Body Weight Metabolic Rate & The Thyroid Explained
The thyroid gland regulates your metabolic rate. Metabolic rate refers to the amount of energy used by an organism per unit of time. The metabolic rate can be measured by examining the amount of oxygen expended by the body over a period of time.Traditionally, the associations between the metabolic rate, body weight and the function of the thyroid gland were examined using the BMR .
Basal Metabolic Rate refers to the amount of oxygen expended when an organism is at rest. Earlier testing for thyroid function once used to measure the basal metabolic rate. Those with hypothyroidism are said to have a low basal metabolic rate meaning that the quantity of energy they can produce at rest is low.
The BMR test is no longer widely utilized for thyroid testing, just as the BMI test isnt relied upon, due to the complex nature of body weight and the numerous factors that play a role in determining weight and muscle mass. However, the BMR and corresponding thyroid function acts as a valid explanation of why having an underactive thyroid may cause weight gain.
Luckily, if hypothyroidism is identified and treatment is put in place, it is very possible to maintain a healthy weight.
Testing For Adrenal Fatigue It Can Be Tricky
If you go to a traditional doctor to see if your cortisol is skyrocketing or flat-lining, they will order a blood test. Unfortunately, this can give a very inaccurate or incomplete picture. It might show that your cortisol levels are fine in the morning, but wont show that your cortisol levels may be barely there by 3pm when you are having an energy crash. Also, blood tests only show the total value of cortisol and not the free value which is what your body utilizes.
Urine or saliva testing is a far more accurate way to check cortisol levels. Good tests will check your levels around four times over the course of the day.
Im also a fan of the DUTCH test.
Instead of collecting many samples, you need only one sample which involves placing urine on filter paper and letting it dry.
You can also check your adrenal function at home.
Try A Variety Of Relaxation Approaches
- Keep your focus here and now: Try to live through your senses, not just your head. The more mindful you are, the more this will help to reduce your cortisol levels.
- Take a break in nature: This can not only reduce your stress hormones, but also boosts natural killer cells that increase your immunity.
- Enjoy regular touch: Through hugs, making love or enjoying a massage. Enjoyable physical contact triggers the release of oxytocin, which has calming impacts.
Dont:
- Persist with meditation if its not working for you: Try visualization or listening to soothing music with your eyes closed. Chanting for just 12 minutes a day can also reduce stress levels and lower inflammation in people who are stressed.
- Slouch: Instead strike a power pose. Try the victory pose and the wonder woman pose . Research from Harvard University shows that these kinds of poses, drop your cortisol and raise your testosterone, so you feel more in control and more able to handle risks and tricky situations. Amy Cuddy, who is an expert in this area, gives a fantastic Ted talk about the impact of body language on hormones and emotional states.
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What Causes Cfs & Cfs Weight Gain
In order to understand why there is CFS weight gain, its important to understand what causes CFS. Infections can cause CFS. Strands of the herpes virus and conditions such as LYuniquee disease can create physical manifestations that are diagnosable as CFS.
Any type of infection can cause much stress on the body. With the body being occupied by trying to fight off an infection weight gain or even weight loss can occur.
Other causes of CFS are nutritional deficiencies. It seems like the odds are low that people in a developed country would suffer from nutritional deficiencies, but its quite common. As modern society began to evolve and foods were made more available and affordable, peoples health started to take a turn for the worse.
Processed food, food that is readily available, and junk food contain many harmful ingredients that contribute to poor health. The problem with processed foods are many, but one is an imbalance of minerals. Without the proper nutrients, the body does not have fuel.
Hormones are another cause of CFS. As we age, our hormones deplete. Hormone depletion can manifest in many ways. Fatigue though is a certain sign of decreased hormone levels. Hormones are the bodys signaling agent. They tell the body to perform biochemical processes.
When To Contact A Medical Professional
Contact your provider right away if you have any of the following:
- Confusion or dizziness
- Little or no urine, or recent swelling and weight gain
- Thoughts of harming yourself or of committing suicide
- Unexplained weakness or fatigue, especially if you also have a fever or unintentional weight loss
- Constipation, dry skin, weight gain, or you cannot tolerate cold
- Wake up and fall back to sleep many times during the night
- Headaches often
- Are taking medicines, prescribed or non-prescribed, or using drugs that may cause fatigue or drowsiness
- Feel sad or depressed
Treatment depends on the cause of your fatigue symptoms.
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How To Treat Cfs
In order to get to the root of the problem, an experienced medical provider that understands the complexities of this issue must address the underlying problemand sometimes there are multiple factors. The best medical providers to visit for CFS are integrative medical specialists. These providers dont prescribe a one-size-fits-all treatment, but rather a myriadif necessaryof treatments. CFS is a complicated condition that needs a provider who appreciates that concept.
