I wasn’t wanting to finish first, didn’t want to place last,  just wanted to finish.  But I had to sign up before I could do any of these. So I did it.  I registered for the Blue Points 5K run in Charlotte, NC.  This past Saturday morning August 7th at 7:30am the whistle blew.  About 1,000 runners including myself took off.

See the results at www.RunForYourLife.com.

Bib #1015.  Elapsed time 32:34.

Yep, I finished!  And proud of myself, too.

Okay, later this afternoon I’m attending a seminar about bioidentical hormone replacement here in Charlotte, NC.  I know there’s been some tremendous success regarding these products.  So, I figure I can meet the folks that staff  the local office, learn more of these non-synthetic hormones, ask questions directly to the doctor, and determine if I’ve found a group that I trust.  I look forward to tonight’s meeting!    Aug 3, 2010.

There were probably 12 women at the seminar which was slated to last an hour. Given all the questions we had and the willingness of the staff to answer, it lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours. How refreshing to have an engaging interaction with knowledgeable folks who were willing to listen to us, the patients. Factual data was presented to support treatment.

I am so excited about my appointment tomorrow morning!

… has there recently been an influx of medical professionals finally ‘getting it’?

Our thyroids ARE at the root of many chronic problems!  In the past many of us raised awareness of issues including difficulty losing weight, being tired all the time, low libido, constipation, high cholesterol, hypertension,  etc.  We inquired whether our thyroid was at the core of these problems. We received responses from medical professionals like, ‘…your thyroid levels are okay they’re just borderline.’  Or  ‘… the symptoms are all in your head’  or  ‘… thyroid is not the real problem.’  Yada, yada, yada.

Recently we see Dr Oz interviewed about low thyroid, difficulty loosing weight, low iodine, etc. You can bet I’ll use this ammunition during my upcoming appointment with a local endocrinologist here in Charlotte, NC.

I am so convinced that our thyroids ARE at the root of these issues.

I surely hope and pray this doctor is onboard.

Well here I am in the lovely Carolinas.  I had my annual exam yesterday (previous one was 2007). I’m sure all will turn out well. While I was there I voiced ongoing concern about what I believe is my abnormally low metabolic rate. I suggested perhaps low thyroid.  My ob/gyn  agreed and set me up as a referral to a local endocrinologist.  So now I’m waiting on the endo to contact me.

You see, I’ve been on 50 mcg of a generic form of Synthroid for 90 days. Blood drawn yesterday shows my TSH level at 2.95. The current range of the thyroid’s TSH levels established by the AACE (American Association of  Clinical Endocrinologists) is from 0.3 to 3.0 mIU/L.  I don’t know about you but I view an increase in thyroid supplementation is in order?

I have a headache that won’t go away.

The damn tinnitus is my ear is nerve-wracking.

I have little patience with just about everyone lately.

Please don’t let me down.

I receive ongoing email alerts regarding insulin resistance, diabetes, carbohydrate-reduction, hyperinsulinism, and more. Is it just me, or are there others of you out there as frustrated? So many people puking their one-sided, opinionated and biased, ill-advised, condescending, views about these topics. I am convinced NOBODY knows!! So, stop pretending that you do.   

I feel like venting this morning!  As you may or may not know, I’ve been diligently researching the internet for information pertaining to hyperinsulinemia, hypothyroidism, struggles with weight-loss, diabetes 2, insulin resistance, and so forth. I continue to sign-up for numerous newsletters, blogs, tweets, seminars, etc.

During my quest for information, I’m by default forced to read entries from the uninformed. Those that are ill-advised. The ignoramus and the opinionated. The prejudging. The simpletons and the bigots. You know them. You’ve seen their comments.  ‘… eat fewer calories and you’ll lose weight.’ Or  ‘…you should exercise more.’ Or ‘…you’re simply overeating’. Or ‘…it’s all in your head.’

Well. You people will never bother me after today. You’ll no longer make me angry nor hurt my feelings. From this point on, you’ll never receive even the slightest recognition from me. You simply don’t exist.

So this morning, I’d like to invite all these morons to the following.

Kiss my royal, (just-won’t-tighten-up, always-there-behind-me, still-jiggles-when-I-walk) adipose ass.

