While I really do enjoy writing the content on this website and informing people with thyroid conditions about the benefits of natural treatment methods, it does frustrate me that there are many people who are too skeptical to ever follow a natural treatment protocol.  I don’t feel as bad when someone takes their time to research both conventional medical treatments, as well as natural treatment methods, and after carefully weighing the pros and cons of each chooses to go the medical route.  But for those people who visit this site and read only a single article or blog post and decide that this sounds too good to be true, it really is tough for me to deal with.

The reason for this is because in my opinion, millions of people with thyroid conditions have been brainwashed into thinking that medical treatments (thyroid hormone, anti-thyroid drugs, RAI, etc.) should be the first option, and natural treatment methods should be the last resort, when to me and many others the complete opposite is what makes sense.  I can understand the way others think, as because medical doctors go through many years of school and training, many people assume they know what’s best for their patients.  But it’s not this simple, as I’ll be revealing shortly.

But before I give examples of why many medical doctors really aren’t doing what’s best for their patients, let me first briefly mention that I’m not against people using drugs or surgery for their thyroid disorder, or any other condition for that matter.  Those who have followed me for awhile know that I actually considered taking anti-thyroid drugs when I was first diagnosed with Graves’ Disease.  Without question, drugs and surgery have their place, and they obviously help a lot of people and save many lives.  But at the same time, they also harm a lot of people, and ruin many lives as well. 

Why Don’t People Choose Natural Treatment Methods First?

While it’s easy to blame endocrinologists and medical doctors for this “brainwashing” that goes on, the primary reason why people have a “drug first” mentality is due to the drug companies themselves, which represent a billion dollar industry.  In this case money is indeed power, as they have the money to do a ton of advertising.  So when the average person watches television for a few hours each day, they are probably viewing a few dozen commercials on some of the “latest and greatest” drugs out there.  In fact, when people visit their primary care physician, they frequently are the ones who ask their physician for a certain drug they saw on TV.

It doesn’t matter that each drug commercial lists a number of different symptoms that can result from taking a specific drug, as there no doubt is another drug that will help with these symptoms.  This might sound humorous, but I’ve seen many patients who were taking a dozen or more prescription medications, and some of these medications were given to help cover up the side effects caused by the other prescription drugs they were taking. 

It’s not only difficult for the patient, but difficult for any holistic doctor who sees such a patient, as while they might want the patient to stop taking these drugs, many can’t legally tell these patients to stop taking them.  And even if they can, it is usually unwise to advise  someone who is taking a bunch of different prescription drugs to stop taking all of them abruptly.

How Drug Companies Influence Medical Doctors

In addition to the impact that drug companies have directly on the consumer, they of course have a very powerful relationship with the medical community.  After all, it is the medical doctors that will be the ones who need to distribute these drugs.  Now to be completely honest, I don’t know what type of monetary incentives some medical doctors may get for prescribing these drugs, and as a result I’m not going to get into this.  What I want to do is to discuss how many medical doctors decide to recommend the drugs  they really don’t know much about. 

The truth is, most medical doctors can’t keep up with all of the new drugs that come out on the market, and so the way that most of them learn about them is through the drug companies (isn’t that convenient?).  So for example, if a drug company created a new type of statin (cholesterol-lowering medication), and wanted this drug to be recommended by the medical community, a drug representative will begin contacting certain medical doctors and “educate” each one of them about this drug.  Now I can’t tell you exactly what these drug representatives tell the medical doctors when they meet with them, but I think it’s safe to guess that they focus on all of the “benefits” of the drugs, and don’t focus too much time on the potential side effects.

My point here isn’t to talk about how drug companies manipulate medical doctors into selling drugs, but the overall point I want to make is that this is a money game.  Remember that we’re talking about billions of dollars each year, and to no surprise the goal of the drug companies is to convince the medical doctors that many of their patients can benefit from taking these drugs. 

