Patient-Centered, Whole-Person, Functional Metabolic Care For Hashimoto's and Low Thyroid

Hidden Cause Of Low Thyroid #3 – Iodine | Arizona Thyroid Institute in Scottsdale, AZ

Dr. Chris Heimlich, DC, Scottsdale Phoenix Metro area  Doctor Shares The Third of 7 Low Thyroid Mistakes Patients and Doctors Make….

As I consult with patients that suffer from hypothyroid symptoms on a daily basis at the Arizona Thyroid Institute located here in Scottsdale Arizona, I see 7 common mistakes that keep hypothyroid patients from experiencing relief from their thyroid symptoms. The third reason is this series is: Iodine Supplementation

 

Your Iodine Supplements May Be Making You Worse

When a patient has been diagnosed with low thyroid production, medically referred to as hypothyroidism, one of the first things commonly prescribed is iodine supplementation.  You’ve probably been told that iodine is necessary for thyroid hormones synthesis.  And it is, but here is the problem…taking supplemental iodine can be dangerous, and here’s why.

Worldwide iodine deficiency is a widespread problem. In areas of the world where iodine is deficient, iodine is the cause of many if not most cases of hypothyroidism. In areas where iodine is not deficient in the food supply, including the United States, iodine is not usually the cause of low thyroid.

In areas of the world with adequate iodine in food, or where salt is iodized, the most common cause of low thyroid is Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Thyroid. It is estimated that up to 90 percent of cases of hypothyroidism in the United States is from this autoimmune mechanism. Autoimmune thyroid is not primary hypothyroidism; instead it is a form of hypothyroidism that is caused by immune destruction. The amount of iodine that is contained is iodine supplements and thyroid natural support products act like gas on a burning fire.

In a 2004 article in the journal Thyroid, the author stated “…the explosive mix of iodine, TPO Ab, and H202 necessary for thyroid hormone synthesis, inadvertently provide the trigger for the autoimmune thyroid response.” It is this misguided inclination to give every hypothyroidism patient high doses of supplemental iodine that leads to increased thyroid gland destruction, and more suffering on the patient’s part. Most natural healthcare practitioners possess a very limited understanding of autoimmune physiology and continue giving iodine supplements for all cases of hypothyroidism, in the same way as the medical community uses thyroid replacement hormones as a “blanket” management for all low thyroid conditions.

What that means is iodine is a trigger. It’s a trigger for Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroid.

Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroid is the number one cause of low thyroid in America–not iodine deficiency.

This whole issue of iodine exposes a nasty similarity between traditional medicine and “alternative” medicine.

Traditional medicine is looking at TSH and T4 and T3 and they didn’t really care about iodine.  They’re not even going to give you iodine because whatever the real cause of your low thyroid symptoms might be.  The only thing you’re going to get from them is replacement thyroid hormones. No matter what. It’s pretty much the only tool they have to offer. (And you know the old saying…”If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like nails.”)

They don’t care if  the cause of your symptoms is

  • Hashimoto’s…
  • T4 to T3 overconversion problem…
  • Under conversion problem…
  • Thyroid binding globulin problem

—doesn’t matter.  You’re getting thyroid hormones from the traditional medical doctor. This is why so many women STILL feel terrible.

So traditional medicine has nice little box. You’ve heard of thinking “outside the box?” Well Traditional medicine has their nice little dusty box, been sitting here for 30, 40 years and that’s how they do it.

Over here we have the not so alternative-alternative medicine approach.  And what they do is they also have their sad, outdated box way of thinking. Inside their box is the idea that everyone with low thyroid needs iodine supplementation, or tyrosine, or broad immune system support ,or they need to take thyroid glandulars.

Here’s what the not-so-alternative medicine doesn’t know…conventional medicine, they do some testing. Not-so-alternative medicine does almost no testing at all.  They’re still doing things like the Barnes underarm thyroid test and that is an ancient, prehistoric, non-useful way of evaluating the thyroid.