And have a nice day.

Published 19 February 2010 by Felix Larocca

NO HFCS!

Study after study are taking their place in a growing lineup of scientific research demonstrating that consuming high-fructose corn syrup is the fastest way to trash your health. It is now known without a doubt that sugar in your food, in all its myriad of forms, is taking a devastating toll.

And fructose in any form — including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and crystalline fructose — is the worst of the worst!
Glucose is the form of energy you were designed to run on. Every cell in your body, every bacterium — and in fact, every living thing on the Earth–uses glucose for energy.

If you received your fructose only from vegetables and fruits (where it originates) as most people did a century ago, you’d consume about 15 grams per day — a far cry from the 73 grams per day the typical adolescent gets from sweetened drinks. In vegetables and fruits, it’s mixed in with fiber, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and beneficial phytonutrients, all which moderate any negative metabolic effects.

It isn’t that fructose itself is bad — it is the MASSIVE DOSES you’re exposed to that make it dangerous.

There are two reasons fructose is so damaging:

1. Your body metabolizes fructose in a much different way than glucose. The entire burden of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver.

2. People are consuming fructose in enormous quantities, which has made the negative effects much more profound.

Today, 55 percent of sweeteners used in food and beverage manufacturing are made from corn, and the number one source of calories in America is soda, in the form of HFCS.

Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they discovered that HFCS was not only far cheaper to make, it’s about 20 percent sweeter than table sugar.

HFCS is either 42 percent or 55 percent fructose, and sucrose is 50 percent fructose, so it’s really a wash in terms of sweetness.

Still, this switch drastically altered the average American diet.

By USDA estimates, about one-quarter of the calories consumed by the average American is in the form of added sugars, and most of that is HFCS. The average Westerner consumes a staggering 142 pounds a year of sugar! And the very products most people rely on to lose weight — the low-fat diet foods – are often the ones highest in fructose.

Making matters worse, all of the fiber has been removed from these processed foods, so there is essentially no nutritive value at all.

Metabolism

Without getting into the very complex biochemistry of carbohydrate metabolism, it is important to understand some differences about how your body handles glucose versus fructose.

Dr. Robert Lustig Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism. His work has highlighted some major differences in how different sugars are broken down and used:

• After eating fructose, 100 percent of the metabolic burden rests on your liver. But with glucose, your liver has to break down only 20 percent.

• Every cell in your body, including your brain, utilizes glucose. Therefore, much of it is ‘burned up’ immediately after you consume it. By contrast, fructose is turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat.

• The fatty acids created during fructose metabolism accumulate as fat droplets in your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance progresses to metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.

• Fructose is the most lipophilic carbohydrate. In other words, fructose converts to activated glycerol (g-3-p), which is directly used to turn FFAs into triglycerides. The more g-3-p you have, the more fat you store. Glucose does not do this.

• When you eat 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie is stored as fat. 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories being stored as fat. Consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat!

• The metabolism of fructose by your liver creates a long list of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.

• Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which suppresses your appetite. Fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain’s communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.

If anyone tries to tell you ‘sugar is sugar,’ they are way behind the times. As you can see, there are major differences in how your body processes each one.

The bottom line is: fructose leads to increased belly fat, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome — not to mention the long list of chronic diseases that directly result.
As the truth comes out about HFCS, the Corn Refiners Association is scrambling to convince you that their product is equal to table sugar, that it is ‘natural’ and safe.

Of course, many things are ‘natural’ — cocaine is natural, but you wouldn’t want to use 142 pounds of it each year.

The food and beverage industry doesn’t want you to realize how truly pervasive HFCS is in your diet — not just from soft drinks and juices, but also in salad dressings and condiments and virtually every processed food. The introduction of HFCS into the Western diet in 1975 has been a multi-billion dollar boon for the corn industry.

The FDA classifies fructose as GRAS: Generally Regarded As Safe. Which pretty much means nothing and is based on nothing.

There is plenty of data showing that fructose is not safe — but the effects on the nation’s health have not been immediate. That is why we are just now realizing the effects of the last three decades of nutritional misinformation.

As if the negative metabolic effects are not enough, there are other issues with fructose that disprove its safety:

• More than one study has detected unsafe mercury levels in HFCS.

