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 did not see 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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!

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.

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.