The other day I made a post that discussed the importance of Vitamin D, and how most people are Vitamin D deficient and need to get tested.  I also spoke about how a big reason for this deficiency is due to people avoiding the sun, as well as wearing sunscreen all of the time.

Recently I read a book called “Diabetes Rising”, by Dan Hurley.  In this book there is a chapter that focuses on some of the benefits of Vitamin D.  Although it mainly focuses on how sufficient Vitamin D intake can prevent diabetes, the information it provides also leads me to believe that Vitamin D can also help to prevent an autoimmune thyroid disorder, and quite possibly help to restore the health of people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.  Here is one of the quotes from this chapter regarding Vitamin D:

“It’s a peacemaker in the immune system.  It goes to where there’s an autoimmune attack, and will modulate or stop the attack.”

This statement alone is telling us that Vitamin D does more than just help prevent Diabetes.  So for people with an autoimmune thyroid disorder, wouldn’t you agree that having a deficiency in a vitamin/steroid hormone that can help modulate or stop the body from attacking its own tissues can be a pretty big factor?  In addition to helping prevent and/or cure people with these conditions, Vitamin D has been shown to help with other conditions as well, as here is another quote from the book:

“Cedric and Frank Garland “have since linked increased sun exposure, vitamin D levels, or both to dramatic reductions in the risk of cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia.”

So as you can see, increasing the amount of Vitamin D intake through sun exposure and/or supplementation can not only help with your current condition, but very well might prevent other serious conditions from developing in the future.  And this isn’t just speculation, as if you visit the website I suggested in my previous post (www.vitamindcouncil.org), and read the book Diabetes Rising, you’ll see some of the research regarding Vitamin D.

In fact, one of the research studies from the book “Diabetic Rising” was from Finland, where 12,055 women who gave birth were surveyed as to how often they gave a Vitamin D supplement to their children.  Thirty years later, a follow-up with the children was done with these people (by Danish researcher Elina Hypponen), and the goal was to compare their Vitamin D intake to their risk of getting type 1 diabetes.  Here is what they found:

“Compared to their non-diabetic peers, those with diabetes were over eight times more likely to have never received Vitamin D.  Even among those who were given the supplement regularly, the ones who received the recommended dose of 2,000 IU had about one-fifth the risk of developing type 1 as those who received less”.  In other words, supplementing with Vitamin D had reduced children’s risk of diabetes by about 80%.”

I realize this is only one study, but there is another one in the same book that focuses on type 2 diabetes, as well as a few other studies.  And of course these are just a small sample of the research studies done with regards to Vitamin D.

Now as far as I know, there has been no research study that has been conducted on people with an autoimmune thyroid disorder.  And I’m not suggesting that Vitamin D deficiency by itself is THE cause of Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.  And I’m definitely not saying that just correcting this deficiency alone will cure your disorder.

However, I think that the fact that more people are becoming Vitamin D deficient, and that the increasing rates of Graves’ and Hashimoto’s isn’t coincidental.  In summary, one shouldn’t neglect a vitamin/steroid hormone that has been proven to play an important role in stopping the autoimmune response.

After all, while the book “Diabetes Rising” of course focuses on diabetes, let’s not forget that type 1 diabetes, like Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, is an autoimmune condition.  So disregarding these research studies just because they focus on a different condition would be unwise.

While receiving ample sun exposure and/or adequate supplementation alone probably won’t completely restore your health back to normal, in most individuals with an autoimmune thyroid disorder, it is an important piece of the puzzle.  As I’ve discussed previously, there are numerous factors that are important when it comes to restoring one’s health, and addressing a Vitamin D deficiency can without question be an extremely important part of the recovery process.

In this post I’m going to talk about some of the benefits of Vitamin D, as this is an essential vitamin that many people are deficient in.  I’m also going to share a great website that will pretty much give you all of the information you need about this important vitamin.  As a result I won’t go into too much detail, as you can find a lot of great information simply by visiting this website.

But I will begin by saying that a big reason why most people are deficient in Vitamin D has to do with our avoidance of the sun.   While we can take a daily vitamin D supplement, our bodies produce Vitamin D naturally when exposed to the sun.The problem is that many people do everything they can to avoid the sun, fearing that too much exposure can lead to cancer.