For example, as of writing this article, statins are the top selling drugs, even though in many cases people shouldn’t be taking them to lower cholesterol.  This is content to be discussed in a different article, but cholesterol is a precursor for our steroid hormones and is extremely important, yet it is made out to be the “bad guy” by the drug companies, and as a result many people who have healthy cholesterol levels are told to take these drugs.

As another example, I recently made a post about oral contraceptives, and all of the risks they represent.  But the drug companies don’t care about the risks, because hormonal contraception is a multi-billion dollar industry, as millions of women  are currently on the pill.  And sure, I’ll admit that it does a good job of preventing pregnancies, which is what many women take this for.  But it’s given out by medical doctors like it’s no big deal, and many times it’s given not as a contraceptive, but to “regulate” the menstrual cycle, when what it really is doing is suppressing the endocrine system.

Another problem is that there are conclusions made about drugs without valid research.  For example, in the book “The Great Cholesterol Con”, written by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, he mentions that even though there was never a study completed showing that female sex hormones protected against heart disease in humans, in the 1990s, millions of women were being prescribed hormone replacement therapy to reduce the risk of heart disease.  Eventually studies showed that HRT actually increased the rate of heart disease, which most doctors are aware of now, but this is just another example as to how you can’t trust everything you are being told about prescription drugs, even if it is your medical doctor who is the one informing you about this.

I can go on and on with many other examples, but I’ll assume you are getting the point by now.  Once again, prescription drugs have the ability to save lives, but in many cases they are prescribed to people who not only won’t benefit from them, but can lead to short term and/or long term side effects that can have severe consequences on a person’s health. 

As for how this relates to thyroid conditions, well, just about everyone who is diagnosed with a thyroid condition is also automatically given some type of drug.  For hypothyroidism it is synthetic thyroid hormone, and for hyperthyroidism it is either anti-thyroid drugs or radioactive iodine therapy.  With either condition, the endocrinologist or general medical practitioner almost never tries to figure out what the actual cause of the disorder is, but just recommends a drug for the person to take for the rest of their life. 

And it’s the same thing with just about every other condition.  For someone who has high cholesterol, they just recommend a statin, rather than trying to figure out why the cholesterol is high.  A woman is having severe PMS symptoms, so rather than figure out why this is the case, they just give her birth control pills to suppress her endocrine system, etc.

In summary, most consumers need to open their eyes and realize that while medication is sometimes necessary to take, many times there are other options that can either manage your symptoms without causing side effects, and in some cases can even cure your condition.  Simply taking the advice of your medical doctor without doing some research of your own is in my opinion foolish.  Of course those who are reading this information are more open minded than the average person, but unfortunately most people have successfully been brainwashed by the drug companies, which is why these companies continue to thrive, and will continue doing so for many years to come.

According to the site www.breastcancer.org, one out of every eight women will develop breast cancer, which is an astounding number when you think about it.   And even though the rates of deaths from breast cancer do seem to be decreasing, according to the same website, about 41,170 were expected to last year, which is still a high number.

What’s especially sad is that many of these cases of breast cancer can be prevented.  So while the incidence of breast cancer might be decreasing due to numerous factors, the truth is that most women can be doing more to greatly improve their chances of not getting this disease.  What I’m going to do here is list five different things women can do that will almost eliminate the chance of them getting breast cancer, or men for that matter, since some men do develop breast cancer as well.  In any case, following all of these five tips will tremendously improve the chances that you will avoid developing this horrible disease:

Breast Cancer Avoidance Tip #1: Make sure your vitamin D levels are adequate. I’ve spoken in great detail about getting adequate Vitamin D on previous blog posts, and so I’m not going to go into great detail about the benefits of Vitamin D here.  Besides reading my past blog posts, you can find a ton of information on Vitamin D by visiting the website www.vitamindcouncil.org.  This website, along with others, provides numerous resources that show the correlation between decreased Vitamin D levels and increased breast cancer rates, and here is one such study that was taken from this website:

“In the 1990s, a group of scientists from the University of California at San Diego provided the first look at how many women may be dying needlessly from breast cancer due to low vitamin D blood levels. The researchers measured the amount of sunlight available to the women at the latitude where they lived and combined that with the frequency of cloudy weather, as sunny climates are associated with higher vitamin D levels. They found that women in the sunniest regions of the United States were about half as likely to die from breast cancer as were women who lived in less sunny regions. When the same researchers looked at the USSR before the country dissolved, they found that women who lived in the sunniest regions were three times less likely to develop breast cancer than were the women who lived in regions without as much sun.”

