Most menopausal and perimenopausal women experience a shift in their energy, mood, and weight. Doctors usually claim that this is “part of aging” and you can’t do anything about it except take an antidepressant.
Could Hypothyroidism Be the Missing Link?
Weight gain, fatigue, and unexplained aches can often be traced back to an underactive thyroid, which is also linked to serious illnesses like dementia. Unfortunately, because most doctors don’t test the full thyroid panel and only focus on the misleading TSH, it can take years for this condition to be diagnosed, especially in women, as their symptoms are often misattributed to depression or menopause.
New research from the University of Aberdeen shows that women often struggle to get diagnosed with hypothyroidism, also known as an underactive thyroid. Their symptoms, which can be quite vague, are frequently misattributed to conditions like depression or menopause. This leads to significant delays in diagnosis and treatment. The overlap in symptoms between these conditions makes it difficult for women to get the accurate diagnosis they need.
In the UK, at least 1 in 20 people has a thyroid disorder, with hypothyroidism being the most common. Women are ten times more likely to be affected due to autoimmune triggers that attack thyroid tissues. Despite this, the average diagnosis time is 4.5 years.
The challenge lies in the common practice of only testing TSH levels, which doesn’t provide a full picture of thyroid health. TSH is a pituitary hormone that signals the thyroid to produce T4, which must then be converted to the active hormone T3 in the liver. This makes liver health crucial for thyroid function.
Ironically, low thyroid function can be confused with menopausal symptoms or mood disorders, both of which can be exacerbated by poor liver health. Many people on antidepressants suffer from low thyroid function, but doctors often miss this by not conducting a full thyroid panel. Addressing thyroid health can help many reduce or eliminate their medication.
Doctors often dismiss symptoms like weight gain and low energy during menopause without offering solutions, but it’s possible to live energetically and healthily after 50. Hypothyroidism rates have risen significantly in recent years, and many women likely suffer from suboptimal thyroid function. While blood tests can help, how you feel is also a crucial indicator. Remember, you know your body best.
Causes of Hypothyroidism
The pandemic of low thyroid function isn’t due to a single cause; it’s a complex mix of various factors coming together like a perfect storm. Here’s a breakdown of the main culprits:
- Iodine Deficiency: Iodine is essential for making thyroid hormones (T3 and T4, where the numbers represent iodine molecules). The leading cause of hypothyroidism is a lack of iodine in the diet, and a whopping 96 percent of the US population is iodine deficient. This is the first step to address!
- Iodine Disruptors: Environmental toxins like fluoride, bromide, and chlorine can block iodine uptake by the thyroid and all cells in the body. For example, perchlorate, found in some fertilizers and drinking water, competes with iodine for absorption. With most people already iodine deficient, these disruptors worsen the problem. When cells lack iodine, similar chemicals (fluoride, bromide, chlorine) fill in the gaps, disrupting thyroid function, slowing metabolism, and causing widespread cellular dysfunction and chronic disease. This issue is particularly troublesome during menopause, often confusing symptoms, as the liver struggles to detoxify these toxins, further affecting thyroid hormones.
- Endocrine Disruptors: Toxins such as certain pesticides, plasticizers like bisphenol A (BPA), and industrial chemicals can mess with the endocrine system, including thyroid hormones.
- Heavy Metals: Exposure to heavy metals like lead and mercury is linked to thyroid problems. These metals can disrupt thyroid hormone production and release.
- Radiation: Radiation from medical treatments, environmental sources, or work exposure can harm the thyroid, leading to dysfunction, hypothyroidism, worsened menopausal symptoms, and even an increased risk of thyroid cancer.
- Spike Protein: The spike protein has disrupted the liver, gut, brain, and other organs, causing sluggish thyroid function, liver congestion, insulin dysregulation, water retention, oxidative stress, inflammation, and hormonal imbalances.
- Stress: The connection between stress, cortisol, thyroid, and weight gain is crucial for a few reasons:
- Stress Response: The adrenal glands release cortisol during stress, mobilizing stored energy for immediate use. Long-term stress, however, signals the body to slow metabolism for survival.
- Appetite and Cravings: Stress can increase cravings for high-calorie, sugary, or fatty foods, leading to weight gain. These foods lower cellular energy (ATP), impairing the body’s ability to convert food into energy, resulting in fat storage.