There are also people in this camp that are doing the iodine absorption test as if that had any real relationship to your need for iodine (it doesn’t).

The craziest thing is that these not-so-alternative practitioners ignore the fact that iodine is a trigger for Hashimoto’s.  If you wanna give yourself Hashimoto’s, keep taking the iodine that one of the not-so-alternative medicine doctors gave you. They mean well,  by the way. I’m not trying to slam them.

But that well meaning “alternative” doctor doesn’t understand the fact that what we’re really dealing with, almost 90 percent of the time, is not low iodine. The problem is an autoimmune problem.

If you have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism but are not sure whether is is autoimmune, then it is in your best interest to have your thyroid doctor check your thyroid antibodies. This will indicate whether your hypothyroidism is from an immune cause and will help guide you in your decision of whether to include iodine supplementation in your diet.  There are natural thyroid treatment options in the Scottsdale and Phoenix Metro area. 

In my next post I am going to discuss Low Thyroid Mistake #4: Hashimotos

Dr Chris Heimlich, Board Certified Chiropractic Physician

Hidden Causes Of Low Thyroid #2 – Cortisol | Arizona Thyroid Institute in Scottsdale, AZ near Phoenix

Dr. Chris Heimlich DC, Scottsdale Phoenix Metro Area  Doctor Shares The Second of 7 Low Thyroid Mistakes Patients and Doctors Make….

As I consult with patients that suffer from hypothyroid symptoms on a daily basis at the Arizona Thyroid Institute located here in Scottsdale Arizona, I see 7 common mistakes that keep hypothyroid patients from experiencing relief from their thyroid symptoms. The Second reason in this series is: High Cortisol Levels.

High levels or cortisol is another hidden cause as to why you still have thyroid symptoms even though you’re taking thyroid hormone or even though your lab numbers are normal.

So what is cortisol?  It’s a hormone made in your adrenal gland.  I know you have heard of them.  They are known as the  “stress” glands.  They sit on top of your kidneys.  They make the hormones aldosterone, cortisol, and androgens.  The adrenal glands are crucial for your good health.

So what does cortisol do?

Cortisol is responsible for regulating your blood sugar.   When cortisol is release by your adrenal glands, it is accompanied by cytokines.  Cytokines are messengers used by your immune system.  This creates an inflammatory response.  These cytokines suppress the ability of your pituitary and your hypothalamus to make TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone.

When that happens you start to get some or all of the low thyroid symptoms below:

Fatigue

Weight Gain

Depression

Constipation

Hair falls out easily

Dry skin

Poor circulation and numbness in hand and feet

Morning headaches that wear off as day progresses

So follow me as I explain cortisol and low thyroid symtpoms….

Your adrenal glands make cortisol in response to stress.  There are different kinds of stress.  Anything that promotes inflammation or that causes inflammation, will make your adrenal glands pump out more cortisol.

As that cortisol is released, those cytokines are going to come out as well—that is what’s going to suppress your pituitary and give you low thyroid symptoms.

The most common causes of elevated cortisol are:

  • Blood sugar regulation problems (high or low blood sugar, insulin spikes and valleys)
  • Hidden gut infections or infections you haven’t been able to eliminate
  • Chronic stress.

Well, let me say a couple words about each one of those.

When you have a “blood sugar problem”, it means that your blood sugar is not regular.

Your blood sugar is going up and down….

When your blood sugar goes up and down, your cortisol levels are going to go up and down…

…and the cytokines are going to go up and down….

…and then we have this whole pituitary getting squashed…

…and you not making enough thyroid hormones and you’re starting to have symptoms.

The key point to remember here is:  You do NOT have to be diagnosed as a diabetic to have blood sugar problems.

There are  two varieties of that blood sugar problem.  You don’t have to be diabetic to have this.  You can have hypoglycemia (reactive hypoglycemia), which means your sugar drops between meals…or you don’t eat when you need to and…when you do eat the next time, you get these big surges of insulin, big surges of cortisol.

