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The Missing Key To Thyroid Health
The Missing Key To Thyroid Health
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Table of Contents
Are You Getting the Right Tests For Your Thyroid ………… 6
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Thyroid disorders are very common and it is estimated that 10% of the
world population suffer form some kind of thyroid disorder.
Hypothyroidism is the most common disorder of the thyroid gland and
levothyroxine is the only hope for some patients.
The underlying reason for hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid
damage but conventional medicine often doesn’t have any answer to
improve this autoimmune process.
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These thyroid hormones are needed by each and every cell in your body
to carry out their metabolic activities appropriately. If there is insuffi-
cient iodine in the body, these hormones cannot be produced.
Also, when the thyroid gland is not functioning properly, there aren’t
enough of those hormones available for the proper functioning of the
cells.
Thyroid hormone directly acts on the brain, the G.I. tract, the cardiovas-
cular system, bone metabolism, red blood cell metabolism, gall bladder
and liver function, steroid hormone production, glucose metabolism,
lipid and cholesterol metabolism, protein metabolism and body tempera-
ture regulation.
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Most commonly if you have been to your local doctor the only test
they order is the TSH to check for your thyroid.
But TSH is not enough to evaluate your thyroid completely and other
tests need to be done along with it for detailed analysis of your thyroid.
I recommend getting following tests for of my patients as a part of Com-
plete Thyroid Dysfunction Evaluation Panel.
- TSH
- T3 free
- T4 free
- Reverse T3
- Thyroid peroxidase antibodies
- Thyroglobulin antibodies
- Iodine levels
- Zinc levels
- Magnesium levels
- Vitamin D levels
- Vitamin B12 levels
- MMA
- CRP
- EBV testing
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The pituitary secretes TSH hormone which then goes to the thyroid
gland and causes it to secrete T4 hormone.
But even in this simple picture you can see that treating your body
with just one kind of thyroid hormone might not work.
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2. Adrenal Dysfunction —
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is defined as the interaction be-
tween hypothalamus, pituitary and the adrenal gland. This is a very spe-
cialized neuroendocrine system which controls your stress response, var-
ious other hormones in the body, energy and also impacts mood changes.
Often there is dysfunction of this pathway in patients with thyroid dys-
function and thyroid hormone replacement alone doesn't treat this dys-
function.You all might have heard of adrenal fatigue or dysfunction and
this is exactly what I talking about here. Often this is an important sys-
tem that is neglected and leads to people feeling fatigued and tired.
3. Mitochondrial dysfunction —
Most of the symptoms that are part of thyroid dysfunction actually hap-
pen because of underlying mitochondrial dysfunction. Specially fatigue,
brain fog, mood changes, pain, weight issues and gut dysfunction now
are known to have root in mitochondrial dysfunction. Unfortunately we
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still don't have the perfect test to check for mitochondrial dysfunction,
but there are tests which can give us indirect measures of mitochondrial
dysfunction by measuring intermediate metabolites.
This is a huge research topic currently and the pharmaceutical industry is
trying to make medicines to help with mitochondrial dysfunction. With a
functional medicine approach we dig deeper into why the mitochondrial
dysfunction is happening and then take relevant actions to improve it.
I have seen so many patients with thyroid illness like symptoms which
were actually mitochondrial dysfunction and after our protocols they got
better.
4. Underlying Inflammation —
And the biggest reason for feeling tired and fatigued is because nobody
is addressing the root cause.
The root causes which started it all, the inflammation. The inflammation
in our body is destroying the thyroid gland, that is the reason our mito-
chondria are being destroyed too.
Replacing the thyroid hormone with medicine does not reduce the un-
derlying inflammation. So we need to work on that too to help improve
our energy.
After taking care of thyroid patients for several years, I realized there
was a missing piece to this puzzle that we are all ignoring.
Even the most advanced functional medicine practitioners are not paying
attention to this key and thats the reason people are not getting better.
We have known about this connection for years now. But we were ne-
glecting the importance of this connection for thyroid patients.
All the symptoms that are associated with thyroid disorder are actually
because of underlying mitochondrial dysfunction.
