Leptin Resistance and Fat Loss

Have you ever heard of a hormone called leptin?  Maybe not, but it is another big player in controlling your metabolism.  In our last blog we talked about insulin resistance and its role in metabolism (read it here if you missed it).  Insulin resistance and leptin resistance go hand and hand in controlling how we are able to burn fat and lose weight. These two conditions usually occur together and may explain why it is hard for someone who thinks they are doing all the right things and still has a hard time losing weight and keeping if off.  

Let’s talk about how leptin works in a normal metabolism.  Did you know that your fat tissue is an endocrine gland?  It secretes the hormone, leptin, in response to eating.  It’s called the satiety hormone.  Let’s say its lunchtime and your stomach starts to growl.  Growling is due to a hormone called ghrelin that is secreted by the digestive tract.  Ghrelin is called the hunger hormone.  As you eat your meal, “fuel” is absorbed into the bloodstream.  Remember that some fuel is used right away to make energy, some gets converted into glycogen for later use, and some gets stored in fat cells for longer term storage.

As fat starts to accumulate in the fat cells, leptin is released that sends a message to the brain and tells the brain that there is enough fuel on board that needs to be burned.  The brain sends a message to digestive tract to stop being hungry and suppresses appetite.  It sends a message to the thyroid through thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), which tells the thyroid to release thyroid hormone to burn up the extra energy.  The extra energy is burned up, the TSH is decreased so thyroid stops producing extra thyroid and no extra weight is gained.  This is why you see people that have been able to maintain their weight over years.  They have a normal functioning metabolism.

In a normal metabolism, there is this small, normal up and down production of hormones that acts like the thermostat in your home.  When it gets cold, the heat is triggered.  When that set temperature is reached, the heater shuts off.  The same thing happens to the thyroid.  You have slight adjustments throughout the day in thyroid hormone production that keeps the body at a certain weight set point.

When you start putting on fat, you release more leptin in an effort to stimulate an increase in metabolism.  But, if you continue to add fat to the body, then you produce more leptin.  But the brain begins to not “hear” the leptin signal.  It down regulates the receptors for leptin on the cells of the pituitary in the brain.  Signals to reduce hunger are not sent, so the person stays hungry and they eat more often and larger amounts.  The signal is not sent to the thyroid to increase thyroid hormone production, so that extra energy is not burned up.  More fat is gained and it gets harder and harder to lose fat or lose weight.  It’s a vicious cycle.

Leptin levels can be measured by requesting a fasting leptin blood test.  It would also be advised to get a fasting insulin blood test at the same time to see if you are struggling with both condition.  Your doctor needs to know how to interpret the lab values for leptin.  The more you weigh the more leptin you will have and your lab values might seem to be in the so called normal range for that weight but they are not optimal values needed for fat loss.  

According to Dr. Westin Childs, lab values over 10 ng/ml would indicate a degree of leptin resistance.

• Mild Leptin Resistance 10-19 ng/ml

  • These people are overweight by about 10-15 lbs and can’t seem to lose it

• Moderate Leptin Resistance 20-29 ng/ml

  • These people have about 20 lbs to lose and have gone up and down in weight most of their lives

• Severe Leptin Resistance > 30 ng/ml

  • These individuals  have been overweight their entire lives

How could you determine that you could be having a problem with leptin without getting blood work?  These are some of the biggest clues:

• Are you overweight?

• Do you have a hard time losing weight no matter what you do?

• Do you seem hungry all of the time and snack frequently?

As far as hypothyroidism/Hashimoto’s goes, both insulin resistance and leptin resistance can be problematic.  Your thyroid panel may come back in the normal range (assuming the doctor is measuring a complete thyroid panel), but you still have trouble losing the fat and losing the weight and keeping it off.  

Remember the normal metabolism and the thermostat example?  When someone is on thyroid medication (hopefully desiccated thyroid medication), then you are on a steady dose of hormone.  There is not that slight up and down in the release of thyroid hormone that occurs with a normal metabolism.  So it is very important to control your appetite which is hard to do if you have leptin resistance.  

A person that has a normal metabolism might eat a big meal like at Thanksgiving, and will not be hungry for a couple of days afterwards while their metabolism is raised and extra calories are burned off and appetite is suppressed so they naturally eat less.

If you have leptin resistance, you will not get the rise in metabolism and or suppression of appetite.  You tend to be hungry all of the time, even after a Thanksgiving meal.

What are some tips for fixing leptin resistance?

• We subscribe to a low carbohydrate diet and sometimes, very low.  

• Exercise is a MUST!!  But it must be the appropriate type of exercise that will not stress your adrenals but will kick human growth hormone and testosterone into action

• Don’t go back for seconds and don’t snack throughout the day

• Sit at the table and eat slowly to give leptin a chance to get to the brain

• Optimize sleep

• Reduce stress

• Reduce toxic load!!

• Reduce insulin!!!

Insulin resistance and leptin resistance didn’t happen overnight and they will not be resolved overnight but steady progress is the goal.

We can help you reset your metabolism!  Reach out if you have any questions about our whole body approach to health.  We are here for you!!

Insulin Resistance and Fat Loss

In the last blog, we talked about the importance of keeping glucose (blood sugar) at lower levels (read here if you missed it).  In this blog, we will talk about insulin’s role in glucose metabolism and how insulin resistance develops and why it is nearly impossible to lose weight when you have developed insulin resistance.  We will also give you pointers on how to correct this situation.

Insulin resistance develops long before a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes occurs.  Diabetes ranks 7th among the leading causes of death in the US.  That ranking is deceiving however, because type 2 diabetes has a hand in the development of other causes of death like heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, etc.  

It is important to understand how insulin resistance develops and how to reverse it.  Once insulin resistance develops, it controls how we are able to regulate body fat.  It occurs long before pre-diabetes or diabetes.  It is involved in developing heart disease, fatty liver, infertility, PCOS, erectile dysfunction, cancer, migraines, dementia, stroke and arthritis.  Insulin resistance can also be a problem for those with hypothyroidism.  Glucose control is so very important.

So, how does insulin resistance develop?  Genetics plays a big role in how well your body metabolizes carbohydrates.  Have any of your family members developed type 2 diabetes?  If so there may be a genetic predisposition for you to develop this condition.  You just have to be more diligent than others in keeping your carbohydrates lower and monitoring your glucose levels after a meal.

