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Take Your Life Back and Stop Hypothyroidism Naturally at the Source |
I
recently covered the many reasons why all thyroid tests suck and why you CANNOT
rely on them to accurately diagnose hypothyroidism or to even monitor your
thyroid function.
The
good news is that there’s a better way to diagnose hypothyroidism and it’s
actually quite simple. I’m going to share with you how I work with my clients
using the best test for hypothyroidism.
With
the billions of dollars invested each year in medical research and the amazing
advancements in medical technology, you would think that we would be able to
diagnose hypothyroidism today with 99% accuracy.
Heck,
I’d even settle for 85% accuracy but we’re still missing that mark by a long
shot.
Let
me tell you, computer technology today may be advancing at light speed but in
many other areas of technology we’re still scratching our heads.
It
reminds me of my days as an engineer when I was introduced to a navigational
program that was still using navigational technology developed by German
scientists 70 years ago during WWII. For the past 70 years American scientists
have been trying to improve this German design and have achieved nothing but 70
years of failure.
Sometimes,
it’s what we don’t know that slows technological advancement, but when it comes
to healthcare, more often than not it is ignorance that impedes progress.
How
is it that we are told that running is the best way to burn calories and lose
weight yet Russian scientists have shown that you can burn just as many
calories, or more, by simply walking for the same amount of time? Sounds crazy,
right? I’ll tell you more about that later.
In
the same respect, it is ignorance that allows us to continue to rely on
inaccurate thyroid testing while ignoring a simple test that was developed 70
years ago to more accurately diagnose hypothyroidism.
Low Body
Temperature and Hypothyroidism
Low
body temperature is an epidemic problem. I have personally talked with nurses
and have heard stories from others in the medical field who chart temperatures
all day long and who openly admit that it’s rare to find anyone today with a
98.6°F temperature unless fever is present.
Low
body temperature is more often than not, an indicator of hypothyroidism.
Am
I saying that everyone today is hypothyroid? Of course not, but it’s well known
that hypothyroid people get sick more often and are far more likely to develop
health complications and disease.
So,
it should be understandable that the majority of people being seen in hospitals
and doctors’ offices for health problems today are far more likely to be
hypothyroid.
Your
thyroid is responsible for controlling and regulating a large number of
functions within your body including:
·
Metabolism
and Heat Production
·
Circulatory
System and Blood Volume
·
Muscular
Health
·
Nerve
Health
·
Digestive
Health
·
Health
of Every Organ
·
Health
of Every Tissue
·
Health
of Every Cell
But
today, we don’t even stop to consider the potential impact that thyroid health
has on every function of the human body, and instead we only focus on its
impact on our metabolism and our ability to lose weight.
Every
cell in your body relies on thyroid hormone to produce energy and remain
healthy. When your cells use thyroid hormone they produce more energy and
therefore more heat. When your cells are starved of thyroid hormone, they
produce less energy and therefore less heat.
By
simply measuring the heat that your cells, or body, produce at rest can give
you direct insight into how much thyroid hormone your cells are actually using.
And
as I’ve mentioned many times before, TSH tests, blood tests, and all other
thyroid tests DO NOT tell you how much thyroid hormone your cells are actually
using, which is the only true way to accurately diagnose hypothyroidism.
The Basal Body
Temperature Test
The
basal body temperature test was first pioneered by Dr. Broda Barnes who was one
of the early American physicians to recognize that hypothyroidism was being severely
undiagnosed by modern medicine.
He
spent more than 50 years researching and proving that hypothyroidism was the
underlying cause of heart disease today.
Even
though nobody has been able to invalidate his research, his work has been, and
continues to be, completely ignored by the medical community today.
In
1942 he published a study demonstrating the effectiveness of basal temperature
in diagnosing hypothyroidism and its ability to prevent wrong diagnoses that
have led to unnecessary operations to remove the thyroid gland which can lead
to severe health complications.
BASAL TEMPERATURE VERSUS
BASAL METABOLISM
SUMMARY 1. From a
study of over 1,000 cases the results indicate that subnormal body temperature
is a better index for thyroid therapy than the basal metabolic rate. 2. The
differential diagnosis between hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism is sometimes
difficult. In 7 cases reported the diagnosis was wrong, in 5 of which an
operation had been performed. The temperature was subnormal in each case.
Why Your Doctor
Doesn’t Want You Taking Your Own Temperature?
If
measuring your basal body temperature is such a simple and effective way to
diagnose hypothyroidism, then why does your doctor dismiss its relevancy?
There
are two reasons which are quite simple…
1.
Your doctor didn’t go through 8 years of school and 3 to 5 years of residency
just to let his or her patients self-diagnose themselves by simply using a
thermometer.
Of
course not, and doctors understand that they have to protect their profession
because they are the so-called “experts” when it comes to your health, not you.
