It’s
well accepted iodine supplements are effective for preventing and treating an
iodine deficiency. They are generally considered safe when taken as
recommended.
Iodine
Is Essential For Proper Thyroid Function
Nutrient
deficiencies are a common issue for those with hypothyroidism. Iodine is one
nutrient you don’t want to get low in as the thyroid uses iodine to make your
thyroid hormones. This makes iodine important for ongoing thyroid health.
Iodine
deficiency can lead to iodine induced hypothyroidism, enlargement of the
thyroid, and a reduced ability of the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones.
Are
Iodine Supplements For Thyroid Safe?
It
turns out there is a vast amount of research in this area including how much
iodine is safe to take.
There
is one guiding rule that I would like everyone to know.
It’s
about balanced intake. Not too much, not too little!
Iodine
is normally only required in very small amounts. In fact iodine supplements normally
supply trace, or microgram quantities.
When
you research iodine supplements online, or thyroid health formulas with iodine,
it’s important to know that 1 milligram equals 1,000 micrograms. You may see a
microgram measurement abbreviated as ‘mcg’ or ‘µg’ on a label.
Iodine
Supplements in Australia Are Strictly Regulated
In
Australia all nutritional products are closely regulated by the Therapeutic
Goods Administration (TGA), a division of the Department of Health and Ageing.
Nutritional
supplements must be approved before being released for sale. Approved products
state their individual AUST L or AUST R number on the front of the label.
The
active ingredients contained in a product and the recommendations on the label
are also closely controlled. The
recommended daily intake of iodine from an iodine supplement must not exceed
300 micrograms per day. For example, when a nutritional
supplement contains 130 micrograms of iodine it’s recommended that an adult
does not take more than two capsules per day.
If
an iodine supplement was to contain milligram amounts it would not be approved
for sale here in Australia. Even if one tablet, or capsule was recommended per
day the recommended intake would be set too high.
In
addition to dosing guidelines the TGA provides
strict guidelines on the type of iodine that can be used.
Iodine is an approved ingredient for use in a nutritional supplement when it is
a component of a specific herbal preparation or is in the form of potassium
iodide.
For
example an iodine supplement can contain Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus), a type of
seaweed which is known to naturally contain iodine and is traditionally used to
help maintain healthy thyroid function.
Another
popular form of iodine featured in thyroid health products is potassium iodide.
No other single form of iodine is approved for use in an iodine supplement in
Australia.
It’s
Vital to Know the Safe Upper Level of Intake
You
should avoid taking high doses of iodine for prolonged periods unless you are
doing this in consultation with a trusted healthcare practitioner.
Taking
iodine in mega doses can pose problems. Taking multiple milligram amounts can
saturate your thyroid which can irritate and inflame the gland.
The
documented side effects of taking too much iodine include; a metallic taste,
sore gums, a burning sensation in the mouth and throat, increased saliva,
digestive upset, mood changes and skin problems.
Population
studies have also shown excessive iodine intake may trigger autoimmune thyroid
disorders.
The
Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the US
National Institutes of Health have both set the recommended safe upper level of
intake at 1,100 micrograms per day.
Are
USA Iodine Supplements Safe To Buy Online?
When
you do a quick search of iodine supplements online you will soon discover there
is certainly conflicting opinions and information about how much iodine is safe
to take.
For
Australian consumers it’s important to know that iodine products available on
USA websites are not regulated by the TGA. This government organisation only
has jurisdiction within Australia.
It
is possible iodine supplements available on USA websites can contain excessive
amounts of iodine.
The
TGA advises consumers to refrain from ordering nutritional products over the
internet unless they know exactly what is in the product, have checked that the
ingredients are suitable for them, and the products they are purchasing meet
the legal requirements for importation and use in Australia.
Louise O’ Connor,
the author of The Natural Thyroid Diet –The 4-Week Plan to Living Well, Living Vibrantly, who
is a specialist in Thyroid Health. She is a highly regarded Australian
Naturopath and founder of Wellnesswork.
The Natural Thyroid
Diet goes beyond diet advice and offers practical and effective ways to achieve
healthy thyroid levels within just a short period of time. For more details,
Click onThe-Natural-Thyroid-Diet.com
One
thing’s for sure, hormones have a powerful effect on your physical and
emotional well-being. Consequently, when you have a hormone imbalance it leads
to a wide range of symptoms.