A person could have no genetic predisposition but because of their diet and sedentary lifestyle they develop insulin resistance as well.  It’s not just about genetics!

Every time you eat, your pancreas releases insulin to reduce glucose in the bloodstream.  Remember that baseline range between 70-90 mg/dL is where the body wants glucose to be within 2 hours after eating.  Protein and fat cause very little rise in insulin.  Carbohydrates, especially the sugars and starches, cause a greater insulin release to reduce the glucose level in the blood stream.  Insulin attaches to receptor sites on the surface of the cell membrane.  Insulin acts like a key, that when put into a lock, can open the door.  Insulin opens the door for glucose to get into the cell so it can be turned into energy by the mitochondria inside the cell.  The energy produced is called ATP which runs every cell in the body.  

The problem is that when we are eating more carbohydrates than our bodies can tolerate, based on genetics, diet and sedentary lifestyle, some of the receptor sites on the surface of our cell membranes become worn out and the insulin “key” doesn’t fit properly and glucose has a harder time entering the cell.  The brain detects this higher level of glucose and quickly causes the pancreas to produce more insulin to get the glucose down to a normal level.

Over time, the insulin stays higher in the bloodstream all of the time, even between meals.  The insulin level can be as much as 5-7 times higher than normal.  To help clear the glucose, insulin packs extra glucose into fat cells where it is stored as fat.  Insulin levels need to be lower in order to get fat to be released out of the fat cells to be burned for fuel.  With elevated insulin levels, the fat cannot be released and losing weight or fat becomes nearly impossible.  High insulin is a double whammy!  Fat cells get larger and fat cannot be released to be burned.  The liver is less able to convert glucose to glycogen so this is another reason why the glucose levels become higher over time. 

For a period of time, as insulin resistance develops, the blood glucose will be in a normal range but the insulin levels remain high.  Eventually the blood glucose levels creep up and now there is a situation of high glucose and high insulin.  

The pancreas eventually gets worn out and stops producing enough insulin and this is where type 2 diabetes begins.

In hypothyroidism, weight gain and the inability to lose weight is a problem for most patients.  When insulin resistance develops, the conversion of the inactive thyroid hormone, T4 to the active form, T3, is reduced.  There is an increase in the production of Reverse T3 which clogs up the thyroid hormone receptor sites on the cell as well.  This slows the production of the enzymes that are needed for energy production.  Fatigue is a common symptom in hypothyroidism due to the lack of energy production.

What are some signs that you may have insulin resistance?

• Belly fat – waist circumference greater than 35 inches for females and greater than 40 inches for males.

• Skin tags

• Darkened skin in the arm pits and in skin folds

• Elevated blood sugar 2 hours after a meal greater than 140 mg/dL

• Fasting insulin greater than 5 mg/dL

• Triglyceride levels greater than 150

• Triglyceride/HDL ratio greater than 3

• Elevated small dense LDL particles greater than 500

What can you do to correct this condition?

• Take an honest look at your diet to see where you might be over consuming carbohydrates. Journaling and tracking what you eat is so important here!

• Exercise!  Exercising burns up extra glucose in the blood!  

• Walk!  Walking daily is vital to good health!  Movement makes the cells more receptive to insulin and glucose.

• Resistance training!  Muscles consume 80% of the glucose in our body!  Muscle is often referred to as a glucose “sink”!   As we age, we lose precious muscle that helps us in our daily activity and can lead to insulin resistance.

• Intermittent fasting and working up to short term fasting

Are you struggling with losing weight despite eating what you think is a healthy diet?  We are here to help you find your carbohydrate balance and help you build muscle to reverse this condition.  Please reach out if you would like to learn more!

Understanding Blood Glucose Levels

In the last blog we talked about the different kinds of carbohydrates and which ones were better to consume. (read it here)  We also introduced a concept that might be new to you!  That concept is that there are no essential carbohydrates like there are essential amino acids and essential fatty acids (fats) that must be provided in the diet daily.  The body has the ability to make carbohydrates, specifically glucose, when needed.  

We have our own genetic tolerance to the amount of carbohydrates our body can use.  Health problems develop when we continually exceed that genetic tolerance.  A glucose meter can be purchased from the drugstore that can help you get a picture of how your body responds to carbohydrates and which types are good for you and which ones will spike your glucose too high.

Understanding Glucose Levels

Glucose levels have to be maintained at a very narrow range.  It does this with the help of insulin.  That range can be from 60-150 mg/dL of blood according to the Diabetes Association.  A more optimal level is not to spike glucose above 140 mg/dL.  A blood glucose of 100 mg/dL would be equivalent to about a teaspoon of sugar in the blood.  The average person consumes 31 teaspoons of sugar daily!  Remember from our blog on carbohydrates that simple sugars and starches will raise glucose levels the fastest and fiber tends to be slower in raising glucose.  

The body prioritizes burning glucose as fuel first because too much glucose in the bloodstream for an extended period is damaging to the blood vessels and the organs.  Chronically higher (like only a ½ teaspoon higher) blood sugar causes conditions like

• Neuropathy (nerve damage)

• Vision problems (optic nerve)

• Heart disease

• Stroke

• Diabetes

• Inflammation

• Alzheimer’s disease/dementia

• Visceral fat

• Fatty liver

• Cancer 

The body must lower glucose quickly.  If you have fat in the bloodstream as well, glucose is the first fuel to be burned because it is the most damaging and the most toxic. 

Let’s take a look at glucose in the different states of the body; the “fed” state and the “fasted” state.

Fed State

This would be the state after a meal or snack.  The carbohydrates that are consumed are digested into glucose.  The glucose gets absorbed into the bloodstream quickly and spikes the glucose levels.  Remember that it is best to eat foods that do not spike glucose over 140 mg/dL.  

With the help of insulin, the body works to get that glucose down into the lower range of 70-90 mg/dL.  

• Some of the glucose gets used immediately for fuel for the body, ATP.

• Some glucose gets converted into glycogen by the liver.  Glycogen is a long strand of glucose molecules strung together like beads on a necklace.  When glucose levels are low like between meals the liver breaks off glucose molecules from the strand and releases it into the bloodstream in order to keep the levels normal.

• Some glucose gets stored in fat cells for long term energy storage.

