Lose Them Pounds

Fibromyalgia, characterized by chronic, widespread pain is an often-debilitating condition that primarily affects women. While as many as 10 million Americans have fibromyalgia, its cause remains a mystery.

Brain scans of fibromyalgia patients have offered hard evidence that the pain they experience is indeed real — mainly because their threshold for tolerating pain impulses is substantially lower than that of most individuals. But the mechanism causing this lowered pain threshold is still unknown.

Some experts, such as Dr. Frederick Wolfe, the director of the National Databank for Rheumatic Diseases and the lead author of the 1990 paper that first defined fibromyalgia’s diagnostic guidelines, believe fibromyalgia is mainly a physical response to mental and emotional stress.

But while stress and emotions may indeed play an important role, more recent research shows fibromyalgia patients tend to have severe inflammation in their body, including their nervous system and brain.
Signs and Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
Diagnosis can be a challenge, but the updated case definitions of fibromyalgia, issued in 2010 and later simplified in 2012, claim to correctly diagnose about 83 percent of cases.1 Originally, the condition was thought to be a peripheral musculoskeletal disease. Today, fibromyalgia has become increasingly recognized as a neurobiological problem causing central pain sensitization.
Unfortunately, there are currently no laboratory tests available for diagnosing fibromyalgia, so physicians primarily depend on patient histories, reported symptoms and physical exam findings. Classic symptoms of this condition include:

• Pain — The key marker of fibromyalgia is pain, which is profound, widespread and chronic. Pain inside of your elbows and knees, collarbones and hips is indicative of fibromyalgia when it’s present on both sides.

People also frequently report pain all over their bodies — including in their muscles, ligaments and tendons — and the pain tends to vary in intensity. It has been described as deep muscular aching, stabbing, shooting, throbbing and twitching.

Neurological complaints add to the discomfort, such as numbness, tingling and burning. The severity of the pain and stiffness is often worse in the morning. Aggravating factors include cold/humid weather, nonrestorative sleep, fatigue, excessive physical activity, physical inactivity, anxiety and stress.
• Cognitive impairment — So-called “fibro-fog” or foggy-headedness is a common complaint.
• Fatigue — The fatigue of fibromyalgia is different from the fatigue that many people complain of in today’s busy world. It is more than being tired; it’s an all-encompassing exhaustion that interferes with even the simplest daily activities, often leaving the patient with a limited ability to function both mentally and physically for an extended period of time.
• Sleep disruption — Another major part of the diagnostic criteria for this condition is some type of significant sleep disturbance. In fact, part of an effective treatment program is to make sure you’re sleeping better.

Medical researchers have documented specific and distinctive abnormalities in the Stage 4 deep sleep of fibromyalgia patients. During sleep, they are constantly interrupted by bursts of awake-like brain activity, limiting the amount of time they spend in deep sleep.
• Other symptoms — Other common symptoms include irritable bowel and bladder, headaches and migraines, restless leg syndrome and periodic limb movements, impaired memory and concentration, skin sensitivities and rashes, dry eyes and mouth, anxiety, depression, ringing in the ears, dizziness, Raynaud’s Syndrome and impaired coordination.

Conventional treatment typically involves some form of pain medication, and perhaps psychotropic drugs like antidepressants. I don’t recommend either as they fail to address the cause of your problem. Many fibromyalgia sufferers also do not respond to conventional painkillers, which can set in motion a vicious circle of overmedicating on these dangerous drugs.
Brain Inflammation — Another Hallmark of Fibromyalgia

Using PET imaging, a recent investigation2 by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden revealed the presence of widespread brain inflammation in patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia.3,4
Earlier research5 conducted at Karolinska Institutet also discovered high concentrations of cytokines (inflammatory proteins) in the cerebrospinal fluid, suggesting fibromyalgia patients have inflammation in their nervous system as well.6
The team at Massachusetts General Hospital, meanwhile, has previously shown that neural inflammation, and glial cell (immune cells) activation specifically, plays a role in chronic back pain. Animal studies have also offered evidence for the hypothesis that glial cell activation can be a cause of chronic pain in general.7
Here, they found that when glial cells in the cerebral cortex were activated, the more aggressive the activation, the greater the fatigue experienced by the patient. As reported by Medical Life Sciences:8

“The current study first assessed fibromyalgia symptoms in patients using a questionnaire. A PET tracer was then used, that is, a radioactive marker which binds a specific protein called translocator protein (TSPO) that is expressed at levels much above the normal in activated glial cells, namely, astrocytes and microglia …
[G]lial activation was found to be present at significantly higher levels in multiple brain areas in patients who had fibromyalgia than in controls. Glial cell activation causes inflammatory chemicals to be released, which cause the pain pathways to be more sensitive to pain, and promote fatigue …
One area showing higher TSPO binding in direct proportion to the self-reported level of fatigue was the cingulate gyrus, an area of the brain linked to emotional processing. Previous research has reported that this area is inflamed in chronic fatigue syndrome.”

Brain Inflammation Linked to Loss of Brain Cells

In related news, German researchers investigating inflammation mechanisms in the brain have found that as mice get older and regulation of inflammatory responses become increasingly impaired, they start losing brain cells.9

Interestingly, the cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), which produces the “high” in response to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in marijuana, also helps regulate inflammatory reactions in your brain. In short, chronic brain inflammation is in part driven by the CB1 receptors’ failure to respond. To understand how this works, you need to know a little bit about how microglial cells work.

Microglial cells are specialized immune cells found in your central nervous system, including your spinal cord and brain. These immune cells respond to bacteria and are responsible for clearing out malfunctioning nerve cells. They also signal and recruit other immune cells when needed and trigger the inflammatory response when necessary.

Problems arise when the inflammatory response becomes dysregulated and overactive. In the brain, the inflammation can easily damage healthy brain tissue. The “brake signal” that instructs glial cells to stop their inflammatory activity is endocannabinoids, and the endocannabinoids work by binding to certain receptors, including CB1 and cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2).
Immune Cells Communicate and Influence Inflammatory Response Using Endocannabinoids
Curiously, microglial cells have virtually no CB1 and very few CB2 receptors, yet they still react to endocannabinoids. The present study was designed to investigate this puzzling riddle. As it turns out, there’s a type of neuron that does contain a large number of CB1 receptors, and it appears that it is the CB1 receptors on these specific neurons that control microglial cell activity.
In other words, it appears microglial cells do not communicate with nerve cells directly; rather, they release endocannabinoids, which then bind to CB1 receptors found in nearby neurons. These neurons in turn communicate directly with other nerve cells. So, the brain’s immune response is regulated in an indirect manner rather than a direct one.
Now, what happens with age is that your natural production of endocannabinoids decreases, which then leads to impaired immune response regulation and chronic inflammation. As noted by coauthor Dr. Andras Bilkei-Gorzo:10

“Since the neuronal CB1 receptors are no longer sufficiently activated, the glial cells are almost constantly in inflammatory mode. More regulatory neurons die as a result, so the immune response is less regulated and may become free-running.”

Earlier research11 by this same team found that THC can help restore cognitive function in older brains, and the current study also hints at THC-containing cannabis may have valuable neuroprotective benefits in older people by quelling brain inflammation and preventing loss of brain cells. As the study was done on mice, further research is needed to confirm that the same mechanisms apply to humans, but it’s compelling nonetheless.
Are You Living an Inflammatory Lifestyle?
Your diet can either promote or decrease inflammation. For example, foods that increase the inflammatory response in your body include:

Sugar, especially processed corn syrup
Synthetically produced trans fats
Processed vegetable and seed oils, high in oxidized omega-6 fat
Processed meats
Refined carbohydrates

Meanwhile, marine-based omega-3 fats have powerful anti-inflammatory effects, and are crucial for healthy brain function in general. Antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables are also important for controlling inflammation, as is optimizing your vitamin D to a level of 60 to 80 ng/mL, ideally through sensible sun exposure.
In addition to anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties, vitamin D receptors appear in a wide variety of brain tissue, and researchers believe optimal vitamin D levels may enhance important chemicals in your brain and protect brain cells by increasing the effectiveness of glial cells that help nurse damaged neurons back to health.
A number of ubiquitous chemicals have also been implicated in inflammation, so if you struggle with fibromyalgia you’d be wise to take a close look at your choice of foods, household and personal care products. As mentioned earlier, getting enough high-quality sleep is another key treatment component for fibromyalgia.
Ketogenic Diet Massively Decreases Brain Inflammation

Research12 published last year suggests ketogenic diets — which are high in healthy fats and low in net carbs — are a particularly powerful ally for suppressing brain inflammation, as ketones are powerful HDAC (histone deacetylase inhibitors) that suppress the primary NF-?B inflammatory pathway.
As explained by Medical Xpress,13 the defining moment of the study14 came when the team “identified a pivotal protein that links the diet to inflammatory genes, which, if blocked, could mirror the anti-inflammatory effects of ketogenic diets.”

A ketogenic diet changes the way your body uses energy, converting your body from burning carbohydrates for energy to burning fat as your primary source of fuel. When your body is able to burn fat, your liver creates ketones, which burn more efficiently than carbs, thus creating far less reactive oxygen species and secondary free radicals that can damage your cellular and mitochondrial cell membranes, proteins and DNA.

Animals (rats) used in this study were found to have reduced inflammation when the researchers used a molecule called 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) to block glucose metabolism and induce a ketogenic state, similar to what would occur if you followed a ketogenic diet. By doing this, inflammation was brought down to levels near those found in controls.
Suppressing Inflammation Improves Pain
Senior study author Dr. Raymond Swanson, a professor of neurology at UCSF and chief of the neurology service at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, commented on the results, saying:

“I was most surprised by the magnitude of this effect, because I thought ketogenic diets might help just a little bit. But when we got these big effects with 2DG, I thought wow, there’s really something here.

The team further found that reduced glucose metabolism lowered a key barometer of energy metabolism — the NADH/NAD+ ratio — which in turn activated a protein called CtBP that acts to suppress activity of inflammatory genes.”

The study also pointed out that a ketogenic diet may relieve pain via several mechanisms, similar to the ways it’s known to help epilepsy.