• Crystalline fructose (a super-potent form of fructose the food and beverage industry is now using) may contain arsenic, lead, chloride and heavy metals.

• Nearly all corn syrup is made from genetically modified corn, which comes with its own set of risks.

The FDA isn’t going to touch sugar, so it’s up to you to be proactive about your own dietary choices.

Ideally, I recommend that you avoid as much sugar as possible. This is especially important if you are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.

I also realize we don’t live in a perfect world, and following rigid dietary guidelines is not always practical or even possible.

If you want to use a sweetener occasionally, this is what I recommend:

1. Use the herb stevia.

2. Use organic cane sugar in moderation.

3. Use organic raw honey in moderation.

4. Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, which can damage your health even more quickly than fructose.

5. Avoid agave syrup since it is a highly processed sap that is almost all fructose. Your blood sugar will spike just as it would if you were consuming regular sugar or HFCS. Agave’s meteoric rise in popularity is due to a great marketing campaign, but any health benefits present in the original agave plant are processed out.

6. Avoid so-called energy drinks and sports drinks because they are loaded with sugar, sodium and chemical additives. Rehydrating with pure, fresh water is a better choice.

Observations:

It’s a very simple proposition: DON’T EAT SUGAR and stay healthy…

Image

No HFCS!

By James Bowen, M.D.

Posted: 08 May 2005
James Bowen, M.D., A physician, biochemist, and survivor of aspartame poisoning warns about yet another synthetic sweetener, Splenda.

Hawaii, May 8, 2005 — The chemical sucralose, marketed as “Splenda”, has replaced aspartame as the #1 artificial sweetener in foods and beverages. Aspartame has been forced out by increasing public awareness that it is both a neurotoxin and an underlying cause of chronic illness worldwide. Dr. James Bowen, Researcher and biochemist, reports:

“Splenda/sucralose is simply chlorinated sugar; a chlorocarbon. Common chlorocarbons include carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethelene and methylene chloride, all deadly. Chlorine is nature’s Doberman attack dog, a highly excitable, ferocious atomic element employed as a biocide in bleach, disinfectants, insecticide, WWI poison gas and hydrochloric acid.

“Sucralose is a molecule of sugar chemically manipulated to surrender three hydroxyl groups (hydrogen + oxygen) and replace them with three chlorine atoms. Natural sugar is a hydrocarbon built around 12 carbon atoms. When turned into Splenda it becomes a chlorocarbon, in the family of Chlorodane, Lindane and DDT.

“It is logical to ask why table salt, which also contains chlorine, is safe while Splenda/sucralose is toxic? Because salt isn’t a chlorocarbon. When molecular chemistry binds sodium to chlorine to make salt carbon isn’t included. Sucralose and salt are as different as oil and water.

“Unlike sodium chloride, chlorocarbons are never nutritionally compatible with our metabolic processes and are wholly incompatible with normal human metabolic functioning. When chlorine is chemically reacted into carbon-structured organic compounds to make chlorocarbons, the carbon and chlorine atoms bind to each other by mutually sharing electrons in their outer shells. This arrangement adversely affects human metabolism because our mitochondrial and cellular enzyme systems are designed to completely utilize organic molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and other compatible nutritional elements.

“By this process chlorocarbons such as sucralose deliver chlorine directly into our cells through normal metabolization. This makes them effective insecticides and preservatives. Preservatives must kill anything alive to prevent bacterial decomposition.”

Dr. Bowen believes ingested chlorocarbon damage continues with the formation of other toxins: “Any chlorocarbons not directly excreted from the body intact can cause immense damage to the processes of human metabolism and, eventually, our internal organs. The liver is a detoxification organ which deals with ingested poisons. Chlorocarbons damage the hepatocytes, the liver’s metabolic cells, and destroy them.

In test animals Splenda produced swollen livers, as do all chlorocarbon poisons, and also calcified the kidneys of test animals in toxicity studies. The brain and nervous system are highly subject to metabolic toxicities and solvency damages by these chemicals. Their high solvency attacks the human nervous system and many other body systems including genetics and the immune function. Thus, chlorocarbon poisoning can cause cancer, birth defects, and immune system destruction. These are well known effects of Dioxin and PCBs which are known deadly chlorocarbons.”

