Is your thyroid making you fat? Around 27 million Americans have thyroid disease — and almost half don't know it. Thyroid disease arises when the hormone-producing gland at the base of your throat goes out of whack, triggering weight fluctuation, tiredness, and emotional ups and downs, among other symptoms.
In Natural Solutions: Vibrant Health, Balanced Living's March issue — on newsstands now — find the latest on which tests to request, as well as a quiz to help you determine if your thyroid might be to blame for weight gain and other symptoms.
When Mary Shomon reported being exhausted, moody, and unable to lose weight, her doctor attributed the symptoms to stress. When Shomon's symptoms didn't improve with diet, exercise, and plenty of shut-eye, she was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid.
"I thought, 'What's a thyroid?'" says Shomon, now an authority on thyroid disease and author of The Thyroid Diet, who was interviewed in Natural Solutions. "I've talked with people who have the same symptoms I had, and their doctors have diagnosed them with everything from mental illness to laziness."
Because thyroid problems are often overlooked, it's important to see an endocrinologist. And because synthetic thyroid medications don't always provide relief, Natural Solutions offers science-backed information about these integrative therapies:
- Try ayurvedic herbs. Guggul and manjistha help detoxify the thyroid. And keep your endocrine system functioning optimally with ashwagandha, rhodiola, and ginseng.
- Sweat out thyroid-disrupting heavy metals by sitting in a sauna for up to 40 minutes a few times per week. Or add 2 cups of Epsom salts and 8 ounces of baking soda to a hot bath.
- Boost iodine levels to support thyroid health: Eat kelp, and take an iodine supplement daily. And if you're hypothyroid, avoid eating a lot of broccoli, strawberries, and spinach, which reduce thyroid-hormone production.
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