The Thyroid Gland

The thyroid is a small gland located in the front of the neck. It is responsible for setting the body's metabolism. It is this gland that sets the thermostat for the rate at which the body will use energy.

Nearly all the cells in the body have their metabolic rates controlled by the thyroid hormones.

The thyroid is one of several glands in the body that comprises the endocrine system. All of our glands are in constant communication with one another. It starts in the lower part of the brain with a small but extremely important gland called the pituitary. The pituitary is considered the "conductor of the symphony" in that it sends messages to many glands to produce their hormones. The thyroid takes its signal from here in the form of a hormone called TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone).

There are 2 hormones that eventually are manufactured by the thyroid called T4 and T3. The T4 is produced and then gets converted to T3. Higher amounts of T3 in the blood cause a message to be sent back to the pituitary to decrease its production of TSH. This is called a negative feedback, which essentially means we have enough thyroid hormone for now. When T3 gets low it then sends a message back to the pituitary to turn production back on.

The most common medication used to treat the thyroid is in the form of T4. This causes a negative feedback on the pituitary and suppresses TSH production. At the same time the pituitary, which is also responsible for converting the T4 to T3, becomes impaired. This in a sense keeps the thyroid from functioning at its peak performance.

Symptoms of a sluggish thyroid are numerous due in part to the many cells throughout the body that take influence from thyroid hormone.

Common symptoms of a slow thyroid include fatigue, low ambition and motivation. This person typically feels worse in the morning, having difficulty getting out of bed. As the day progresses this individual feels better as the rate of metabolism increases as daily activity ensues. This person will feel better with exercise, if only they can motivate themselves to get out and do it.

The person with a sluggish thyroid will have trouble with fat metabolism, which will lead to elevated levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood. This individual will also gain weight easily and have a difficult time losing it. Some of these people don't appear to have a problem with weight, but maintain their current weight on 500-800 calories a day. If they overeat (for them) on a weekend trip, they may gain three to four pounds. Some of these people have a normal caloric intake but find they may have to exercise heavily to avoid weight gain.

Before these individuals make radical changes to their diet in an attempt to facilitate weight loss they should make sure that their thyroid, pituitary and other endocrine related glands are functioning properly.

This doesn't mean that dietary changes are not important or required. To ask the body to lose weight, in light of a hormonal system including the thyroid that is under functioning by manipulating only the diet, is asking for frustration if not trouble.

Fad diets will work occasionally for these individuals but they will find that just as fast as they have lost the weight is as fast as they gain it back. The amount of stress placed on the body by unusual diets, or the malnutrition caused by calorie restriction often result in short-term gains while creating long- term losses.

It is a much better idea for long term health to normalize the thyroid and other endocrine glands to help the body efficiently utilize its calorie intake, hormone production and thus any dietary regimen that is intended to have the body lose weight.

Here in our office we utilize" Nutrition Response Testing", a specific program for detecting endocrine imbalances and the other most common factors that hinder the body. This is a system that enables us to evaluate the body's nutritional status and whether or not there are barriers suppressing it. To help the body heal itself we utilize whole food supplementation along with healthier eating habits.