Within an hour to an hour and a half, the blood glucose levels should be back to baseline, between 70-90 mg/dL and the level of insulin also goes back to a normal level.

Fasted State

In the fasted state, like first thing in the morning or when you have gone at least 8 hours without food, or you are doing intermittent fasting or longer term fasting, you would expect to see your glucose levels at that baseline between 70-90 mg/dL.  Even with long term fasting, your glucose will never go to zero.  It stays within the range.  Your body has two ways to get glucose in the bloodstream.

• It can use the stored glycogen to make glucose and when this is used up, which takes between 10-18 hours, it can make glucose through gluconeogenesis!

• Gluconeogenesis!!  This is where the liver uses fat from your fat cells (or your diet) and amino acids to build glucose and raise blood sugar into the baseline range of 70-90 mg/dL.  The amino acids do not come from your muscles (unless the body is under starvation)!  It comes from worn out cell parts which are made of protein and other protein debris (and from your diet) to make glucose.  This is where autophagy happens!  Autophagy is where the body repairs its tissues.  Autophagy is an amazing process and a topic for another blog soon.

Ways to keep your glucose at an optimal or low range are to,

1. Eat a low carbohydrate diet! Every person is individual, and has a different carbohydrate tipping point, this is based on your genetics.  We can help you figure this out.

2. Don’t snack between meals.  Everytime you eat, you will raise glucose levels.  Your diet should be one that is satiating and allows you to go longer periods of time between meals.

3. Exercise! Resistance training should be prioritized because of the use of stored glycogen.

4. Leisure Walking. Helps make your cells be more sensitive to glucose, therefore helping to lower blood glucose levels.  

In the next blog we will talk about insulin’s role in all of this and how someone develops a condition called insulin resistance.  Insulin resistance happens long before a diagnosis of diabetes.  Insulin resistance has a role in the development of hypothyroidism as well so we will be connecting the dots for you!!

Breaking Down Carbs

We love our carbohydrates!!!  The chip basket at our favorite Mexican restaurant or our bread basket at our Italian spot or the Texas toast at the steak house or the artisan bread at Sunday brunch!!!  And you can’t forget the rice and beans, the big plate of pasta with Alfredo sauce, the baked potato swimming in butter and sour cream, or the big stack of fluffy pancakes drowning in syrup!!  Are you salivating yet?  These foods are so hard to resist!!  The question is, how do you feel after eating these foods?  Are you full of energy?  Or do you feel like you need a nap afterwards?  A lot of that depends on how well you tolerate carbohydrates.  That’s determined by your genetic makeup and your diet and lifestyle.  That being said, no one should chow down on these foods frequently.  We are going to do a deep dive into carbohydrates this month!  The good, the bad and the ugly.

First of all, what are carbohydrates?  They are one of our body’s fuel sources along with fats, and to some degree, proteins.  Carbohydrates, fats and proteins make up the 3 macronutrients in our diet.  The current dietary guidelines say we need between 45-65% of daily calories from carbohydrates!  If you read our blog on the Metabolic Health of American’s, you know that only 12% of us are metabolically healthy!  (read the parameters they used in the study here)  That is probably too high for many of us to consume.  But there is also a big difference between healthy carbohydrates and unhealthy carbohydrates so let’s get into a basic understanding of carbohydrates and which ones are the best to consume.

There are three types of carbs:  sugars, starches and fibers

Sugars

When you think about carbs the first thing that comes to your mind more than likely, are sugars.  There are three groups of sugars; monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides.

Monosaccharides are simple sugars that include glucose, fructose and galactose.  These often taste sweet and would be found in

• Honey

• Corn syrup

• High fructose corn syrup

• Agave nectar

• Fruits and fruit juices

• Some vegetables

Disaccharides are formed when monosaccharides are joined together forming sucrose, lactose, and maltose.  Some examples would include

• Table sugar – sucrose - extracted from beet roots and sugar cane

• Maple syrup – mostly sucrose

• Dairy products – contain lactose formed from glucose and galactose

• Beer – maltose

• Grains – like wheat, cornmeal, barley and ancient grains - maltose

• Some fruits like peaches -  maltose

• Some root vegetables – sweet potatoes and carrots - sucrose

Many prepared foods contain sugar in one form or another so careful reading of labels is necessary.  Sugar is the driving force behind many diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and cancer.  In 2012 a study that was done by scientists from the University of California, discovered that when sugar is consumed, the fructose in the sugar is converted to the small dense LDL cholesterol particles that are implicated in heart disease.  It was concluded that men should not get more than 37g of added sugar per day and women should not get more than 25g per day.  To put that into perspective, a coke has 39g of sugar.  Children should have much less, and food designed for children is usually loaded in sugar.  Some researchers say sugar is as addictive as cocaine so use cautiously. 

Polysaccharides or Starch

Starches are long chains of glucose molecules connected together.  These include starch, glycogen and cellulose in our diets.  Our liver and skeletal muscles convert extra glucose from a meal into a storage molecule called glycogen.  Glycogen is converted to glucose when energy is needed between meals.  

Starch would be found in these foods

• White or whole grain breads

• White or brown rice 

• Other grains like quinoa

• Pasta

• Corn

• Potatoes

Fiber

Dietary fiber is different from other types of carbohydrates because the body can’t digest it but it helps the waste material pass out of the colon more easily.  It makes up the cell walls of plant cells.  There are 2 types, soluble (dissolves in water) and insoluble (doesn’t dissolve in water).  Fiber can help slow the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream.  Fiber can be found in these foods

• Fruits 

• Vegetables

• Beans and other legumes

• Nuts and seeds

• Whole grains

• Oatmeal

Simple vs Complex Carbohydrates

We want to reduce the simple carbs that come straight from the sugar list above!  They are quickly digested and absorbed into the blood stream and have a big impact on increasing insulin!  Eating these foods regularly may cause insulin to remain elevated and can lead to a condition called insulin resistance (more on this later). 

Try to have more complex carbohydrates that would include the polysaccharides and fiber and control your portion size.  Reduce your flour, breads and pastas and choose vegetables and whole foods instead.  Did you know that the portion size for pasta is a half of a cup?  That plate of pasta at your favorite Italian restaurant has way more than a half of a cup.

