior/when_is_bioavailable_t_too_low

It was very interesting to read Bill Robert’s approach on SHBG & testosterone.

Poophead (I hate to call you that, but you asked for it),

That’s no hijack - that was fascinating. No wonder I’ve been getting confused about SHBG. Thanks so much :slight_smile:

Here is a link to a review of that book (mentioned in the first post) about the problems with High Fiber, High volume water drink: http://westonaprice.org/bookreviews/fiber-menace.html

The more I read, the more experiece I get, the more I really believe that we need to eat as our primitive ancestors did. Obviously there are things about that we don’t know about that.

However, I was curious to read the Bowden article on here yesterday, in which he claimed that our prehistoric ancestors ate a high fiber diet. How does he know this? If we take a look at the remaining hunter-gatherer societies, like the Eskimos (at least the ones that had been touched when investigated by modern anthropologists, etc) and the Masai, for example, they don’t eat a high fiber diet and drink voluminous amounts of water. Hell, just about all of the fiber the Eskimos eat are digested vegetables that they take from animals’ stomachs

I was about to comment on Bowden’s stance, you beat me to it though. I’d love to hear his response concerning this issue.