Many people don’t know about the thyroid and what it does until after they’ve been diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of the neck. It’s tasked with producing thyroid hormone, which controls a host of activities in the body, including how quickly you burn calories and how fast your heart beats. Hypothyroidism occurs when your thyroid is sluggish and does not make enough thyroid hormone, causing many of the body’s functions to slow. It’s typically treated with replacement thyroid hormones, and most people will need to remain on the medication for the rest of their lives, according to the American Thyroid Association
1.Thyroid Medication Usually Needs Tweaking
“Many people may feel frustrated when they first start taking replacement thyroid hormones as there can be a lot of trial and error before we get the right dose,” says Melanie Goldfarb, MD, director of the Endocrine Tumor Program at John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. “It can take three to four weeks for the medication to take effect, and it can take a while to get on the right dose, too.”
2. Medication Should Be a Morning Ritual
I’ve learned to take my medication as soon as I get up along with a warm lemon water with my thyroid medication..
Lemons are loaded with healthy benefits, and particularly, they’re a great vitamin C food source. One cup of fresh lemon juice provides 187 percent of your daily recommended serving of vitamin C — take that, oranges! Lemon juice also offers up a healthy serving of potassium, magnesium and copper.
It Aids in digestion and detoxification. It tricks the liver into producing bile, which helps keep food moving through your body and gastrointestinal tract smoothly. Lemon water also helps relieve indigestion or ease an upset stomach.
I’ve also learned to wait 1 hour before I eat and wait 4 hours before you take any other vitamin supplements because it can interfere with the absorption of your medication. I’ve also found out that If I wanted to drink coffee I must wait 1 hour after I’ve taken my medication because it can also interfere with the absorption of your thyroid medication and to never ever to forget to eat breakfast! I need fuel but I have to wait 1 hour After I’ve taken my thyroid pill.
3. Let thy food be thy medicine
Food is not just calories it is information. It talks to your DNA and tells it what to do. My most powerful tool to change my health was my fork. I needed to stop going long periods of time without food. My body always needed energy. If my blood sugar starts to drop this creates a stress reaction and now your adrenal glands will do what it needs to do to maintain my body’s function by releasing more cortisol or adrenaline. Eating often would help put my body back in its normal cycle. I needed to eat foods that nourish my body and not hinder it.
I really had no idea how powerful food really was until after I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. Many people with hypothyroidism are deficient in Magnesium, B-12, Zinc, Iodine, B2, Vitamin C, Selenium, Vitamin D and Vitamin A.
The Standard American diet in a nutshell is loaded with unhealthy saturated and trans fats. Our meals are unbalanced, over-sized and loaded with sugar, salt, artificial ingredients and preservatives. We have an abundance of food at our finger tips but yet we are extremely malnourished and mineral deficient. We are literally starving our bodies to death! People are not obtaining the basic nutrients their bodies needs in order to fuel what is needed to perform its proper functions. We are literally running on empty! There is about 20 million estimated Americans with some type of hypothyroid disorder.
Although my thyroid is small, it produces a hormone that influences every cell, tissue and organ in the body. My thyroid determines the rate in which my body produces the energy from nutrients and oxygen. So I need to start eating foods that fed my thyroid. I needed to start nourishing my body back to health with foods that jump kicked my metabolism too.
4. There is no one size fits all diet for Hypothyroidism
I started to research to begin to try to understand that there’s really not a one size fits all diet for us with hypothyroidism but there are certain ways we can eat that will certainly help begin the healing process. Diet alone wasn’t enough to help my body start fighting this battle that is raging in your body. I needed to start addressing other area’s in your life that can cause inflammation like Dietary Allergies, Addressing gut health and avoiding Chemical toxins and endocrine disruptors.
5. I had become my own advocate for my health
After being diagnosed my priorities were made more clear. I had to start listening to my body, stop taking my health for granted and continuing to research to figure out what I needed to do to “fix me”. I started making my own cleaning products, lotions and deodorant’s. Our skin is the largest organ in our body and it absorbs everything we put on it. Here is a recipe that I make all the time for homemade deodorant.
5 tablespoon unrefined virgin coconut oil
(You can pick your favorite scent. I like lavender or grapefruit.)
Mix baking soda and arrowroot together. Melt your coconut oil in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl. Mix all ingredients (the baking soda and arrowroot powder) with the oil. Pour into clean small mason jar. Add your essential oil to the mason jar; close with the lid. Give it a good shake to combine the essential oil with the other mixture. By doing it this way, you can still use that bowl to eat with. Once you mix that essential oil in the bowl, it can only be used for the purpose of making your deodorant. Everything you’ve used is edible except the essential oils.