“Like seizures, chronic pain is thought to involve increased excitability of neurons; for pain, this can involve peripheral and/or central neurons. Thus, there is some similarity of the underlying biology,” the authors stated, adding:
“A major research focus should be on how metabolic interventions such as a ketogenic diet can ameliorate common, comorbid and difficult-to-treat conditions such as pain and inflammation.”15

Cyclical Ketosis for Optimal Health

Eating a ketogenic diet doesn’t have to be complicated or painful. My book “Fat for Fuel” presents a complete Mitochondrial Metabolic Therapy (MMT) program, complemented by an online course created in collaboration with nutritionist Miriam Kalamian, who specializes in nutritional ketosis.

The course, which consists of seven comprehensive lessons, teaches you the keys to fighting chronic disease and optimizing your health and longevity. In summary, the MMT diet is a cyclical ketogenic diet, high in healthy fats and fiber, low in net carbs with a moderate amount of protein.

The cyclical component is important, as long-term continuous ketosis has drawbacks that may actually undermine your health and longevity. One of the primary reasons to cycle in and out of ketosis is because the “metabolic magic” in the mitochondria actually occurs during the refeeding phase, not during the starvation phase.

Ideally, once you have established ketosis you cycle healthy carbs back in to about 100 to 150 grams on days when you do strength training. MMT has a number of really important health benefits, and may just be the U-turn you’ve been searching for if you’re struggling with a chronic health condition. You can learn more by following the hyperlinks provided in the text above.
Address Emotional Contributors

Since fibromyalgia is a chronic condition, it becomes emotionally challenging in addition to the physical challenges it imposes on your life. Having a game plan to deal with your emotional well-being is especially important if you suffer from any chronic disease.

If you have fibromyalgia, you might be able to trace it back to a triggering event, or you might not. Any traumatic experience has the potential to linger in your mind for a lifetime. You can have the perfect diet, the perfect exercise routine, and an ideal life; but if you have lingering unresolved emotional issues, you can still become very sick.

A tool that can help release this emotional sludge is the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). If you are a regular reader of my newsletter, this won’t be an unfamiliar term to you. EFT is a form of bioenergetic normalization. If you have fibromyalgia, this is something that is going to be extremely helpful. You can do this yourself, at home, and it takes just a few minutes to learn. For a demonstration, see the video above.

From the time you were a small child, you may have been conditioned to expect new and exciting things as autumn arrives. Every fall, children go back to school, see their friends and begin to anticipate the holiday season. One of the fruits closely associated with fall is pumpkin.
From pumpkin pie to pumpkin spice lattes or jack-o-lanterns it’s likely you associate fall with some type of pumpkin. Kathryn Lively, professor of sociology at Dartmouth College, spoke with a reporter from The Huffington Post about the expectations children have and how this conditions a response pattern that often travels into adulthood.1
Fall is a structural landmark, in the way significant dates help create structure in the perception of the passage of time.2 For example, just as January 1 is a landmark associated with developing personal growth and development goals, fall may be a time when your anticipation begins to grow, and you’re motivated to learn new skills or change behaviors.
Licensed psychologist and professor at Chapman University Amy Jane Griffiths, Ph.D., says, “We all crave the comfort and security that comes with traditions and predictability.”3 Many of us have traditions and events associated with fall weather, while others may dread the leaves changing or signs that winter is coming.
What Color Are Your Pumpkins?

Many have an interest in the science behind your anticipation of fall weather, fall foods and the hope of curling up with a blanket and a good movie. But it may still be difficult to explain the vast number of people who buy pumpkins each fall. In the U.S., Illinois is the No. 1 producer of this round orange squash, growing twice as many each year than in the other five top producing states.4
While you might think of it as a vegetable, the pumpkin is a fruit that’s known as much for its place in the kitchen as on your front porch. Mary Liz Wright, a University of Illinois Extension specialist, does not advise using your typical jack-o-lantern pumpkin in your fall recipes.5
This is because there are two distinct species of pumpkin. The first has been bred for size, structure and color to enhance your fall decor. The second is bred for consistency, flavor and texture of the meat. Pumpkins that are bred for flavor are tan or buckskin color on the outside with bright orange flesh on the inside.
They’re also more reminiscent of butternut squash in shape, rather than the more rounded outline of decorative pumpkins. Nathan Johanning, also a University of Illinois Extension specialist, spoke about the 2020 fall crop and the agritourism trade pumpkins support, sharing that one farm in Illinois had 5,000 tourists pass through in one weekend.
If you’re planning on saving the flesh from your pumpkins, Wright advises you cook and freeze it, since it is not advisable to can pumpkin or even pressure can it. The center of the dense flesh may not get hot enough to prevent botulism growth, which you can avoid by cooking it first and then freezing it.
Nutritious and Delicious Pumpkins

There are many health benefits to eating pumpkin and pumpkin seeds, as you’ll see in this short video. Although you can buy them year-round at the store, consider adding pumpkins to your garden since nearly every part of the plant can be eaten. You’ll be assured of a toxin-free fruit from which you can harvest the seeds as well as carve and cook your pumpkins in the fall.
Dried pumpkin seeds, also called pepitas, are high in healthy fats and rich in omega-3 fats, zinc, calcium, iron and an array of phytochemicals.6 After being dried and shelled, the seeds have just 180 calories in one-fourth cup and are also packed with manganese, phosphorus, copper and magnesium.7
People have used pumpkin seed extract and oil in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. This is a noncancerous enlargement of the prostate gland that may respond to the nutrients found in pumpkin seeds. Because most of the studies have involved extracts or oils from pumpkin seeds, it’s not possible to extrapolate the information to eating the pumpkin seeds themselves.8
The meat of the pumpkin contains only 49 calories in 1 cup of cooked mashed flesh. It is rich in riboflavin and vitamins A, C and E.9 The rich orange color indicates the high level of beta-carotenes and antioxidants that your body uses to neutralize free radicals.
The high levels of vitamin A and C have a positive impact on your immune system, and it is a major source of lutein and zeaxanthin linked to healthy eyesight.10 The high levels of potassium, vitamin C and fiber are all associated with cardiovascular benefits.
For instance, one literature analysis found an inverse association between potassium and the risk of stroke.11 Another study demonstrated people with higher levels of potassium intake had lower risk of high blood pressure.12 The levels of beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin C all contribute to healthy skin, collagen production13 and protection against the damage of ultraviolet rays.14
Pumpkin Seeds May Reduce Your Risk of Kidney Stones

In addition to the health benefits listed above, pumpkin seeds have a special superpower: They protect your kidneys by reducing the risk of calcium-oxalate crystal formation, better known as kidney stones. There are four types of kidney stones that can form, including calcium, struvite, uric acid and cystine stones.15 Of these, calcium oxalate is the most common.
Nearly 80% of calcium stones that form are calcium oxalate. By manipulating urine chemistry through dietary intake, you can help prevent calcium stone formation. The highest urine chemistry risk factors for calcium oxalate crystals are hypercalciuria and hyperoxaluria.16
Dietary risk factors that increase your potential for calcium oxalate stones include chronic dehydration and a diet that is rich in protein, oxalates, sodium and sugar.17 People with certain digestive disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease, can also have a higher risk of calcium oxalate kidney stones. Oxalate can be found in these foods:18,19

Beans
Beets
Beer

Chocolate
Coffee
Cranberries

Peanuts
Rhubarb
Soda

Sweet potatoes
Tea (black)
Dark green vegetables, such as spinach

One study evaluated the ability of pumpkin seed supplementation to change the chemistry of the participants’ urine and reduce the risk of calcium oxalate crystal formation.20 Researchers engaged 20 boys from the Ubol Province in Thailand where there is a high incidence of kidney stones.21 
During the experiment the boy’s urine was measured before any intervention as a control period. During two periods of the intervention they received an oxalate supplement and a pumpkin seed or orthophosphate supplement. The participants’ urine chemistry was tested before and after each intervention.
The results of the study showed that while the boys were receiving the pumpkin seed supplement, the urine chemistry had the lowest potential risk for calcium oxalate crystal formation. The researchers found the high levels of phosphorus in the pumpkin seed may be a “potential agent in lowering the risk of bladder-stone disease.”22 
Pumpkin Spice Blend Elicits an Emotional Response

The scents associated with pumpkin pie are not strictly from pumpkin but, rather, a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, which are the traditional spices used in the pie. This combination of scents can trigger a strong emotional response in your brain, which causes you to recall experiences associated with the smell.23
The emotional response that odors generate have an impact on your decision to like or dislike something. Your sense of smell and memory are closely linked since scents travel from the limbic system through the amygdala and hippocampus, which are regions of the brain related to emotion and memory.24
The scent of pumpkin spices is popular during the fall months, especially in homemade products and the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. Catherine Franssen, Ph.D., director of psychology at Longwood University, is a fan of the flavor and understands why this particular combination of spices elicits an emotional response. She commented to CNN:25

“Since these are popular spice combinations, it’s very likely we would have encountered some or all of them combined in a favorite baked good in a comforting situation, like a family gathering, early in life. It’s not just the pumpkin spice combo but that we’ve already wired a subset of those spices as ‘good’ very early in life.”

Starbucks seemed to stumble onto their popular Pumpkin Spice Latte in 2003 when it was first released.26 Each fall the Pumpkin Spice Latte drink makes a return to stores, along with other “pumpkin-flavored” drinks — which may or may not actually have pumpkin in them — and baked goods. This year it’s the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew.27
In a press release, Peter Dukes, product manager who led the development of the Pumpkin Spice Latte, commented, “Nobody knew back then what it would grow to be. It’s taken on a life of its own.”28
However, as enticing as the scent may be, the product is loaded with sugar and packs a whopping 52 grams of carbohydrates into a 16-ounce mug.29 Instead, consider making the healthy and tasty alternative at home demonstrated in the video below.

