Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Managing Diabetes during the Holidays Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Managing diabetes during the holiday time may seem to be an insurmountable task. But with a little twist to some classic recipes and a little help from classic invite supplements, eating healthy during the holiday is …
Holidays and Digestive Woes Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND As we approach the holiday season family gatherings become more frequent. These family gatherings often include new or different foods that may affect your digestive health. Family gatherings also frequently include travel and even stress, both of …
Stress and Holidays
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Holiday time can be both fun and exciting. However, it is also a time that can induce stress. As a person who has both hosted holiday dinners and attended them, I can confidently say both situations are stressful in their own way. And then there is the stress of travel. And do not get me started on gift giving! It is a lot to ponder so grab some tea or hot cocoa and let us get into it, shall we?
We all understand the different ways that holidays can trigger stress but how does this stress affect our health? Being under stress at bedtime can make it difficult to sleep at night. Both stress itself and its link to poor sleep can increase restlessness, cause a lack of motivation/ focus, and even affect our memory. Stress can also lead to muscle tension/ pain as well as trigger headaches. Chest pain and upset stomach are both common symptoms of stress. Stress can even affect your immune system, making it easier for you to get sick. Stress can also affect our mood, triggering sadness, depression, anxiety, anger outbursts and just overall a feeling of grumpiness! Being under stress can even affect your appetite and you may find yourself over or under eating. In addition to changing your appetite you may also find yourself avoiding things you enjoy such as exercise or even socializing with friends or family. Stress can increase alcohol use as well as tobacco and drug use. (1) Long term stress can even affect our cardiovascular health. For example, stress is associated with both high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Even our joints are not immune to the effects of stress! This is because stress can increase any inflammation in our body. In my experience this inflammation increases pain in our joints. Long term stress can even impact how we look by affecting our hair, skin and nails! Anyone who has ever been stressed knows it bothers our digestion leading to either diarrhea or constipation (or in some cases both). It can also affect our digestion by triggering indigestion, bloating and stomach pain. Stress can even affect how well we process our food! It can and does slow down nutrient absorption from the food we eat. Every woman knows that stress can affect hormone health and thus affect our menstrual cycle. (2)
So, what can you do to help reduce the effects of stress?
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Men’s Health and Thyroid Health Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Thyroid health can be linked to many distinct aspects of our overall well-being. One of these is women’s health, however it also affects men’s health. Let’s get into it, shall we? One common misconception about thyroid …
UNDERSTANDING HYPERTHYROIDISM Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND One topic that I feel does not get enough attention is hyperthyroidism or overactive thyroid. Most people know or have heard of hypothyroidism or underactive thyroid. What they do not know is that the exact opposite can occur and …
UNDERSTANDING HYPOTHYROIDISM
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Hypothyroidism is where the body does not produce enough thyroid hormone. This can happen if there is a problem in the thyroid itself or a problem in the organ that controls the thyroid. For this lecture we will focus on the thyroid itself. Let us get into it, shall we?
In typical hypothyroidism blood tests will show higher than usual TSH and lower than usual T4 & T3. Normal TSH is .5 to 5mu/l and normal T3 is 80-220mg/dl. T4 is 5-12ug/dl. However, this is where it gets interesting because “normal” does not mean optimum. The optimum range for TSH is 1.3-2.5mu/l. For example, a value of 3 indicates what is known in the holistic community as “sub-clinical hypothyroidism” and is very often accompanied by symptoms of low thyroid. While sub-clinical hypothyroidism is not usually severe enough to warrant conventional treatment, certain supplements have been found in studies to alleviate symptoms. (1)
What, exactly, are the most common symptoms of low thyroid? To start, you may experience difficulty concentrating as well as fatigue. There is also a feeling of being cold as well as slow heart rate which is often associated with shortness of breath. Weight gain is often associated with low thyroid. Hair loss is another symptom that often has people coming in to see a nutritionist. Just a heads up: if you are having hair loss, getting your thyroid assessed is a great first step to finding out what is going on. Less commonly known as a symptom is depression. In women, menstrual cycles can often be heavier than usual (although as the hypothyroidism persists, it can progress to lighter than usual cycles). There are delayed tendon reflexes. Constipation as well as changes in digestive health are also noted. (2)
Now what can potentially lead to the symptoms of hypothyroidism? In many cases too little iodine is a trigger. Also, treatment with radioactive iodine can affect the thyroid. Injury to the hypothalamus or anterior pituitary can also lower the amount of thyroid hormone produced. Obviously, being born without a thyroid or having thyroid surgery can cause the thyroid hormone to be low. Even certain prescription medications can cause low thyroid as a side effect.
Autoimmune such as Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism, Postpartum Hypothyroidism as well as Myasthenia Gravis can cause similar symptoms as hypothyroidism. Finally, any autoimmune disorders such as celiac disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, SLE, and even diabetes can affect the thyroid. From a more holistic point of view, “leaky gut” can also affect the thyroid. Which is why so many holistic practitioners say treat the gut! (3)
HOW TO HELP YOUR THYROID
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(1) https://www.uclahealth.org/endocrine-center/normal-thyroid-hormone-levels
(2) Longo DL, Fauci AS, Kasper DL, Hauser SL, Jameson JL, Loscalzo J (2011). “341: disorders of the thyroid gland”. Harrison’s principles of internal medicine (18th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0071748896.
(3)[8] Garber JR, Cobin RH, Gharib H, Hennessey JV, Klein I, Mechanick JI, Pessah-Pollack R, Singer PA, Woeber KA (December 2012). “Clinical practice guidelines for hypothyroidism in adults: cosponsored by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American Thyroid Association”. Thyroid. 22 (12): 1200–35. doi:10.1089/thy.2012.0205. PMID 22954017.
(4)Catarino, M. D., Silva, A., & Cardoso, S. M. (2018). Phycochemical Constituents and Biological Activities of Fucus spp. Marine drugs, 16(8), 249. https://doi.org/10.3390/md16080249
(5)Sharma, A. et al. (2018). Efficacy and Safety of Ashwagandha Root Extract in Subclinical Hypothyroid Patients: A Double-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 24(3), 243–248.
(6)Hameed, S. I., Al-Shahwany, A. W., & Salih, S. J. (2020). Evaluation of the Activity of Some Plants Extracts on Thyroid Gland Regulation in Female Albino Rats. Iraqi Journal of Science, 254-265.
(7)Ismail, M. et al. Effect of Nigella sativa L. on serum concentration of thyroid hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone and glucose in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. Ir Vet J. 2003;59(9):462–4.
(8)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19594417/