It doesn’t matter to your body whether you have low blood sugar or high blood sugar; in both cases the blood sugar is not regular.

So, for example, if you get shaky, light headed or irritable in between meals and you have a thyroid problem…this could be one of the reasons why because that blood sugar going up and down, that fluctuation causes this fluctuation in cytokines and inflammation.

The second thing that can cause excessive cortisol is infection.  It’s not necessarily like getting strep throat.  We’re talking about, many times, hidden G.I. infections that you have no idea you have because you may not have any G.I. symptoms that cause high cortisol…and then low thyroid symptoms.

There’s a test that you can do that is a DNA PCR test of stool.This test is definitive as to whether you’ve got a parasite, a fungus or a yeast or some sort of pathogen living in your gut that’s driving – and that’s the word I use – driving your adrenal glands to keep pumping up cortisol—which makes increased levels of cytokines, which suppresses your pituitary.

Mental  stress is the third thing that can cause these adrenal glands to keep pumping out cortisol.  Many low thyroid sufferers are stressed by many different parts of their life. They feel bad.  It’s the classic stress response.  So, for those people – and this is part of what we do for my management program – we have to teach them how to deal with their stress.

I’m not talking necessarily about being a therapist.  I’m talking about teaching you a very powerful but simple way of helping your body not have a stress response but have a relaxing response.  If whoever’s taking care of you right now, if you’re under care, if they’re not addressing this stress component, you’re being underserved.  I believe you’re being underserved.  There are natural thyroid treatment options in the Phoenix Metro area. 

If your stress levels are still high, your adrenal glands are still going to pump hard.  Cortisol levels are going to increase to excess.  Cytokine levels are going to increase, and it’s going to squash your pituitary.   Remember, your pituitary is a key component if thyroid health.

In my next post I am going to discuss Low Thyroid Mistake #3: The Dangers Of Iodine

Dr Chris Heimlich, Board Certified Chiropractic Physician

Low Thyroid Symptoms, Hashimoto Thyroiditis, Brain, and Gastrointestinal Connection

What’s the connection between your stomach problems, brain fog, and hashimoto’s? How are they related?

–>Click Here To Schedule A Consultation At The Arizona Thyroid Institute<–

One of the most frequent questions I get asked by new patients suffering from low thyroid symptoms is why we do a functional neurological exam on them.  There are several reasons why we do this.  First, the brain directly communicates with the thyroid.  The brain tells the pituitary to talk to the hypothalamus to tell the thyroid to release hormones.  Kind of like a domino effect.

The brain also directly communicates with the stomach and intestines (which is what we call the gastrointestinal system) through the vagal nerve.  In previous posts I have talked about how important the gastrointestinal system is in patients with low thyroid symptoms.  If you have been reading or watching then you know the number one cause of low thyroid symptoms in the United States is an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.  85 to 95% of all low thyroid conditions in the United States as an autoimmune condition of the thyroid.

The liver and spleen have a huge effect on the immune system, and are also directly connected to the brain through the autonomic nervous system.   Researchers have known for years that if you damage the vagus nerve, you will have dysfunction of the organs that we talked about.  When those organs don’t function correctly, the thyroid health is directly and negatively impacted.

The gastrointestinal tract and liver also convert inactive thyroid hormones into active ones.  So if they are not functioning correctly, you will not have enough active thyroid hormone to bind to the receptor sites.  That will translate into low thyroid symptoms like brain fog, constipation, hair loss, weight gain, fatigue, insomnia, and all the other low thyroid symptoms.

Another important reason why we do function neurological exam on all patients complaining of low thyroid symptoms is because we want to check and see how the brain is functioning, particularly the cerebellum and the basal ganglia.  Research has shown that these two areas in the brain can also be attacked just like the thyroid is attacked in people with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.