Dr. Bowen continues: “Just like aspartame, which achieved marketplace approval by the Food and Drug Administration when animal studies clearly demonstrated its toxicity, sucralose also failed in clinical trials with animals. Aspartame created brain tumors in rats. Sucralose has been found to shrink thymus glands (the biological seat of immunity) and produce liver inflammation in rats and mice.

“In the coming months we can expect to see a river of media hype expounding the virtues of Splenda/sucralose. We should not be fooled again into accepting the safety of a toxic chemical on the blessing of the FDA and saturation advertising. In terms of potential long-term human toxicity we should regard sucralose with its chemical cousin DDT, the insecticide now outlawed because of its horrendous long term toxicities at even minute trace levels in human, avian, and mammalian tissues.

“Synthetic chemical sweeteners are generally unsafe for human consumption. This toxin was given the chemical name “sucralose” which is a play on the technical name of natural sugar, sucrose. One is not the other. One is food, the other is toxic; don’t be deceived.”

Dr. Bowen also calls attention to another seldom recognized and deadly permanent effect of these chemicals: “Aspartame, sold as NutraSweet, Equal, E951, Canderel, Benevia and under other names, is a hypersensitization agent which causes Polychemical Sensitivity syndrome. Chlorocarbons strongly induce uncurable hypersensitivity diseases which are now becoming rampant.” (James Bowen, M.D.)

Doctor Bowen has spent 20 years researching artificial sweeteners after his use of aspartame resulted in being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Dr Bowen’s intention is to warn the world of the toxicity of tabletop poisons like aspartame, Splenda and Neotame.

For more information on aspartame and Splenda click on the Aspartame Information List on http://www.wnho.net. Dr. Bowen can be seen in the movie “Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World.” For the movie call 1-818-349-8822 or email cori@soundandfuryproductions.com See how aspartame was approved by clicking on http://www.soundandfury.tv/pages/Rumsfeld2.html and visit http://www.wnho.net/sweet_misery_movie.htm for more information on the movie

Aspartame Toxicity Center: http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame

Aspartame and brain tumors cases for litigation contact Dr. Betty Martini at Bettym19@mindspring.com or 770-242-2599. Currently taking states New York, New Jersey, Madison County, Illinois and Mississippi.

A medical text, Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic by H. J. Roberts, M.D. presents, 1038 pages of aspartame horrors. http://www.sunsentpress.com or 1-800-827-7991

Russell Blaylock, M.D., has published Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills on the subject, http://www.russellblaylockmd.com

By James Bowen, M.D.

Posted: 08 May 2005
James Bowen, M.D., A physician, biochemist, and survivor of aspartame poisoning warns about yet another synthetic sweetener, Splenda.

Hawaii, May 8, 2005 — The chemical sucralose, marketed as “Splenda”, has replaced aspartame as the #1 artificial sweetener in foods and beverages. Aspartame has been forced out by increasing public awareness that it is both a neurotoxin and an underlying cause of chronic illness worldwide. Dr. James Bowen, Researcher and biochemist, reports:

“Splenda/sucralose is simply chlorinated sugar; a chlorocarbon. Common chlorocarbons include carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethelene and methylene chloride, all deadly. Chlorine is nature’s Doberman attack dog, a highly excitable, ferocious atomic element employed as a biocide in bleach, disinfectants, insecticide, WWI poison gas and hydrochloric acid.

“Sucralose is a molecule of sugar chemically manipulated to surrender three hydroxyl groups (hydrogen + oxygen) and replace them with three chlorine atoms. Natural sugar is a hydrocarbon built around 12 carbon atoms. When turned into Splenda it becomes a chlorocarbon, in the family of Chlorodane, Lindane and DDT.

“It is logical to ask why table salt, which also contains chlorine, is safe while Splenda/sucralose is toxic? Because salt isn’t a chlorocarbon. When molecular chemistry binds sodium to chlorine to make salt carbon isn’t included. Sucralose and salt are as different as oil and water.