6. Stop Stressing the Small Stuff
My thyroid has been having a relationship with my adrenal gland. It’s never been straight forward with my body and it never will be. The butterfly shaped gland that sits in front of my neck does more than control my metabolism. My thyroid puts out hormones in my body that knock on every cell and tells it what to do basically but for some reason with my hypothyroidism those cells simply refuse to answer that door.
My adrenal gland is only the size of a walnut and are locked on top of each of your kidney’s. She is in charge of producing vital hormones that help regulate your body’s functions which include two major important things in your life my sex hormones and my cortisol levels. When you have hypothyroidism your cortisol levels are naturally higher than someone without hypothyroidism. You see I’ve learned that my Cortisol is more than just a steroid hormone that is made in the cortex of the adrenal gland. It has a greater task than just being tagged as your fight or flight response system. Almost every cell in my body contains receptors for cortisol. When my stress levels are high cortisol is released into my blood stream. Our bodies aren’t designed for us to be in a constant state of emergency. Our adrenal glands doesn’t know the difference between a true emergency or just being stressed out. So in return she will continue to produce extra cortisol into our blood stream. After a while of pumping out the constant need for cortisol she will become weakened and start decreasing her ability to produce cortisol and instead produce extra adrenaline. So do you see why we must get our stress under control and not stress the small stuff! Let things roll off our back like a duck does water.
7. Start Addressing the Root Cause of my Hypothyroidism
I needed to understand or get a idea of how everything has a part to play in my body. Being diagnosed with hypothyroidism wasn’t just here take this pill and it will fix my issues. Hypothyroidism had a root cause. Once I started addressing the root of your problems then my body can start healing itself. My body is an awesome design but there is a complex balance between everything. It’s a domino affect. If I had something in my body that is overworked it can cause a major shift in my body. Two things I needed to start doing immediately is getting my immune system in check and decreasing inflammation. Inflammation disrupts the production and regulatory mechanisms of thyroid hormones. Sometimes we have to do a little pruning of the branches, in order for the tree to be healthy again. A number of things can be the reason why I had hypothyroidism. It could be a wide range of things from celiac disease, Hashimoto’s, leaky gut, autoimmune disease disorder, nutrient deficiency’s, adrenal fatigue, exposure to chemicals, gluten or other food allergies, and hormonal imbalance. It most defiantly started with the foods that I was eating and the chemicals in the environment, my thyroid could be influenced by many different circumstances. I needed to start figuring out what the root cause of my hypothyroidism was.
8. Start Loving Myself Again
All I do is run, run and run! I am exhausted and felt so guilty anytime I needed to have down time because there was things that needed to be done. So I started to allow myself to take a day and do nothing. I mean absolutely nothing. WHY? Because my body needed to recharge and stop being ran into the freaking ground. I am not a machine. I started taking Epsom salt baths. I will also take a day where I lay around and watch movies. Get up take a shower and put on more pajama’s.
We all have to die someday but do me a favor. Don’t die not trying, Don’t die not seeking after the truth, don’t die just accepting this is your fate. It’s up to you to make a difference in your life. This your life, your body and your choice. We all have a story. You are the author of your book, make it fantastic.
In my book: A Survivors Cookbook Guide To Kicking Hypothyroidisms Booty. It goes into detail with recipes and tips of how to start fighting hypothyroidism.
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Health and Happiness,
The information and recipes contained in blog is based upon the research and the personal experiences of the author. It’s for entertainment purposes only. Every attempt has been made to provide accurate, up to date and reliable information. No warranties of any kind are expressed or implied. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaging in the rendering of legal, financial, medical or professional advice. By reading this blog, the reader agrees that under no circumstance the author is not responsible for any loss, direct or indirect, which are incurred by using this information contained within this blog. Including but not limited to errors, omissions or inaccuracies. This blog is not intended as replacements from what your health care provider has suggested. The author is not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of any of the suggestions, preparations or procedures discussed in this blog. All matters pertaining to your health should be supervised by a health care professional. I am not a doctor, or a medical professional. This blog is designed for as an educational and entertainment tool only. Please always check with your health practitioner before taking any vitamins, supplements, or herbs, as they may have side-effects, especially when combined with medications, alcohol, or other vitamins or supplements. Knowledge is power, educate yourself and find the answer to your health care needs. Wisdom is a wonderful thing to seek. I hope this blog will teach and encourage you to take leaps in your life to educate yourself for a happier & healthier life. You have to take ownership of your health.