You’re Not Drinking Enough Water
If you find yourself constantly tired and reaching for yet another coffee or soda for a pick-me-up, stop. Your body might actually need more replenishing water than caffeine to stay alert. “I find dehydration can quickly sap a person of energy and have us reaching for food and often caffeinated beverages,” Liz Bloom, RD, says. Instead, pour yourself a glass of water and be sure you’re drinking at least 64 ounces a day. Bloom recommends reaching for detox water to keep you sipping all day long. “Choosing foods such as citrus, frozen berries, cucumbers and fresh herbs can add a burst of flavor to water and release some of the nutritional benefits within those foods while providing hydration and therefore sustained energy,” she adds.
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Health Conditions Overweight And Fatigue
Medical conditions may contribute to your tiredness. A sluggish thyroid can be responsible for fatigue and weight gain. If you suspect this may be the case, talk to your doctor about having your thyroid hormone levels checked. Anemia, which results from too little iron or vitamin B12, can also lead to overwhelming fatigue. Your doctor can identify such conditions with blood tests.
Sometimes having overweight can make it hard to get even, deep breaths throughout the day, because diaphragm movement is restricted. This may make it difficult for you to get adequate oxygen to your muscles, tissues and brain. This can make you feel sluggish and fatigued, too.
In some cases, having overweight and increased fatigue may have the same root cause — stress. A demanding job, family issues or financial concerns can make your body pump out more of the hormone cortisol, which causes cravings for unhealthy foods, encourages your body to store excess calories as fat and keeps you up at night. The combination is an overweight and tired body. Adopt stress-relieving techniques to help you sleep better and manage your weight yoga, meditation and journaling are often helpful.
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The body has an amazing ability to heal. We just need to give it the right resources.
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More than 70% of women experience estrogen dominance. The symptoms range from lumpy and fibrocystic breasts to thyroid nodules, hot flashes, fibroids, uterine polyps, painful, heavy or irregular periods to infertility and miscarriages, from mood swings to insomnia, weight gain to fatigue.
So many women have experienced the pain and frustration that comes when they feel their symptoms and complaints are dismissed or minimized. This is particularly true for women who are experiencing the symptoms of hormone imbalance. Even when doctors do offer treatment, its typically in the form of prescription medication or invasive surgical procedures.
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Fatigue Hot Flashes And Weight Gain
- Medical Author: Dan Brennan, MD
Last Editorial Review: 6/15/2020
Your symptoms can be present in a wide variety of medical ailments, including depression or chronic conditions such as diabetes. Keep track of your symptoms and if you are concerned, please contact your doctor.
While the list below can be considered as a guide to educate yourself about these conditions, this is not a substitute for a diagnosis from a health care provider. There are many other medical conditions that also can be associated with your symptoms and signs. Here are a number of those from MedicineNet:
Poor Nutrition And Tiredness
If you’ve gained weight by indulging in high-calorie foods from sweets, soda, chips and fast food, you may not be getting all the vitamins and minerals you need to support your health. Fresh vegetables, fruit, low-fat dairy, lean proteins and whole grains make for a balanced nutrition plan that, when eaten in moderation, supports a healthy weight and quality energy.
Consuming too many refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and added sugar, can also cause blood sugar swings that give you a brief surge of energy only to have you crash and feel lethargic an hour or two later. Eating more high-fiber foods and adequate protein, both of which take longer to digest, means the surges of sugar aren’t as extreme and neither are the crashes. By moderating your blood sugar levels, you’ll feel more energized throughout the day.
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What Exactly Is Fatigue
Fatigue is a feeling of tiredness that many different things can cause. It can make it difficult to do everyday activities and may lead to feelings of frustration, irritability, and lack of energy.
There are two main types of fatigue: mental and physical.
Mental fatigue is the result of using your brain for prolonged periods of time and can be caused by activities such as studying, working, or attending social events.
Physical fatigue is the result of physical activity and can cause a person to feel tired after exercise or work.
Now that we know what brain fog and fatigue are, lets take a look at some of the most common causes for each condition.
Make Sure You Have Nutritious Enjoyable Foods On
Sugary snacks and caffeine are convenient for a quick burst of energy. They will give you that energy spike, but then leave you feeling worse after your blood sugar crashes.
Try replacing those convenient snacks with healthy, nutritious options. Fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins are always good choices. Try adding some of these options:
- Fruits like blueberries, apples, dates, or bananas
- Vegetables like avocados, broccoli, or edamame
- Lean proteins like turkey, nuts, or beans
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The Stress That Kickstarts Adrenal Fatigue Can Be:
- Physical: You experience infections or suffer allergies and food sensitivities. Excessive sports like marathon running and over-exercising can cause or worsen adrenal fatigue.
- Emotional: Caused by issues like work pressures, financial or relationship problems. Past unresolved trauma and abuse. Feeling unworthy, not good enough, pushing yourself to over-achieve all the time.