Neuroscience, Sugar Addiction and Marketing

The emotional response generated by scent is something marketers take advantage of. Pleasant scents affect your mood, which is a way of engaging your hand-to-wallet response.
In experiments comparing odorless placebo sprays against fragrances, researchers found while you will have a response to the placebo when you anticipate the fragrance, the actual scent has a dramatic effect on improving your mood.30
Although your preference is highly personalized, a general assumption is made that most people will find pumpkin spice in the fall and cinnamon during Christmas associated with good memories. As the scent of pumpkin spice triggers a happy memory, it can also trigger a desire to buy a cup. Franssen comments on the neuroscience involved in scent and advertising:31

“When an odor or flavor — and 80 percent of flavor is actually smell — is combined with sucrose or sugar consumption in a hungry person, the person learns at a subconscious, physiological level to associate that flavor with all the wonderful parts of food digestion.

[For that reason] the pumpkin spice latte is actually, scientifically, kind of addictive. Not quite the same neural mechanisms as drugs of abuse, but certainly the more you consume, the more you reinforce the behavior and want to consume more.”

The popular trend of promoting all things pumpkin in the fall even generated a hoax in 2014 when a Facebook meme reported Charmin toilet tissue would soon be released in a new pumpkin spice scent. Not soon after Charmin Company tweeted: “While we love it, we can promise you this. You will not be seeing #PumpkinSpice Charmin anytime soon. #StopTheMadness”32

The process by which your cereals, salads and meats reach your table has dramatically altered the overall nutrition in most people’s diets. The addition of vegetable oil and the growing popularity of fast-food restaurants have also contributed. When this same diet was fed to pigs as discussed in this short video, researchers stopped the study because it was deemed cruel to the animals.1
Survey data published in 2016 showed the average person got 57.9% of their energy from ultraprocessed foods and 89.7% from added sugars.2 A rigorous study published in the journal Cell Metabolism demonstrated the deleterious effect that ultraprocessed diets have on excess calorie intake, weight gain and the resulting obesity epidemic.3
According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2009-2010, more than 35.7% of adults were considered overweight,4 a number that had grown to 42.4% by 2018.5 While the effect a Western diet has on weight gain has been well-documented, when the same diet is fed to growing pigs, researchers found the results were disastrous.
Study Feeding Pigs Processed Foods Stopped When They Got Sick

Eric Berg, Ph.D., is an expert meat scientist at North Dakota State University who believes that pigs can substitute for humans when analyzing nutritive values of dietary intake. “Like humans, pigs are omnivores and their anatomy and physiology are very similar, Berg explains.”6
Since their gastrointestinal system and nutrient requirements are comparable to humans’, pigs are used to test human nutritional needs. In Berg’s experiments, he’s already learned that pigs do poorly on a diet that lacks protein with a good balance of amino acids in it.

“We’ve known for 100 years that it is not just protein that’s important, but the amino acids that make up the protein,” Berg says. “Corn can be high in protein, but it is low in availability of essential amino acids. We would never just feed corn to pigs, but balance their diet with a legume like soybeans to balance essential amino acids and then add vitamins and minerals.”

Berg has also found that when pigs are fed a typical Western diet, their growth is stunted, and they develop intramuscular fat as compared to pigs fed a typical porcine diet. Berg spoke with a reporter from Tristate Livestock News, noting that, while we seem to know a lot about animal nutrition we are way behind when it comes to adhering what’s best for us:7

“We would never just feed corn to pigs,” Berg said, “but balance their diet with a legume like soybeans to balance essential amino acids and then add vitamins and minerals … [Yet] we snack ourselves into non-nutrition. We may have a whole-grain bagel for breakfast and then snack on something else for lunch. As a result, our diet is out of balance.”

As noted by Tri-State Livestock News, Berg is recognized for his work in meat research, and has testified at hearings on the USDA Dietary Guidelines at the National Institutes of Health. During his interview in the video above, he shares his belief that using pigs as models can help reduce the error in the nutritional analysis, which can happen in human studies.
He discusses one study where they formulated the pig diet based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of the common American diet. They were forced to terminate the project when the pigs’ veterinarian told them it:8

“… was inhumane for our test subjects because they did not thrive on it. They got brittle bones and they stopped growing. They got fat, their hair fell out and they got pimples. So, it was a mess and that happened in three months.”

Researcher Calls for People to ‘Eat Like Pigs’

Ultraprocessed foods influence multiple organ systems, leading Berg to suggest humans should “eat like pigs.” While the statement seems inflammatory, Berg goes on to explain:9

“But this is not a mean spirited saying. We’re not comparing a group of people to the eating habits of an animal. We are using available scientific research that we already have on the animal agriculture side and we’re applying it at a biomedical level to save lives. To improve life. To expand life so that people can live it and live it abundantly.

My take home message today is this … we have an abundant supply of choices for nutrient-dense foods. There is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. So … don’t dilute your nutrient-dense foods with all this unnecessary starch and sugar.”

To implement the recommendation that industry make obesity prevention a priority, the Institute of Medicine’s Health in Balance Report in 2005 recommended: “Food and beverage industries should develop product and packaging innovations that consider energy density, nutrient density, and standard serving sizes to help consumers make healthful choices.”10
However, instead of making changes to their products to reduce sugar and carbohydrate intake, the food industry became notorious for funding anti-obesity programs that moved the focus off what people were eating and on to physical activity, while research clearly shows that processed foods, sugary beverages and high-carbohydrate diets are the primary concern.11,12
Another researcher, Hans H Stein, Ph.D., from the University of Illinois, is a professor of animal science who has been working in the field for 30 years. Like Berg, he’s particularly interested in the role amino acids play to provide a healthy nutritive balance in protein. Nearly 10 years ago, he stepped in to help the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) evaluate nutrient digestibility, including amino acids.13
The new FAO index was known as the digestible indispensable amino acids score (DIAAS), for which Stein published the first paper in 2014. The FAO is using the data to identify high-quality protein to help improve the nutritional intake of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
From his work in the meat industry where the effects of a nutrient-poor diet are evident in months, Berg proposes that human nutrition is lagging behind animal nutrition.14 Although he suggests that the major source of balanced essential amino acids is found in red and processed meat, I would caution against processed meats in favor of grass fed red meat.
Is it Processed or Ultraprocessed?

While the terms processed and ultraprocessed are sometimes used interchangeably, they refer to two different food classifications, and one of them is ultra-serious. According to the NOVA food classification system designed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies in Health and Nutrition, ultraprocessed foods belong to Group 4.15
The definition includes substances that are found only in this category, such as additives, dyes, flavor enhancers and processing aids such as bulking and anti-bulking, anti-caking and emulsifiers that are not commonly found in regular cooking processes. According to the Group 4 description:

“The main purpose of industrial ultra-processing is to create products that are ready to eat, to drink or to heat, liable to replace both unprocessed or minimally processed foods that are naturally ready to consume, such as fruits and nuts, milk and water, and freshly prepared drinks, dishes, desserts and meals.

Common attributes of ultra-processed products are hyper-palatability, sophisticated and attractive packaging, multimedia and other aggressive marketing to children and adolescents, health claims, high profitability, and branding and ownership by transnational corporations.”

Foods that fall into this group are often cheap, convenient and designed to titillate your taste buds. Things like chips, carbonated soft drinks, instant sauces and many ready-to-heat products like pizza, chicken nuggets and hot dogs all fall into this category.
These often are heavy in refined carbohydrates and unhealthy fats. They’re also usually calorie-dense, which means you’ll eat more to get full. The BBC offers five ways to tell if the food is ultraprocessed:16

The food has a long list of ingredients.
The label may contain lists of unrecognizable ingredients such as additives designed to enhance flavor, color or even smell.
The ingredient list begins with fat, sugar and salt at or near the top, which is where the most prevalent ingredients are listed.
The product may appear to be fresh food, but will have an advertised long shelf life, indicating that may be full of preservatives.
The product is advertised with an aggressive marketing campaign.

As the BBC comments: “Ever seen a high-profile marketing campaign for apples and pears? Thought not.”
Ultraprocessed Food Raises Jeopardy of Infection and Death

Two studies published in the BMJ have linked eating ultraprocessed foods with an increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease and death. One study gathered data from 19,899 participants from 1999 to 2014.17 They followed up with them every two years to gather data on food and beverage consumption and classify these foods using the NOVA classification system.
The primary outcome measurement was an association between ultraprocessed foods and all-cause mortality. Using the self-reported data, the participants were categorized into low, low-medium, medium-high or high consumption. Those eating the highest amount of ultraprocessed foods were eating greater than four servings each day and had the greatest risk for all-cause mortality.
The researchers found for every additional serving, the risk of all-cause mortality increased by 18%, which led them to conclude that four or more servings were independently associated with a 62% relative increased risk of death from all causes and for every additional serving the risk rose again by 18%.18
In the second study, researchers collected data from 105,159 people over a mean follow-up of 5.2 years, during which they found eating ultraprocessed food was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.19 The results remained statistically significant even after adjusting for known confounding factors and a second analysis.20
The current viral concern is SARS-CoV-2. However, based on historical data, it’s likely society will face other novel viral infections in the future, added to which each year society faces the cold and flu season and multiple types of bacterial infections.
Science has increasingly revealed the effect diet has on your gut microbiome and your subsequent ability to ward off disease. The more diverse your microbiome is with a healthy microbiota, the better it supports your immune system — which helps you fight viral illnesses like flu and SARS-CoV-2. According to Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College in London:21

“As well as mounting a response to infectious pathogens like coronavirus, a healthy gut microbiome also helps to prevent potentially dangerous immune over-reactions that damage the lungs and other vital organs. These excessive immune responses can cause respiratory failure and death.

The fine details of the interactions between the gut microbiome and the immune system are not fully understood. But there seems to be a link between the makeup of the microbiome and inflammation — one of the hallmarks of the immune response. Gut bacteria produce many beneficial chemicals and also activate vitamin A in food, which helps to regulate the immune system.”

