FEEUNG FAT,OR FRAZZLED?The Problem Could be aHORMONAL IMBALANCEby Richard Shames, M.D. andKarilee Shames, Ph.D.

Are you one of the millions whofeel fat, fuzzy, or frazzled?Evidence is mounting that a

spiraling epidemic is catching millionsin its escalating whirl. If your lab testsshow normal, you may be blamed fornot eating right, not thinking right, ornot getting enough exercise.

Fatigue, depression, weight gain,high cholesterol, low sex function, in-somnia, anxiety, attention deficit, andsevere menopause are common healthchallenges today. Yet generally, theyare not the true culprit. What oftenlies at the heart of these various di-agnoses and their hundreds of relatedsymptoms is one underlying cause:metabolic gland imbalance. Expertsconcur that one in ten Americans hassome degree of endocrine gland dis-ruption, where the various glands thatare supposed to work together in har-mony {such as thyroid, adrenals, andsex glands) become depleted or con-fused, altering their hormonal output.Most people suffering with metabolicimbalance remain undiagnosed, whileit slowly drains their daily joy, erodingtheir overall quality of life.

One major cause of this increase inenergy hormone challenges is the con-stant stress of modern life. Our adre-nals are the "fight or flight" glands thatsecrete excess cortisol under duress,flooding the system with biochemicalsthat affect our nervous system, result-ing in increased anxiety and irritabitity.Depletion of the adrenal gland causesthe thyroid gland to compensate,draining it, as well. Another reason fortoday's hormone disruption epidemic is

environmental pollution. For example,a sensitive person whose thyroid glandis slowed due to exposure to PCBs(polychlorinated biphenyls) will haveslowing metabolism, resulting in mul-tiple uncomfortable symptoms. Themost obvious changes include excessweight and severe fatigue.

In reality, few health challengesare as demoralizing and upsetting topeople as persistent weight problems,particularly in our thin-worshippingsociety. Compared with other healthconcerns, obesity ranks foremost infrequency for various reasons. As a so-ciety, our high-fat, low-nutrient dietseaten on the run, coupled with largerportion sizes, add to our weight. Inaddition, the accelerating pace of lifemakes it exceptionally difficult to findtime to exercise adequately. Moreover,many artificial hormonelike substancesin our environment directly interferewith proper metabolism.

If you are overweight, you maywant to consider the possibility thata metabolic imbalance is causing youthose extra pounds. If the cause foryour overweight is glandular, properhormone balancing makes it muchmore likely that you will live longer,and more healthfully. Often peoplewho have what we refer to as theThyroid Hormone Endocrine Profile,or simply the Physical Endo-Type, ex-perience a wide variety of symptoms,including fatigue, overweight, depres-sion, dry skin, hair, and nails, as wellas an intense sense of malaise, espe-cially around puberty, menopause, orduring other life changes. The majority

"Most people suffering

with metabolic imbalance

remain undiagnosed,

while it slowly drains their

daily joy, eroding their

overall quality of life." ,

of people in this category experienceweight gain, despite normal eatinghabits and reasonable exercise. Thethyroid functions as the "gas pedal"for the whole body by secreting energyhormones that control the speed of ev-ery metabolic process in every cell andevery organ. When the thyroid slows,so do you.

Standard tests are not always ableto diagnose mild metabolic glandularimbalance. One of the main difficul-ties is that our present medical systemdoesn't conduct a sufficiently compre-hensive evaluation of a patient, despitethe fact that the right testing could un-cover the root cause of a person's suf-fering. The result is that regular bloodtests frequently miss the problem.

Your tests may show normal, butyour symptoms may be pointing youtoward the truth. Unfortunately, youcannot count on your doctor to bringup the possibility of thyroid, adrenal, orsex hormonal imbalance as a likely culpritin your feeling fat, fuzzy, or frazzled.

—continued on page 79

FEELING FAT,FUZZY ORFRAZZLED?Continued from page 27

Most people imagine that if they wereat risk for having a hormone abnormal-ity, tbeir doctor would tell them afterrunning some well-chosen blood tests.But many doctors are less tban fullyinformed about the newer diagnostictests, or the milder yet often more effec-tive vitamin, mineral, or herbal inter-ventions for restoring proper function.