Once again, this is only one example of the many studies out there that shows howVitamin D deficiency can potentially lead to the development of breast cancer.  The good news is that getting your Vitamin D levels up to sufficient levels isn’t too difficult, as this can be achieved through getting adequate sun exposure, although if you’re extremely deficient then you will probably need to take Vitamin D3 supplements.  I recommend that everyone who is unsure as to whether they have sufficient Vitamin D levels receive a blood test to check their levels.

Breast Cancer Avoidance Tip #2: Make sure you have sufficient iodine levels. Just as is the case with Vitamin D, I have also written posts and articles on the benefits of iodine.  Just as is the case with the thyroid gland, the breast tissue also need iodine to function properly.  According to the book “Iodine, Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It”, Dr. David Brownstein states that “studies have shown that iodine deficiency can alter the structure and function of the breast tissue.  This can include dysplasia and atypia that is the forerunner for breast cancer.”

If you haven’t read Dr. David Brownstein’s book, it’s definitely a “must read”.  It shows why most people are iodine deficient, and he dedicates an entire chapter on iodine and breast health (Chapter 4: Iodine, Breast Cancer, and Fibrocystic Disease).  You can determine if you are iodine deficient by taking an iodine loading test, which is a urine test that measures how much iodine you are excreting over a 24 hour period.  Iodine deficiencies are also relatively easy to correct, although if you have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis then you need to address the autoimmune component before you can take iodine.

Breast Cancer Avoidance Tip #3: Get out of estrogen dominance. If you haven’t read my blog post on estrogen dominance, I highly recommend you do so.  Many women are in a state of estrogen dominance, which doesn’t always mean an excess of estrogen, as it refers to an imbalance in the ratio of estrogen and progesterone.  Frequently it’s the levels of progesterone that’s low.  However, an increase in estrogen without question can increase the incidence of breast cancer.  In fact, this is a big reason why most doctors no longer recommend unopposed estrogen to women, as research shows that this increases the risk of developing breast cancer.

As I mentioned in my past post, the best method of determining whether or not you are estrogen dominant is through a hormone panel.  This not only will show the ratios of estrogen and progesterone, but will also show the levels of other important hormones in the body.  This is important because they all work together, and so an imbalance in one hormone can affect the levels of the other hormones in the body.  In other words, if one sees that there is an imbalance in estrogen and progesterone and just corrects this without addressing other hormone deficiencies or excesses, then there is a chance the estrogen dominance condition will return.

Breast Cancer Avoidance Tip #4: Minimize your exposure to xenoestrogens. I recently made a post on xenohormones, which also can increase the incidence of breast cancer, as well as other conditions.  Synthetic estrogens are widespread, as they are put in numerous products, including many household products we purchase on an everyday basis.  In addition, millions of people drink bottled water, and there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding whether the synthetic estrogens leach from the plastic into the water we drink.  Many of the meats and dairy products we consume also are from livestock that were given estrogens in order to increase their size.  Most non-organic fruits and vegetables also contain pesticides, which once again contain xenoestrogens.

While we can’t completely eliminate our exposure to xenoestrogens, most of us can dramatically decrease our exposure to them.  Doing so admittedly isn’t easy, and when it comes to the food we consume it can be more expensive to purchase meat, dairy, vegetables, and other foods that don’t contain synthetic estrogen.  But if it helps to prevent not only breast cancer, but other conditions as well, then don’t you think it is worth the extra cost?

