Thy-Roid Rage

In the next week or so, I’ll be unveiling my Fat Loss Revealed Report.  I’m confident you’ll find the information useful in your weight loss goals.

In the course of writing it, I talked briefly about how weight gain is occasionally out of a person’s control.  And right then, it dawned one me:  I really haven’t talked much about unintentional weight gain.

There are of course many things that are beyond a person’s control when it comes to weight gain (e.g. Cushing’s syndrome, genetics, food sensitivities), but perhaps the most common one is hypothyroidism.  Hypothyroidism is an issue that a lot of people have emailed me about, so I want to offer my two cents on how this issue can be dealt with.

Before we get to that, though, permit me to offer some background on this condition.

The thyroid gland—located in the neck, just below the larynx—has one essential purpose, and that’s to regulate the body’s metabolic rate.  It does this by releasing thyroid hormones into the blood stream so that the things we eat can be transformed from calories into usable energy (the body is an amazing piece of work, isn’t it?).

For the vast majority of people, the thyroid never acts up.  But for about five percent of the population—the majority of whom are women—the thyroid doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormones (called thyroxine and trilodothyronine).  This leads to a whole hat full of adverse reactions for the affected person, like extreme sensitivity to cold, depression, joint pain, muscle pain, fatigue and—you guessed it—weight gain.

Hypothyroidism is treatable medicinally, as doctors often prescribe thyroid hormone replacements (commonly prescribed medications include Synthroid, Levoxyl and Levothroid).  As with most medications, they’re loaded with side effects (e.g. headache, irritability, changes in appetite, loss of bone mass).

You should consult with your doctor about whether your condition warrants medicinal treatment, but there are some alternative treatments you can take that have been helpful for many people with hypothyroidism.

Kelp is definitely a supplement to get your hands on.  The reason?  I-o-dine.

Iodine is what the thyroid uses to make thyroid hormone.  So it only makes sense to provide the thyroid with the iodine it’s lacking.  And one significant source for iodine is kelp.  Kelp supplements are very affordable and are important take if you use natural sea salt instead of table salt to flavor your foods (and I hope you are).

Another key supplement to take is tyrosine.  Tyrosine (L-Tyrosine, specifically) is an amino acid and sort of acts as the tool the thyroid uses to convert iodine into thyroid hormone.  They usually come in 500 mg tablets.  To increase absorption, take tyrosine with vitamin C.

Finally, selenium.  Like tyrosine, selenium is the other tool in the thyroid’s tool belt, used to convert thyroxine into trilodothyronine.

Want some real proof that these supplements actually worked for someone?  Then listen to this audio clip below from Steve G. Jones.  Be sure your volume is on and press play.

Lab Results Before		Lab Results After

Sources
endocrineweb.com
altmedicine.about.com
health.google.com
Balch, Phyllis A. “Prescription for Nutritional Healing.” 4th Edition. 2006. Avery: New York