| Aug-2010 |
| Is your thyroid secondary to a fibroid |
| What’s wrong with your thyroid? |
|
Slow weight loss usually means something wrong with a person’s hormones. The thyroid for example connects with every cell in the body. If there is a problem, may things occur like loss of outer eyebrows, fatigue, weight gain all over cravings to carbs, loss of libido, dry skin and cold feet. In the my Northern Virginia office where we run our weight loss clinic, may people nowadays come in with thyroid symptoms yet on blood test nothing shows up. The doctor suggest taking thyroid medication and come back in 3 months and we’ll check it. Working with their doctor, we address the ‘other’ factors associated with weight like nutrition, exercise, diet and fatigue. The thyroid gland is a sponge for the hormone ‘estrogen’. In other words, environmental estrogen like growth hormones and birth control pills flood the body with estrogen. Estrogen has affinity for the thyroid gland. It blocks it and can even cause it to enlarge. However, fibroids or ovarian cysts also pump out a ton of estrogen, which can interfere with the thyroid. In my Virginia weight loss clinic, I had a medical doctor send in a patient asking me to work with him to help a patient gradually come off her mediation. Interestingly, this patient also had a fibroid tumor, which pumps out lots of estrogen. Through proper diet, her doctor and I were able to shrink her fibroid through a type of vegetable called cruciferous. This type is anti-estrogen. Presently I get referrals from other doctors to assist with the diet portion of the cases. This group approach works well as the doctor can be responsible for the medication part and I can do what I do best – coach people on what to eat. The problem patients have with taking thyroid medication long term is the thyroid becomes dependant on this medication inactivating their own thyroid over time – making is shrink and not work effectively. The confusion with cruciferous vegetables people have is that this food tends to have a bad reputation the thyroid – cruciferous, like kale, radish, cabbage, etc.… are known to deplete iodine and cause goiters, which is enlargements of the thyroid. So the simple solution to this would be to add a little sea kelp to the diet to get the benefit of iodine and keep the anti-estrogen cruciferous vegetables. Also make sure that you do not consume soy as one glass of soy milk is equivalent to a birth control pill. If you are working with your doctor and trying to come off your medication and need help with the nutrition part, please give us call to see if we can help – at 703-354-7336. Our clinic is located in Northern Virginia. If you live in Washington DC or Maryland, we have Saturday morning appointments. |
 |