“Unlike sodium chloride, chlorocarbons are never nutritionally compatible with our metabolic processes and are wholly incompatible with normal human metabolic functioning. When chlorine is chemically reacted into carbon-structured organic compounds to make chlorocarbons, the carbon and chlorine atoms bind to each other by mutually sharing electrons in their outer shells. This arrangement adversely affects human metabolism because our mitochondrial and cellular enzyme systems are designed to completely utilize organic molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and other compatible nutritional elements.

“By this process chlorocarbons such as sucralose deliver chlorine directly into our cells through normal metabolization. This makes them effective insecticides and preservatives. Preservatives must kill anything alive to prevent bacterial decomposition.”

Dr. Bowen believes ingested chlorocarbon damage continues with the formation of other toxins: “Any chlorocarbons not directly excreted from the body intact can cause immense damage to the processes of human metabolism and, eventually, our internal organs. The liver is a detoxification organ which deals with ingested poisons. Chlorocarbons damage the hepatocytes, the liver’s metabolic cells, and destroy them.

In test animals Splenda produced swollen livers, as do all chlorocarbon poisons, and also calcified the kidneys of test animals in toxicity studies. The brain and nervous system are highly subject to metabolic toxicities and solvency damages by these chemicals. Their high solvency attacks the human nervous system and many other body systems including genetics and the immune function. Thus, chlorocarbon poisoning can cause cancer, birth defects, and immune system destruction. These are well known effects of Dioxin and PCBs which are known deadly chlorocarbons.”

Dr. Bowen continues: “Just like aspartame, which achieved marketplace approval by the Food and Drug Administration when animal studies clearly demonstrated its toxicity, sucralose also failed in clinical trials with animals. Aspartame created brain tumors in rats. Sucralose has been found to shrink thymus glands (the biological seat of immunity) and produce liver inflammation in rats and mice.

“In the coming months we can expect to see a river of media hype expounding the virtues of Splenda/sucralose. We should not be fooled again into accepting the safety of a toxic chemical on the blessing of the FDA and saturation advertising. In terms of potential long-term human toxicity we should regard sucralose with its chemical cousin DDT, the insecticide now outlawed because of its horrendous long term toxicities at even minute trace levels in human, avian, and mammalian tissues.

“Synthetic chemical sweeteners are generally unsafe for human consumption. This toxin was given the chemical name “sucralose” which is a play on the technical name of natural sugar, sucrose. One is not the other. One is food, the other is toxic; don’t be deceived.”

Dr. Bowen also calls attention to another seldom recognized and deadly permanent effect of these chemicals: “Aspartame, sold as NutraSweet, Equal, E951, Canderel, Benevia and under other names, is a hypersensitization agent which causes Polychemical Sensitivity syndrome. Chlorocarbons strongly induce uncurable hypersensitivity diseases which are now becoming rampant.” (James Bowen, M.D.)

Doctor Bowen has spent 20 years researching artificial sweeteners after his use of aspartame resulted in being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Dr Bowen’s intention is to warn the world of the toxicity of tabletop poisons like aspartame, Splenda and Neotame.

For more information on aspartame and Splenda click on the Aspartame Information List on http://www.wnho.net. Dr. Bowen can be seen in the movie “Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World.” For the movie call 1-818-349-8822 or email cori@soundandfuryproductions.com See how aspartame was approved by clicking on http://www.soundandfury.tv/pages/Rumsfeld2.html and visit http://www.wnho.net/sweet_misery_movie.htm for more information on the movie

Aspartame Toxicity Center: http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame

Aspartame and brain tumors cases for litigation contact Dr. Betty Martini at Bettym19@mindspring.com or 770-242-2599. Currently taking states New York, New Jersey, Madison County, Illinois and Mississippi.