What would the world become if people started taking a more active role in
their own healthcare and demand proper treatment?
What
a scary world that would be! So, instead of even trying to argue the relevancy
of basal temperature, modern medicine has chosen to turn a blind eye and simply
ignore it altogether.
2.
Healthcare today is a business. And like any business, they want to maximize
their profits. How much money do they stand to make by having you take your own
temperature?
Absolutely
nothing…It’s much more profitable to charge you for an office visit to draw
your blood, charge you for the blood test itself, and then force you to come
back to their office so that they can charge you yet again for another office
visit, just to read you the results of your test.
Multiply
this times twenty, thirty, or forty years of seeing your doctor and you’ve done
your part to pay for your doc’s vacation home.
I
personally know someone who was dropped by their doctor because they requested
to receive their blood test results by phone and refused to go in and pay for
an office visit they didn’t see as necessary.
How to Take Your
Basal Body Temperature?
Caution: This is a complex medical procedure that should only
be carried out by highly trained medical professionals. You are not a doctor
and have not gone through 10 plus years of medical training required to
accurately read a thermometer and diagnose hypothyroidism. This test is
contraindicated by poor eyesight which may lead to false readings.
Now
that our fancy medical disclaimer is out of the way, here’s how simple it is to
measure your basal body temperature:
How to
Measure Your Basal Temperature?
1.
Get
a thermometer and put it within arm’s reach by your bedside at night before you
go to sleep. If using a mercury thermometer, be sure to shake it down.
2.
Don’t
eat anything late at night or in the middle of the night as digestion can
affect basal metabolism.
3.
Go
to sleep.
4.
Wake
up in the morning.
5.
Being
as still has possible, reach for your thermometer by your bedside and sit
completely still in bed while you take your temperature for 10 minutes. If
using a digital thermometer, it’s best to leave it in your mouth for 10
minutes, prior to turning it on for most accurate results.
How to
Interpret Your Basal Temperature?
Men
and post-menopausal women can take their basal temperature on any day.
However,
women who are menstruating will notice that their temperature will fluctuate
depending on what part of their cycle they are in.
During
the first half of their cycle, their temperature will be lower. During the
second half of their cycle, their temperature will be higher.
Menstruating
women should measure their basal temperature on days 2 through 4 of
menstruation.
A
healthy functioning thyroid will consistently maintain a basal body temperature
between 97.8 °F (36.6 °C) and 98.2 °F (36.8 °C) upon waking.
Anything
lower than 97.8 °F (36.6 °C) implies that at complete rest, your cells are
not able to produce adequate energy to meet the energy demands of your body.
This means that you are in fact hypothyroid.
Extraneous
Influences on Basal Temperature
I’ve
mentioned before that while basal body temperature is a more accurate indicator
of hypothyroidism than blood testing, there are extraneous influences that need
to be accounted for which can influence the results of the test.
Influence
of Air Temperature
The
colder the air temperature, the harder your thyroid has to work to maintain
your body temperature and the warmer the air temperature, the less it has to
work.
If
the air temperature is relatively warm then your thyroid will have to work very
little and therefore your basal temperature may appear higher than it truly is.
Influence
of Infection
Oral
temperature can be used but it’s well known that even the common sinus
infection can falsely raise oral temperature. If there’s any possibility of
infection, then it’s best to use underarm temperature instead.
Extraneous
Influences
There
are many other extraneous influences that should be considered as well.
For
example, sleeping under an electric blanket will artificially increase your
body temperature. Artificially raising your body temperature through exercise
or even a hot bath can also influence results.
The Importance of
Your Pulse
Today,
we can do better than just basal temperature. Because there are various
extraneous influences that can affect body temperature, it’s important to also
monitor your pulse as an additional indicator of thyroid function.
Even
if basal temperature is normal, if your pulse is below 80 to 85 beats per minutes,
then this is yet another indicator of hypothyroidism.
All
of my clients track both temperature and pulse which we use to decipher what is
happening within the body on a hormonal level, which then tells us what we need
to do in order correct the underlying problems that are inhibiting their
thyroid.
If
you’re not tracking your basal body temperature regardless of whether you’ve
been diagnosed with hypothyroidism or not, then you need to start now.
Basal
body temperature is the best test for hypothyroidism and can give you a lot of
insight as to whether you are truly hypothyroid even if other thyroid tests say
you’re not.
For
those who are currently taking thyroid medication, it can also be very useful
in determining whether, or not, your medication is working for you.
Read
the following related topics:
Author Bio:
Tom Brimeyer – The
author of Hypothyroidism Revolution – is a practitioner of functional medicine,
health researcher and author on nutrition, hormones and hypothyroidism.
His personal
mission is to inspire and educate people to take control and achieve true
health by correcting their hypothyroidism and underlying causes of their health
problems instead of being stuck relying on doctors and drugs that merely cover
up their symptoms while their health continues to suffer.
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