Breast Cancer Avoidance Tip #5: Think twice about getting regular mammograms. This last one is somewhat controversial, as there is no doubt that mammograms involve a good amount of radiation, although the technology has improved over the years.  While getting mammograms can help to detect cancer, many healthcare professionals and researchers are wondering if the risk actually outweighs the benefits.  In other words, even if mammograms can help detect early stages of breast cancer, if the radiation can contribute to the development of this disease in some women, then this obviously neutralizes the benefits.

So am I suggesting that women should avoid receiving mammograms altogether?  Let’s put it this way: I’m definitely not an advocate of women receiving mammograms every year or two, which many doctors will recommend.  I personal prefer thermography, which seems to be just as accurate as mammograms, without the accompanying radiation.  And if thermography does detect something suspicious, then perhaps at this point it would be a good idea to receive a mammogram to confirm this.  But to receive regular mammograms in my opinion is unnecessary.

So following these five tips can help to prevent the development of breast cancer.  While following only a few of these will help you reduce the risk of developing this disease, you’ll want to follow all five of these tips in order to dramatically decrease your chances of being diagnosed with breast cancer.  Of course this doesn’t mean that there aren’t other factors that can cause breast cancer, but these are some of the main factors that can reduce the likelihood of you ever being diagnosed with this disease.

When trying to restore one’s health through a natural thyroid treatment protocol, xenohormones are one of the main factors that can affect a person’s recovery.  While many people with thyroid conditions are aware that they need to eat better, exercise more, and modify other lifestyle factors, most people don’t pay enough attention to xenohormones.  In this post I’m going to talk about what xenohormones are, how they affect our health, and what you can do to minimize your exposure to them.

As for what xenohormones are, they are substances that contain synthetic hormones, primarily estrogen, and therefore have a hormone-like effect on the body.  Many of today’s products and foods contain synthetic hormones, which without question have a profound effect on our endocrine systems, as well as our overall health.  The following represents a small sample of some of the products and foods that contain xenohormones:

Pesticides
Herbicides
Fungicides
Detergents
Nail polish and nail polish remover
Meat from livestock feed hormones to increase their size
Many non-organic dairy products
Many cosmetics
Paint remover
Some types of soaps
Glues
Most plastics (so be careful about drinking too much bottled water)
Many perfumes and air fresheners

Xenohormones and Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders

While xenohormones can affect the health of anyone with a thyroid condition (as well as those people who don’t have a thyroid disorder), people with an autoimmune thyroid disorder are arguably affected even more.  So those people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis need to take extra precautions in order to minimize their exposure to xenohormones, as they can have a negative effect on the immune system.  In fact, here is a quote from the book entitled “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause”, which was written by John R. Lee:

“More recent research is showing that exposure to xenohormones suppresses the immune-system, and in particular hampers T-lymphocyte function, and lowers the proportions and numbers of natural killer (NK) cells.  These are two of your immune system’s most important defenses.  The latest studies are showing even more widespread damage to the immune system.”

In fact, some studies have shown that xenohormones can contribute to the development of an autoimmune thyroid condition.  So even if you don’t currently have an autoimmune thyroid condition, constantly exposing yourself to synthetic hormones can potentially lead to you developing such a condition in the future.  In the past I’ve mentioned the book “The Autoimmune Epidemic”, which is not the easiest book to read, but does give a good amount of research with regards to how different toxins, including xenohormones, can lead to a development of an autoimmune condition.

Other Side Effects Of Xenohormones

In addition to weakening one’s immune system, there are many other side effects that xenohormones can have.  Keep in mind that most of the times the effects aren’t immediate, as it takes years for these symptoms and conditions to develop.  But some of the different symptoms include fatigue, headaches, depression, lack of concentration, increased mood swings and irritability, and there are many other symptoms one can experience.