Fermented foods and probiotics are the best route to optimal microbiome health, if they are traditionally made and unpasteurized. Healthy fermented choices include lassi (an Indian yogurt drink), fermented, grass fed organic milk (kefir), fermented soy or natto and different types of pickled fermentations of cabbage, turnips, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, squash and carrots.
Junk Food Promotes Hunger and Overeating

The average American diet that was used in the porcine study Berg discussed above, also promotes hunger, overeating and obesity. Through a variety of mechanisms, junk food can destroy your metabolism and affect your appetite control. As detailed in “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food,” your body is designed to naturally regulate how much you eat and energy you burn.
However, manufacturers have figured out how to override your intrinsic control by engineering foods that are hyper rewarding.22 This stimulates such a strong response in your brain that it becomes easy to overeat. Some of the most addictive junk foods on the market are potato chips that hit all three bliss points: sugar from the potato (and sometimes from added sugar), salt and fat.23
Although the food industry does not like the word “addiction” when referencing their products, a study published in 2007 showed 94% of rats who were allowed to choose between sugar water and cocaine, chose sugar.24 Even rats that were previously addicted to cocaine switched their preference to sugar.
Another Australian study found just a single week of binge eating on fast food changed appetite control in 110 volunteers to the point they were more likely to desire junk food even after they just ate.25 The participants also scored lower on memory tests.
The resulting overeating contributes to the rising rate of obesity and the current likelihood that Millennials are more prone to obesity related cancers than were their parents. A study in the Lancet by the American Cancer Society showed the rates of obesity-related cancers are rising at a steeper rate among millennials than baby boomers.26
It is likely not a coincidence that as ultraprocessed food has become a norm for many Americans, so has chronic illness. Some experts estimate that as much as 40% of health care spending in the U.S. are for diseases that are directly related to the overconsumption of sugar.27
The differences in the amount of sugar in ultraprocessed food versus minimally processed is dramatic. Data from a cross-sectional study using information from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed 21.1% of calories in ultraprocessed foods comes from sugar and concluded that reducing ultraprocessed foods could reduce “the excessive intake of added sugars in the USA.”28
The food you eat is a key factor that determines health and longevity. I believe that eating a diet of 90% real food and 10% processed foods is achievable for most and it could make a significant difference in your weight and overall health. To help you get started, you’ll find more information and suggestions in “Processed Foods Lead to Cancer and Early Death.”

Major Pharmaceuticals has put out a press release saying that they’ve been forced to shut down production of all natural desiccated thyroid drugs, a treatment for hypothyroidism that has been in use for over a century. Major received notice from the FDA that their complete line of desiccated thyroid drugs can no longer be manufactured, and that the FDA is pulling the designation that allowed them to sell these drugs.
Major is also saying that the FDA is requiring that all manufacturers that wish to continue manufacturing submit an NDA or ANDA (New Drug Application or Abbreviated New Drug Application) for approval. Desiccated thyroid drugs were in use in the early 1900’s, and already on the market when the government regulatory groups to oversee medications were formed, so they never went through the new drug application process.
Biotech, Time Cap Labs, and Major are no longer manufacturing natural desiccated thyroid drugs. RLC and Forest are now the last makers of natural desiccated thyroid drugs in the U.S., and their products are unavailable or in short supply in throughout the nation.

By Dr. Mercola

Hypothyroidism is far more prevalent than once thought. The latest estimates are that 20 million Americans have hypothyroidism, but the actual numbers are probably higher.
Some experts claim that 10 to 40 percent of Americans have suboptimal thyroid function.
Thyroid hormones are used by every cell of your body to regulate metabolism and body weight by controlling the burning of fat for energy and heat. Thyroid hormones are also required for growth and development in children.

Iodine is Key for Thyroid Health

Iodine is the key to a healthy thyroid and efficient metabolism, and even comprises a large part of the thyroid hormone molecule itself.
Even the names of the different forms of thyroid hormone reflect the number of iodine molecules attached — T4 has four attached iodine molecules, and T3 (the biologically active form of the hormone) has three — showing what an important part iodine plays in thyroid biochemistry.
Iodine deficiency is one of the three most common nutritional deficiencies, along with magnesium and vitamin D.
Since iodine is so important for thyroid function, wouldn’t you expect to see an increase in hypothyroidism with insufficient iodine levels?
Yes, and that is exactly what we have seen.
This means that your thyroid problem could actually be an iodine deficiency problem.
If you feel sluggish and tired, have difficulty losing weight, have dry skin, hair loss, constipation or cold sensitivity, it could all be related to hypothyroidism.
More than 100 years ago, iodine was shown to reverse and prevent goiter (swelling of your thyroid gland) and to correct hypothyroidism. But we now understand that iodine’s effects are much farther reaching.
Iodine has four important functions in your body:

Stabilization of metabolism and body weight
Brain development in children
Fertility
Optimization of your immune system (iodine is a potent anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, anti-viral and anti- cancer agent)

While iodine levels have fallen, there have been simultaneous increases in rates of thyroid disease, breast cancer, fibrocystic breast disease, prostate cancer, and obesity in American adults, and an increase in mental retardation and developmental delays in American children.

Why are Iodine Levels Dropping?

Iodine deficiency is on the rise in the United States. Simple supplementation may not be the answer as the following issues also need to be addressed.
Recent national survey data suggest that just over 11 percent of the total U.S. population, and over 7 percent of pregnant women, and nearly 17 percent of all reproductive-aged women, are deficient in iodine.
The Total Diet Study, performed by the FDA, reported an iodine intake of 621 µg for 2 year-olds between 1974 and 1982, compared with 373 µg between 1982 and 1991. During this same time period, the baking industry replaced iodine-based anti-caking agents with bromine-based agents.
In addition to iodine’s disappearance from our food supply, exposure to toxic competing halogens (bromine, fluorine, chlorine and perchlorate) has dramatically increased.
You absorb these halogens through your food, water, medications and environment, and they selectively occupy your iodine receptors, further deepening your iodine deficit.
Fluoridation of water is a major contributor to iodine deficiency, besides being very damaging to your health in many other ways.
Additional factors contributing to falling iodine levels are:

Diets low in fish, shellfish and seaweed
Vegan and vegetarian diets
Decreased use of iodized salt
Less use of iodide in the food and agricultural industry
Use of radioactive iodine in many medical procedures, which competes with natural iodine

Crying Wolff

A huge reason why iodine fell out of favor is the “Wolff-Chaikoff Effect,” which has been a disaster for public health.
An experiment was done that resulted in a case of hypothyroidism, which researchers misinterpreted as being caused by excessive iodine intake. However, the individual was given intravenous radioactive iodine — which is toxic. It had nothing to do with food or supplement iodine intake, and the two are completely different.
Yet, tales of this experiment quickly spread, creating a fear of iodine that caused it to be removed from the American food supply for the last three decades.
Iodine deficiency is particularly profound in the Midwest and Great Lakes region of the United States because iodine is typically found only in soils close to the oceans, whereas soils of inland areas are iodine deficient. In fact, that region used to be called the “goiter belt” because of its extremely high incidence of people with goiters.

The Toxic Halides — Iodine’s Fiercest Competitors

Iodine is a member of a class of related elements called “halogens” that includes bromine, fluorine, and chlorine. When they are chemically reduced, they become “halides”: iodide, bromide, fluoride, and chloride. These are the forms you usually encounter in your foods, medications and environment.
Iodide and chloride are beneficial in small amounts, but bromide and fluoride are toxic. They grab onto your iodine receptors, blocking the action of iodide and thyroid hormones, resulting in, or at least contributing to many serious diseases.
One of the main problems is that the toxic halides become stuck in your body.
There is no known detoxification pathway for bromine and fluorine — your body simply cannot break them down. So, they build up in your tissues and wreak havoc on your health.

Bromides

Bromides are a menace to your endocrine system and are present all around you.
Despite a ban on the use of potassium bromate in flour by the World Health Organization, bromides can still be found in some over-the-counter medications, foods, and personal care products.
The use of potassium bromate as an additive to commercial breads and baked goods has been a huge contributor to bromide overload in Western cultures.
Sodium bromate can be found in products such as permanent waves, hair dyes, and textile dyes.
Benzylkonium is used as a preservative in some cosmetics. Even trace amounts of bromine can trigger severe acne in sensitive individuals. And who needs skin care products that cause acne?
Bromine is also found in fire retardants used in carpets, mattresses, upholstery, and furniture and some medical equipment.
Based on animal research, bromides have been linked to behavioral changes and neurodevelopmental disorders, including Attention Deficit Disorders, in children.
The United States is quite behind in putting an end to the egregious practice of allowing bromine chemicals in your foods and products whereas other nations have taken the bull by the horns:

In 1990, the United Kingdom banned bromate in bread
In 1994, Canada did the same
Brazil recently outlawed bromide in flour products
The European Union has banned some PBDE compounds (polybrominated diphenyl ethers)

What’s taking us so long?
Again, corporate profits trump health concerns when it comes to doing what is best for the public.

Great Resource for Learning More

Author and patient advocate Mary Shomon is one of the leading educators on thyroid health in the U.S. and has led the most popular consumer forum, the About.com thyroid guide. Mary cautions thyroid patients not to run out to the health food store and load up on iodine or iodine-rich supplements like kelp and bladderwrack.
According to Mary, in someone who is not iodine-deficient, excessive iodine supplementation can actually worsen a pre-existing thyroid condition, or trigger further thyroid dysfunction. The key is in getting the right amount of iodine — not too much, not too little.
The way to evaluate your iodine intake is a test that measures how much iodine you are excreting in your urine.
The general protocol requires you to take a dose of iodine, collect your urine for 24 hours, and then send the sample off to a lab where they calculate your iodine level based on how much iodine you are spilling into your urine. If you are interested in being tested for iodine deficiency, this urine iodine challenge test is the most accurate way to assess your iodine status.

Getting Your Iodine Levels Up

If you are iodine deficient, I recommend adding sea vegetables to your diet.
The best source of organically bound iodine that I know of is non-commercially harvested seaweeds. The dose is about 5 grams a day or about one ounce per week, so a pound would last about two months.
It is typically better to obtain a nutrient from a natural food whenever possible than from a supplement, so use supplements only as a last resort.
Some patients also report that they respond better to food-based forms of iodine — like seaweeds — than the supplement forms. However, if you are going to use a supplement I would strongly advise using supersaturated iodine (SSKI) which is available as an inexpensive prescription. Typically 1-3 drops a day are all that are required.
Please avoid using Lugol’s solution or iodine, as that can actually worsen your thyroid condition.

The fact that your thyroid only transports iodine in its ionized form (i.e. iodide) is straight out of the textbooks.  Your thyroid reduces iodide (I-) into iodine (I2) for use in formation of thyroglobulin.  Your body doesn’t utilize iodine directly. It has to split the I2 into two I- ions, which is an oxidative reaction that causes oxidative stress. 