You can compare this connection to a gas pedal and engine in a car.
Where in the car the gas pedal is your thyroid and engine is your mito-
chondria. If there is a problem in the engine it doesn't matter how much
gas pedal you push the car is not going to work properly. So we need to
fix the engine so that the car runs smoothly.
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Now you might ask, why conventional medicine is not talking about this
thyroid mitochondrial connection?
So the reason is conventional medicine doesn't have any medicine at this
point of time to fix this connection.
Yet in Functional Medicine field too we don't have practitioners who are
working with thyroid patients to fix the mitochondria.
Since that time I have helped thousands of patients to recover from their
thyroid illness.
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Most of them feel improvement in their energy, mental clarity, was able
to lose weight, and became pain-free.
The biggest achievement was that they got their life back.
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I have developed a simple 3 step program which helps you identify the
root causes of your thyroid dysfunction.
And then takes you step by step to fix you thyroid gland.
This program not only takes care of your thyroid from the root but also
helps you to eliminate symptoms.
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In this step we start working on these root causes and start addressing
them.
Following are things you can start doing now to start the healing
process.
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Gut
Our Gut is an important route where we can get rid of a lot of toxins.
Regular bowel movements are very important for these purposes.
If people have constipation, and the stool with toxins sits longer in their
gut and some of these toxins can be reabsorbed and not eliminated com-
pletely.
If these two lifestyle changes don't work to create regular bowel mo-
ments -- you can add some Magnesium citrate as a supplement, that
works great for the majority of the people to create regular bowel
movements in the mornings.
Kidneys
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kidneys, all other forms of water need processing, while plain filtered
water helps in various body processes. So make an extra effort to drink
that water.
Sweating
Sweating is another way that our body eliminates toxins. Now you might
have heard about infrared saunas that everybody is talking about and yes
it does help with eliminating toxins.
But don't get disheartened if you don't have access to a sauna, because
you can always sweat otherwise also.
Few tips about sweating are -- make sure when you are working out lay-
er up with a jacket so that you sweat more with less workout effort.
Another important tip is to make sure you shower immediately after
sweating as it allows the sweat to dry on your skin and the toxins can get
reabsorbed. So showering immediately takes care of those toxins for
you.
Lymphatic system
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Liver
Now let's talk about our master detoxifier. Most of the time liver can
handle huge loads to toxins but sometimes the liver is overburdened with
toxins or there might be some genetic defects which can impair the
detox process.
There are certain foods and spices which can help your detox through
the liver.
Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts can
help detox better. Artichokes are also good liver support food. Also
spices like turmeric, and ginger also helps the liver detoxify. You can
also add some milk thistle for liver support during the detox.
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Living with thyroid symptoms is not fun. People have suffered for years
with dreadful thyroid symptoms which has affected their life significant-
ly.
Often their symptoms have been shunned by medical doctors as some-
thing that are “in your head”
Their blood test have been normal but they still suffer from relentless
symptoms on a daily basis.
The reason being thyroid dysfunction has been missed and misunder-
stood completely.
With the new research coming up it is clear that thyroid dysfunction is
not just a deficiency of levothyroxine but it is much more than that.
New literature is pointing towards a disconnect between thyroid and mi-
tochondria. And this disconnect is the main reason for the unresolved
symptoms of patients.
Unfortunately conventional medicine doesn't have any medicines to fix
the mitochondria and that's the reason they have been ignoring it com-
pletely.
But with a functional medicine approach we can help regenerate your
thyroid and mitochondria which helps you regain your life back.
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In this book I also describe a few things that you can do to get started to
fix this dysfunction.
But I understand it can be overwhelming and for people to completely
resolve the symptoms they might need more help.
For that reason I would highly encourage you to work with a qualified
functional medicine professional who understands your plight and has
modalities that can help you.
As always I am here to help you out and offer my services.
You can always reach me back out to discuss your symptoms or even
work with me to help understand your root cause of thyroid dysfunction
and actionable steps you can take to fix it.
Anshul Gupta, MD
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