If this sounds similar to some of the side effects of a hormonal imbalance, this is because xenohormones essentially disrupt the endocrine system, and therefore create a hormone imbalance.  The reason for this is because they closely resemble our natural hormones, which allows them to bind to the same receptors.  So for example, synthetic estrogens will bind to the estrogen receptors.  But they don’t have the same functions as natural estrogen, which is why they will cause many of the side effects listed in this post.

But it causes more than just side effects.  As mentioned previously, it can actually lead to the development of an autoimmune condition.  Research studies show that long-term exposure to xenohormones can also increase the incidence of certain types of cancers.  So hopefully you’re beginning to realize how dangerous these toxins are, and will begin trying to do everything you can to minimize your exposure to them.

And if you are of childbearing age and are thinking of having children, keep in mind that studies also show that xenohormones can affect future generations.  So when a patient of mine informs me that she is trying to get pregnant, one of the things I’ll recommend is for her to begin a purification program to help clean out some of the toxins, including many of these xenohormones.

Minimizing Exposure To Xenohormones

I’ve spoken in the past about minimizing exposure to environmental toxins, and xenohormones do fall under this category.  So as I’ve mentioned in the past, it is impossible to avoid all of the environmental toxins out there.  However, many of the xenohormones we’re exposed to are a result of the foods and products we have in our own homes.  One of the problems is that as of writing this information, companies don’t have to reveal whether or not they include synthetic hormones in their foods and products.  As a result, your best bet is to try to purchase as many organic foods and products as possible, and if you buy non-organic products, use brands that don’t have xenohormones.  

There are numerous books that discuss the problems involved with xenohormones.  But if you don’t want to read an entire book, simply taking 30 minutes to read the “Xenohormones chapter” in the book I mentioned above (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause) will really help you understand the consequences of these toxins.  So here is an assignment for you: visit your local bookstore or library, either buy or borrow this book, and take 30 minutes to read this single chapter.  To be honest, the entire book is worth reading, and you’ll most likely want to read the other chapters after seeing how informative this single chapter is. But even if you just were to read this single chapter alone it would greatly benefit you.

Whenever I recommend a natural thyroid treatment protocol to a patient and they don’t receive optimal results, there can be numerous reasons for this, but the main reason is usually due to the patient not completely following my recommendations. Sometimes it’s because they don’t take the nutritional supplements and/or herbs I recommend, while other times due to financial reasons they can’t afford to receive the necessary testing to determine what is wrong with them.

However, the number one reason why people don’t receive optimal results when I put them on a natural thyroid treatment protocol is because they don’t follow the basics. In other words, they neglect the factors of health that I have discussed many times previously. While some people don’t take the supplements and herbs I recommend due to money issues, many people do take them, because it is an easy process. Even though it might be a little challenging in the beginning to remember which supplements to take at what time, as well as the dosage, this can easily be solved by writing it down.

On the other hand, changing one’s lifestyle is not as easy as taking supplements. As you might guess, the biggest challenge is modifying one’s diet. Because of this I don’t try pressuring anyone to make dramatic changes immediately. Being someone who grew up eating junk food and drinking punch and sodas on a daily basis, I understand how difficult it is to make such a transition. As a result, some people do need to slowly make changes. But sooner or later there will come a point where they will need to be eating well, and go at least 21 days without eating any junk food.

Just Remember That Cheaters Never Win

Some people try to cheat, and figure that eating some junk food once in awhile isn’t a big deal. Once restoring your health to normal this might be true, as I do eat some junk food occasionally (pizza, cookies, etc.). But during the first month of following the natural treatment protocol, I did not cheat at all. And those who want to receive optimal results also need to stick to a strict diet.

Just to clarify, I don’t expect anyone to eat a perfect diet for the rest of their life.  However, when a patient of mine begins a natural treatment protocol I do expect them to avoid any foods that may prevent them from healing. It’s obviously not an easy process, which is why some people need to take this slowly. But this once again proves that just taking nutritional supplements and herbs isn’t enough to fully restore one’s health back to normal.