A medical text, Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic by H. J. Roberts, M.D. presents, 1038 pages of aspartame horrors. http://www.sunsentpress.com or 1-800-827-7991

Russell Blaylock, M.D., has published Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills on the subject, http://www.russellblaylockmd.com

My comments follow. I wanted to post Dr. Bowen’s own words. Splenda is truly poison in a little yellow pack. It was not intended to be that, I am sure. But, truth is… it is.  I use STEVIA or XYLITOL.  As an approximate, stevia costs my wallet twice as much as the bad stuff. But I use less than 1/2 the amount of what I was using in the bad stuff.  One of my most priced possessions I have today as a result of weaning myself off Splenda and the others is: I have clarity of thought.  Vicki

I think this is important enough to share with everyone I know. You DO NOT have to perform mouth-to-mouth while performing life saving CPR. This is from the Mayo Clinic. Anyone can do this after viewing just one time. Remember the old one breath to three compressions? Or was it one to five? Concerned about mouth-to-mouth? Now, remember to call 911 and perform continuous compressions, about 100 per minute until help arrives. Watch the video. It really gives you sense of how hard to compress, as well. The Mayo Clinic’s New CPR

Your thyroid is a small gland, normally weighing less than one ounce, located in the front of the neck. The function of the thyroid gland is to take iodine, found in many foods, and convert it into thyroid hormones: thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Thyroid cells are the only cells in the body which can absorb iodine. These cells combine iodine and the amino acid tyrosine to make T3 and T4. T3 and T4 are then released into the blood stream and transported throughout the body where they control metabolism. Metabolism is the conversion of oxygen and calories to energy. Every cell in the body depends upon thyroid hormones for regulation of their metabolism.

The thyroid gland is under the control of the pituitary gland, a small gland the size of a peanut at the base of the brain. When the level of thyroid hormones (T3 & T4) drops too low, the pituitary gland produces Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) which stimulates the thyroid gland to produce more hormones. Under the influence of TSH, the thyroid will manufacture and secrete T3 and T4 thereby raising their blood levels. The pituitary senses this and responds by decreasing its TSH production. Think of the thyroid gland as a furnace and the pituitary gland as the thermostat.

Many hypothyroid patients struggle with an inability to lose weight. First you must determine if you are under treated for low thyroid. What hypothyroid patients need to know more about are several factors that are likely at work for many of us with difficulty losing weight. When your body is under stress, this interferes with the neurotransmitter functions, and is known to reduce the release of serotonin. Serotonin is what tells the body you’ve had enough carbohydrates, the primary source of food for conversion to energy. Next, your metabolism involves a complex network of hormones and enzymes that not only convert food into fuel but also affect how efficiently you burn that fuel. A sluggish metabolic rate can be viewed similar to low body temperature. The process of metabolism establishes the rate at which we burn our calories and, ultimately, how quickly we gain weight or how easily we lose it. Also, another factor affecting our difficulty to lose weight is insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas. Insulin resistance means that cells have become less responsive to the effects of insulin. High insulin levels, also called hyperinsulinism can stimulate your appetite, making you feel even hungrier than normal for carbohydrate-rich food. In addition, high insulin levels can also lower the amount of sugar your body burns as energy, and making your cells better at storing fat, and worse at removing fat. When you’re creating this excess insulin, it also prevents your body from using its stored fat for energy. Hence, your insulin response to excess carbohydrates causes you to gain weight, or difficulty in losing weight.

There are many symptoms of hypothyroidism including: fatigue, weakness, weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight, coarse or dry hair, dry and rough pale skin, hair loss, cold intolerance (you can’t tolerate cold temperatures like those around you), muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches, constipation, depression, irritability, memory loss, abnormal menstrual cycles, decreased libido, and more. The accepted normal measurements of TSH fall within the range of 0.3 and 3 mIU/mL. I believe you should be classified as subclinical hypothyroid if you struggle with any of the above symptoms, and TSH levels on the low end of the range. You’ll need to work on getting your thyroid to produce hormones at appropriate levels. Adjust your diet to one of low fat, low carbohydrate, and sufficient protein. This means that in addition to the usual restrictions of a low-fat diet and restricted complex carbohydrates, you also need to seriously limit intake of sugar and starches, cutting back on pasta, rice, potatoes, white flour breads, cereal, corn, peas, sweet potatoes, desserts, dairy products, meats, and fruit with a high sugar content. A simple, low impact exercise program is essential.

Currently I’m taking a blend of vitamins and supplements to support my thyroid, Omega 3 with EPA and DHA, chromium picolinate, selenium, vitamin D3, and more. I prefer not to take prescribed medications if possible. I routinely have my blood drawn and tested  to monitor my TSH and T3 levels.