- Fat Storage: Chronic stress and high cortisol levels contribute to fat storage, especially in the abdominal area, as cortisol promotes visceral fat accumulation.
- Metabolism: Prolonged stress and elevated cortisol can slow metabolism, making it harder to lose weight. The body doesn’t distinguish between daily work stress and famine, so it conserves energy by slowing metabolism.
Insulin Resistance: Chronic stress can cause insulin resistance, disrupting blood sugar regulation and promoting fat accumulation, further contributing to weight gain and metabolic issues.
The Three Top Supplements to Naturally Restore Optimal Thyroid Function During Menopause
Acceleradine® Iodine
96 percent of the United States is iodine deficient due to a lack of iodine in the soils and a widespread unfounded fear of iodine supplementation. Iodine is essential for not only thyroid health and metabolism but also hormonal balance and mood stability in menopausal women due to the following:
- Essential for Thyroid Health: Necessary for optimal thyroid function, supporting the production of T2, T3, and T4 hormones. The thyroid is the master endocrine gland, controlling the female and male hormones, in addition to the adrenals. This is why if the thyroid isn’t functioning optimally, menopausal women will feel fatigue and experience weight gain.
- Detoxes Xenoestrogens: Iodine helps the body detox that “bad” estrogens and regulate the “good” estrogens, which will help menopausal women with their mood, fatigue and weight management.
- Blood Cleansing: Iodine cleans the blood so the liver can do its job. The liver is where the inactive thyroid hormone converts into the active thyroid hormone; thyroid health is directly related to liver health.
- Increase Cellular Energy: Iodine increases ATP in the mitochondria by 18 times, which will translate into better cognition, physical energy, mood, and longevity.
- Halogen Displacement: It displaces halogens including fluoride, chlorine, and bromide from the cells that lead to hypothyroidism and other chronic disease.
- Alleviates Spike Protein Ramifications: It may help alleviate the damage done by the Spike Protein, which has been connected to causing worsened hypothyroid symptoms.
Acceleradine® iodine is far superior than any other iodine supplement as it delivers single-atom iodine and achieves a much higher rate of absorption versus the typical 10 to 20% absorption by most other iodine supplements. Furthermore, it is enhanced by scalar frequencies to increase its ability to detox all cells from radiation and toxins which worsen thyroid health and menopausal symptoms.
Accelerated Thyroid®
Accelerated Thyroid® is the most comprehensive natural supplement designed to restore thyroid function. It includes:
- Grass-Fed Thyroid Glandular: Provides essential peptides, amino acids, and nutrients for the thyroid
- Ayurvedic Kanchanara: An ancient herbal formula known for detoxifying the thyroid, diminishing nodules, and alleviating water retention
- Essential Amino Acids: Additional amino acids for optimal thyroid health
- Scalar Frequencies: Enhanced to:
- Clear emotional and physical shock
- Improve thyroid health
- Detox halogens, heavy metals, and radiation
- Balance the thyroid and parathyroid
The ingredients in Accelerated Thyroid® are known to:
- Prevents fatty liver
- Accelerates wound healing
- Strengthens connective tissue and bones
- Elevates mood
- Enhances digestion
- Boosts B12 production
This supplement offers a holistic approach to supporting and optimizing thyroid health.
Accelerated Fast
The ingredients in Accelerated Fast not only help boost metabolism and fat burning by enhancing ATP production in the mitochondria but also gently cleanse the liver daily. This liver support is crucial since the thyroid hormone T4 converts to active T3 in the liver, optimizing thyroid hormone conversion.
Benefits include:
- Suppresses Cravings: Reduces desire for sugar and processed foods, which lower ATP, energy and metabolism.
- Promotes Ketosis: Encourages the body to burn fat for fuel, providing a steady energy supply and speeding up metabolism.
- Prevents Survival Mode: Unlike glucose-fueled diets, it avoids triggering Reverse T3, the stress-related thyroid hormone, which slows metabolism and increases fat storage.
By supporting ketosis and liver health, Accelerated Fast helps your body improve thyroid health, burn fat more efficiently, and maintain higher energy levels.
Sara Banta
Sara Banta is a Stanford University Graduate with a Degree in Economics and Psychology, and a certified Natural Supplement Expert & Graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Sara is the Founder of Accelerated Health Products and host of the health & wellness podcast, Accelerated Health Radio.