Did you know that there are actually no essential carbohydrates?  There are essential fatty acids and amino acids that must come from the diet daily that are needed to build our hormones and muscles, but the body can actually produce carbohydrates.  There is also no hormone that is released telling you that you have had enough, like there is when you eat fat and protein so they are very easy to overeat.  You’d be hard pressed to eat more than one chicken breast but you could easily eat several donuts in one sitting even though a chicken breast and a donut have approximately the same number of calories.  The have different hormonal responses in the body.  The donut will have your energy crashing and craving more in an hour and the chicken breast will leave you satisfied for a much longer time.  We just love our carbs but we need to use them cautiously and strategically.

Are You Metabolically Healthy

Only 12% of American Adults are Metabolically Healthy?  What??

We are always in the process of trying to do better, to become healthier, to prevent disease.  We are a work in progress!  I stumbled across this research paper published by researchers at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2019 that was eye opening to say the least!!  It could explain the mess we are currently facing.

Being metabolically healthy reduces your risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke, all of which are leading causes of death in the US.  Metabolic health can be determined by using metabolic indicators that are consistent with good health and low risk for developing these diseases.

There was a long term study conducted from 2009-2016 called, “Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults:  National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey”.  This study set out to determine the metabolic health of Americans.  Participants were selected based on a complex multistage probability sampling design and included 8721 participants.

In 2018, researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill, applied the newer guidelines for metabolic health to this group.

Using these new guidelines, metabolic health was defined as:

• Waist circumference:

  • Men < 40.2 inches

  • Women < 34.6 inches

• Fasting glucose:  < 10 mg/dL

• Hemoglobin A1C:  < 5.7 %

• Blood pressure:  120/80 mmHg

• Triglycerides:  < 150 mg/dL

• High density lipoprotein cholesterol:

  • Men > 40 mg/dL 

  • Women > 50 mg/dL

• Not taking any related medications for the related parameters

The following were used for the analysis of demographics and lifestyle:

• Gender

• Age:  grouped 20-39, 40-59 and 60+

• Education level

• Race/ethnicity

• Physical activity:  none, moderate, some vigorous

• Smoking:  never smoked, former smokers, current smokers

• BMI

Summary: 

Metabolic Health:

• Was higher in women than men

• Was higher in highly educated

• Was higher in adults who never smoked

• Decreased with age

Some interesting findings:

• Less than one-third of normal weight adults were metabolically healthy

• Metabolic health decreased with increasing BMI

• Metabolic health was higher in underweighted adults but the sample size was small (137)

• Less than 50% of Americans had waist, glucose and blood pressure levels in the optimal range

• The lowest metabolic health was found in adults with obesity, less than high school education, physically inactive, and current smokers

• Metabolic health was highest among normal weighted, some collage, vigorous activity regularly, and never smoked

Summary:

Only 12% of American adults were metabolically healthy.  This should be eye opening.  These metabolic indicators are used by doctors to start someone on medication because of the belief that patients will not adhere to lifestyle and dietary changes that would improve these metabolic indicators.  But researchers cautioned that this should not be the first line of defense and that more widely accessible strategies to promote healthier lifestyles were urgently warranted.  

Sometimes medications are needed for acute conditions but you should strive to help the body reach normal metabolic numbers naturally.  The body is a remarkable machine that has the power to heal, in most cases, when given the proper lifestyle and dietary changes.  Do you know your metabolic numbers?  Do you have a plan for improving your metabolic health?

Source: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/met.2018.0105

Why Is Exercise So Important??

Here at S & A we have always advocated that there is no single solution for improving thyroid function, improving health, losing fat and keeping it off, and living vibrantly!  You cannot out exercise an unhealthy diet and you cannot out supplement an unhealthy lifestyle.  Period!  End of story!!  You can’t pop a pill and think that is all that you need to do.  Can exercise and supplements help?  Certainly, but not in isolation. I want to focus on why exercise is so important to the health of all people, but especially for someone who has Hypothyroidism.

We often hear it being said that if you have Hypothyroidism/Hashimoto’s that you should not work out!!  If you do, you will stress your adrenals and that will suppress your thyroid!  Truth of the matter is that the thyroid gland is extremely sensitive to stress, whether that is physical, emotional, or chemical!  A stressed thyroid impacts the adrenals and vice versa.  Stress can come from over exercising and under eating, just like it can come from under exercising and over eating and sitting at your desk or on the sofa all day.  Too little exercise is just as stressful as too much!  The type of exercise that you do is important as well.  You want that Goldilocks effect, not too much and not too little.  When you find that balance that is right for you, your thyroid will respond and you will turn on your fat burning machinery.  That is a very individual thing! 

I have always known that I had to work out to maintain my weight.  I have always been able to keep my weight within 5 pounds of my normal through a combination of a diet that was right for me and workouts (again, that were right for me!), and lifestyle approaches.  I developed gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my first child.  I had a very complicated delivery and his neonatologist told me to always keep my weight low or I would develop diabetes as I got older.  When I turned 40 I began to put on more weight outside that 5 pound range.  I was exhausted all the time.  With Anna being diagnosed with Hypothyroidism at age 11, I knew the symptoms.  I also knew that diabetes and Hypothyroidism sometimes go hand in hand.  I was worried about the weight gain.  What I was doing wasn’t working any longer so I made an appointment and was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism in my early 40’s.  But just because I started on Synthroid, (the synthetic form of thyroid hormone, T4) the weight that I had gained had to be lost through diet, exercise and lifestyle changes.  It doesn’t automatically come off once you start medication.  It just helps you not continue to gain weight at an accelerated rate!  I will talk about lifestyle changes in another blog.  It’s too much to put into one!

Over the last 3 years, I have had a great deal of stress, I have not worked out like I used to and my weight has crept up and so has feeling a little older!  And yes, like most of us, I have tried to find shortcuts to lose this extra weight!!!  (Again, they don’t work in isolation!).  It would be a good week if I managed to get in one workout.  I let my life get in the way without figuring out a work-around.  I didn’t put myself first.  And as women, we do that to ourselves at times, looking after everyone else without taking some time to help ourselves in the process.  And we suffer! When I work out I feel strong and energetic and have a clear mind and my stress is lowered.  When I go a period of time without working out, I feel lethargic and run down and use that as an excuse not to hit the gym.  My declaration is that I am getting back on my workout schedule today!!  You need your muscle to burn fat!!!

