Your Doctor may have diagnosed you with Hypothyroidism . But don't start that hormone supplement as of yet . Not so fast ! You might just have what is called " Secondary Hypothyroidism " which can be cured with just a few lifestyle changes .

Last year , my thyroid was diagnosed to be underactive [TSH 8.5] – again . I had been ignoring my test results for a few years  . But my doctor said a few words - “ You have a young child to take care of and you need to be fit enough to do that for several years now . You will not be able to do that if you let you thyroid stay this way ” .This  alarmed me enough to do a deep research on “Hypothyroidism” . And well , my doctor wanted to put me on a Thyroid hormone supplement . But I decided to try the natural way first.

My thyroid hormones kept fluctuating through the years . But last year  I saw its effects piling up.  So I looked over the internet, talked to friends and relatives and came up with a plan to boost  my thyroid in a natural way. It has been a year now since I have been following  this plan . And my thyroid came back just about normal [TSH 5.1 and T3  , T4 in normal range]  a few months back. Also , I feel much better now in every way!

How Thyroid Works ?

1.       Hypothalamus produces TRH {TSH Releasing Hormone}

2.       TRH stimulates Pitutary to produce TSH { Thyroid Stimulating Hormone}

3.       TSH stimulates Thyroid gland to produce Thyroid Hormones T4 and T3

4.       Thyroid cells combine iodine {from our food} with protein/amino acid  Tyrosine {from our food}  to produce T4 (80%) and T3 (20%)

5.       T4 produces more T3 in Liver

6.       T3 self regulates its production . If produced more, sends negetive signals to Hypothalamus thus reducing amount of TRH , thus TSH and T3, T4 in turn. If T3 is produced less than normal, it signals Hypothalamus to produce more TRH, so Pitutary produces more TSH and so more T4,T3 will be produced by thyroid.

Well known symptoms of Hypothyroidism: You may have few or all .

- Morning headaches that wear off during the day.
- Low morning underarm temperature. (Adrenal, pituitary or other issues such as elevated estrogen can also cause this.)
- Depression.

- Constipation.
- Dry or brittle hair, or hair that falls out.
- Dry or itching skin.
- Sensitivity to cold. Thyroid is the heater.
- Slow wound healing.
- Joint stiffness.
- Poor circulation.
- Cold or numbness of the hands or feet.
- Loss of the outside portion of the eyebrows.
- Increase in weight even on a low calorie or low carbohydrate diet.
- Reduced initiative.
- Mental confusion.
- Poor memory.
- Ringing in the ears along with decreased blood pressure and/or slow pulse. (This can also be an adrenal problem.)
- Muscle cramps while at rest.
- Catching colds or other infections easily. Difficulty recovering from infections.
- Requiring excessive sleep (more than 8 hours).
- Chronic digestive problems. This is often low stomach acid.
- Edema, especially in the face.

YOUR THYROID MIGHT BE HEALTHY BUT WILL STILL GET DIAGNOSED WITH HYPOTHYROIDISM IF :  

Note : {Out of diagnosed hypothyroid , only 20 % have primary hypothyroidism }

1.       YOU HAVE A PROTEIN DEFFICIENCY : Because thyroid cells need protein for synthesis of thyroid hormone.

2.       YOU STRESS A LOT   :   Excessive stress make adrenal glands produce more CORTISOL , which interferes with conversion of T4 to T3. Also be aware that high Cortisol levels can make reverse T3. Reverse T3 is not a functional hormone but it looks like normal T3 on a blood test.

3.       YOU EAT A HIGH CARB DIET  :   High amount of Carbs in diet make stimulate adrenal glands to produce  more CORTISOL as well  which interferes with conversion of T4 to T3

4.       EXPOSURE TO HIGH LEVEL OF ESTROGEN LIKE SUBSTANCES : Excess estrogen interferes with the conversion of T4 to the active T3 . Estrogen like substances are SOY based foods  ,  BPA and Pthalates from plastic food containers , some medicines among various other air and water pollutants.