Here
you will find a hormone imbalance checklist which lists the most common
symptoms, and most importantly this article discusses some important steps you
can take if you suspect your hormones are out of whack.
Firstly,
Here Are Some Endocrine System Facts
The
endocrine system is a group of glands that produce a wide array of hormones to
help your body function at its best. In essence, your hormones are powerful
chemical messengers that continuously zip around your body to help ensure all
organs and body systems are functioning properly.
The
major glands of the endocrine system include the hypothalamus, pineal,
pituitary, thyroid, parathyroids, adrenals, pancreas, and the reproductive
organs such as the ovaries and testes.
These
endocrine glands produce different quantities of hormones depending on your
life stage, and individual needs. That said, ageing is usually associated with
a decline in the production of most hormones.
When all
is going well, your hormones are part of a finely tuned communication network.
Healthy
hormone balance is necessary to maintain your overall health and vitality. For
this reason the right balance of hormones is critical to help regulate your
metabolism, sleep, sexual function, mood, reproduction, growth and development.
Your
Hormone Imbalance Symptoms Checklist
My
hormone imbalance checklist will help establish if you are struggling with a
hormone problem.
Take
a few moments to review this checklist, keep in mind the more of these common
symptoms you mark off the more likely your hormones are out of balance.
The
Next Step to Help You Restore Healthy Hormone Balance
Making
sense of your hormone balance may finally help you take control of your health,
and vitality.
Generally
speaking, the first step in treatment is to get accurate testing. From there,
your test results should be carefully considered along with your hormone
imbalance symptoms, and health history.
+If you suspect you have a thyroid problem I
suggest you speak to your healthcare practitioner about comprehensive thyroid
testing.
It’s a good idea to discuss the five basic thyroid tests with your healthcare practitioner.
This will help provide clues as to how your thyroid is
functioning.
+If you think your male or female hormones are
out of balance I suggest you speak to your healthcare practitioner about a
comprehensive saliva hormone profile.
Measuring your salivary hormones is the most accurate way to assess circulating
levels of oestrogens, progesterone, testosterone, and the main hormones that
regulate the stress response such as DHEA and cortisol.
+If you experience difficulty going to sleep,
and poor sleep quality I suggest you speak to your healthcare practitioner
about a saliva sleep hormone profile.
This is an accurate way to assess circulating levels of melatonin, and
cortisol. These hormones are especially relevant as they regulate your sleep
patterns.
Author Bio:
Louise O’ Connor, the
author of TheNatural Thyroid Diet –The 4-Week Plan
to Living Well, Living Vibrantly, who is a specialist in Thyroid Health. She is
a highly regarded Australian Naturopath and founder of Wellnesswork.
The Natural Thyroid
Diet goes beyond diet advice and offers practical and effective ways to achieve
healthy thyroid levels within just a short period of time. For more details,
Click onThe-Natural-Thyroid-Diet.com
When
it comes to exercise, there’s a lot that we don’t understand when this applies
to hypothyroidism treatment.
While
everyone is led to believe that exercise is something that is always beneficial
for our health and hypothyroidism treatment, if you suffer from hypothyroidism,
then exercise can quickly become dangerous and pose a serious risk to your
thyroid and health.
This
has become a very serious problem because so many hypothyroidism sufferers are
incorrectly and dangerously using exercise as a means of trying to control
their weight.
You
can’t blame yourself though because everyone, even your doctor who is supposed
to actually know what is best for your health, tells you that you need to
exercise to lose weight and get healthy.
But,
when nobody stops to actually look at and understand the physiology of the body
and how exercise impacts your entire hormonal system (thyroid included) that’s
when you end up getting yourself into big trouble.
Yes,
I understand that society today is obsessed about weight loss and the
ridiculous idea that simply losing weight is the solution to all of our health
problems.
If
that were true then why are so many non-overweight people suffering from
hypothyroidism, cancer, autoimmune disease, heart disease, and every other
disease for that matter?
In
fact, I work with a number of clients who are severely hypothyroid and
underweight.
If
we would take a minute to step back and look at the big picture then we could
begin to see that exercise isn’t always healthy, and in fact, can be quite
thyroid suppressive and dangerous to your health.
A
large part of the problem can be attributed to our poor interpretation of
research, lack of knowledge, and a lack of understand of the human body.
While
I will cover some of the dangers of exercise as it relates to hypothyroidism a
little later, the purpose of this article is really to open your mind so that
you can understand how little we really do understand when it comes to
exercise.
