The metabolic factor we are focusing on this week is thyroid balance, which impacts our energy production and metabolism. What is metabolism? It is not just something that affects weight loss. Although it does impact that, metabolism is, in essence, the cumulative sum of all chemical reactions in our body. Therefore, thyroid balance is extremely important as well to our overall health.
So, let’s delve into thyroid balance. Do you often feel sluggish or have low energy and/or mood? Do you have trouble losing weight no matter what you do, how many kcal you cut, how hard you workout? Are you holding extra fat stores with an emphasis around the hips? Does your body temperature tend to reside below 98° F causing your extremities to be especially cold? If you identify with many of these symptoms, thyroid dysfunction could be to blame.
Our thyroid is a gland located in the neck, below the thyroid cartilage (which forms the laryngeal prominence, or “Adam’s apple”). The thyroid gland controls how quickly the body uses energy, makes proteins, and controls how sensitive the body is to other hormones. It participates in these processes by producing thyroid hormones, the principal ones being triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine which can sometimes be referred to as tetraiodothyronine (T4). These hormones regulate the growth and rate of function of many other systems in the body. T3 and T4 are synthesized from iodine (a mineral) and tyrosine (an amino acid – the building blocks of proteins) making diet critical to the health of the thyroid. Diet is one of the main contributors to thyroid imbalance. Because of this, being aware of potential food sensitivities and eating whole foods is very important to weight loss and overall health.
This week, we discussed the thyroid and how crucial it is that we do all we can to keep it in check. Because it is the main regulator of metabolism, the sum of all chemical processes/reactions in our bodies, many things can go wrong if it is not functioning optimally. Difficulty losing weight only is one of those.