- Chemical: Your liver is overloaded by toxins coming from xenoestrogens, antibiotics, prescription drugs or you have lived or worked near places that are highly toxic. Chemo and radiation can also contribute.
- Spiritual: You feel a lack of purpose or direction in life.
- Dietary: A period spent overloading on caffeine, carbs and high-sugar foods can stimulate repeated cortisol release, setting up the adrenal fatigue pattern. Chronic gut issues like constipation, diarrhea, bloating, IBS, leaky gut and unaddressed food sensitivities can also cause adrenal fatigue.
Whatever the trigger, if the resulting hormonal imbalances are not corrected and the stress continues, your adrenal glands may end up completely and utterly taxed and worn out. Then the very hormones meant to give you energy and keep you alive if youre under threat, can start to compromise your health. And eventually, they become depleted.
Treating An Underactive Thyroid
Treatment for an underactive thyroid involves taking daily hormone replacement tablets, called levothyroxine, to raise your thyroxine levels.
You’ll initially have regular blood tests until the correct dose of levothyroxine is reached. This can take a little while to get right.
Once you’re taking the correct dose, you’ll usually have a blood test once a year to monitor your hormone levels.
You’ll usually need treatment for the rest of your life. However, with proper treatment, you should be able to lead a normal, healthy life.
If an underactive thyroid is not treated, it can lead to complications, including heart disease, goitre, pregnancy problems and a life-threatening condition called myxoedema coma .
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You Recently Lost Weight
It would be really, really nice if lost weight stayed lost. But just the opposite is true.
Our body weight and body fat are tightly regulated, and will act to maintain balance, Butsch says. Put another way, any pounds you manage to drop are likely to returneven if you keep up your weight-loss routines, he adds.
So if you recently dropped some weight, its very likely that youll put some of it back onregardless of how much youre eating or exercising.
Overall Completeness And Applicability Of Evidence
This overview sought to determine the efficacy of interventions used in the management of fatigue and/or unintentional weight loss in adults with any advanced progressive illness. Only systematic reviews with participants who had ALS/MND, cancer, COPD, cystic fibrosis, HIV/AIDS, MS or who were deemed to be in the palliative stages of illness met the inclusion criteria for the overview. Recognition of the advanced stage of a progressive illness can be particularly problematic for people with non cancer diagnoses, where an illness trajectory may be unpredictable and where illness terminology may differ between countries and experts . Due to the heterogeneity of the participants and interventions described within the included reviews we were unable to perform any direct or indirect comparisons across reviews.
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Has The Patient Experienced Hair Loss
If they have lost eye brow hair and have diffuse thinning of scalp hair, or have developed weight gain, menorrhagia, constipation or tiredness, consider hypothyroidism.
If they have lost hair in a male baldness pattern, and developed hirsuitism, acne and oligomenorrhoea, consider polycystic ovarian syndrome, Cushings syndrome or a virilising tumour.
If they have lost secondary sexual body hair, and have a low libido or erectile dysfunction, consider hypogonadism or hypopituitarism.
If the hair loss is in well circumscribed patches, consider alopecia areata which may be associated with Addisons disease, auto-immune thyroid disease and other organ specific auto-immune conditions.
What Causes Adrenal Fatigue
Your adrenals are two walnut-shaped glands that weigh about 0.2 ounces or 5 grams each and sit on top of your kidneys. They produce hormones that have a range of functions in your body, but one of their most important jobs is to ramp up production of stress hormones when youre under duress.
A few weeks or months of stress are all it takes to start taxing your adrenals and ramp up signs of hormone imbalance. The trouble is your brain and body dont register the difference between a true health threat and a flip out over something in your day . It treats that argument with your partner, social anxiety at the dinner party and overwhelms you feel about your to do list the same as if your life was under threat from a pack of hungry wolves.
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Food Allergies And Intolerances
CFS may affect or be affected by the immune system, but exactly how is unknown. However, CFS food related problems are more likely to be food intolerances, , than food allergies . A detailed history by an experienced healthcare professional is required to diagnose and manage these. There are many commercially available tests claiming to diagnose food intolerance and allergy. These should be avoided as they have no scientific basis.
Myths About Cfs/me And Food
There is a lot of conflicting advice and information on the internet. Many people with CFS do report an improvement in symptoms after changing what they eat. Yet there is no scientific evidence to support the claims that such as the Anti-Candida diet, or other restrictive diets, like the Paleo/Stone-Age or Blood Type diets, or eating chocolate help CFS.
These are not recommended and can create much more work and effort for sufferers and their carers. Although it is often thought to be better to avoid certain food types it can limit your choices, cost more and be less healthy. Many gluten-free foods, for example, are higher in fat and sugar. Many non-dairy milks are also lower in protein.
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