THYROID THE MASTER METABOLISM HORMONE

The thyroid has gotten a great deal of attention in the past 15 years!  It is a very important metabolic gland in our bodies.  It is our “pilot burner” or “metabolic gatekeeper.”  I like to be sure that all of the patients I am working with on medical weight loss via the HCG Diet have optimal thyroid function!

The thyroid is small, butterfly-shaped gland, located in the front of the neck. It is responsible for keeping your metabolism running smoothly. If it’s under-producing thyroid hormones—a condition known as hypothyroid—then your metabolic engine is idling really low and fat gain is made a bit easier.  I would not say that optimizing thyroid is going to get rid of fat from a high sugar, high carb diet but it will surely help to optimize a sub-par thyroid gland.

David Brownstein, MD, one of the leading experts in the integrative treatment of thyroid disorders stated that, “When the thyroid gland is releasing inadequate amounts of thyroid hormone to meet the body’s metabolic demands, the metabolic rate is therefore reduced.” He also shared that “Thyroid hormone acts as the body’s metabolic regulator, every single muscle, organ and cell in the body depends on adequate thyroid hormone levels for achieving and maintaining optimal functioning.”

What Slows the Thyroid Down

“Constantly eating devitalized food will result in deficiencies of vitamins, minerals and other essential products and will inevitably lead to hormonal and immune system abnormalities,” writes Brownstein. Not surprisingly, he identifies sugar and refined carbohydrates among the major culprits.

Brownstein also considers detoxification essential to a healthy, functioning thyroid (which, in turn, is essential for a healthy fat-burning metabolism).   “One of the main reasons the thyroid gland can malfunction is from exposure to heavy metals, including mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic and nickel,” he writes. “These agents poison enzyme systems throughout the body and decrease the normal functioning of various organs and glands including the thyroid gland. Detoxifying the body and removing these harmful elements can vastly improve the overall picture of one’s health.”

When you have a sugar-burning metabolism, it virtually guarantees that the thyroid won’t be working at optimal levels. As we’ve seen, a sugar-burning metabolism is a fast track to leptin resistance.  Leptin resistance is then a fast track to being hungry all the time, since there’s a disconnect between the brain and the body—your fat cells and your tummy may be full, but your brain never gets the message. Since your brain thinks you’re starving—and no food is coming in—it makes an “executive decision” to conserve energy, which it does by slowing down the thyroid.

This is the vicious cycle that I work to eliminate with many of my patients. I have found that detoxification and resetting habits and patterns with food over 3-6 months will help my patients find optimal balance.  It’s important is to understand that they all work together and until, and unless, you take specific steps to get them all fixed, you’ll be stuck in sugar-burning, fat-gaining cycle.

Categories: Body Composition, Eating Well, Food Information, General Wellness, hCG Diet, HCG Diet Weight Loss, HCG Weight Loss, Weight Loss