Hashimoto S Thyroiditis Diet The Thyroid Alternative.
It is estimated that 70-90 percent of deaths in the U.S. are not genetic but are modifiable through diet, exercise and the reduction of environmental toxin exposure. This stands in the face of traditional medical education which teaches treatment of disease through drugs and surgery rather than a comprehensive individualized analysis of each individual's unique case. Traditional physicians are not trained or qualified to implement nutrition, diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes to patients' treatment plans leaving little hope for healing chronic disease. Doctors are taught about drugs by agents of the pharmaceutical industry who work hard to persuade these physicians to select the newest and most expensive medications even in the absence of scientific evidence that these drugs are any better than older, less costly ones. This situation exists despite the fact that there is plenty of evidence to support that non-drug interventions are more effective and less costly.
Between 1990 and 2000, health care costs increased by 69 percent per capita in the US to $4,637.1 Germany ranked number two in the world and yet US per capita costs were 68.5 percent higher than Germany and 2.5 times greater than costs in the UK.2 Prescription drugs were responsible for 21 percent of this increase.3 In 2001, our total spending was $1.4 trillion.4 By 2011, spending is expected to rise to $3.1 trillion.5 This model is becoming more and more costly as the numbers of sick individuals steadily increase requiring more resources for care. Our health care system does very well with emergency medicine for things such as accidents, traumas, rampant infections and life-saving surgeries. However, with chronic disease, it fails miserably. The biggest threats to our health are social isolation, obesity, increasing stress, lack of exercise, undernutrition from hollow food, and industrial pollution of our air, water and earth.
The United States is currently ranked 37th in overall health care among industrialized nations despite the fact that we spend more money per person than any other country. One of the main reasons our health care system is so poor is due to the fatally flawed model that encourages waiting until symptoms and disease arise before action is taken. Prevention is not a priority in our health care model. Even so called preventative procedures such as mammograms fail to deliver much usefulness in preventing breast cancer. The reason that our health care system is structured the way it is can be explained by the strong pharmaceutical influence on medical education, training and practice. Drugs do not prevent disease; they merely mask symptoms and do not correct the underlying causes of a disease. This model neatly categorizes a set of symptoms that have a named disease and then a drug that is designed to "treat" this disease is prescribed. Whatever the drug may be, it does not address the underlying physiological imbalances that resulted in disease in the first place. Hypothyroidism is a perfect example of how this model does not deliver. Patient A goes to her doctor and is diagnosed with hypothyroidism. A synthetic form of thyroid hormone is then prescribed to alter the blood test to a "normal range" and hopefully improve symptoms. This is a great model for the drug companies and the prescribing doctor but not for patients. This model does not ask the question: "Why is the thyroid out of balance?"
Patients are then dependent on their doctor and the drug company to continually monitor and adjust their medication for life. As you can see, this is a highly profitable model for the doctor and for the drug company.
What if the underlying cause of the thyroid imbalance were uncovered, corrected, and the patient were educated on how to keep her thyroid in balance? This would remove the dependence on the doctor and drug company resulting in major financial losses to both parties. Many patients are scared into taking medications by their doctors; we have been conditioned to think that medical doctors know all and know what's best for us. In the public eye, MDs can be trusted to have our best interest at heart. That is, of course, true for some but even those doctors are practicing a model that does not correct underlying physiological imbalances that lead to disease. Thomas Edison is famous for saying, "The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease." This eloquent statement is coming true as more and more alternative medicine doctors are practicing and even traditional MDs are learning a new model of health care.
Approximately one in ten Americans suffer from hypothyroidism and as many as ten percent of women have inadequate thyroid hormone production. The most common cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's autoimmune thyroid which causes chronic inflammation and slow destruction of the thyroid gland. Hashimoto's is an autoimmune condition meaning that the body is producing antibodies that attack your own tissue which in this case is the thyroid gland. You may have a thyroid problem if you have any of the following symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Sluggishness
- Increased sensitivity to cold
- Constipation
- Pale, dry skin
- A puffy face
- Hoarse voice
- An elevated blood cholesterol level
- Unexplained weight gain
- Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness
- Pain, stiffness or swelling in your joints
- Muscle weakness
- Heavier than normal menstrual periods
- Brittle fingernails and hair
- Depression
There is a great deal of information published on the thyroid and how to treat it with conventional or alternative medicine but nothing on finding the underlying cause of the imbalances. In order to understand how the thyroid should be evaluated and treated, you must understand a functional model versus a replacement model of treatment. Traditional Western medicine is the best example of how a replacement model of treatment works. Let's say you go to your traditional doctor complaining of some thyroid symptoms such as fatigue, depression, constipation and extreme cold sensitivity. Your doctor may run a blood test to evaluate the thyroid and if the results show hypothyroidism, you are given a drug that was designed to address your symptoms and the lab test. This model is fatally flawed because it doesn't ask the question as to why the thyroid is not functioning properly. This is true for many other conditions in Western medicine where drugs are given to treat lab tests and symptoms without a thorough evaluation of why the body is out of balance in the first place.
A functional model will also run blood tests but also other lab tests to find out why the thyroid is out of balance. Once the imbalances are identified via laboratory testing, natural medicines, nutrition, detoxification and lifestyle modifications are used to correct the imbalances. The functional model does not require patients to be dependent on their doctor as opposed to a Western replacement model which requires them to keep going back to fill their prescription. A functional model finds the imbalance and corrects it. Your doctor will also teach you why the imbalance happened in the first place and how to prevent it from coming back. You may need some repeat testing to monitor treatment and make changes in supplementation, diet and lifestyle until you are well. This is what true healing is, not taking toxic medications that only suppress symptoms, have side effects that can be devastating, and do not correct the underlying cause of why you were sick in the first place. Natural medicines that are used in a functional model rarely have side effects and are not required for long periods of time.
The thyroid is a perfect example of how a Western replacement model fails so many people because there are a multitude of other factors that can affect thyroid function. These include the following:
- Lyme Disease
- Rickettsial infections
- Epstein-Barr Virus
- Intestinal dysbiosis (abnormal gut bacteria)
- Adrenal gland dysfunction
- Blood sugar imbalances
- Impaired liver detoxification
- Essential fatty acid status
- Heavy metal toxicity
- Thyroid-disrupting chemical exposure
- Vitamin & mineral deficiencies
- Gluten intolerance
- Insulin resistance
- Autoimmune Disease
- Excess estrogen
- GI infections
- Mitochondrial dysfunction
Did your doctor do the necessary detective work and evaluate these potential causes of your thyroid problem? Or were you just given a medication and told you would have to take if forever? Patients are not thoroughly evaluated and do not get well on medication.
Many alternative practitioners are guilty of using a replacement model as well. Patients are given natural supplements that are made for the thyroid gland, but again the underlying causes of the imbalances are not uncovered and corrected. This is no doubt a safer approach than medication but it establishes the same dependency on the doctor except the patient needs to keep coming back for more supplements instead of medication.
It is very important to understand that everything in your body is connected meaning that when your health is compromised, there can be many underlying imbalances that must be corrected in order for you to get well.
hashimoto s thyroiditis diet.