Iodide transporters are located in other areas of your body besides the thyroid gland, including your breasts and colon. One family of iodide transporters is called the sodium-iodide symporter, and the other is called pendren.  Dr. David Brownstein (see below) discusses the sodium-iodide symporter but doesn’t mention pendren.  However like all ion transporters they too require a charge in order to move a molecule across the membrane, which means iodine must be in its ionized form.
It’s possible that some may see good results using Lugol’s for some afflictions, but according to autism expert Catherine Tamara,  in her experience it is very clear that children with autism, and their mothers, do fine with iodide, but not necessarily with iodine.

For more information about the research that makes me question the recommendation for iodine and Lugol’s solution, please see these studies:

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 1992, 37:535-548 “Evidence of Thyroxine Formation Following Iodine Administration in Sprague-Dawley Rats”

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 1991, 32:89-101 “Comparison of Toxicity Induced by Iodine and Iodide in Male and Female Rats”

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 1998, 55:93-106 “Comparison of the Effects of Iodine and Iodide on Thyroid Function in Humans”

Biological Trace Element Research 2006, 110:193-209 “Analyses of Toxic Metals and Essential Minerals in the Hair of Arizona Children with Autism and Associated Conditions, and Their Mothers”

 
 
Keeping your iodine levels optimal is particularly important if you are a women that is contemplating pregnancy, or are already pregnant Make sure you are taking seaweed or a prenatal vitamin with the right amount and form of iodide, not iodine, to help protect your baby.

Tips for Optimizing Thyroid Function

David Brownstein, M.D., has written several books on thyroid and iodine, which are a valuable resource for those of you who want more information.
Also, Dr. Hyman has made some good recommendations if you have a sluggish thyroid:

Identify and treat underlying causes (e.g., iodine deficiency, hormone imbalance, environmental toxicity, inflammation)
Adjust your diet and understand the role of nutrition (iodine, as well as tyrosine, selenium, vitamins A and D, zinc, B vitamins, and omega-3 fats), food allergies, gluten intolerance, and foods that contain goitrogens, such as soy, which interfere with the utilization of iodine
Get plenty of exercise
Reduce your stress
Enjoy saunas and hot soaks for detoxification,
Use supplements, if necessary for nutritional support
If you are on thyroid hormones for less than five years, most people find that they respond far better to natural thyroid hormone supplementation that has both T1, T2, T3 and T4, not just T4 like Synthroid. Armour Thyroid and Nature-Thyroid are the best known, but compounding pharmacists can also produce natural thyroid hormone prescriptions.

The more you can rid your body of the toxic halides, the more iodine your body will be able to hang onto, and the better your thyroid will function.
Laura Power, MS, PhD, LDN, offers these suggestions for increasing secretion of fluorine and bromine::

High-dose iodine
High-dose vitamin C
Unrefined sea salt
Epsom salts baths
Sweating in a far infrared sauna

The Future of Natural Thyroid Drugs

This is a surprising and shocking injustice that is occurring in the U.S. right now.
The FDA has shut down natural desiccated thyroid drug production and distribution by three major firms, and is now calling the century-old natural remedy an “unapproved drug.”
One of the ways you can typically differentiate a natural physician from a conventional one is by the type of thyroid hormone replacement therapy they prescribe. Natural physicians will almost exclusively used desiccated thyroid hormone products like Armour Thyroid.
I have put thousands of patients on this and it was my consistent experience that most did far better on these than the synthetic versions. About the only exception were people that were taking synthetics for longer than 10 years. Seems like their body had a tough time adjusting back.
Taking desiccated thyroid hormone off the market will cause harm, danger and damage to hundreds of thousands and perhaps more than that, unless they are allowed access to this safe and superior thyroid replacement.
Two other major manufacturers/distributors now have long-term backorders for their bioidentical hormone products, which include Armour, Nature-Throid, and Westroid.
The uncertainty about the future of natural thyroid drug options has many patients and practitioners concerned, and the Save Natural Thyroid Coalition has been formed in response.
Along with recently holding its first kickoff teleconference to discuss the future of natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) drugs, the Save Thyroid Coalition has also created the Save Natural Thyroid YouTube channel, where patients and practitioners can create and post videos supporting natural thyroid.
I am actually serving on this committee and going to support it with as much media exposure is required to prevent this travesty of justice. It is depriving patients of a valid and natural way to support their thyroid function that has typically been damaged by toxins and stress.
They’ve also formed a Save Natural Thyroid Facebook Group to strategize and help keep thyroid patients informed. If you or anyone you love uses bioidentical hormones, you may want to join this group to keep up on the latest updates.
If you’re newly diagnosed with hypothyroidism, or have not been on synthetic hormones for very long, I strongly recommend Armour Thyroid — a natural porcine thyroid extract, which provides not only T3 and T4, but also T1 and T2, which will help normalize your hormone response.
The fact that the FDA may now severely limit, or eliminate, this option is distressing, as it is clearly the best option for many people.

By Dr. Mercola
Mary Shomon is one of the top leaders in the field of thyroid research. She is the extremely popular About.com thyroid guru, as well as my go-to person when I’m looking for thyroid-related information.
Already a New York Times bestselling author, Mary’s latest book, The Menopause Thyroid Solution: Overcome Menopause by Solving Your Hidden Thyroid Problems, deserves a place on every woman’s bookshelf. It’s a landmark study in the vital role your thyroid plays in helping you manage even your most difficult menopausal symptoms.

Are You Experiencing Menopause … or “Thyropause”?

If you’re a woman in your 40’s or 50’s and are feeling fatigued, depressed, and are gaining weight, you’re not alone. Forty million other women in the U.S. are suffering right along with you with what most assume are the symptoms of menopause.
But are your symptoms really menopause related?
Did you know the drop in reproductive hormones beginning at middle age (and sometimes much earlier) often triggers a reaction in your thyroid? Mary calls this thyroid slowdown “thyropause,” and as she explains in her new book, the changes in your thyroid may actually be the cause of your symptoms.
If you’re taking hormones for menopausal symptoms, natural or prescribed by a doctor, you may be taking unnecessary medication. What you may need to do instead is to investigate what’s going on with your thyroid.
In The Menopause Thyroid Solution, Mary shows you how to distinguish between thyroid and menopause symptoms. She also helps you with food choices, medication options, supplements, and lifestyle changes you can make to alleviate symptoms, improve your metabolism and increase your energy level.

Connecting the Dots

The conventional approach to medicine is to treat each of your symptoms as completely independent from the others. The fact is, symptoms do not occur in a vacuum, but most traditional practitioners are just not interested in hearing about anything other than your most bothersome complaint.
This is especially counterproductive when considering the cause of your menopausal-type symptoms.
Your hormones are part of a network, your endocrine system. Yet if your problems seem to be hormone-related, the majority of allopathic MDs will treat you very specifically for either menopause, or thyroid problems.
This tunnel vision approach is unlikely to work for long, if at all, since there’s a high probability your symptoms are both menopause and thyroid related.
What Mary does so beautifully in her new book is connect the dots for you, using a holistic approach that covers everything from determining the cause of your hormonal-based symptoms and understanding how they overlap, right through a wide range of steps you can take to heal yourself and dramatically improve the quality of your health and your life as you age.
Her book also explains the pros and cons of traditional, natural and bioidentical hormone treatments for estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, pregnenolone, and cortisol imbalances. This information couldn’t be timelier given the latest serious threat to the production of natural hormonal remedies.
Mary Shomon’s latest effort is an empowering book which helps you take better care of your own health as you age, as well as arms you with the information you need to get the most out of visits to your doctor or other health care provider.
I highly recommend The Menopause Thyroid Solution to women of all ages, and especially those of you who are entering or are in perimenopause or menopause. To learn more about the book, visit menopausethyroid.com.

By Dr. Mercola

Most people realize that their thyroid is important for controlling their metabolism and body weight.
But did you know that depression, heart disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, PMS (premenstrual syndrome), menopausal symptoms, muscle and joint pains, irritable bowel syndrome, or autoimmune disease could actually indicate a problem with your thyroid?
The classic signs of a sluggish thyroid gland include weight gain, lethargy, poor quality hair and nails, hair loss, dry skin, fatigue, cold hands and feet, and constipation — and these symptoms are relatively well known.
However, some of the conditions you might not associate with your thyroid include:

High cholesterol
Irregular menstruation
Low libido
Infertility
Gum disease
Fluid retention
Skin conditions such as acne and eczema
Memory problems
Poor stamina

And there are, in fact, many more conditions that can be associated with poor thyroid function. Your thyroid plays a part in nearly every physiological process. When it is out of balance, so are you. This is why it is so important to understand how your thyroid gland works and what can cause it to run amok.
The sad fact is, half of all people with hypothyroidism are never diagnosed. And of those who are diagnosed, many are inadequately treated, resulting in partial recovery at best.

Hypothyroidism: The Hidden Epidemic

Hypothyroidism simply means you have a sluggish or underactive thyroid, which is producing less than adequate amounts of thyroid hormone.
“Subclinical” hypothyroidism means you have no obvious symptoms and only slightly abnormal lab tests. I will be discussing these tests much more as we go on since they are a source of great confusion for patients, as well as for many health practitioners.
Thyroid problems have unfortunately become quite common.
The same lifestyle factors contributing to high rates of obesity, cancer, and diabetes are wreaking havoc on your thyroid – sugar, processed foods, stress, environmental toxins, and lack of exercise are heavy contributors.
More than 10 percent of the general population in the United States, and 20 percent of women over the age of 60, have subclinical hypothyroidism. But only a small percentage of these people are being treated1.
Why is that?
Much of it has to do with misinterpretation and misunderstanding of lab tests, particularly TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). Most physicians believe that if your TSH value is within the range of “normal,” your thyroid is fine. But more and more physicians are discovering that the TSH value is grossly unreliable for diagnosing hypothyroidism.
And the TSH range for “normal” keeps changing!
In an effort to improve diagnosis of thyroid disease, in 2003 the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) revised the “normal” TSH range as 0.3 to 3.042. The previous range was defined as 0.5 and 5.0, which red-flagged only the most glaring hypothyroidism cases.
However, the new range is still not wholly reliable as the sole indicator of a sulky thyroid gland. You simply cannot identify one TSH value that is “normal” for every person, regardless of age, health, or other factors.
Having said that, though, most physicians who carefully follow this condition recognize that any TSH value greater than 1.5 could be a strong indication that an underactive thyroid is present.
Your TSH value is only part of the story, and your symptoms, physical findings, genetics, lifestyle, and health history are also important considerations. Only when physicians learn to treat the patient and not the lab test will they begin to make headway against thyroid disease.

