Subclinical Hypothyroidism and Weight Loss

"Subclinical hypothyroidism is a new way of understanding stubborn weight loss"

Hello everyone, on this page, I am writing about a subject that is new but I am sure will grow in interest. To better understand it you may want to first read, "Hypothyroidism," first. It will give you a better perspective on this particular form of hypothyroidism.

As a quick summary though, your thyroid is a gland in your body that produces hormones that regulate the rate at which your body converts nutrients to energy. If this rate slows down, you will have less ability to convert energy through nutrients and the nutrients are instead converted to fat by insulin.

When these hormones are reduced or the thyroid is not able to produce the necessary amount of hormones, this is considered hypothyroidism.

Source of Subclinical Hypothyroidism

Subclinical hypothyroidism is different than hypothyroidism because tests show an adequate level of thyroid hormones but there are still the symptoms of low thyroid hormones.

There is also the case of an apparent signal to the brain that there is low thyroid hormone despite the tests showing there is an adequate amount. The way this shows up is when thyrotropin (also known as Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, or TSH) levels are elevated but thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) levels are normal.

If this is confusing, let me explain. Normally, TSH is elevated when thyroid hormones are low. When they get low, your nervous system signals your pituitary gland to create more TSH, or thyroid stimulating hormone, to well ... stimulate the thyroid. That is how it works normally.

It is called a negative feedback mechanism because when there is an absence a hormone, that absence triggers the release of a hormone.

In the case of subclinical hypothyroidism, the feedback mechanism is not working correctly. Because the amount of TSH is elevated as if there is a signal that there is a insufficient amount of thyroid hormone. Yet tests show they are normal.

Only recently have there been discoveries that explain this phenomenon.

There are a few reasons this occurs. One is that your liver can be congested and not be working properly. All hormones go through the liver. They are metabolized through the liver, are activated through the liver, and activate other hormones through the liver.

If you liver is congested and does not allow the hormones to do what they need to do through it, then you can exhibit hormone imbalances even though your glands are producing the correct amounts of hormones.

Endocrine Disruptors as a Cause

And there are endocrine disruptors in your body that are either suppressing the thyroid production or not allowing the thyroid hormones to be used at the receptor sites. When a hormone is released it is circulated through the blood and body fluids until a receptor on a cell receives the hormone.

When it receives it a signal is sent through the nervous system to let it know to stop producing the gland.endocrine disruptors are environmental poisons that act like hormones and wreak havoc on the way you body communicated with hormones. They have the ability to block hormones from being received at the receptor site. They also have the ability to act like the hormone and make the receptor believe it has received the hormone when in fact it has not.

Thus your body is not getting the benefit needed from the hormone but is still not producing it because it believes it has received. It just received a false signal from the endocrine disruptors.

Common one's are:

Bisphenol A
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB’s)
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE’s)

Tests for Subclinical Hypothyroidism Cause Problems

Also the type of tests use became a factor. Most clinical tests for thyroid hormone are blood tests. This shows a different value of thyroid hormone than a saliva test. This immediately makes the test a variable instead of a constant.

As it turns out the saliva test was able to show the presence or absence of free thyroid hormones. You see when a hormone is released, most of it binds with another hormone, coenzyme or chemical. Often times this is done through the liver. This leaves a small amount of free and available hormone left circulating through the body.

It is this free and available hormone that is used by your body. When I have done tests I found that the blood value and the saliva value were almost always different.

Simply put, hormone saliva testing tells us the amount of hormones in our body that are actually usable by our cells; where as blood testing evaluates all circulating hormones regardless of their availability to our cells.

So when a blood test was showing a high level of hormone, the saliva test was showing a very low level of bioavailable hormone.

Metabolism Makeover

Subclinical hypothyroidism is one of the subjects I cover in my book,Metabolism Makeover. Solving it should be part of a comprehensive weight loss program that focuses of restoring health first to lose weight. Knowing how to use it will save you time, money and hassle because you don't have anymore guess work. I lay it out for you. It is all in this book. If you are interested check out Metabolism Makeover.

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