Where Healing is a Science

Natural Path Health Center

Does your Thyroid need to be Turned on?

Are you always tired?  Do gain weight easily or have a hard time losing it?  Do you have to wear socks to bed even in the summer?  Are your hair and/or eye brows thinning? Do you have chronic constipation? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions hypothyroidism may be an issue for you.

How Does Hypothyroidism Affect Weight Loss?

The thyroid gland is your metabolic powerhouse.  Not producing enough active thyroid hormone can have a huge impact on a person's ability to lose weight.  This is because the thyroid directly regulates an individual's metabolism. When someone has hypothyroidism (low thyroid production), they will often have a decreased basal metabolic rate (BMR), making it easy to gain weight and difficult to lose it. Some experts estimate that as many as 20 million Americans are currently suffering from undiagnosed hypothyroidism (Blanchard and Brill xiii).  Considering that the thyroid gland regulates our metabolism makes it very apparent how hypothyroidism could severely impact weight loss resistance.

As demonstrated from the list below, there can be great variation in the symptoms that individuals with hypothyroidism can experience: (Blanchard and Brill 103-107)

Hypothyroidism can greatly impact an individual's health in multiple ways.  As mentioned above, the thyroid gland is really a metabolic powerhouse.  If you think of the thyroid gland as a thermostat, when the thermostat is running low, every process in the body works slower.  A depressed metabolic rate is one of the biggest contributors to weight loss resistance.

How do I know if this is one of my areas of weight loss resistance?

Considering that the thyroid does regulate body temperature, having a consistent body temperature lower than 97.6 º F can be indicative of subclinical hypothyroidism.

With that in mind, try the following test in the convenience of your own home:

Barnes Basal Temperature Test
Normal Range = 97.6 º F – 98.2 º F

1. Use an oral thermometer that has been shaken down to below 95º F and place it next to your bedside before going to sleep at night. (You can find non-digital thermometers at Walgreens.)
2. On waking, place the thermometer in your armpit for a full 10 minutes.  It is important to make as little movement as possible.
3. After 10 minutes, read and record the temperature.  Record the temperature for at least 3 mornings.  Menstruating women should perform the test on the second, third and fourth days of their cycle.  Postmenopausal women and men can perform it any time.
4. Any number below 97.6 º F is an indication of sub clinical hypothyroidism.

What you can do to improve your thyroid function

• Supply the body with the proper nutrients– The body needs adequate amounts of iodine and selenium to produce thyroid hormones.  A diet that is deficient in these nutrients can lead to hypothyroidism.   Supplementing with iodine drops made from dulse, a seaweed, or using a product called Thyrosol (1-2 capsules twice daily) gives the body necessary building blocks to make thyroid hormone.  If additional support is needed, or if testing indicates a low Free T3 or Free T4 level, you can add T-100 – 1-2 tablets twice daily.
• Avoid Toxicity - Toxic chemicals have the ability to affect the thyroid in a negative way.  A group of chemicals called endocrine disruptors has been shown to disrupt the hormonal processes in the body.  The most well known endocrine disruptors are PCBs, insecticides, mercury and fluoride. (Blanchard and Brill 186)  Choosing organic foods, filtering your water and using fluoride free toothpaste are all steps to lower toxic load that may be affecting your thyroid.  Additional support is often necessary to help the body detoxify; take our Toxicity Self-Test and follow the recommendations to address your specific underlying imbalances.

• Do away with goitrogenic foods – There are certain foods that reduce the body's ability to use iodine sufficiently to convert T4 to T3. (Langer and Scheer 31) The following is a list of foods that contain goitrogens: cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, rutabaga, turnips, soybeans, peanuts, pine nuts, walnuts and millet.  Cooking usually will deactivate goitrogens, so it is best to limit or cook these foods when hypothyroidism is an issue. (Murray 126)

The list above provides just a few suggestions, but there are many reasons why an individual would have hypothyroidism.  Having a full thyroid panel done by your doctor that includes TSH, Free T3 and Free T4 would be very beneficial.  If having an under-functioning thyroid is an issue for you, remember that there are many steps that can be taken to naturally increase and balance thyroid function. If you’d like to learn more, be sure to attend one of our Overcoming Weight Loss Resistance Seminars – to find out more about these seminars or our Optimal Body Balance program or contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Yours in health,

Sheila Robertson

Program Director, Optimal Body Balance

Natural Path Health Center

Resources:

Blanchard, Ken and Marietta Brill. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypothyroidism. NY: Warner Wellness, 2004.

Langer, Stephen and James Scheer. Solved: The Riddle of Illness.  NY: McGraw-Hill, 2006.

Murray, Michael. Total Body Tune-Up. New York: Bantam Books, 2000.