The Mood Cure: Take Charge of Your Emotions in 24 Hours Using Food and Supplements. Julia Ross

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СКАЧАТЬ have been using Synthroid and similar thyroid-promoting medications to treat depression for many years, either alone or to improve the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs.

      According to Professor Ridha Arem, M.D., chief of endocrinology at Baylor University’s Ben Taub Hospital and author of The Thyroid Solution, one in ten of us, over twenty million of us, suffer from thyroid dysfunction. He calls the depression and mental fog typically associated with this dysfunction “the common cold of emotional illness.”¹⁸ Based on his estimate and our clinic’s experience, at least one-third of the people suffering from symptoms of the blahs are having trouble with their thyroid gland.

      Your thyroid gland sits at the base of your throat, just above your breastbone. From this perch it directs the metabolic action of every cell in your body. Notably, thyroid hormones are critical to the digestive breakdown and absorption of all amino acids, including tyrosine. In your brain cells, thyroid hormones direct tyrosine’s magical conversion into the antidepressant cats. If either or both functions falter, tyrosine does not arrive abundantly in the brain, and what does come in can’t be converted effectively into cats. The result: mental, emotional, and physical apathy and, often, unneeded weight gain, among other things.

      We learned from one of our clients how intimately thyroid function could be associated with depression. Sheyna, a gifted artist who had been depressed for many years, had noticed an improvement in her mood from tyrosine and a high-protein diet, but a stubborn layer of depression combined with fatigue, chilliness, and unaccountable weight gain had continued to plague her. She hadn’t been able to get in to see our medical consultant until a month after she’d started the program, but when she did, her symptoms and blood test results led him to a diagnosis of hypothyroidism. He prescribed careful doses of thyroid hormone to mimic the natural output of a healthy thyroid gland. Voilà! The lights turned on. She had a new and unmistakable “emotional glow,” along with more sustained energy and nice warm hands.

      After taking her thyroid medication, Sheyna experienced other new benefits as well. Her amino acids started to work twice as effectively for her in eliminating her junk food cravings, so she was able to lose more unneeded weight and begin exercising regularly. In addition., her overall health continued to improve dramatically from the time she started to get help for her thyroid. Since then, we’ve never ignored the thyroid when it comes to mood, and we continue to learn more about the thyroid-mood connection every year.

      Do You Have These Symptoms of Low Thyroid Function?

      Take a moment to scan the following list to see if you identify with these symptoms. Depression is only one of the many negative effects that you may be facing if your thyroid is malfunctioning.

      

       Common symptoms of low thyroid function:

      

Low energy, fatigue, lethargy, need lots of sleep (more than eight hours), trouble getting up and going in the morning

      

Depression (including postpartum or after the start of menstruation or menopause)

      

Tendency to feel cold, particularly in hands and feet

      

Poor concentration and memory, mental sluggishness

      

Family history of thyroid problems

      

As a child, played quietly rather than physically and/or now have trouble getting exercise without a guilt trip

      

Weight gain began when you got your period, had a miscarriage or an abortion, gave birth, began menopause, or worsened after low-calorie dieting

      

Chubby or overweight since childhood

      

Tendency to excessive weight gain or inability to lose weight despite normal eating

      

Hoarseness, gravelly voice

      

Low blood pressure/heart rate

      

Menstrual problems, including excessive bleeding, severe cramping, irregular periods, severe PMS, scanty flow; early or late onset of first period (before 12 or after 14 years old); premenopausal cessation of menstruation (amenorrhea)

      

Reduced sexual drive

      

Swollen eyelids and face, general water retention

      

Thinning or loss of outside eyebrow hair

      

Tendency to have a low temperature

      

Headaches (including migraines)

      

High cholesterol, atherosclerosis, or excessive homocysteine

      

Lump in throat, trouble swallowing pills

      

Slow body movement or speech

       Additional possible symptoms:

      

Goiter; enlarged, swollen, or lumpy thyroid (look at the base of your throat, under your Adam’s apple and above your sternum)

      

Coarse, dry hair

      

Bulging eyes

      

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