If you are still suffering with low thyroid symptoms, make sure you find a doctor that knows we’ve just talked about.  You want to make sure that you get more than just your TSH and free T3 and free T4 checked when you are trying to find the cause of why you are still suffering with symptoms of hypothyroidism.

–>Click Here To Schedule A Consultation At The Arizona Thyroid Institute<–

Why Doctors Don’t Check Antibody Levels in Hypothyroid Patients?

Dr. Chris Heimlich DC, Scottsdale Phoenix Metro Area  Doctor Shares The First of 7 Low Thyroid Mistakes Patients and Doctors Make….

Research shows that the most common  reason for hypothyroid symptoms is an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.  It is estimated that 80% or more of people suffering with hypothyroid symptoms have this autoimmune disease.  If this is the case, why don’t doctors check antibody levels.

Before we talk about that, let’s look how bad  an autoimmune disease  really is.  An autoimmune disease is where the body is attacking itself.  The body tries to destroy different tissues inside itself.  That is a serious problem.

Now the biggest reason doctors don’t check the antibody levels is because it does not change their management protocol.   For thyroid treatment most doctors are going to give you synthetic thyroid replacement hormones, intermittently check your TSH, and call it a day. If you continue to suffer with the same symptoms as before they will be attributed to some other ailment, usually depression or anxiety, and be treated accordingly.

The second reason is that it is seen as a “medical waste” in the eyes of the insurance company.    I do agree with the insurance companies on this.  Why pay for a test if it isn’t going to change the course of management?  The payment for a test that will not alter the course of management is in a way wasteful, but the real waste is in ignoring the underlying cause of the problem and leaving the patient to suffer.

Having no alternative management plan for Autoimmune thyroid, and the resultant medical waste of a test ordered but that has no bearing on the patients management are the two main reasons many Hashimoto’s patients go undiagnosed and ignored in the system.

It is critical to determine if your hypothyroid symptoms are  from an immune mechanism.   If it is from autoimmune disease,  it  should absolutely be managed in more comprehensive way, not only including some type of replacement hormone, but it should also include management of the immune systems destruction of the gland itself. A more comprehensive approach by a natural thyroid doctor in Phoenix AZ gives the patient a better chance to feel and function normally.

Low Thyroid Symptom: Weight Gain, or Trouble Losing Weight

Dr. Chris Heimlich, DC, DACNB FIAMA Comments:

If you’re suffering from the thyroid problems and can’t get off the extra pounds, we may have a solution for you.

One of the most frustrating symptoms associated with low thyroid is weight gain. Although patients may have several symptoms associated with low thyroid, this is the one they often look most forward to resolving with help and support. It is extremely frustrating to eat like a bird, exercise like an athlete, and still not budge on the scales.

Here is a real conversation one of my patients had with her doctor. (not for the faint of heart)

Patient:  “I can’t lose weight.  I am exercising every day, watching what I eat, taking my thyroid medication, but still can’t make any progress.  What can I do?”

Doctor:  “Did you ever see anyone come out of a concentration camp that was fat?”

Patient: “What?”

Doctor:  “Did you ever see anyone come out of a concentration camp that was fat?”

Patient:  “No.  Are suggesting I starve myself?  That isn’t healthy.”

Doctor:  “You are probably just eating too much.”

How about that for bedside manner?  That is the kind of recommendations that some patients are given. 

I realize that this is probably an isolated case, but there are many women are told to starve themselves to achieve weight loss.

Now I am the first to admit, starting off in practice I did not pay too much attention to the weight issues of our patients. I felt it was more important to get the body to heal itself so it could get rid of the other symptoms associated with low thyroid, and the weight would take care of itself.  My staff had told me that the weight was a very big issue and that I needed to be more sensitive to that aspect of the healing process.  I would ask patients how they were doing, and the first thing they would talk about it the weight loss.  After asking about their other symptoms, it was common to hear “oh I sleep better now, don’t have brain fog, my IBS is gone, not depressed, but I lost 18 pounds already.”  They would forget about the other symptoms they used to have, and focus on the weight loss.  It finally hit me, this is one symptom of major importance to the patient, and I needed to address it as such.