Understanding How Your Thyroid Works Is Step One

The thyroid gland is in the front of your neck and is part of your endocrine, or hormonal, system. It produces the master metabolism hormones that control every function in your body.3
Thyroid hormones interact with all your other hormones including insulin, cortisol, and sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.
The fact that these hormones are all tied together and in constant communication explains why an unhappy thyroid is associated with so many widespread symptoms and diseases.
This small gland produces two major thyroid hormones: T4 and T3. About 90 percent of the hormone produced by the gland is in the form of T4, the inactive form. Your liver converts this T4 into T3, the active form, with the help of an enzyme.
Your thyroid also produces T2, yet another hormone, which currently is the least understood component of thyroid function and the subject of much ongoing study.
Thyroid hormones work in a feedback loop with your brain — particularly your pituitary and hypothalamus — in regulating the release of thyroid hormone. Your pituitary makes TRH (thyroid releasing hormone), and your hypothalamus makes TSH. If everything is working properly, you will make what you need and you’ll have the proper amounts of T3 and T4.
Those two hormones — T3 and T4 — are what control the metabolism of every cell in your body. But their delicate balance can be disrupted by nutritional imbalances, toxins, allergens, infections, and stress.
If your T3 is inadequate, either by insufficient production or not converting properly from T4, your whole system suffers.
You see, T3 is critically important because it tells the nucleus of your cells to send messages to your DNA to crank up your metabolism by burning fat. That is why T3 lowers cholesterol levels, regrows hair, and helps keep you lean.

How to Know if You Are Hypothyroid

Identifying hypothyroidism and its cause is tricky business. Many of the symptoms overlap with other disorders, and many are vague. Physicians often miss a thyroid problem since they rely on just a few traditional tests, so other clues to the problem go undetected.
But you can provide the missing clues!
The more vigilant you can be in assessing your own symptoms and risk factors and presenting the complete picture to your physician in an organized way, the easier it will be for your physician to help you.
Sometimes people with hypothyroidism have significant fatigue or sluggishness, especially in the morning. You may have hoarseness for no apparent reason. Often hypothyroid people are slow to warm up, even in a sauna, and don’t sweat with mild exercise. Low mood and depression are common.
Sluggish bowels and constipation are major clues, especially if you already get adequate water and fiber.
Are the upper outer third of your eyebrows thin or missing? This is sometimes an indication of low thyroid. Chronic recurrent infections are also seen because thyroid function is important for your immune system.
Another telltale sign of hypothyroidism is a low basal body temperature (BBT), less than 97.6 degrees F4
averaged over a minimum of 3 days. It is best to obtain a BBT thermometer to assess this.
How about your family history? Do you have close relatives with thyroid issues?
Some of the family history that suggests you could have a higher risk for hypothyroidism includes:

High or low thyroid function
Goiter
Prematurely gray hair
Left-handedness
Diabetes
Autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sarcoidosis, Sjogren’s, etc.)
Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
Multiple sclerosis (MS)
Elevated cholesterol levels

It might be useful to take an online thyroid assessment quiz, as a way to get started. Mary Shomon has a good one, found here. Some of the classic symptoms are mentioned above, but there are many more — too many to list here.
If you suspect you might be hypothyroid, you should see a healthcare provider who can evaluate this, including ordering the basic lab tests for thyroid function.

Laboratory Testing

Even though lab tests are not the end-all, be-all for diagnosing a thyroid problem, they are a valuable part of the overall diagnostic process. The key is to look at the whole picture.
New studies suggest a very high incidence of borderline hypothyroidism in Westerners. Many cases are subclinical, and even “sublaboratory,” not showing up at all in standard laboratory measurements.
Coexistent subclinical hypothyroidism often triggers or worsens other chronic diseases, such as the autoimmune diseases, so the thyroid should be addressed with any chronic disease.
Many physicians will order only one test — a TSH level. This is a grossly inadequate and relatively meaningless test by itself, as well as a waste of your money. It would be like saying you know your water is pure because it tastes fine.
I recommend the following panel of laboratory tests if you want to get the best picture of what your thyroid is doing:

TSH — the high-sensitivity version. This is the BEST test. But beware most all of the “normal” ranges are simply dead wrong. The ideal level for TSH is between 1 and 1.5 mIU/L (milli-international units per liter)
Free T4 and Free T3. The normal level of free T4 is between 0.9 and 1.8 ng/dl (nanograms per deciliter). T3 should be between 240 and 450 pg/dl (picograms per deciliter).
Thyroid antibodies, including thyroid peroxidase antibodies and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies. This measure helps determine if your body is attacking your thyroid, overreacting to its own tissues (ie, autoimmune reactions). Physicians nearly always leave this test out.
For more difficult cases TRH (thyroid releasing hormone) can be measured using the TRH stimulation test. TRH helps identify hypothyroidism that’s caused by inadequacy of the pituitary gland.

Other tests that might be indicated for more complex cases are a thyroid scan, fine-needle aspiration, and thyroid ultrasound. But these are specialized tests that your physician will use only in a small number of cases, in special situations.
Even if all your lab tests are “normal,” if you have multiple thyroid symptoms, you still could have subclinical hypothyroidism.

Keeping Your Thyroid Healthy in a Toxic World

Now that you have some understanding of the importance of your thyroid and how it works, let’s take a look at the factors that can readily cause problems with your thyroid gland.

Diet

Your lifestyle choices dictate, to a great degree, how well your thyroid will function.
If you follow my plan to eat for your nutritional type,5 and my nutritional plan your metabolism will be more efficient, and your thyroid will have an easier time keeping everything in check. Eating for your type will normalize your blood sugar and lipid levels and enhance your immune system, so that your thyroid will have fewer obstacles to overcome.
Eliminate junk food, processed food, artificial sweeteners, trans fats, and anything with chemical ingredients. Eat whole, unprocessed foods, and choose as many organics as possible.

Gluten and Other Food Sensitivities

Gluten and food sensitivities6
are among the most common causes of thyroid dysfunction because they cause inflammation.
Gluten causes autoimmune responses in many people and can be responsible for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, a common autoimmune thyroid condition. Approximately 30 percent of the people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis have an autoimmune reaction to gluten, and it usually goes unrecognized.
How this works is, gluten can cause your gastrointestinal system to malfunction, so foods you eat aren’t completely digested (aka Leaky Gut Syndrome7). These food particles can then be absorbed into your bloodstream where your body misidentifies them as antigens — substances that shouldn’t be there — and then produces antibodies against them.
These antigens are similar to molecules in your thyroid gland. So your body accidentally attacks your thyroid. This is known as an autoimmune reaction, or one in which your body actually attacks itself.
Testing can be done for gluten and other food sensitivities, which involves measuring your IgG and IgA antibodies.8

Soy

Another food that is bad for your thyroid is soy9. Soy is NOT the health food the agricultural and food companies would have you believe.
Soy is high in isoflavones (or goitrogens), which are damaging to your thyroid gland. Thousands of studies now link soy foods to malnutrition, digestive stress, immune system weakness, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders, infertility, and a host of other problems — in addition to damaging your thyroid.10
Properly fermented organic soy products such as natto, miso, and tempeh are fine — it’s the unfermented soy products that you should stay away from.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is one of the best foods you can eat for your thyroid.11 Coconut oil is a saturated fat comprising medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), which are known to increase metabolism and promote weight loss.
Coconut oil is very stable (shelf life of three to five years at room temperature), so your body is much less burdened with oxidative stress than it is from many other vegetable oils. And coconut oil does not interfere with T4 to T3 conversion the way other oils can.

Iodine

Iodine is a key component of thyroid hormone.12 In fact, the names of the different forms of thyroid hormone reflect the number of iodine molecules attached — T4 has four attached iodine molecules, and T3 has three — showing what an important part iodine plays in thyroid biochemistry.
If you aren’t getting enough iodine in your diet (and most Americans don’t13), no matter how healthy your thyroid gland is, it won’t have the raw materials to make enough thyroid hormone.
Chlorine, fluorine, and bromine are also culprits in thyroid function, and since they are halides like iodine, they compete for your iodine receptors.
If you are exposed to a lot of bromine, you will not hold on to the iodine you need. Bromine is present in many places in your everyday world — plastics, pesticides, hot tub treatments, fire retardants, some flours and bakery goods, and even some soft drinks. I have written a special article about bromine and its influence on your thyroid gland and I encourage you to read it.
Also make sure the water you drink is filtered. Fluoride is particularly damaging to your thyroid gland.14 Not all water filters15 remove fluoride, so make sure the one you have does.

Stress and Adrenal Function

Stress is one of the worst thyroid offenders. Your thyroid function is intimately tied to your adrenal function, which is intimately affected by how you handle stress.

Many of us are under chronic stress, which results in increased adrenalin and cortisol levels, and elevated cortisol has a negative impact on thyroid function. Thyroid hormone levels drop during stress, while you actually need more thyroid hormones during stressful times.
When stress becomes chronic, the flood of stress chemicals (adrenalin and cortisol) produced by your adrenal glands interferes with thyroid hormones and can contribute to obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, unstable blood sugar, and more.
A prolonged stress response can lead to adrenal exhaustion16 (also known as adrenal fatigue), which is often found alongside thyroid disease.
Environmental toxins place additional stress on your body. Pollutants such as petrochemicals, organochlorines, pesticides, and chemical food additives negatively affect thyroid function.
One of the best destressors is exercise, which is why it is so beneficial for your thyroid.
Exercise directly stimulates your thyroid gland to secrete more thyroid hormone. Exercise also increases the sensitivity of all your tissues to thyroid hormone. It is even thought that many of the health benefits of exercise stem directly from improved thyroid function.
Even something as simple as a 30-minute walk is a great form of exercise, and all you need is a good pair of walking shoes. Don’t forget to add strength training to your exercise routine, because increasing your muscle mass helps raise your metabolic rate.
Also make sure you are getting enough sleep. Inadequate sleep contributes to stress and prevents your body from regenerating fully.
Finally, one excellent way to reduce stress is with an energy psychology tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). More and more people are practicing EFT and experiencing amazing results.17

Treatment Options for a Sluggish Thyroid

Here are some suggestions that can be used for general support of your thyroid, as well as treating an underperforming one:

Eat plenty of sea vegetables such as seaweed, which are rich in minerals and iodine (hijiki, wakame, arame, dulse, nori, and kombu). This is probably the most ideal form of iodine supplementation as it is also loaded with many other beneficial nutrients.
Eat Brazil nuts, which are rich in selenium.

