Is Your Thyroid Making You Fat?
Is Your Thyroid Making You Fat?
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland, situated in the front part of your neck, which produces hormones needed for normal metabolism. Essentially, you can think of your thyroid hormones as the drums in an orchestra or band; thyroid hormones set the rhythm and the pace for most of our body functions – they regulate our metabolic rate and how fast or slow our organs and tissues function.
Disordered thyroid function, therefore, upsets the whole rhythm of the body.
Dysfunction of the thyroid can cause a number of different symptoms. Thyroid problems can affect weight, energy levels, appetite and mood; but the effects will be different depending on whether the thyroid gland is over functioning or under functioning. Hypothyroidism is a state of under-activity of the thyroid gland with an underproduction of thyroid hormone – as if the drums have slowed down and the beat that is running how our body functions is too slow.
When your body does not produce enough of the thyroid hormone, the body’s metabolism slows so much that you can experience symptoms such as:
TSH is a test that often does more harm than good. Often blood test results show TSH within the “normal range”, suggesting a healthy functioning thyroid gland. However in the same person T3 and T4 are often low. If we relied solely on the presence of elevated TSH results, many unfortunate people suffering from the signs and symptoms of hypothyroid would be misdiagnosed.
It has also been shown that pituitary TSH production is inhibited by the stress hormone, cortisol. So if you are suffering from adrenal exhaustion, you may be suppressing the much needed TSH production required for hypothyroid states and thus falsely reducing TSH test results.
There is also a lot of debate regarding the accuracy of the so called “normal range” for thyroid hormones. Most laboratories in Australia indicate the “normal range” of TSH is from 0.3 to 5mIU/L however investigations have shown that levels greater than 2 may actually indicate adverse health risks.
Many patients are incorrectly diagnosed as healthy, because their TSH levels are in the “normal range”.
For a more accurate method of diagnosis you should ask your health care professional to order the following blood tests as a more accurate assessment of thyroid function can be made: TSH, T4, T3, reverse T3, anti-thyroglobulin, anti-microsomal anti-bodies, and Vit D.
For natural ways to boost your thyroid function check out my blog, 9 Natural Ways to Optimize Your Metabolism.
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland, situated in the front part of your neck, which produces hormones needed for normal metabolism. Essentially, you can think of your thyroid hormones as the drums in an orchestra or band; thyroid hormones set the rhythm and the pace for most of our body functions – they regulate our metabolic rate and how fast or slow our organs and tissues function.
Disordered thyroid function, therefore, upsets the whole rhythm of the body.
Dysfunction of the thyroid can cause a number of different symptoms. Thyroid problems can affect weight, energy levels, appetite and mood; but the effects will be different depending on whether the thyroid gland is over functioning or under functioning. Hypothyroidism is a state of under-activity of the thyroid gland with an underproduction of thyroid hormone – as if the drums have slowed down and the beat that is running how our body functions is too slow.
When your body does not produce enough of the thyroid hormone, the body’s metabolism slows so much that you can experience symptoms such as:
- Weight gain
- Tiredness and fatigue
- Anxiety or depression
- Irritability
- Intolerance to cold weather
- Brittle hair
- A croaky, hoarse voice
- Constipation
- Reduced sex drive
- Hair loss
- Fluid retention
- Poor memory and concentration
- Dry skin, hair and/or nails.
You May Still Have a Thyroid Problem Despite your Test Results
Your doctor will routinely order a blood test when diagnosing hypothyroidism. The most common test is the TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) test, as a hypothyroid state will often first manifest itself with elevated TSH levels. In theory, as thyroid hormone levels begin to decrease, the brain registers this decrease and tries to compensate by increasing TSH secretion in order to stimulate the thyroid gland to produce more thyroid hormones. In reality the TSH test is not the most accurate indicator of thyroid problems and is considered by several experts as scientifically outdated for diagnoising an underactive thyroid. There are many other factors to consider such as inflammation, infection, stress, oestrogen dominance, heavy metal toxicity or dieting.TSH is a test that often does more harm than good. Often blood test results show TSH within the “normal range”, suggesting a healthy functioning thyroid gland. However in the same person T3 and T4 are often low. If we relied solely on the presence of elevated TSH results, many unfortunate people suffering from the signs and symptoms of hypothyroid would be misdiagnosed.
It has also been shown that pituitary TSH production is inhibited by the stress hormone, cortisol. So if you are suffering from adrenal exhaustion, you may be suppressing the much needed TSH production required for hypothyroid states and thus falsely reducing TSH test results.
There is also a lot of debate regarding the accuracy of the so called “normal range” for thyroid hormones. Most laboratories in Australia indicate the “normal range” of TSH is from 0.3 to 5mIU/L however investigations have shown that levels greater than 2 may actually indicate adverse health risks.
Many patients are incorrectly diagnosed as healthy, because their TSH levels are in the “normal range”.
For a more accurate method of diagnosis you should ask your health care professional to order the following blood tests as a more accurate assessment of thyroid function can be made: TSH, T4, T3, reverse T3, anti-thyroglobulin, anti-microsomal anti-bodies, and Vit D.
For natural ways to boost your thyroid function check out my blog, 9 Natural Ways to Optimize Your Metabolism.
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