The inability to lose weight is often the symptom that prompts patients to seek out low thyroid treatment with their primary care physician. Unfortunately, the inability to lose weight isn’t always resolved once treatment begins.

If you’re in this situation, ask your physician or practitioner this question: why you are still having difficulty losing weight. If the answer is, “You just need to eat less,” or “You need to exercise more,” you should consider other support options and answers.

Although diet and exercise are important for everyone, there are many factors play a huge role in the weight issues.

Blood sugar, adrenal function, inflammation, GI function, and how the body is functionally working all could be contributing to your weight issue.   If you are suffering with hypothyroid symptoms and still cannot lose the weight, find a doctor that will listen you, dig deep to find out what could be causing your symptoms, and will work with you to achieve your health goals.

 

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Is No Big Deal – All Low Thyroid Patients Have It

Dr. Chris Heimlich, DC, DACNB Comments:

Now before I start getting the hate mail, hear me out.  I just had another patient come in and tell me that her doctor had said that to her. 

If you are suffering with any of the symptoms of Hashimoto’s, you know that it is a BIG DEAL.

Some of the symptoms of Hashimoto’s include:

  • hair loss
  • hair thinning
  • constipation
  • fatigue
  • cold hands and feet
  • sleep excessively to function
  • brain fog, slow thinking
  • dry skin, flaky skin
  • occasional HYPERthyroid symptoms

In America the number one cause for low thyroid is an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.

This means that the number one cause for low thyroid n America is an autoimmune attack.  Here are some examples of other autoimmune conditions:  MS, rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus.

Meaning—your immune system has turned on you and is targeting your thyroid…and is killing it…. and that’s what’s causing you to be low thyroid.

And taking thyroid hormones will NOT do anything for this attack. You will continue to lose more and more of your thyroid.

But the standard of care for that is giving you thyroid hormones.  I think you probably understand now that this not a thyroid hormone problem.  That’s not the battle.  The battle is an immune system battle; an autoimmune battle.

Here is a good way to think about the autoimmune attack on the body.  It would be like coming into my office in shorts.  You bring along your dog or cat.  And it is just starts biting and scratching your legs, just really attacking you.  I look at you and say “Gee, you have a leg problem.  Here are some band-aids.  Take these and put them on your legs.  Here is a script of band-aids for the rest of your life for that leg problem.  You may need more or less of them as you go through life.  We will check on them every 3 to 6 months.

If I told you this, you would probably look at me like I had two heads.  It wouldn’t make any sense.  The animal attacking your legs is the problem, not the legs.  It is the same thing with Hashimoto’s.  The immune system attacking the thyroid is the problem, not the thyroid.

What most doctors are going to do for Hashimoto’s is monitor your TSH–thyroid stimulating hormone –level.  They’re going to try to make it stay within a certain numerical range,—but that’s going to fluctuate all over the place and it’s not really getting to the problem.

The immune system will NOT only attack the thyroid, but it will start attacking the cells in the lining of your stomach that help you to be able to absorb B-12.  When this happens you’ll end up getting pernicious anemia.  Since 80% of neurotransmitters are created in the stomach, you can also get brain fog, memory loss, and other neurological symptoms.

The brain is also targeted by the immune system.  It likes to attack the cerebellum.  You can end up having vertigo, dizziness, and balance problems.

The immune system also attacks your pancreas and can make you start having diabetic symptoms, insulin problems, and adrenal issues.

Since every cell in the body has a thyroid receptor site, any part of your body can be attacked when the immune system no longer can tell what is friend and what it foe.

When most patients suffering from low thyroid symptoms learn about the autoimmune attack on the body, it makes perfect sense to them.  It makes sense because that is how they feel.  Like their body is being attacked.

Focusing the clinical management on slowing and modulating the autoimmune attack is crucial in Hashimoto’s Disease. How can you have a properly functioning thyroid if the body is continually attacking and killing it?