5.       IODINE DEFFICIENCY :  Either you may actually be iodine defficient or your iodine absorption may have interfered by high Chlorine or Fluoride in your water etc.

The most numbers of people diagnosed with Hypothyroidism are Married Women or Working Mothers . The “after marriage weight gain “  can very well be attributed to sluggish metabolism or underactive thyroid. Why does that happen?? Because a large percentage of women stop taking care of themselves after marriage. They stop eating the way they were eating before . At least I did. I just about stopped eating any protein !! And don’t forget about the life uphavel and all the stress that comes with getting married. And so Cortisol comes into picture interfering with the T4 to T3 conversion. Add a baby or two to the mix and you’ll get a good amount of Hypothyroidism symptoms .

A  FEW THINGS WE CAN DO TO BOOST OUR THYROID :

1.       EAT MORE TYROSINE RICH FOODS : Eat more Dairy , Oats ,Sesame Seeds, Banana, Avocados , Almonds and more protein in general.

2.       STRESS LESS !    Its absolutely up to you to take it easy for your health’s sake .  If you are not healthy , nothing will work out anyways !

3.       EAT A BALANCED DIET :  Avoid a high carb diet. Eat them in a balanced matter with Good protein and Good fats .

4.       AVOID GOITROGENIC FOOD : Avoid food which interferes with normal thyroid functioning . These includes mainly SOY , Broccoli, Cauliflowers, Cabbage , Mustard, Peanuts , Spinach . Cooking these foods can reduce the goitrogenic tendencies of these foods so cook them thoroughly if you want to eat them.

5.       AVOID EATING IN PLASTIC CONTAINERS

6.       EAT IODINE RICH FOOD :  Sea vegetables, Yogurt , Milk, Eggs , Strawberries, Cheese

7.       USE A GOOD WATER FILTER : Use a good water filter for drinking water . Use shower  filter as well if possible.

8.       INCLUDE SELENIUM IN DIET : Selenium boosts T4 to T3 conversion. Nuts, Sunflower seeds, Eggs, Mushrooms , Wheat Germ , Barley, Oats, Brown Rice, Onions are rich in Selenium

9.       AVOID CAFFIENE : Coffee interferes with T4 production

10.   EXERCISE :  Exercise will improve blood flow to your Thyroid gland thus making it healthier and more productive.

11.   YOGA : Sarvangasan and Uchhai Pranayam are a very good complement to a good diet for a healthy thyroid.

At the end , I will suggest that don’t consider yourself a Hypothyroid as soon as your TSH comes up High !  If you have a high TSH level , get a deeper check on the T3 , T4 and Cortisol levels. You may very well find like me that your Thyroid is troubled and needs your help in a natural way by changing your lifestyle to a healthier one ! 

Reference :

http://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/thyroid/how-your-thyroid-works

http://www.royalrife.com/hypothyroid.html

http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/cortisolzava.html

http://thyroid.about.com/b/2008/09/03/coffee-thyroid-drugs.htm

Image Credits @digitalart

I am a Vegetarian [Lacto-Vegetarian ] – by birth and by choice.

Recently it came to my knowledge that a few things I have been eating over the years, thinking that they are vegetarian, may not be vegetarian after all. I found that those food items had non-vegetarian ingredients . I was shocked and perplexed. I know people like me are out there who are not aware of these factors which make a food item non – vegetarian just due to an unknown, non – famous ingredient in them. Most of the information I got was from a group called Vegetarian Resouce Group.

So dear vegetarians , here are a few items you might be eating and  which may not be vegetarian:

CHEESE:

Cheese deserves the first place in my list because that was the biggest shocker of all . I grew up in a country at a time where and when there was no Cheese around me. I started eating Cheese in USA about 10 years ago. I mainly ate Cheese in restaurants. Sometimes I would bring Cheese for making sandwiches at home.  I didn’t know how that cheese was made. But I thought of it plainly as only a milk product. Honestly , I remember seeing “Rennet “as an ingredient a few times. But I never thought of it as a non-vegetarian thing. I didn’t imagine in my wildest dreams that they would put a part of an animal in “Cheese” - which is considered purely“Milk – Product”. As foolish as it may sound to some, it may be true for so many people. I didn’t know that most of the Cheese is made using a “newborn calf’s stomach”.  Here is an excerpt of traditional way to make Rennet from “Rennet Wiki” . Modern method is just "modern"  but not any different in what it does to a newborn calf's stomach.