Why is exercise so important? Over the last few years there has been a lot of research into what makes exercise necessary for a healthy life.  They are finding that muscle tissue acts as an endocrine organ.  Endocrine organs, such as the thyroid gland, secrete hormones that signal the cell to perform certain activities. One of the things that is so interesting is that when you contract a muscle, it stimulates the release of these signaling molecules called myokines.  They are released into the surroundings and they have a tremendous effect on our health.  Similar to the way hormones effect the body.  There have been 600 of these myokines identified each with their own actions.  What they appear to do is to travel to neighboring cells and attach to receptor sites on the cell membranes and signal a certain activity to take place, like hormones do.  These myokines improve glucose uptake by the cells to make energy, improve metabolism and improve lipolysis (fat burning).  They appear to participate in tissue repair and regeneration, muscle growth, maintenance of healthy bodily functions, and support the immune system. There is also evidence supporting they are involved in helping turn on the production of the body’s own antioxidant pathways (NRF2 pathways) helping to prevent disease.  (I will cover the NRF2 pathway in another blog!!!)

You’ve heard the old adage “Use it or Lose it”?!  There are other myokines that are present in higher amounts that cause muscle wasting that we see in sarcopenia (muscle loss) as we age.  These myokines are higher in people who are sedentary and lower in those that are active. Sarcopenia doesn’t happen overnight.  Physically inactive people can lose as much as 3-5% of their muscle mass each decade after age 30!  Even if you are active you will lose some muscle as you age, but not nearly as much.  You want to stay strong as you age!  There is no One-Size-Fits-All approach, only one that doesn’t stress your adrenals and increases your metabolism simultaneously!

Are You A Country Cook??

I grew up on down home country cooking!!  My mother was the best and she taught me well!  Summers in the south, back in the day, meant my brothers and me going to the garden with my dad first thing in the morning.  To call it a garden was a disservice.  He was a farmer and never did things on a small scale!  His garden was big enough to feed the town!  I always looked down that long, long row of squash or beans with dread.  I couldn’t stop until I reached the end.  It would be so hot and humid and some of the plants had prickly leaves that would leave little fine, hair-like splinters in your fingers.  And there were bugs and bees; even saw a snake every now and again!  I was always afraid of what I would find in the field.  Afterwards, Dad always treated us to a Pepsi Cola and a pack of nabs.

Once we were finished in the garden, the day had not ended.  We then had to go home and put up the vegetables that we had picked!  The corn had to be shucked and cut off the cob, the beans snapped, peas shelled, and all of the other vegetable had to be prepped for either canning or freezing.  It was an all day job to get the vegetables put away.  We had two freezers.  One for the meat and one for the vegetables.  We only had a few weeks in the summer to fill that freezer to the brim so that we would have frozen vegetables for the year.

If you know anything about country cooking, all peas and beans are cooked with a spoonful of bacon grease as a seasoning and all the greens are boiled with ham hock, a fatty piece of pork for those that don’t know.  A typical dinner would include maybe some new potatoes, creamed corn, butter beans and a fried meat, either fried chicken or country style steak and gravy, and don’t forget the biscuits!  Wasn’t a meal without homemade biscuits served with apple butter or honey!  We’d have hoe cake (thin cornmeal dough cooked in a cast iron pan with oil) with the boiled greens and we would drink the pot liquor!  Oh, and don’t forget the Sweet Tea with lemon, the Southern beverage of choice!!!

My favorite comfort meal was Mom’s chicken and pastry!  She would cut up a whole chicken into pieces and boil the pieces.  She would make a simple pastry with flour, eggs and water and salt and pepper.  Then she would roll the dough out on the counter in a very thin layer.  She would put a fan on it to dry if we were going to eat this after church on Sunday.  When the pastry was dry, she would cut it up into pieces and put the pieces one at a time into the pot with the boiling chicken.  We would have this with a side of peas or beans and hushpuppies.  The best meal ever!!!  I’m making myself hungry just thinking about it!  Everything was made with love!!

Country salads are never simple!  It was either a pasta salad, potato salad, coleslaw, bean salad, congealed salads, or rarely a green salad unless we were grilling steak.  And then, it would be made with iceberg lettuce. Fried fish was accompanied by French fries, coleslaw and hushpuppies!

And I can’t forget the desserts!!!  Country desserts were always in the house!  Lemon pound cake, pig picking cake, strawberry shortcake, banana pudding and blueberry, peach or apple cobbler depending on which fruit was in season topped with homemade ice cream!  And certainly can’t forget Mom’s chocolate pie at Christmas!!  Doesn’t feel like Christmas unless several are made.  My grandmother always had a butler’s pantry filled with cakes and pies!  I loved to go into her pantry and just smell the aroma of all of these freshly baked goods!

When we moved to the Piedmont area of North Carolina, and Anna had been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, my cooking style started to change. I started researching everything I could about diet.  Her endocrinologist said diet didn’t matter to eat normal food (I sure hope he has changed his tune today).  It wasn’t until we went to a homeopathic doctor in Asheville that we begin to really dig deep into nutrition and the problem with the way I was preparing meals.  It was a completely new way of thinking about food.  When I analyzed a typical meal I prepared; pan fried meat, potatoes and butter beans and bread, I started to realize this was way too many carbs.  I thought the beans were a vegetable but now know they are best described as a starch.  With Hypothyroidism there is usually some degree of insulin resistance associated with it (as does anyone with a sluggish metabolism) so the amount of carbs had to be reduced and they types of carbs had to be reexamined.  The fried meat was usually battered in flour and the oil, once heated, caused lots of free radicals.  This was a very inflammatory way of eating.  Delicious??  Most definitely!!  Good for my family’s health?  Not so much!  It was a learning process!  It didn’t happen overnight.  Our taste buds had to adjust.  I cut out all of the sugar!  No more soda or sweet tea!  Sugary snacks and cookies were occasional treats but not every day.  Once we adjusted to our new way of eating, when we would go home for a visit, eating the old way made us all feel bloated and lethargic.  I would actually put on a couple of pounds after the visit. 

Learning a new way of looking at food, a new way of cooking, and trying different types of food was the turning point in our health.  I originally started this as a way to help Anna but it was the best for all of us!  We all benefited from this new way of eating.  I developed such a love for nutrition that I went back to school after retiring from teaching high school science to become a health coach, graduating from The Institute of Integrative Nutrition. I believe that our health is based in our nutrition, using a very individualized approach. Neal always says if I had not changed the way we were eating he would be a very large man and would have suffered from all of the health problems his parents had.  He loves to eat!