A functional approach to naturally supporting and modulating the immune system in autoimmune cases is the best way to help the body slow down or stop the attack on itself.  Natural management of autoimmune conditions is complex. Support that is specific to the individual immune system is essential if you truly want to help Hashimoto’s Disease.

You have to find out how their immune system has shifted.  Our immune systems have two parts:  TH-1 and a TH-2.  They are supposed to be balanced.  If they are not, then we have a problem.

You have to find out which one of those has become abnormally dominant and why.

Is it because of an antigen? –something that the immune system has been trying to kill for so long that it’s increased its immune attack on this antigen and then it flipped the scales and now we have an autoimmune condition.

Or has the immune system become imbalanced because of disregulation.  Hormonal surges can do this.  Stress can do this.  Blood sugar problems.  Inflammation can do this.

So if you know someone that’s suffering with Hashimoto’s, or with low thyroid, and they don’t feel any better – even with thyroid medication – it is time to get them some help.

It’s time to find someone who can investigate this further.

There are millions of you out there right now that have this problem and you don’t know it.

It’s why you still have thyroid symptoms even though you’re taking medication–you have an autoimmune condition (whether diagnosed correctly or not).

And yes, it is A VERY BIG DEAL. 

The Devastating Effect of Stress on Low Thyroid Patients

Dr. Chris Heimlich, DC, DACNB Comments

We all know stress is bad for us.  There are thousands of books on the subject.  But how does it relate to the way you are feeling when you have low thyroid symptoms?

First of all, when you are stressed, you release interleukin 17, or IL 17 for short.  They are pro-inflammatory cytokines.  That means they are highly inflammatory in nature.    More inflammation means more symptoms and suffering.

As I have talked about in many other posts, the majority of people suffering with low thyroid symptoms in the United States have an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.  It is a condition where your thyroid tissue is attacked and destroyed by your own body.  As you can imagine, when the body attacks itself, there is a large amount of inflammation produced.  So when you release these other chemicals in the body that cause more inflammation, it only makes your symptoms worse.

Symptoms that are commonly associated with low thyroid or high TSH are:

  • Often feeling cold
  • Cold hands and feet
  • High or rising cholesterol
  • Constipation
  • No eyebrows or thinning outer eyebrows
  • Exhaustion in every dimension–physical, mental, spiritual, emotional
  • Dry Hair
  • Sore feet
  • colitis
  • irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
  • painful bladder
  • Heart disease
  • Hair Loss
  • Requires naps in the afternoon
  • Depression
  • Raised temperature
  • Headaches and migraines
  • Joint pain
  • Major anxiety/worry
  • Acne on face and in hair
  • Breakout on chest and arms
  • Hives
  • Bizarre and Debilitating reaction to exercise
  • Hard stools
  • Less stamina than others
  • Less energy than others
  • Long recovery period after any activity
  • Chronic Low Grade Depression
  • Palpitations
  • Hard stools
  • Dry cracking skin
  • Insomnia
  • Brain Fog
  • Decreased sex drive
  • Nausea
  • Aching muscles
  • Lack of motivation
  • Swollen ankle
  • Inability to lose weight (even with exercise and low calorie diet)
  • Sleep Apnea
  • Inability to get pregnant; miscarriages

So when you have any of these symptoms, and you get stressed out, it is like throwing gasoline on the fire.

Another reason that stress is bad for low thyroid sufferers is because the pituitary gland gets suppressed secondary to elevation of cortisol.  Cortisol is produce by your adrenal glands and is released when you have stress.  The adrenal glands are part of you autonomic nervous system.  It is the system that has to do with fight or flight and with all the organs in the body, including the heart, lungs, stomach, GI system, pancreas, etc.  What controls the autonomic nervous system?  Your brain controls the autonomic nervous system, and the brain doesn’t like large fluctuations in the cortisol either.

