Brain Function
Brain function is extremely important in treating the thyroid, as I’ve mentioned previously in other secrets. The brain controls every bodily function. Your pituitary drives the thyroid gland. It releases TSH. The part of your brain called the hypothalamus drives the pituitary.
Our brain needs two things to survive: fuel and activation.
Fuel is glucose and oxygen, which is why we use Exercise With Oxygen Therapy (EWOT) in our office. We have addressed the glucose end of the equation: now let’s address the importance of oxygen.
As you age, your ability to utilize oxygen decreases by one percent per year each year after the age of 25. If you are 50 years old, you’ve lost 25 percent of your ability to utilize oxygen in your body. This is called oxidative phosphorylation, which is a fancy three-dollar term meaning you’re not using oxygen as well as you did when you were younger. Again, this is why we utilize Exercise With Oxygen Therapy or EWOT in our office.
Secondly, the neurotransmitter serotonin plays a major role in thyroid function. There’s a place in your brain called the hypothalamus and there’s something called the periventricular nucleus. I know these are big three-dollar words, but it’s critical that you know this if you’re suffering with thyroid symptoms. Serotonin acts on the hypothalamic periventricular nucleus in the central nervous system and what it will do is make you have low thyroxine-stimulating hormone or low TSH.
Taking thyroid hormones for these problems is not going to do ANYTHING for you. It will most likely make your symptoms worse. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying to stop taking your medication (that’s called practicing medicine without a license!) but you need to be aware of what is happening to your body!
I am saying be aware of what’s happening to your body because once you start asking medical doctors WHY you’re taking these medications they’re going to look at you like you’re crazy, like you have a psychosomatic illness, which means to them… “it’s all in your head” and the only thing you need is an antidepressant.
The biggest influence on serotonin is blood sugar. That’s why we addressed glucose in Thyroid Treatment Success Secret #11. So if you’re hypoglycemic, insulin-resistant, or diabetic, it is vitally important that you maintain your blood sugar levels within an optimal range.
This is why it’s important to eat healthy. Don’t skip meals. Quit eating junk food! Every time you eat junk food you are literally eating away at your thyroid and you’re making your problem worse.
By consuming a poor, junk-food-filled diet, you will increase your thyroid symptoms: feeling tired or sluggish; inability to lose weight; cold hands and feet or insomnia. You will gain weight easily. You’ll have difficult, infrequent bowel movements, you’re depressed, have lack of motivation and morning headaches that wear off later on in the day. The outer third of your eyebrows are getting thin, your skin or scalp are dry, you have mental sluggishness, you’re nervous; you’re emotional and you have night sweats.
You have all of these symptoms and yet your labs are “normal” in the eyes of your medical doctor. Remember, those labs need to be within the optimal or functional range.
Don’t suffer another minute! Schedule a free consultation with Dr. Mark Scott today. Space is limited!