When I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism in my early 40’s I knew how to help myself.  So many of the women we talk to are struggling despite being on medication.  The diet is a must!!  You must examine the way you are eating and make changes!  It’s the place to start.  Without proper nutrition for a person with Hypothyroidism, you will continue to have symptoms and struggle with weight gain.  That is where our 20 years of experience in getting to the root cause of our own Hypothyroidism can help you.  If you would like to schedule a consultation with us to see if we are a good fit, fill out the questionnaire!

Are You Getting Enough Protein In Your Diet?

It seems like every year some new-fangled weight loss diet takes the media by storm! When you have Hypothyroidism or some other metabolic disorder that makes losing weight difficult, we can fall victim to these new “best thing since sliced bread” kind of diets. We want to lose the weight and we are so desperate for results, we give these a try. Often times, these so called diets mess up our metabolism even further and it can take a long time to recover!

Remember the 90’s and their low fat, high carb recommendations?? This is partly responsible for our epidemic in metabolic disorders we face today. Fast food overloads, low quality convenience foods add to this epidemic. These raise blood sugar, leading to more hormone imbalances and leaky gut. More toxins in our bodies and the more weight we put on! It is a vicious cycle.

Trends of the past are completely opposite of today’s trends of the high fat, high to moderate protein, low carb craze. So we will have new truths to uncover about how our body responds to this approach.

Fact is that everyone response differently to the foods we eat. Some need lower carbs some need higher carbs, some need lower fats and some can eat higher amounts of fat. We are all genetically different in how our bodies respond to macronutrients. We have to become our own detectives in how our bodies respond and what satisfies us.

One thing that remains fairly constant is our need for protein. Protein is necessary to help us build and repair tissues, and to make enzymes and hormones. It is the building block of bones, muscle, cartilage, skin and blood. It is necessary to bolster the immune system by making antibodies to fight infection. Protein helps to control blood sugar and prevents insulin spikes. Insulin must be controlled in order to burn fat and lose weight. Protein is so important that when you don’t get enough through calorie restriction dieting, prolonged fasting or eating less and exercising more, your body will start breaking down skeletal muscle to provide the body with amino acids to make the necessary components for life and provide energy for the body. This further exasperates our inability to lose weight!! We need our muscle! Let’s conserve it!!

What are some symptoms of a protein deficiency? They would include fatigue, trouble losing weight, brain fog, blood sugar imbalances, trouble building muscle, muscle wasting, intestinal permeability, hair loss, and the list goes on.

In the past 10-15 years, protein shakes have emerged as one of the most popular health food shortcuts. We encourage whole foods; organic fresh vegetables and fruits and lean proteins, but the fact of the matter is that many people are not getting enough protein. Protein shakes can be beneficial in helping you meet your protein needs. We have used protein shakes for the last 10 years with great success in meeting our protein needs and controlling insulin. Having hypothyroidism also means having some degree of insulin resistance in most of us, so getting adequate protein is necessary to control insulin spikes and fat storage. Providing the body with the proper amino acids is also necessary to make thyroid hormones.

We usually replace our breakfast with a protein shake. High carb, processed breakfast foods are not on the menu! It is easy to skip breakfast due to our fast paced hectic lives trying to get out the door in the morning. Skipping breakfast and relying only on that cup of coffee may lead to poor choices later at lunch when we are so hungry we are unable to think and just want something now!! Your reaction may be a carb overload! Not eating raises cortisol, and in turn, cortisol raises blood sugar. This blunts fat burning and makes you crave carbohydrates! Protein shakes are a perfect way to start the day to help control cortisol and your blood sugar.

Protein shakes are NOT created equally! Let me say this again, protein shakes are NOT created equally. If you are considering using a protein powder it must be of highest quality. After all, you are replacing a mealwith this protein. You want something that powers your body instead of adding toxins. So what should you look for in a protein powder? The shelves at the health food store are loaded with low quality products. With Hypothyroidism, and other metabolic disorders and autoimmune issues, there are some proteins that you should stay away from so here are a few things to consider.

1. Not all protein shakes have the right nutrients to help you lose weight!

Make sure your shake is organic!! Pesticides and GMO’s are detrimental to our gut flora. (Same is true for the whole foods we eat!) Our gut flora help to convert inactive thyroid hormone (T4) to the active form (T3). In fact 20% is converted in the gut. A healthy gut contributes to a strong immune system, healthy heart, brain health, good mood, healthy sleep, good energy and helps prevent autoimmune disease.

Many shakes contain inflammatory proteins such as whey and soy. Whey proteins come from milk and many people cannot tolerate dairy products. This is especially true if you have hypothyroidism. Dairy proteins are among the top allergens and are inflammatory which also lead to leaky gut and autoimmunity. If you are experiencing low energy, a bloated belly then you are sensitive to the protein.

Soy is also highly genetically modified and highly estrogenic and can causes hormone imbalances. In addition, it can inhibits thyroid peroxidase which inhibits the thyroid’s ability to use iodine reducing the amount of thyroid hormone made. It also interferes with thyroid hormone conversion.

Rice proteins are also among the top GMO crops and may contain heavy metals.

Make sure your protein powder is not filled with synthetic vitamins and fillers and artificial sweeteners and excess sugar.

2. So what should you use if you have hypothyroidism?? We use an Organic Pea Protein!

It is hypoallergenic so it is well tolerated. It is 98% absorbed and assimilated into tissue faster. It has been shown to increase muscle growth just like whey protein. It has a good balance of Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) necessary for muscle growth and it has phytonutrients that are lacking in whey and soy that nourish the body.

It is a great source of L-arginine which is a precursor for Human Growth Hormone that is the mother hormone for anti-aging!!

It is a great source of L-tyrosine which is a precursor for thyroid hormone and L-glutamine that repairs the gut.

3. Protein shakes have fewer calories than most foods.

Naked shakes (ones with no added ingredients) are about 120 calories. You can add your favorite berries and some greens and chia seeds and blend to make a smoothie with added nutrition when time permits. It still has fewer calories than most breakfast foods and is less inflammatory than pastries and cereals.

