Patients always want to hear that weight they can’t lose is from an underactive thyroid. Weight gain is almost always due to an under active thyroid, but not the way most people think of it. Your underactive thyroid is probably the result of some other issue that can be corrected with or without a pill. But each individual needs to decide the best way to correct their own thyroid issue. This includes the choice of the type of medicine they wish to pursue and the choices are many. Western or allopathic medicine focuses on the use of pharmaceuticals. Naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, homeopathic remedies, Ayurvedic Medicine all tend to be more preventative and wholistic, treating the cause and not just the symptoms. Everyone is a medical consumer at some point in their life. Many medical consumers aren’t aware that they have many treatment options from which to choose. Most patients decide which medicine to choose once a crisis has hit and the symptoms are apparent. Some will look into a different medicine after trying everything one type of medicine has to offer fails to alleviate the symptoms. Learning which medicine is more likely to suit you before you need it would be a form of prevention. It’s your health, you decide.
If the inability to lose weight is the only symptom related to the possible thyroid issue, an evaluation of diet and exercise would obviously be the first area to address. As we age our metabolism naturally slows down. In order to keep weight under control, changes to lifestyle are key. Calorie counting may be needed to verify consumption of 1500 calories or less a day. Complete a diet diary and use one of the online programs like Sparkpeople.com to verify the calories. Many people are shocked at the number of calories they are consuming unwittingly. Math for calorie counters simplified: the average person with average activity will burn 1500 calories a day. If you eat the same your weight won’t change. Eat less and your body will burn some of the extra calories that are stored. A body needs to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 lb. So eating 1000 calories a day, burning an extra 500 a day for 7 days will burn one pound. Whether it is or isn’t a thyroid issue, lifestyle is going to make all the difference with the weight issue.
If there are more symptoms such as hair loss or chills or muscle pains, joint pain, heart palpitations, low basal body temperature, poor immune response, mood symptoms, anxiety, insomnia, sleep too much, forgetful, headaches, dry hair and or eyes, skin pigmentation, high cholesterol, constipation, infertility, muscle weakness, – ok you get the idea.
The thyroid is so connected to the metabolic processes in the body that just about any symptom that involves a metabolic process can be related to the thyroid. Problems with kidneys or liver can cause the metabolites needed for thyroid hormones to be out of balance. Adrenal issues can cause thyroid problems. Heat production is regulated by the thyroid hormone increasing oxygen consumption to stimulate the metabolism which also needs sodium and potassium, and involves the metabolism for carbohydrates, fats and proteins. When this is out of balance you get chills. Nutrients required for thyroid metabolism process include iodine, vitamin E, selenium (frequently deficient in our food supply), niacin, other B vitamins (B vitamins are complex to digest properly), vitamin D (most people today are deficient in vitamin D) as well as deficiency in any other nutrient causing an imbalance in another organ or gland needed to keep thyroid function optimal. The thyroid needs a signal from your pituitary gland via Thyroid Stimulating Hormone or TSH, to make more thyroid hormone. T4 then converts that hormone into a more active hormone T3 in the liver. Again you get the idea.
Did you get all that? You don’t have to. The point is that a thyroid issue may not be just a thyroid issue. The best way to really correct a thyroid issue is to look at the big picture of overall health and correct any imbalance that might be causing the problems with the thyroid. Looking at health history, current symptoms, lab results for thyroid and correcting any imbalances that could directly or indirectly affect the function of the thyroid hormones is the most effective way to correct thyroid related issues.
Getting the big picture is an important part of resolving health issues. Deciding what the best treatment option is will be the decision of the patient. Even if already being treated by one type of medicine, there is no reason not to see what other alternatives might be useful. Making a decision on one’s health shouldn’t be to take the pill or not take the pill. It should be a decision about how to improve overall health to prevent more or worsening health issues. It’s your health, you decide.
Submitted by Ann Aresco, ND of ProNatural Physicians Group LLC located at 355 New Britain Rd. in Kensington, CT. For more information, call 860-505-0702.