In addition to eating well during the initial stages of a natural treatment protocol, one of course also needs to follow the other factors of health as well. So for example, someone who has a lot of stress in their life and does a poor job of managing it can eat a perfect diet, take all of the recommended nutritional supplements and herbs, and still not respond well. The same concept applies with obtaining sufficient sleep each night, although I realize that for some people it might take time before they can obtain quality sleep on a regular basis.

In summary, whenever someone with a thyroid condition follows a natural thyroid treatment protocol and just doesn’t seem to be responding well to the treatments, I always go back to the basics and make sure they are following the factors of health. If you are thinking about beginning a natural treatment protocol, this is important to understand, as if you’re not at the point where you’re disciplined enough to follow these recommendations, then you might be better off waiting until you are ready. And then once you are ready to take responsibility for your health you can begin the road to recovery.

When I was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease, without question the most uncomfortable symptoms I had were the increased heart rate and the palpitations. Even though I knew right away that I was going to follow a natural treatment protocol, I still was considering taking a beta blocker (Propranolol) to control these symptoms, along with the anti-thyroid drug Methimazole. I decided to hold off and give the natural treatment methods a few weeks to kick in, making the decision that if my symptoms persisted that I would go ahead and take the prescription drugs.

Fortunately the natural treatment methods worked quickly with regards to controlling the symptoms, and the primary herb that helped with the increased heart rate and palpitations was Bugleweed. While it took a few months until all of my symptoms were completely gone, I can honestly say that Bugleweed was the main herb that prevented me from having to take the prescription drugs. Of course this wasn’t the only thing I took during this protocol, as I took multiple nutritional supplements and herbs, as well as modified my diet, and changed other lifestyle factors as well.

However, if there is a “magic” potion for hyperthyroidism and Graves’ Disease, then Bugleweed is it. Once again, this doesn’t mean that simply taking Bugleweed will cure your condition, as while taking it alone might help to manage the symptoms, if you want to restore your health back to normal then you will need to do more than taking a single herb.

As for what dosage I took, I began by taking 5ml of the liquid herb, two times daily. I was on the herb for a few months, and when I weaned myself off I eventually took 5ml one time each day, and then 2.5 ml before stopping completely. I’m of course not suggesting that anyone reading this with a hyperthyroid condition take Bugleweed, as you really should consult with a natural endocrine doctor first. This is especially true if you have Graves’ Disease, but even if you have a “typical” case of hyperthyroidism you still should speak with an expert.

While taking the correct liquid herbs can really help with your thyroid condition, one thing to keep in mind is that most of them taste nasty. As a result, if you take liquid herbs then you will want to either “down it” quickly like a shot, or mix it with some juice, or another drink in order. I chose the latter option, as I would add the Bugleweed to my protein drink, which did a great job of masking the taste.

Obviously I was thrilled with the results I received while following a natural treatment protocol, but besides being concerned initially as to whether or not such a protocol would be effective, another fear I had is the fear that my symptoms would return once I stopped taking supplements and herbs, especially Bugleweed. So as I weaned myself off of this herb I was worried that the increased heart rate and palpitations would return, but fortunately they didn’t.

So if you have hyperthyroidism or Graves’ Disease and are thinking about following a natural treatment protocol, then chances are Bugleweed will be one of the herbs you will be told to take, along with numerous others. Just like any other supplement or herb, the quality is extremely important. I say this because even though I strongly recommend not to treat your thyroid condition on your own, I know some people will look to buy some Bugleweed anyway. And many will purchase a low quality liquid herb, and then not understand why it doesn’t work.

Finally, this herb is only for people with a hyperthyroid disorder, and is contraindicated for a hypothyroid condition, including Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. If you have a hypothyroid condition and take Bugleweed, not only won’t it help you, but it might worsen your condition. And if you have a hyperthyroid condition and are taking other supplements and/or medications, you’ll once again need to be cautious about taking this. Quality liquid herbs can be very powerful, but they can be somewhat dangerous at times as well, which is why speaking with a holistic doctor who focuses on endocrine disorders is a wise thing to do.