Adding a protein shake in the morning can help kick start your daily nutrition and keep your blood sugar balanced. Since the protein powders are already broken down into amino acids, your digestive track can readily absorb these nutrients instead of having to go through digestion action. Even when your digestive system isn’t working optimally, the body is able to absorb these amino acids.

4. Protein shakes can curb cravings!

When you are craving carbohydrates, studies have shown it is due to lacking protein. Protein stabilizes the blood sugar and keeps us full longer. When we drink a protein shake the craving for sugar goes away. You won’t experience the sugar crash after consuming a high carb breakfast either. You’ll have good energy to keep you going through the morning.

5. Protein shakes help with menopausal weight gain!

Combine menopause with hypothyroidism and you have the recipe for weight gain around the middle!! As you enter menopause you become more sensitive to the amount of carbohydrates in your diet. Protein shakes are a good way to help reduce the amount of carbs you are eating without adding excess calories.

Protein shakes are good for the mother on the go, the athlete, the workout enthusiast, the menopausal woman, someone wanting fat loss, and yes, the person with hypothyroidism!!! We can help you determine the amount of protein you need in your diet to help optimize your health. Submit a questionnaire and set an appointment with us to talk about how we can help!

Why Isn't My Diet Working?

We’ve received this question a lot lately!!  Ladies tell us that they can’t seem to lose weight no matter what they eat!  They go on a diet and lose a little but when they come off the diet the weight comes right back on!  What’s the deal with that?? Why is it so hard to sustain weight loss? Sustaining weight loss being key to this discussion!

Let’s talk about dieting. Dieting is where you cut calories way back for an extended period of time in order to lose weight quickly.  This is rarely ever sustainable. When you go back to your normal way of eating, you gain the weight back, and in many cases, you gain more weight.  Studies have shown that when most people go on a calorie restriction diet to lose weight, 30-65% of that weight will be regained within a year and one in three will end up heavier than before.

Why does this happen? Let’s talk about a few reasons why this happens.

When you cut calories for an extended period your body may lose muscle mass. Your body needs the calories for fuel and it taps into some of your fat stores but also into your muscle.  You need muscle to burn fat and calories! With less muscle mass your metabolism decreases. So now when you want to lose weight again, you have to cut calories even more to get the weight to come off, and you lose more precious muscle.  Your metabolism decreases more. It’s a vicious cycle.

This yo-yo style of dieting; the losing and the regaining, then losing and regaining, is damaging to the body and the thyroid.  Yo-yo dieting is one of the reasons the thyroid does not work well. The thyroid gland produces mainly inactive thyroid hormone called T4.  It relies on the tissues to convert T4 to the active form, T3. T3 attaches to the receptor sites on the cell membrane’s surface and turns on the cells ability to turn up the rate at which it burns glucose to make energy (ATP).  This increases your metabolism. When we go on a crash diet, a physiological response takes place where the body thinks it’s starving or there is a scarcity of food. To conserve energy, it converts T4 into inactive Reverse T3 (RT3).  RT3 clogs the receptor sites where T3 is supposed to attach. Since RT3 is metabolically inactive, it can’t direct the cell to burn glucose so the metabolism slows conserving fuel for the impending “famine” it thinks it’s about to face.  This increases the storing of food as fat in your fat cells. When we do this over and over our metabolism gets stuck and we will gain weight on even fewer calories. It may take a long time to recover from this kind of metabolic damage.

Yo-yo dieting can lead to Fatty Liver Disease.  Fatty liver is associated with changes in the way the liver metabolizes fats and sugars which increases your chances of type 2 diabetes.  It can impair insulin sensitivity and increase insulin resistance and make it even harder to lose the weight.

Yo-yo dieting is also hard on the heart!  It can lower the good cholesterol, HDL and raise the bad cholesterol which can lead to cardiovascular disease.

Yo-yo dieting increases the stress hormone, cortisol.  Cortisol raises blood sugar which raises insulin and suppresses the thyroid.  This leads to an increase in fat stores especially around the middle. In addition, a chronically high cortisol decreases sex hormones which exacerbates the situation further.  

So what is a better plan?  Let’s don’t even call it a diet, first of all!!  This is a nutrition and lifestyle plan, that is sustainable and pleasurable long term, something you can start out and hold out on.  Your plan must include whole foods that give you the nutrients and micronutrients needed for energy and vitality!  What are whole foods? They are vegetables and fruits that are in their natural form, clean and lean proteins that are not processed.  Whole foods will prevent cravings and leave you satisfied; keeping your hunger, energy and craving in check. Your thyroid, your metabolism your hormones will all be working in harmony with each other to prevent that regain!  One indulgence won’t derail your efforts and your thyroid will adjust to handle the extra calories. Let’s face it, we all know it, processed foods will not give you the sustainable results you are desiring. If you are tired of the yo-yo lifestyle and are looking for something sustainable that allows for results to flow, let us help you find your sweet spot so you will have a plan for life!! Next program start date is March, 11. 2019. You don’t want to miss this!!

How do Chlorine, Fluorine, and Bromine Exposure Affect Thyroid Function?

How does the exposure to chlorine affect the thyroid?  In order to make thyroid hormone, the thyroid gland must have iodine.  T4, T3, T2, T1, are identified by the number of iodine atoms attached to the structure.  T4 has 4 iodine atoms attached, T3 has 3 atoms, and so on. The thyroid gland actively grabs onto iodine in the blood and stores it within the gland to make sure it has enough on board to make thyroid hormone when needed by the body.  If you remember from your high school chemistry class, elements in the same group (or column) on the periodic table have similar chemical properties. Iodine is in a group called Halogens, along with chlorine, fluorine, and bromine. When these halogens are in the bloodstream the thyroid can’t tell the difference and will take them up and store away.  The problem is these other elements can’t make functioning thyroid hormone. When thyroid hormones are made with chlorine, fluorine, or bromine, displacing iodine in the hormone’s structure, it is non-functioning. We wind up with lower thyroid hormone levels, hypothyroidism (or subclinical hypothyroidism) possibly goiters, nodules and cysts in the thyroid gland.  So how do we reduce our exposure?