“Dried and cleaned stomachs of young calves are sliced into small pieces and then put into saltwater or whey, together with some vinegar or wine to lower the pH of the solution. After some time (overnight or several days), the solution is filtered. The crude rennet that remains in the filtered solution can then be used to coagulate milk. About 1 gram of this solution can normally coagulate 2 to 4 litres of milk.

This method is still used by some traditional cheese-makers, e.g. Switzerland , France ,Romania , Italy , Sweden , United Kingdom and Alp-Sennereien in Austria.”

Today , when I really try to find “Animal Rennet Free Cheese “ in my super-market, it is very difficult . All the solid chesses are made from Animal Rennet. Half of the others don’t specify what kind of Rennet are they using . If a Cheese mentions just “enzymes” in its ingredients, then you can never be too sure. Please confirm with a sales person if a Cheese has animal or plant base enzymes. There can be “ Microbial Enzymes “ as well . They are safe as they are produced by mold . And yes that sounds gross too J .

Cheese used in various restaurants can very well have Rennet in them . Mc Donald's cheese have rennet. Subway is not sure. Italian restaurants and many others which use Cheese may not even know what's the source of their cheese.

Note: Cheese Manufacturers in India do not use animal rennet for their cheese production due to a law. But their is now law preventing foreign cheese imports which are very well served in big hotels and restaurants . So please make sure or avoid cheese if you are a vegetarian.

Here are a few good links for all the reference you want:

http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.htm

http://cheese.joyousliving.com/

GELATIN :

Another one of my favourite hidden ingredient is “ Gelatin”  . We know this ingredient is used in so many “jellied food products”   like Jell-O , Jelly Beans, Gummies , Medicinal Capsules ,Marshmallows, ready made Fruit Juices etc. This is also used in MOST OF THE store bought YOGURTS except Stonyfield and Horizon Organic  . And yes, you can now stop ordering your  Taco Bell  with Sour Cream on it . Because Taco Bell’s Sour Cream has Gelatin. Mc Donald’s frozen yogurt contains gelatin. 

Here is how Gelatin is made : [Excerpt from Gelatin Wiki page ]

Gelatin is a mixture of peptides and proteins produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from the boiled bones, connective tissues, organs and some intestines of animals such as domesticated cattle, and horses.

I was not aware of this till 2 years back. And that was the day I had eaten a Starbucks Marshmallow Bar . I somehow got an urge to search for its ingredients while finishing it - and found Gelatin in the ingredients . As usual, the people who work in a restaurant would never know into the deep - what are the ingredients in a food item. It is the buyer who has to be more alert and proactive.

L-Cystine

Most of the baked goods like Bagels, Desserts,Deep dish Pizza crusts have this ingredient. All of Taco Bell's bread products, except the taco shells, the tostada shells, the tortillas, and the nacho chips, contain L-cysteine of an unspecified source

According to this News Link : http://www.naturalnews.com/032718_L-cysteine_commercial_bread.html

While some L-cysteine is directly synthesized in laboratories, most of it is extracted from a cheap and abundant natural protein source: human hair or hog hair . The hair is dissolved in acid and L-cysteine is isolated through a chemical process, then packaged and shipped off to commercial bread producers. Besides human hair, other sources of L-cysteine include chicken feathers, duck feathers, cow horns and petroleum byproducts.

Most of the hair used to make L-cysteine is gathered from the floors of barbershops and hair salons in China, by the way.