Please realize that we are not sug-gesting that you forgo any blood test-ing. What we are saying is that if youare having mild health concerns, forwbich your own physician does not rec-ommend further evaluation, or if yourblood tests bave come back normal andyoure still not feeling that well, youmight need to take greater charge ofyour own health process. Saliva test-ing can be an excellent beginning stepto help you pinpoint and correct subtledisorders, and they are relatively easyto use. Though not entirely perfect, agrowing body of scientific literatureconfirms the validity of testing sa-liva for hormone levels. These tests aremuch more accessible, and also muchmore representative of a person's actualhormone status. To order tbis simple,low-cost home saliva test, go online tovvTvw.canaryclub.org.

Should you discover that you havelow thyroid and are wbat we call thePhysical Endo-Type, the followingimmediate actions are recommended.

First, change your diet. The bestfoods for a tbyroid type are items tbatare high in fiber and low in calories.For many people, this ends up beingsomewhat of a vegetarian diet withplenty of non-animal protein sources. Ifyour metabolism is sluggish, you wantto support your intestine as it trans-ports food through its length, wbichis helped by extra fiber (and slowedby meat and dairy). This type of highcomplex carbohydrate way of eatingis similar to the diets of McDougall,Pritikin, and Ornish.

Also, since you may have sluggishmetabolism, you want to satisfy your

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urge to eat with foods that have the highest bulk, crunchi-ness, taste appeal, visual attractiveness, but which are low incalories. This all adds up to eating more fruits, vegetables,beans, seeds, nuts, and sprouts. To help handle the auto-im-mune issues related to thyroid, include plenty of avocadosand olives, even though they are higher in calories.

You will also want to add certain supplements, with a fo-cus on the key metabolic minerals. In addition to a multiplevitamin and antioxidant, you need: 200 meg extra selenium;200 meg extra chromium; and 400 mg extra magnesium.Selenium is of particular importance; this one step is thekey to many people's thyroid balance, or lack thereof. Alsorecommended is the amino acid taurine, (taken as a 500 mgcapsule on its own), and a high-quality digestive enzymeproduct. If your thyroid is low, your enzyme complement isliable to be low, as well.

Also worth mentioning is rosemary, an herbal rem-edy useful for thyroid symptoms. Rosemary is a source ofcarnosic acid, which is absolutely essential for thyroid hor-mone to do its work. Another very useful herbal medicineis withania somnifera, sometimes called ashwagandha., fromthe ayurvedic medicine of India. It is extremely handy forhelping those with thyroid problems.

You might also consider homeopathic remedies.Thyroidinum is a low-potency single-remedy homeopathicmedicine available from your health food store, which isvery useful for many low-thyroid sufferers. Take three pel-lets in the 6x or 6c potency under the tongue three timesdaily for one week and then stop completely.

Suppose you are a definite physical endo-type, andyou are still suffering with thyroid imbalance despite usingmany of the natural interventions already mentioned. Youmight want to consider taking actual thyroid hormone byprescription. When you need it, there is nothing like it, butit's a prescription medicine, so you will need to be diagnosedsufficiently for a prescribing doctor to be able to offer it.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of all is the normalizationof your body weight. Once your thyroid is balanced, youmay finally stop that seemingly endless tendency to keepgaining. Now your food plan and your exercise program canstart working as intended, so that you can obtain the resultsother people have received all along. It may not matter somuch what diet or body movement you choose. Now thatthe thyroid is more balanced, it all begins to work better. Sogood luck in having fewer problems and more success, bothof which are frequent results of proper thyroid balance. ^

Excerpted with permission from FeglingFat, Fuzzy, or FrazzUdf ©200S byRichard Shames, MD and Karilee Shames, PhD, RN, published by Hudson.Street Press, New York, NY. Available in stores or visit www.penguin.com.

The authors are based in Marin and are avai/ah/efor private consultations.

Visit their website at www. Feelin?FFF. com or see their ad on page 43.