Are you tired and worn down most of the time? Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Are you cold all the time and can’t warm up? Is your skin dry and itchy? Do you have trouble remembering things? Do you have difficulty shedding weight even if you follow a good healthy diet plan? If you answered yes to any of these questions and you think this is just something you have to live with, we invite you to think again.
While it may seem that most of these things are simply day to day annoyances and nothing too troublesome, they all could also possibly be symptoms of low thyroid and low metabolic function. You may be able to restore your metabolic energy by fixing the underlying problem that is causing these symptoms. The place that is good to investigate is the functioning of your thyroid gland.
Low thyroid functioning and poor adrenal functioning seem to go hand in hand. Restoring metabolic energy will help the body heal itself and allow the self repairing mechanisms of the body to get to work. This is how health and vitality is restored. A thyroid diet plan that supports you in your day to day life will help you lose weight and stay healthy.
All the processes that go on in our bodies require energy – specifically they require metabolic energy. When the body doesn’t have the necessary amount of energy to function as it should, each part of the body will suffer in its own way. As an example, if the brain has too little energy, mental processes like thought, memory and the ability to focus will become compromised.
Our bodies must have energy to keep us warm. A low body temperature is an indicator that one might have low metabolic energy. The fats and carbohydrates that we eat are converted into the energy that is ready for our body to use. The thyroid gland, which is located at the base of the neck, is responsible for making the hormones that do the work of turning those fats and carbs we eat into ready to use energy to power the body’s functions. If the thyroid is not making enough of the necessary hormones, we will not get enough available energy to power our body’s daily activities.
Other factors that contribute to low metabolic energy are poorly functioning adrenal glands, overexposure to toxins, lack of necessary vitamins and minerals, imbalance of hormones, such as progesterone, testosterone, or estrogen, or severely restricted calories in your diet. If you find that you need to balance your metabolism, then following a good thyroid diet plan will support you in maintaining a healthy life and weight. Following a good diet is critical to good health no matter what, but with thyroid disease, it is even more important.
Low Fat Diets and Thyroid Problems:
Signs of Poor Thyroid Functioning
Weight gain is one of the common factors to low thyroid functioning, and to make things worse, weight can be very hard to lose. Another distinguishing characteristic is having a ruddy or rosy complexion to the skin. Low body temperature is commonly related to low thyroid. Regularly having a temperature in the low 90s to a little below 98.6 degrees is a common indicator of low thyroid functioning. People with low thyroid are generally rather under reactive emotionally, tend to crave fats over sweets, and tend toward constipation. Women especially seem to be troubled by low thyroid problems.
If you suspect that you may have thyroid deficiency, the first thing to do is to take your temperature over a period of a few days. The average healthy temperature is 98.6. If your temperature is consistently lower than that it is an indicator that you may have low thyroid. The best gauge of thyroid health is to have a blood test for the thyroid-stimulating hormone, or T.S.H.. as well as T3 and T4 levels. You should ask your doctor for all three to be tested, as it is not always common practice to test all three thyroid factors.
The following list gives you some ideas on foods that make up a good nutrient rich thyroid diet plan.
Thyroid diet foods to favor:
This is a list of whole natural food sources that provide the vitamins and minerals needed for you to maintain a healthy thyroid diet. There are many delicious foods to choose from to create your own thyroid diet plan for good thyroid health.
Iodine: Your thyroid can’t function well when this crucial trace element, is missing. If you are iodine-deficient, a higher iodine intake could make all the difference.
Food with Iodine: sea vegetables (kelp, dulse, hijiki, nori, arame, wakame, kombu) and seafood (clams, shrimp, haddock, oysters, salmon, sardines), as well as iodized sea salt, eggs, asparagus, lima beans, mushrooms, spinach, sesame seeds, summer squash, Swiss chard, garlic
Selenium: Selenium is another element that is indispensable to healthy thyroid function.
Food with Selenium: Brazil nuts, mushrooms, tuna, organ meats, halibut, beef, soybeans, sunflower seeds.
Zinc: One of three trace metals that play vital roles in healthy thyroid. Women with hyperthyroidism could be more prone to zinc deficiency because an excess of thyroid hormone can increase the elimination of zinc in urination.
Food with Zinc: Fresh oysters, sardines, beef, lamb, turkey, soybeans, split peas, whole grains, walnuts, ginger root, sunflower seeds, pecans, Brazil nuts, almonds, maple syrup
Copper: One of three trace metals that play vital roles in healthy thyroid. Copper is needed in trace amounts to produce thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and for oxidizing iodine to form T4.
Food with Copper: Beef, oysters, dark chocolate, shiitake mushrooms, lobster, sunflower seeds, crabmeat, tomato paste, pearled barley, nuts, beans (soybeans, white beans, chickpeas),
Iron: One of three trace metals that play vital roles in healthy thyroid. Research is indicating that there is a link between iron deficiency and decreased thyroid efficiency.
Food with Iron: Clams, oysters, white beans, blackstrap molasses, organ meats, soybeans, pumpkin seeds, lentils, spinach
Vitamin A (beta-carotene form)
Food rich in Vitamin A: Kale, liver, sweet potatoes, spinach, cantaloupe, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, winter squash/pumpkin, lettuce
Vitamin C
Food high in Vitamin C: Guava, papaya, parsley, greens (kale, turnip, collard, mustard) peppers (chili, Bell, sweet), kiwifruit, citrus, strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts,
Vitamin E
Food high in Vitamin E: Whole grains, almonds, soybeans and other beans, sunflower seeds, peanuts, liver, leafy green vegetables, asparagus
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
Vitamin B2 Foods: Brewer’s yeast, almonds, wheat germ, wild rice, organ meats, , mushrooms, egg yolks
Vitamin B3 (niacin)
Foods rich in Vitamin B3: Brewer’s yeast, rice bran, wheat bran, peanuts (with skin), liver, poultry white meat
Vitamin B6 (pyroxidine)
Food high in Vitamin B6: Brewer’s yeast, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, fish (tuna, salmon, trout), liver, beans (soybeans, lentils, lima beans, navy beans, garbanzos, pinto beans), walnuts, brown rice, bananas
Some healthy thyroid diet snacks:
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