Get plenty of sunlight to optimize your vitamin D levels; if you live where sunlight is limited, use vitamin D3 supplementation18.
Eat foods rich in vitamin A, such as dandelion greens, carrots, spinach, kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, and sweet potatoes.
Make sure you are eating enough omega-3 fatty acids.
Use pure, organic coconut oil in your cooking — it’s great for stir fries and sautéing many different meats and vegetables.
Filter your drinking water and your bathing water.
Filter your air, since it is one of the ways you take in environmental pollutants.
Use an infrared sauna to help your body combat infections and detoxify from petrochemicals, metals, PCBs, pesticides, and mercury.
Taking chlorella19 is another excellent detoxification aid.
Many women suffering with hormonal imbalances report significant benefits from the South American herb Q&A session with Dr. Viana Muller on this topic.
Take active steps to minimize your stress relaxation, meditation, hot soaks, EFT, whatever works for you.
Exercise, exercise, exercise!

Thyroid Hormone Replacement

If you know your thyroid function is poor, despite making the supportive lifestyle changes already discussed, then it might be time to look at thyroid supplementation.
Taking thyroid hormone should be done only after you have ruled out other conditions that could be causing the thyroid dysfunction, such as adrenal fatigue, gluten or other food allergies, hormonal imbalance, etc. It is always best to get your thyroid working again by treating the underlying cause, as opposed to taking an external source of thyroid hormone.
But sometimes supplementation is necessary.
Conventional pharmaceutical treatment usually consists of replacing only T4 in the form of Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothyroid, Unithroid, and levothyroxine, leaving your body to convert this to T3.
However, research has shown that a combination of T4 and T3 is often more effective than T4 alone. The conversion to T3 can be hampered by nutritional deficiencies such as low selenium, inadequate omega-3 fatty acids, low zinc, chemicals from the environment, or by stress.
Oftentimes, taking T4 alone will result in only partial improvement.
Taking T3 alone is usually too stimulating. The drug Cytomel is a very short-acting form of T3 that can cause palpitations, anxiety, irritability, and insomnia. I never recommend this drug.
By far, the better approach is combined T4 and T3 therapy.
Natural thyroid products like ArmourThyroid20 are a combination of T4, T3, and T2 made from desiccated, or dried, porcine thyroid. Armour Thyroid has gotten a bad rap over the years, perceived by physicians to be unstable and unreliable in terms of dosage. However, many improvements have been made in the product, making it a safe and effective option for treating hypothyroidism today.
In fact, a study done 10 years ago clearly demonstrated that patients with hypothyroidism showed greater improvements in mood and brain function if they received treatment with Armour Thyroid than if they received Synthroid.21
The optimal dose for Armour Thyroid ranges from 15 to 180 milligrams, depending on the individual. You will need a prescription.
Once on thyroid replacement, you will not necessarily need to take it for the rest of your life, which is a common misconception. Once all the factors that have led to your thyroid dysfunction have been corrected, you may be able to reduce or discontinue the thyroid hormone replacement.
Once on thyroid hormone replacement, I recommend you monitor your progress by paying attention to how you feel, in addition to regular lab studies.
You can also routinely check your basal body temperature. If you are on the correct dose, your BBT should be about 98.6 degrees F.
If you begin to feel symptoms such as anxiety, palpitations, diarrhea, high blood pressure, or a resting pulse of more than 80 beats per minute, your dose is likely too high as these are symptoms of hyperthyroidism, and you should let your physician know immediately.

Final Thoughts

A thyroid problem is no different from any other chronic illness — you must address the underlying issues if you hope to correct the problem. The path to wellness may involve a variety of twists and turns before you find what works for you.
But hang in there.
If you approach it from a comprehensive, holistic perspective, you will find in time that all of the little steps you take will ultimately result in your feeling much better than you could have ever imagined.

A study links thyroid disease with human exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFOA is a persistent organic chemical used in industrial and consumer goods including most nonstick cookware and stain- and water-resistant coatings for carpets and fabrics.
The study included nearly 4000 adults aged 20 and older whose blood serum was sampled between 1999 and 2006 for PFOA.
The researchers found that the individuals with the highest PFOA concentrations were more than twice as likely to report current thyroid disease.
Previous animal studies carried out by other scientists have shown that the compounds can affect the function of the mammalian thyroid hormone system. This system is essential for maintaining heart rate, regulating body temperature and supporting many other body functions, including metabolism, reproduction, digestion and mental health.

Dr. John Lowe is a skilled clinician, recognized as one of the leading experts on treating thyroid disease with natural medicine. In this interview, he discusses hypothyroidism and the lesser known thyroid hormone resistance, and how thyroid disease is connected to fibromyalgia.

By Dr. Mercola

In the early 1990’s, soy and soy products exploded onto the supermarket scene with promises of bountiful health benefits.
This “new miracle food,” soy, was supposed to lower cholesterol, take the heat out of hot flashes, protect against breast and prostate cancer, and offer a filling alternative to earth-loving vegetarians.
The problem with these claims?
Most of them are false.
Sadly, most of what you have been led to believe by the media about soy is simply untrue.
The sudden upsurge in the recommendation of soy as a health food has been nothing more than a clever marketing gimmick to further reduce the cost and nutritional content of your food.
For you vegetarians out there staring at the screen in open-mouthed shock, fear not.
There are plenty of other healthy vegetarian alternatives, which I will discuss later in this article.
What was once considered a minor industrial crop back in 1913 now covers over 72 million acres of farmland.
But first, let’s examine the dangers and side effects of soy protein isolate and GMO foods.

Soy Protein Isolate — What Is It, and How Is It Getting in My Food?

The Soyfoods Association of America has a soy protein “fact sheet” defining soy protein isolate as the following:

“Soy protein isolate is a dry powder food ingredient that has been separated or isolated from the other components of the soybean, making it 90 to 95 percent protein and nearly carbohydrate and fat-free.”

Soy protein isolate can be found in protein bars, meal replacement shakes, bottled fruit drinks, soups and sauces, meat analogs, baked goods, breakfast cereals, and some dietary supplements.
Bodybuilders beware: because many weight gainer powders, bars, and shakes contain this dangerous ingredient and it can cause troubling side effects such as diminished libido and erectile dysfunction — and this is just the start. You’ll find out more about these disturbing health effects later on in this article.
Even if you are not a vegetarian and do not use soymilk or tofu, it is important to become a label reader. There are so many different names for soy additives, and you could be bringing home a genetically modified soy-based product without even realizing it. Dr. Daniel offers a free Special Report, “Where the Soys Are,” on her Web site. It lists the many “aliases” that soy might be hiding under in ingredient lists — words like “boullion,” “natural flavor,” and “textured plant protein.”
Here are a few other names soy tends to hide under:

Mono-diglyceride
Soya, Soja or Yuba
TSF (textured soy flour) or TSP (textured soy protein)
TVP (textured vegetable protein)
Lecithin
MSG (monosodium glutamate)

Not all textured vegetable protein is made from soy, but a great deal of it is. Lecithin can be made from soy, eggs, sunflower or corn. Be sure to contact the manufacturer to find out which is in your product if the label doesn’t reveal this information.

GMO — Making Soy Even Worse

One of the worst problems with soy comes from the fact that 90 to 95 percent of soybeans grown in the US are genetically modified (GM), and these are used to create soy protein isolate.
Why the genetic tinkering?
Genetically modified soybeans are designed to be “Roundup ready.” That’s right. They are chemically engineered to withstand heavy doses of herbicides without killing the plant! What does this mean for your health and the health of your unborn or yet-to-be-conceived children? Read on.

GM Soy Can Lead to Hormonal Disruption and Miscarriages

The active ingredient in Roundup herbicide is called glyphosate, which is responsible for the disruption of the delicate hormonal balance of the female reproductive cycle.
“It’s an endocrine buster,” says UK pathologist Stanley Ewen, “that interferes with aromatase, which produces estrogen.”
What’s more, glyphosate is toxic to the placenta, which is responsible for delivering vital nutrients from mother to child, and eliminating waste products. Once the placenta has been damaged or destroyed, the result can be miscarriage. In those children born to mothers who have been exposed to even a small amount of glyphosate, serious birth defects can result.
In an excellent summary of glyphosate-related effects by the Pesticide Action Network1, Dr. Andres Carrasco of the Embryology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine in Buenos Aires, simply and expertly explains the serious risks for unborn children exposed to Roundup-laden GMO soy products.
Amphibian embryos were exposed to a tiny concentration of glyphosate (diluted 5000 fold) and showed the following effects:

“Effects included reduced head size, genetic alterations in the central nervous system, increased death of cells that help form the skull, deformed cartilage, eye defects, and undeveloped kidneys. Carrasco also stated that the glyphosate was not breaking down in the cells, but was accumulating.
The findings lend weight to claims that abnormally high levels of cancer, birth defects, neonatal mortality, lupus, kidney disease, and skin and respiratory problems in populations near Argentina’s soybean fields may be linked to the aerial spraying of Roundup.”

The long-term effects of the human consumption of genetically modified soy and soy-based products are staggering.
In April 2010, researchers at Russia’s Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Association for Gene Security found that after feeding hamsters GM soy for two years over three generations, by the third generation, most lost the ability to have babies!2  Now, let’s take a close look at some of the health risks to YOU as a result of eating genetically modified soy.