So,
I’m going to discuss a couple of very common exercise myths just so show you
how little we really do know.
Hypothyroidism
Treatment Myth #1 – Exercise Improves Thyroid Function
If
you look at the current research, a lot of people are incorrectly led to believe
that exercise improves thyroid function and is helpful for hypothyroidism
treatment.
There
are studies where they have taken blood samples immediately before and then
immediately after exercise in order to analyse the amount of thyroid hormone in
the blood.
Many
of these studies have found that some forms of exercise cause an increase in
blood level thyroid hormone, and so they interpret this as evidence that
exercise improves thyroid function.
It’s
time to celebrate, right? Not quite…
Using
a basic understanding of cell physiology, when cells become fatigued or
overworked, they take up more water. This is a natural response to stress.
So,
when you exercise, as your muscles fatigue, they can take up a significant
amount of water. As water is pulled from your bloodstream and into your cells,
this effectively decreases blood volume.
If
blood volume is decreased then of course the concentration of thyroid hormone
will increase but only because there is less blood and not because there is
more thyroid hormone.
If
you are to take this into account, the total amount of thyroid hormone actually
decreases. And these researchers fail to account for this loss of blood volume
that exercise causes.
There’s
also a lot of research that demonstrates this as well.
For
example, one mechanism that is well known is that stress, including exercise,
inhibits the conversion of inactive T4 thyroid hormone to active T3 thyroid
hormone by the liver…
The effect of acute exercise
session on thyroid hormone economy in rats
CONCLUSION: Findings of our study demonstrate that exhaustion
exercise led to a significant inhibition of both thyroid hormones and
testosterone concentrations…
And
this one which also demonstrates a decrease in resting metabolism…
Endurance training with
constant energy intake in identical twins: changes over time in energy
expenditure and related hormones.
“Resting metabolic
rate (RMR) was significantly decreased by 8% after training despite the
preservation of fat-free mass (FFM). Accordingly, plasma norepinephrine (NE)
concentrations, NE appearance rate, and plasma levels of triiodothyronine (T3),
free T3, and total thyroxine (T4) were lower after training.”
There
are lots of studies that show the same exact results, but I think you get the
point.
Forcing
yourself to exercise as a means of losing weight or trying to “boost” your
metabolism can actually have the opposite effect and result in the further
suppression of your thyroid, a slower metabolism, and ultimately more future
weight gain.
Sounds
kind of counter-productive, right?
Hypothyroidism
Treatment Myth #2 – Running Burns More Calories than Walking
This
is one of my favorites because it goes to show you how far behind we are when
it comes to our understanding of exercise and physiology.
The
media, your doctor, your next door neighbor and everyone else who still has a
bit of sanity left will tell you that running is one of the best ways to burn
calories and lose weight?
Running
is far better than walking, right?
Yes,
you can read this in any exercise physiology book, but there’s something big
that they’ve all forgotten to take into account…
Your
brain!
When
exercise physiologists study energy expenditure and derive their energy
calculations, they fail to account for the brain in their calculations.
And
your brain produces huge amounts of energy and requires a huge amount of fuel.
Just
because you’re running on a treadmill doesn’t mean that your brain shuts off
and stops working. It’s still working and expending energy, just like your
muscles.
Russian
physiologists on the other hand are accounting for the brain. And by
stimulating the brain and therefore increasing its energy expenditure, your
brain can burn significantly more calories.
So,
stimulating your brain while you walk can actually be more beneficial than
running on a treadmill while your brain is minimally stimulated.
If
you take into account that walking would be far less damaging to your thyroid
and metabolism, you can effectively support your thyroid and burn more calories
on average from walking in a mentally stimulating environment than running
while bored.
The
bottom line is that our current understanding of exercise and physiology is
severely lacking and it’s only further contributing to our general declining
state of health today. And in today’s world, your thyroid really does need all
the help it can get.
Millions
of people today are not only hypothyroid, but are also making their
hypothyroidism worse by following all of the bad advice out there.
When
millions of people are led to believe that something like exercise is always
beneficial to their health, while it’s unknowingly causing more damage to their
thyroid when it comes to hypothyroidism treatment, then we really have an
epidemic problem.
Hopefully
this opens your eyes up to the fact that exercise, as it relates to
hypothyroidism, is something that needs much more attention if we are ever
going to make real progress in properly understanding and treating
hypothyroidism.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