The Vegetarian Resource Group has a wonderful app for iPhones . I have it on my phone and it is free and is extremely comfortable to use. It has a list of about 200 ingredients that you may be confused about or don’t know about. Here are a few other ingredients I found interesting in much-used food groups . No one can ever figure out what these names mean without being a student of some bio-chemistry subject or a Google search on them ..

(Source :  http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php )

Commercial source: animal (hog- or cow-derived). 
Used in: cheese and cheese products, digestive aids. 
Definition: An enzyme used to break down proteins. 
Non-Vegetarian

tallow

Also known as: hydrogenated tallow, tallow flakes, suet, dripping. 
Commercial source: animal (cow- or sheep-derived). 
Used in: shortening, cooking oil, cake mix. 
Definition: An animal fat used to make baked goods light and fluffy or to reduce foam in yeast, beet sugar, or maple syrup production. 
Non-Vegetarian

carmine

Commercial source: animal (insect). 
Used in: confections, juices, “New Age” beverages, pharmaceuticals, dairy products, baked goods, yogurt, ice cream, fruit fillings, puddings. 
Definition: A food coloring derived from the dried bodies of female beetles. 
Non-Vegetarian

If I am able to enlighten even one person with a piece of information that they have never known , that’s my success !

Image Credits @Dino De Luca , @SOMMAI , @nixxphotography ,@Suat Eman 

I knew since forever that I should not warm up food in PLASTIC  [in a microwave of course] .  But still I did . Call it ignorance or carelessness. Now suddenly it dawned upon me that it is our health at stake so why not research about this matter and put an end to it . While reasearching , I came to a conclusion that “Not only we should not warm food in plastic , we should throw away our Microwaves as well ” . Is it really a hoax or is it true may be a long discussion with a set of experts . But for now , I am giving some rest to my Microwave.  Did you know that the use of Microwave Oven was banned in Russia for several years for the same underlying reasons. Microwaves crept up the Russian system again due to consumerism and marketing waves. Microwaves are also gaining popularity in countries that never had them just a few years back.

Here’s What I found:

1.       Microwaving Changes the Basic Food Constitution :  Basically , Microwaves work by heating up the water molecules inside our food. The water molecules in the food vibrate violently at extremely high frequencies like millions of times per second creating molecular friction, which heats up the food. Contrary to popular belief, microwaved foods don’t cook “from the inside out.” When thicker foods are cooked, microwaves heat the outer layers, and the inner layers are cooked mostly by the conduction of heat from the hot outer layers, inward. Additionally, microwaving creates new compounds that are not found in humans or in nature, called radiolytic compounds. We don’t yet know what these compounds are doing to your body.

2.       Microwaves Strip Food Of Nutrition :  For example If you microwave broccoli  with a little water , it loses up to 97 percent of its beneficial antioxidants in comparison to steamed broccoli which loses about 11 percent or fewer of its antioxidants. Allinase is lost completely from garlic.Turns B12 in milk to an inert form. Microwaving turns some amino acids in baby formulas into poisonous substances which are harmful for nervous system.

3.       MicroWaving Plastic Adds Harmful Chemicals To the Food :  Chemicals like Pthalates and BPA can leech into your food if food is touching plastics while you warm it up in microwave . http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/03/08/study-even-bpa-free-plastics-leach-endrocrine-disrupting-chemicals/

4.       Microwaved Food Lowers Immunity :  Microwaving alters the basic constitution of food which along with many other side effects , affects the lymphatic nodes and our immunity adversely.

5.       Microwaved Food May Contain Carcinogens: According to a lot of Russian researches which caused Microwave to get banned in Russia in 1976 , Microwaving converts some of the amino acids in milk and grains to carcinogens.

http://www.naturalnews.com/030665_microwaved_food_cancer.html

6.       Microwaved food causes a decrease in hemoglobin: in a Swiss clinical study , the same food was given to a set of people  divided in to two sets . 1 set received the same food microwaved. Hemoglobin was found to be at a significantly decreased level for the ones getting microwaved food every time after a few hours of eating microwaved food .

7.       Microwaved food causes increased LDL (bad) cholesterol: Same research showed to increase LDL in the volunteer subjects.