Infertility in Women

Do you want to start a family? Have you had any trouble conceiving, perhaps due to irregular menstrual cycles or endometriosis? Have you ever experienced a miscarriage?
If so, what you’re about to read will shock you.
A Brazilian study published in 20093 looked at the impact of soy on the reproductive system of female rats. Female rats fed GM soy for 15 months showed significant changes in their uterus and reproductive cycles, compared to rats fed organic soy or no soy.
Extrapolating the findings to people, women who eat genetically modified soy products, such as the soy protein isolate in processed vegetarian fare, may be more likely to experience severe hormonal disruptions, including an overabundance of estrogen, a hair-growth stimulating hormone, and damage to the pituitary gland.
According to Dr. Stanley Ewen, the female rats fed GM soy probably had an increase in progesterone4, which could cause an increase in the number of eggs released during each ovulation cycle.
You might think this would lead to an increase in fertility. However, as discussed in an article by Jeffrey Smith, women who consume genetically modified soy products are at increased risk for developing retrograde menstruation (the menstrual cycle backs up into the body instead of outward), causing endometriosis, which can lead to infertility.
The consumption of soy protein isolate and other soy-based products can also lead to abnormally heavy or longer menstrual periods. This is called menorrhagia and, ironically, some commercials have been popping up with a new pill that supposedly offers the “cure” for this “mystery syndrome.”
When in reality the real cure for some women is as simple as removing soy and soy-based products from the diet. The negative effects of soy are not restricted to women, however.

Loss of Libido & Erectile Dysfunction in Men

Guys, do you enjoy protein bars or use a weight-gainer shake? If so, be sure to read the label to see if the products you use contain any soy ingredients. Did you know that celibate monks living in monasteries and leading a vegetarian lifestyle find soy foods quite helpful for dampening libido?5
Another drawback: Soy has also been linked to erectile dysfunction. The two natural drugs found in soy, genistein and daidzein, mimic estrogen so well that they have been known to cause a variety of alarming side effects in men:

Breast enlargement (gynecomastia)
Decreased facial and body hair growth
Decreased libido
Mood swings and frequent crying jags
Erectile dysfunction
Lowered sperm count

For example, one recent study6 documented a case of gynecomastia in a 60-year-old man as a result of his soy consumption. Another study7 showed that juvenile rats exposed to daidzein showed impaired erectile function at maturity.
Men, if you’ve experienced one or any of these symptoms, soy could be the culprit. Remove it from your diet, but be sure to consult a trusted physician if your symptoms do not improve or get worse as this could be a sign of another serious condition.

The Healthy Aspects of Soy: Fermented vs. Unfermented

In order to back up the claim that soy is a health food, privately funded “researchers” have been quick to point out that Asians, who consume a diet high in soy, have less risk of breast, uterine and prostate cancer. Unfortunately, they leave out two very important points:

Asians, especially the Japanese, while having a decreased risk of the above-mentioned cancers, have a much higher risk of developing cancer of the esophagus, thyroid, stomach, pancreas and liver!
Asians also consume a diet rich in fermented soy, which is the only type of soy to offer health benefits.

The reason Asians have an increased risk for some cancers is the same reason they do not develop others: unfermented soy. The soy marketing and promotion gurus left out this critical piece of information. Would you rather have one cancer over another? Isn’t that like asking whether or not you’d like to be whacked in the head with a two-by-four vs. a wooden stick?
You might be asking yourself what the big difference is between consuming a fermented soy product such as, say, tempeh, vs. tofu or a veggie burger. I’m here to tell you, the difference is night and day.
Unfermented AND fermented soy contains hormonal mimics in the form of isoflavones which can not only disrupt delicate hormone systems in your body, but also act as goitrogens, substances that suppress your thyroid function. When the thyroid is suppressed, a host of health problems result, namely:

Anxiety and mood swings
Insomnia
Difficulty losing weight
Difficulty conceiving children
Digestive problems
Food allergies

And so much more. No wonder soy can lead to thyroid, esophagus and stomach cancer! Unfermented soy is also chock full of phytic acid,8 an “antinutrient” responsible for leeching vital nutrients from your body. Phytic acid also blocks the uptake of essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc especially.
Now, fermented soy products do provide health benefits.
As I mentioned in my previous article, some examples of healthful fermented soy products are as follows:

Tempeh, a fermented soybean cake with a firm texture and nutty, mushroom-like flavor.
Miso, a fermented soybean paste with a salty, buttery texture (commonly used in miso soup).
Natto, fermented soybeans with a sticky texture and strong, cheese-like flavor.
Soy sauce, which is traditionally made by fermenting soybeans, salt and enzymes; be wary because many varieties on the market today are made artificially using a chemical process.

For those of you who enjoy tofu, I’m sorry to say it didn’t make this list because tofu is an unfermented soy product.

So, What Are The Health Benefits of Fermented Soy Products?

The claim that soy products can prevent osteoporosis, decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia, and protect you from cancer of the prostate, lung, and liver is actually true, but ONLY if the soy is fermented.
How?
The process of fermenting soy destroys the above-mentioned dangerous substances, thereby making it fit for consumption. Also, fermented soy products, such as those listed above, are a rich source of vitamin K2, a vitamin that works in harmony with vitamin D to keep you healthy. Vitamin K regulates your body’s blood clotting ability and helps prevent cancer, osteoporosis and heart disease. And vitamin D is essential to the function of every system in your body.

Warning to Vegetarians About the Risk of Mineral Deficiency

Since phytic acid or phytates sap the nutrients from your body, if you’re eating a vegetarian diet that has replaced meat with mostly unfermented soy such as veggie burgers containing GMO soy protein isolate, you are at risk for severe mineral deficiency.
In addition to this nutrient loss, many processed veggie burgers and the like are packed with harmful artificial flavorings, particularly MSG and textured vegetable protein products to give them their strong “meat” flavor.
What’s even worse is the process soy has to go through to become soy protein isolate. Acid washing in aluminum tanks, which is designed to remove some of the antinutrients (but the results often vary widely), leeches aluminum into the final product. Aluminum can have adverse effects on brain development9 and cause symptoms such as:

Antisocial behavior
Learning disabilities
Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia10

As I mentioned in a previous article about soy, this makes processed vegetarian fare more palatable, but far from nutritious. Vegetarians have plenty of options for well-rounded, nutritious meals without needing to eat soy or soy-based products.

Beans are an inexpensive, protein-rich food that can be eaten alone, added to salads or served as a side dish. Be sure to purchase organic dried beans and cook them at home to avoid the adverse health effects of eating canned food. Ideally, it is also best to soak them for at least 12 hours before cooking them.
Nuts are also an excellent source of protein. For optimal health benefits, reach for organic nuts such as almonds or walnuts, instead of overly processed mixed nuts.
Quinoa is a gluten free grain that can be enjoyed as a cereal, side dish or added to homemade vegetable stews as a thickener.
Flaxseed, which is rich in essential omega-3 fats like ALA, is an excellent source of protein. Add it to salads or sprinkle it over yogurt to infuse your meal with vital nutrients. However, it is important to grind flax seeds just prior to eating them because100 percent of commercially ground flaxseeds are rancid. Hemp seeds11 are also an excellent source of protein.

Hope for the Lactose Intolerant

If you suffer from lactose intolerance and have been replacing milk with soy, you have three more healthful options: Almond milk, and now hemp milk. All are nutritious alternatives to soy, and almond milk has a richer, heartier flavor. Hemp milk12 is a very creamy, high-protein alternative to soymilk, and it’s easy to blend your own by whizzing up hemp seeds and water in a high-speed blender.

Babies — Birth Control in a Bottle

As stated in a number of previous articles, soy formula is one of the most dangerous foods you can feed your baby!

“In 1998, investigators reported that the daily exposure of infants to isoflavones in soy infant formula is 6 to11 times higher on a body-weight basis than the dose that has hormonal effects in adults consuming soy foods. Circulating concentrations of isoflavones in infants fed soy-based formula were 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than plasma estradiol concentrations in infants on cow’s milk formula.”

What does this mean? Feeding your infant soy-based formula can cause a host of health problems including:

Behavioral problems
Food allergies and digestive distress
Early puberty and fertility problems (including the inability to menstruate)
Asthma
Precocious puberty for girls and gynecomastia (man boobs) for boys
Thyroid disease
Cancer

As I concluded in my article on infant formula, babies who are fed exclusively from the breast from birth to six months enjoy health benefits such as:

Lower risk of respiratory tract and middle ear infections
Lower risk of eczema
Lower risk of obesity
Added protection against heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and allergies
Improved brain function and immune system function

Soy formula is also laden with toxic chemicals such as aluminum and manganese, which can cause both physical and mental health problems, learning disabilities, brain damage, and behavioral problems. If, for some reason, you are unable to breastfeed or have adopted a baby, look into these recipes for homemade infant formula.

School Lunch — Children’s Nutrition Left Behind

In order to comply with new US Government standards, soy products are now being used to replace whole, nutritious foods in school lunches. Due to the decreased fat content of soy, it is touted as a healthful alternative to the meat and dairy of yesterday’s hot meal.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Soy added to your child’s hot lunch depletes the necessary nutrients needed for healthy growth and has been linked to learning disabilities. I encourage you to watch this sobering video to learn more about the dangers in your child’s school lunch. Do your children a favor and send them to school with a healthy, home-packed meal.

Senior Citizens — Aging Less Gracefully

According to a study done by Dr. Lon White13 of the Hawaii Center for Health Research, senior citizens who consumed a lot of tofu in mid-life were more likely to experience accelerated brain aging and a more pronounced loss of cognitive function.

“What’s more,” said Dr. White, “those who ate a lot of tofu, by the time they were 75 or 80, looked five years older.”

If you’re heading toward your golden years and are looking to avoid soy protein, become a label reader. Meal replacement drinks like Ensure are filled with soy protein and are best avoided. As you can see, unfermented soy is anything but a health food.
Do your own research, try eliminating it from your family’s diet and judge the results for yourself. Remember, an educated consumer is an armed consumer. Big companies can only produce and sell these harmful products as long as you’re buying them.
Vote with your wallet by spending your money on healthier alternatives!