How To Nourish Your Thyroid & Improve Immunity
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Most people underestimate the power of our thyroid gland, and how critical it is to keep us nourished every day, especially under today's stress and immune threats. Nourishing our thyroid IS different than taking a multivitamin and mineral because our thyroid requires a specific amount of certain nutrients. When our thyroids are nourished adequately, they become healthier again and function normally. A healthier thyroid changes everything!
Today's “metabolic” blog post is inspired by the emails I've been recently receiving about sudden weight gain, exhaustion, and fatigue, despite sleeping more, with sudden weight gain and accumulation of belly fat that's making it tough to button your shirts.
What's super-important to understand is that you don't have to have an underactive thyroid or thyroid disease to be affected by the symptoms caused by an under-functioning, sluggish, thyroid that affects your weight and can block weight loss and exacerbate menopause symptoms brought on by stress. Like the kind of stress we all live under at the moment.
Question: I never had an underactive thyroid until now, and my doctor/endocrinologist warned me that menopause and stress can cause my thyroid to become tired, and he suggested that I nourish it. I'm not sure which nutrients and I don't know where to start! I suspected menopause would be difficult, but combining my menopausal sleep issues with the stress of the times due to COVID-19, I never thought I’d have such a hard time sleeping. I NEED MY SLEEP to function! HELP!
Answer: You're not alone! Sleep is THE most important aspect of health. It's where all healing and repair begins. Our brains get to reboot too, by shutting down for a bit. When we aren't sleeping, every aspect of our health is negatively affected, even if we don't have any health issues. Health issues like fatigue, weight gain, and sleep issues will begin to pop up and stop working the way they should. That's why I am so aggressive when it comes to improving sleep, not only how much, but the quality of the sleep we get. Both are affected by menopause and stress, and when combined and prolonged (the way today's COVID -19 has been ongoing), the effects on our health can be disastrous.
Back to the question ... some menopause symptoms may overlap with those of a slow thyroid, but a well-nourished thyroid, even if you don't have hypothyroid issues or well-managed hypothyroidism, can help prevent menopausal symptoms from worsening. It also helps you continue to lose weight and melt belly fat off your midsection.
It's the same way we need to increase the medications we take to match the conditions we're living under, to keep your condition managed properly (this includes weight gain, which always includes thyroid disruptions). That's why our bodies require more of certain nutrients.
This is especially true if you're taking, or have taken, oral estrogen or bioidentical hormones of any kind, which some women in menopause opt to take. (I don't suggest it for many reasons, starting with the health risks it imposes and lack of benefits delivered, one being they block weight loss, despite what you’ve been told.) To my point... everything we eat (like eating kale or juicing spinach) or take alters our body's thyroid medication concentrations, causing most people to increase dosages of thyroid medication. Sadly, this only makes sleep and menopausal issues worse and FAIL miserably when it comes to maintaining normal thyroid function.
This is where adaptogens can help, like the all-natural, botanical Thyro-Boost (also called Immune Boost) can be a game-changer, and prevent the need to increase your thyroid medication, making things worse.
Thyro-Boost won't energize you the way taking Daily Power Shot does, or give you concrete ways to notice IF it's working. Adpatogenics like Thyro-Boost help your body to better cope with stress, in addition to nourishing and protecting the precious thyroid gland, making sure it gets the specific nutrients it needs, like kelp, selenium, spirulina, astragalus, dulse, and coleus forskohlii, to name a few, to protect it from the ravages of stress.
You can't get these nutrients from food. You'd have to eat a lot of seaweed and avoid foods like spinach and kale (not good for your thyroid -- they inhibit thyroid function) to get enough of the nutrients our thyroid needs now, as its needs are greatly increased when under chronic stress like we are currently living in now.
Adaptogenics should be a part of everyone’s daily nutritional supplements because they help our bodies deal with stress and modulate its response, meaning, it helps balance our stress hormones. When our stress hormones are balanced and under control, we sleep normally and don't feel the need to stress eat, or become so depressed we can’t get off the couch to do what we know we should. This regulation helps keep our immune systems strong, so they can protect us from harm (like COVD-19). It actually makes your Daily Wellness CBD work more efficiently when relieving pain or easing stress, and also improves your multivitamins' efficiency, acting as a primer.
I've had to up my Thyro-Boost recently to help keep my body regulated and functioning normally as I too feel the stress of the world. I quickly noticed the extra inch I had gained being in lockdown melt off. While I didn't feel like running a marathon, I functioned better and could get through a weight workout without falling asleep on the weight bench (yes, it happens to me sometimes). I also noticed that awful bloated feeling begin to vanish, making it easier for me to stick to my plan and avoid stress eating. It also keeps my mind clear, and my mood balanced.
The best part about Thyro-Boost is that because it's an adaptogen, it works when you need it and won't harm you if you don't. It's like having health insurance, and everyone should be taking at least one (1) dropper-full daily, as a way to protect health, boost immunity, and prevent the damage that can occur from today's current stress, menopause, thyroid issues caused by being overweight or chronic dieting, and taking medications like sleeping pills, or excessive thyroid medication that also increases your thyroid's nutrient needs. That's a "YES" to all of you who email asking if you can take Thyro-Boost if you're taking thyroid medication.
If your sleep issues have been going on for more than a week, your stress hormones are going to be severely affected and may require a more aggressive approach. The best way to do this is by nutrient stacking. Nutrient stacking is an advanced way of supplementing to help improve health and accelerate weight loss and fat burning by addressing the underlying issues that are causing them to begin with (AKA holistic approach), versus placing a band-aid over them, allowing them to worsen and also making sure you're not overlapping certain nutrients either.
It's always safe to increase your Thyro-Boost dose when you feel stressed, and to help you sleep, take melatonin (Lean Sleep) with it. This stack does more than help you sleep, it also protects your health while you sleep. It also makes it easier to melt off stubborn belly fat.
You can take it again if you wake up in the middle of the night. If you wake up feeling groggy, you didn’t get enough sleep, which allows the stress hormones to dissipate. As for the crazy dreams some people get when they take melatonin, that's actually a desired effect and a good sign. Dreams are our body's way of processing our emotions, which helps balance the hormones that are under our belly fat, weight gain, menopause, and mood issues. Don’t worry; once your body catches up with all of the processing it needs to do, the dreams disappear. And, don't forget what momma used to say: "Sweet dreams... !” This gentle suggestion from us makes a bigger difference than you might think.
That's why a simple prayer when you lie down to go to sleep, and the affirmation of: “I'm going to fall asleep quickly, sleep soundly and wake up feeling refreshed" works! Say it, believe it, and watch what happens. If nothing else, it will make you laugh.
We would love to hear about your dreams! Tag us on Facebook (@LisaLynnFitness) or Instagram (@LynFitNutrition) with your best weird dream. The winner will win a bottle of Maximum Strength CBD Daily Wellness Drops. I'll post my dreams too!