Chlorine

Chlorine is used as a disinfectant in our water and is effective at reducing contaminants which we want, but it has some drawbacks.  When chlorine is exposed to other chemicals in the water, chemicals that come from sweat, sunscreens, urine, and other wastes, it reacts and creates chloramines.  This is what you smell when you are around a chlorinated pool, or when you fill your tub with water, or get into the shower. This potent gas can cause symptoms like coughing, sinus irritation, throat irritation, skin and eye irritation, and even symptoms like wheezing and asthma.  It can even cause the erosion of tooth enamel. According to the CDC, breathing in irritants may increase your sensitivity to other types of irritants such as fungi and bacteria and lead to allergies. So how can we reduce our exposure and the effects of chlorine?

Swimming Pools

Swimming is a great form of exercise and stress relief!  Growing up, we spent the summers by the neighborhood pool!  Anna was on the swim team and was a lifeguard for several summers in high school and college.  I remember how our skin and hair would smell like chlorine all summer. Here are some steps to help reduce exposure and detox the chlorine from the skin and hair.

1. When possible use salt treated pools.  They may still have small amounts of chlorine but not as much.  

2. Wet hair and skin thoroughly before jumping into the pool.  This helps prevent or slow down the absorption of chlorine. Your hair and skin act like a sponge for chlorine.

3. Use a Vitamin C solution on the skin and hair after swimming.  Use 1 teaspoon of Sodium Ascorbate powder (vitamin C powder) in a small spray bottle (8oz bottle).  Fill it with water and shake to dissolve (distilled water is optimal or use a bottle of water but can use water from the tap if the others are not available).  After swimming, spray on the skin and hair and wait a couple of minutes before showering. Use within 24 hours after mixing because it breaks down. It is best to make this as needed.  Put a teaspoon of powder in the spray bottle and take to the pool. Sodium Ascorbate if preferred over ascorbic acid of ascorbate. Ascorbic acid produces a lower pH solution which might be a little irritating.  There are vitamin C swim solutions already prepared but this can be made cheaply and easily.

4. Add vitamin C serum to your lotion or make your own lotion with vitamin C powder added.  Vitamin C is a great antioxidants for the skin.

5. Exfoliate your skin regularly.  Try dry brushing before showering to help detox the surface of the skin and to get the lymphatic system moving to aid in detoxification of the body.

Bath Water

When chlorinated water is heated, like the hot water that comes from your shower or bath, it creates byproducts that we can inhale and that can be absorbed through the skin.  We actually absorb as much chlorine from bathing as from drinking chlorinated water. Sometimes even more! When chlorinated water is heated it vaporizes more quickly and we inhale more of the gas.  Byproducts produced are chemicals like Trihalomethanes or THM’s (that would include chloroform that increase free radical production, speed aging, and have been linked to cancer and found in high amounts in women with breast cancer).  How do you reduce your exposure in the bath?

1. Use a shower filter that filters out chlorine.  We use a Berkey shower filter. For a bath, fill the tub from the shower head instead of the faucet so the water can be filtered.

2. Use a teaspoon of vitamin C powder (sodium ascorbate powder) in the bath water if you can’t use filtered shower water to fill the tub.  There are also filter balls that can be placed into the bath water that can be swirled around to reduce the chlorine in the water before bathing.

3. Take shorter, showers and use cooler water.

Drinking Water

Before purchasing a water filter, we researched all options that were available.  Reverse osmosis filters remove chlorine, fluoride and other contaminants but also remove beneficial minerals from the water.  It wastes lots of water too. Pitcher types are not very effective and are usually made out of plastics and need to be avoided. That’s another blog!  We like the Berkey filter and the Berkey shower filter. They are great at removing chlorine and a fluoride filter can also be added to remove fluoride, remember it is a halogen and competes with iodine for space in the thyroid.  Use the filtered water to fill your glass or stainless steel water bottles instead of buying bottled water.

Safe Cleaning Products

Avoid using laundry products and cleaning products that contain chlorine.  The chlorine gas created, adds to the toxic burden inside your home. The inside of your home can be more polluted than the air outside due in part to the products we use.  Choose non-toxic products that clean and kill viruses and bacteria just as well. Use essential oils for cleaning household surfaces. Contact us for our suggestions on how to reduce the toxins inside your home.

Fluorine and Bromine

Fluorine

Fluorine is found in drinking water and in toothpastes in the form of fluoride.  A dose of 2 - 5 mg of fluoride was found to be effective in suppressing an overactive thyroid.  By drinking 8 glasses of tap water where fluoride has been added, you are inadvertently taking in enough fluoride to suppress your thyroid.  Most adults drinking fluorinated drinking water take in between 1.6 - 6.6 mg of fluoride a day. Many bottled waters use tap water and contain fluoride.  It can also be found in canned food, rock salt, black tea, green tea, supplements and some medications. Using a fluoride filter that can be found with the Berkey filters helps reduce the amount you are consuming from your drinking water.  Use natural fluoride free toothpaste. Change to white tea or herbal teas to reduce your fluoride exposure.

Bromine

Bromine is found in pesticides, plastics, bakery goods, soda, mediations, fire retardants, bromine based hot tub and swimming pool treatments.  Brominated vegetable oil is added to citrus drinks to help keep the flavoring suspended in the drink. Strawberries that are not organic have pesticides that use methyl bromide.  Potassium bromate is used in baked goods as a dough conditioner. Avoid baked goods that use bromated flour or flour that contains potassium bromate. In 1982, researchers in Japan showed that potassium bromate causes thyroid cancer in mice.  Potassium bromate is illegal in Europe, Canada and Brazil but still allowed in the U.S.

Supplements That Can Help

Vitamin C

Methylated B vitamins (methyl folate, methyl cobalamin) avoid the synthetic ones like folic acid and cyanocobalamin.

Eat sea vegetables and wild caught seafood’s to insure you have plenty of iodine in your body.   Consider a multivitamin and multimineral with iodine.

Take a supplement that activates the Nrf2 Pathway to increase your own body’s antioxidants like glutathione, SOD and Catalase to help your body detox these halogens.  See us for more information on the ones we use.

Eat organic vegetables and organic, pasture raised, wild caught proteins.

Reduce your body’s toxic burden daily in order to allow your body to get rid of the toxins that are present.

Helping your thyroid function optimally is not just about doing one thing.  It’s about changing your thinking and cleaning up your diet and lifestyle to become healthier.  It is never too late to learn about a new way!! We are here to help!!