Do you feel depressed at times, have difficulty losing weight, low libido, water retention, puffy face, irritability and PMS, dry itchy skin, chronic fatigue, heavy periods, and constipation (1 or less bowel movement per day)?

You may be experiencing what many people who come into the clinic are experiencing; hypometabolism, also referred to as subclinical hypothyroidism, or metabolic insufficiency. Basically, a decreased metabolic rate.

Usually, patients will have their thyroid assessed by their medical doctors, to find that they are “within normal limits”. There is a difference between normal, and optimal. Naturopathic doctors find that patients’ symptoms are decreased and eliminated, when a thyroid hormone called TSH, is under 2 mU/L (instead of 5mU/L that is the convention. That’s a wide difference!) There can also be an issue when other thyroid hormones are out of balance. This can indicate that hormone conversion may be impaired in the liver. Another factor can be due to the stress hormone cortisol; it impairs thyroid absorption by the body.

What can you do about it besides being medicated? Lots! Here are 3 quick tips you can get started on right now:

1. Clean up your diet. Remove sugar, alcohol, and refined grains, and increase veggies, fruit, fish, lean meats (preferably from your local organic butcher, like Pilgrims, or Lakeland meats), nuts, seeds, and whole grains (think quinoa, and brown rice), and other good carbohydrates like sweet potatoes, beets, and carrots. Specifically for the thyroid:

o eat sea vegetables, such as kelp, dulse, nori, hiziki, and wakame, as a source of iodine.
o Use warming foods, such as cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, and fennel.
o Eat three brazil nuts daily to obtain selenium and a handful of pumpkin seeds daily for zinc and magnesium.
o For tyrosine, include egg whites, spirulina, fish, and turkey

2. Exercise! 40 to 60 minutes daily, preferable in the morning, to stimulate thyroid function and increase your tissue sensitivity to thyroid hormone.

3. Are you stressed out? While there are lots of things you can do to temporarily relieve stress, the best stress reducers are those that change your perception of the stressor. These are activities like yoga, meditation, and gratitude. But the temporary relievers are great too! These are regular massages, Epsom salt baths, and laughter.

If you commit to these 3 tips, you will feel fantastic. For people who need a bit more support, I usually supplement them with a high potency multivitamin, such as Metabolic Nutrition, and an adaptogen to support the HPA axis (the entire endocrine system, not just the thyroid) such as Adaptogen. Based on further assessment, we may target the liver with Biotherapeutic drainage, hormonal testing, and utilize acupuncture to increase vitality of the organs in question. If you’d like an assessment to see which route would best suit you, schedule your complimentary appointment by calling 289 668 5433. Correcting this imbalance will give you the strength, motivation, and vitality to pursue your life whole heartedly :)