8.       Microwaved Food never Tastes like Oven/Gas made food: You know this one already , right ! I have never liked the extremely heated up microwaved food or the microwaved food extremely hot on the outside layer and freezing cold on the inside layers. The taste changes for sure. No one will deny that.  While re-heating food on the gas does not change the actual taste of food.

****************************************************************

And we are living without our Microwave for about 2 months now.  For some reason , I am feeling just too good about it. It is a big step towards going more natural and less processed  in our food choices. I am just using my pans and pots more often now ! It was a matter of just a few days to make that habit of not opening the microwave door every time I wanted to heat up something.

P.S. I heard about the Microwave hazards about 2 months back and I jumped right in to research the facts and figures. Even small researches are enough for me to stop using microwave. Here are the articles from where I picked up these facts :

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/microwave-hazards.aspx

http://www.health-science.com/microwave_hazards.html

http://www.cancersalves.com/articles/Microwave.html

http://www.relfe.com/microwave.html

http://www.halexandria.org/dward078.htm

http://www.naturalnews.com/023011_microwave_food_oven.html

http://www.whale.to/b/m.html

http://guide.thesoftlanding.com/2008/11/16/is-it-safe-to-microwave-plastic/

http://www.execonn.com/sf/

http://english.eastday.com/e/110813/u1a6051143.html

What do you think ?

In our fast paced lives, health issues with our families are inevitable. And so the various kinds of “medicines “ come into picture . Specially for our little - ones , we always wonder if we should even pour those strong medicines down their tiny bellies. Today, more and more parents are getting into natural remedies or alternative medicines to cure  all kinds of health issues so that they don’t have to deal with any side effects of Allopathic Medicines. 

Homeopathy is a branch of medicine which is very well known as a kind of alternative medicine but is still waiting to  get into the main stream pharmacutical practices . Homeopathy is just wonderful. It starts to cure instantly from within. It works internally on the cause of the symptoms instead of suppressing the symptoms from outside. I have been a fan of homeopathy since I was born . As my parents tell me , Homeopathy meds  always worked on me even when I was an infant . Now these meds continue to work on me , my husband and my daughter , my parents , my sister’s family and so on . We have a great family doctor [Homeopathy] who is always ready to help and suggest medicines at any time . We are so thankful to God for him.

I have experienced  situations where Homeopathy cures in a matter of seconds or minutes without any side effects.  I remember , a few years back when my husband was not so much into Homeopathy, he had a sharp lower back pain. The pain didn’t go away for several days despite of pain killers , warm baths , resting , massaging etc. A few days later, when he was talking to my parents on phone, he mentioned his pain. My parents, being experts on Homeopathy, suggested him a remedy [ Rhus Tox 200] which I happened to have in my medicine cabinet.  I gave him the medicine while he was still on the phone. In a few minutes ,by the time he hung up the phone, he didn’t even remember having the back pain. The pain was gone ! And it did not come back ! That was like a magic and turned my husband into a Homeopathy devotee J

And just last week when I slipped and skipped a few flights on my house stairs, Homeopathy came in handy. I had hurt myself badly and I know that I could stay in pain for weeks if I did not administer  Homeopathy immideately . I hurt myself so badly on my head and lower back that I passed out . I had blue swelling on my lower back . I took Arnica 200 two times for two days and applied some Arnica Q on my lower back. I was absolutely fine in 2 days with all the swelling and pain gone. That is true  magic for me <3

It would be great if more people start to understand and use Homeopathy at least for the small ailments like cough , cold, bruises, gas , low grade fever, pain etc . That way we will be spared of the strong effects of Allopathy medicines.  

Just as in case of  any other medicine , everyone must consult with an expert and then should take these meds. Homepathy is a very peculiar kind of medicine where dilution of a medicine makes all the difference . Only an expert or a doctor can take a look at your symptoms and suggest the correct medicine in correct dilution.

Image Credits @vitasamb2001

Yard sales are heavenly !