Chronic stress can cause elevation in the cortisol which causes suppression of the pituitary and reduces the amount of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) released.   I won’t get into all the pathways associated with the brain, thyroid, and adrenal glands because you don’t have to know them.  But your doctor does.

Don’t go run out and buy supplements to support your adrenals.  That mentality could just rob Peter to pay Paul.  You have to look at how all of the body is functioning before you ever start thinking about supporting the adrenals.

The easy answer is to not get stressed out. ….but that is unrealistic.

The key to stress is finding a way to deal with it in an appropriate manner.  

Find something that you enjoy and that relaxes you, and then do it on a daily basis.  Some of you reading this are probably saying that you love to exercise, but can’t due to fatigue, pain, etc.  I understand.  There is another key to stress.

The other key to stress is finding out why you are not feeling the way you should.  It is not normal to have symptoms. 

You need to find a doctor that understands what we have talked about and who can look over your lab results, sit down and listen to your symptoms, examine you, and come up with a way to get your body to heal itself back up, the way it was designed to do.  You need a doctor that will look at everything happening in your body- not just your thyroid or adrenals.

Low Thyroid Hormone and Dietary Fish Oil

Dr. Chris Heimlich, DC, DACNB Comments:

I just read an article on dietary fish oils and thyroid hormones from The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.   They discussed the effects of fish oil on thyroid hormone signaling in the liver.

From my other blogs you may recall that 60% of inactive thyroid hormone (T4) is converted to the active form (T3) by the liver.  So it is paramount for your thyroid health, as well as the rest of your body’s health to have a properly functioning liver.  I will discuss this in greater length in a future post.

Of course cost of fish oils fan fair comes from the benefits it has on the heart.  Consumption of dietary fish oils can lower triglycerides and increase “good” cholesterol.  It can also slow hardening of arteries and slightly lower blood pressure.

Omega-3 fatty acids are not only good for the heart; they also help to reduce inflammation. This is perhaps one of the most valuable benefits of the Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil, as inflammation is associated with many serious diseases. Heart disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases, psoriasis, and Alzheimer’s, for example, are characterized by increased levels of pro-inflammatory markers. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil reduce inflammation by preventing production of pro-inflammatory signaling molecules. This may help to prevent serious illness associated with inflammation.

Did you catch the part about autoimmune disease?  That is what most people in the United States with low thyroid symptoms have.  They have an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.  If this is new news to you, check out my other blogs.  I talk about this extensively on my blogs.

As if the benefits of fish oil on heart health and arthritis were not enough, it is believed that fish oil also helps with anti-aging as well. Omega-3 fatty acids slow the rate at which protective caps on the end of chromosomes shorten, thus increasing the lifespan of cells.

Fish oils have also been shown to help prevent Alzheimer’s, depression, and other mental illnesses.  Omega-3 fatty acids may help to regulate hormones in the brain to help with mental clarity.

Prolonging the life of cells is not the only anti-aging benefit of fish oil. Fish oil has also been shown to significantly reduce the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration.

Fish oil has also been shown to be beneficial to pregnant women and the unborn child. The benefits to the unborn child are numerous and include: a healthier brain with increased intelligence; good nervous system development; better eyesight from retina formation; fewer behavioral problems after birth; and better sleeping patterns as a new born. The mother also receives benefits from her consumption of fish oil. These benefits include: a lower chance of developing preeclampsia; a decreased chance of preterm labor; and a greatly reduced incidence of breast cancer.  The reason fish oil is so beneficial to the unborn child is because 70% of a newborn’s brain, retina and nervous system are made up of the Omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA. Therefore, increasing the amount of these fatty acids present in the mother’s diet, and therefore being given to her unborn child, aides in the child’s development of the brain, retina and nervous system.

With all that said, that is why I recommend fish oils or essential fatty acids for most everyone in our office.  I know that is a bit of a blanket statement, and you should consult your health care practitioner before starting any supplementation, especially if you are suffering with low thyroid symptoms.