We had a Yard Sale last month and it was  great !! We had been planning that for an year now and at last we had it on a whim . But after all , the Yard Sale  was not an easy breezy thing to do , especially with a toddler who wanted to help with just about everything!

Here are my 2 cents on the Yard Sale experience :

PREPARING - CLOTHES

To start with , I had been cleaning and ironing my clothes which I wanted to get rid of since over an year . All the shirts,pants,jackets etc  which I did not wear for years or even for a single time! Yes you heard me right and many of you will agree with me if not all !

There were just about a hundred wardrobe items which were bought:

1.       Just because  they were on a huge sale!

2.       Just because of this thought “They will look good on me when I’ll loose 10 pounds – Which seems to be just about a week later” !!

3.       Just because there is a party coming up !

4.       Just because this looks so vintage (Read Out Of Fashion) !

5.       Just because I was in a bad bad mood and wanted to cheer myself up with a shopping spree ..:X

And so on …

And just when I started to realize that my Closet, My Attic and My Basement were flooded with clothes , I thought about keeping items away for a consignment[which never happened] . Because that seemed to be economically the best way of getting rid of my high fashion unused clothing . Inspired by so many online and magazine articles , I put away most of the stuff which I never wore . Sometimes I was too tempted to take something out but convinced myself to have something better which I would actually wear !

Believe me or not , on the last day I had just about 10 large bags/boxes filled with nice enough clothes. I knew I will keep postponing my visit to the consignment shop so decided to sell them during the Yard Sale.

PREPARING - FURNITURE

We had a lot of spare furniture which was just lying around and was not being used . For example the chairs we had in just about every room in case we need to climb up on them and fix something on the ceiling J . But never used them for sitting J . And a few shelves which were in our basement and never fit for anything. So we collected about 6 chairs , 3 shelves , 2 mirrors .

PREPARING - SHOES AND HANDBAGS

Can you believe my feet grew bigger during my pregnancy and stayed that way !  My shoe size increased from a 6 to a 7.5  !! So All my pre-pregnancy  shoes were just lying there in the shoe space and doing no walking . I could not throw them out either , so they were a good candidate for the Yard Sale. I cleaned up and collected about 10 pair of shoes for the sale. And trashed about another 10 which were not in a condition to be worn by anyone. I wondered why did not I do that earlier !! It really felt good.

I had about 7 handbags which I didn't like much anymore . So I cleaned them up and got them ready for being used! In that process , I got happy just about 7 times to find a lot of lost dollars in there J .

PREPARING - OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

I can’t explain enough my love of reading . So I had hundreds of nice enough magazines in my basement which I kept putting away just so I would want to read them again !! But never did I pick up one single magazine from my basement because I have enough stock of new magazines and magazines from the Library . So here was another good candidate – 3 Boxes full of beautiful magazines of all kinds .

And I had a few other things like show pieces which were not suitable for any wall of our house , some yard equipment and so on !

Whew !!

That was a very hactic Friday night . I would like to mention here the great help we received from our little toddler J . First that 'help' was a little difficult to handle but slowly she realized how to actually ‘HELP’ . So she helped us carry our items to the foyer at around 12 am in the night ! And that was the best part of the whole hard work at the end of that day!

SATURDAY MORNING ! --SETTING UP THE YARD SALE

Setting up was not the difficult part . And as I look back , we couldn't have done it better.  Here are a few tips to set up a successful yard sale :

·         Advertize.Advertize.Advertize.

·         Keep your best items in the FRONT.

·         Make sure the passer by buyer sees your classification of items clearly.

·         Be reasonable in pricing your stuff !

·         Remember – Clothes and Magazines don’t sellJ

·         Play some nice music to ramp up spirits of the buyers !

AND the result was a whooping $42.25 !!  We donated the rest of the clothes, shoes, bags to our township clothes drive this weekend . That felt so good to clear up our space while recycling our stuff. When we went inside our home at the end of the day , it was one of our most relaxed [and tired ]  feelings ever !

Image Credits @digitalart , @Danilo Rizuti