This may be true, but keep in mind that I’m not recommending that you should spend hours per day in the sun.  However, many people do everything they can to avoid the sun. And if they plan on spending some time in the sun, many will put sunscreen on, which will prevent Vitamin D formation.  Keep in mind that Vitamin D is more than just a simple vitamin, as it gets converted to a steroid hormone, and it plays a big role in preventing many different types of conditions, including many types of cancer, autoimmune disorders, etc.

For example, if you visit the website www.vitamindcouncil.org, one of the things you will read is that “Vitamin D deficiency can cause 17 different types of cancers”.  This alone should be enough to make you want to do something about this and make sure you’re not deficient in Vitamin D.

But Vitamin D deficiency can do more than just cause cancer, as it can lead to other conditions, including autoimmune disorders, as it plays a big role in immunity.  So for someone with Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, making sure you are not Vitamin D deficient is extremely important.

Getting back to avoiding the sun and how this has led to Vitamin D deficiency, here is a brief summary from www.vitamindcouncil.org that briefly explains how this may have happened:

“Remember, our ancestors lived naked in the sun for several million years. Then 50,000 years ago, some of us migrated north and south to places with less sun. Then we put on clothes, started working inside and living in cities where buildings blocked the sun. Then we started traveling in cars instead of walking, or riding horses, and glass blocked even more of the UVB in the sunlight. Then, only a few years ago, we started actively avoiding the sun and putting on sunblock. All this time we humans have been steadily reducing the tissue levels of the most potent steroid hormone in our bodies, one with powerful anti-cancer properties.”

So how do you know if you are Vitamin D deficient?

The best method to determine whether or not you have a Vitamin D deficiency is to get a Vitamin D test.  The type you want to get is called a 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D test.  The website I listed above (www.vitamindcouncil.org) offers a Vitamin D test kit that they will ship to your home.  Or if you prefer you can visit a website such as www.DirectLabs.com, order the test online, and then visit your local LabCorp.  Either way, this test will tell you whether or not you are deficient.

After reading this information, two questions might pop into your mind:

1. How much daily sun exposure should you get? Different healthcare professionals will have different opinions with regards to how much daily sun exposure you should receive.  Of course this will also depend on where you live, as some places are closer to the equator, have more sunny days, etc.  So there obviously won’t be an opportunity to get daily sun exposure every day.

But when the sun is shining, you should get at least ten to fifteen minutes of sun exposure (remember, without sunblock).  Other sources suggest that you should get at least 20 to 30 minutes of daily sun exposure.  A person’s complexion can also play a part in this, as someone who is dark skinned will need a greater amount of sun exposure than someone who is fair skinned.  Either way, the overall point is that everyone should be getting some minimal daily sun exposure to help prevent Vitamin D deficiency.

2. Should you take a Vitamin D supplement daily? For those who are Vitamin D deficient, it probably is a good idea to take a Vitamin D supplement on a daily basis, at least initially.  Supplementing with about 2,000 IU of Vitamin D3 on a daily basis (make sure it’s of high quality) is recommended if you are deficient, along with daily sun exposure. As usual, I think it’s wise to consult with a competent healthcare professional, rather than just do this on your own.

But if you decide to do this on your own, I would supplement for about 3 months, get daily sun exposure, and then re-test to see what your levels are.  Someone who is not deficient in Vitamin D might not have to take a daily supplement, as they might be able to get all of the Vitamin D they need from the sun.  On the other hand, some might need to take a small amount of Vitamin D each day, along with getting regular sun exposure.

To summarize what I have posted, Vitamin D is an extremely important vitamin/steroid hormone, and everyone should get a Vitamin D test to make sure they are not deficient.  For those that are deficient, daily Vitamin D3 supplementation is recommended, along with regular sun exposure.

Only a small percentage of people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis will choose natural treatment methods.  Even though more people are giving natural treatment methods a try, most people with these conditions will take the advice of their endocrinologist or general practitioner.  What this of course means is that most people will choose to manage their symptoms for the rest of their lives, and not try to restore their health back to normal.

Obviously a big reason for this is skepticism.  There are other reasons, and I actually discussed some of the most common reasons why people don’t choose natural treatment methods in a previous post.  But while there are many reasons why people choose NOT to try natural treatment methods, here a few reasons why some people DO choose to follow a natural treatment protocol.

Reason #1: They Have A Natural Attitude. Even though most people follow the advice of their medical doctor, some people who become diagnosed with Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis have what I call a “natural attitude”.  In other words, these people know that most prescription drugs do nothing more than manage the symptoms, and while they might consider taking the medication, they will also look to see if there are natural solutions out there.  This of course doesn’t just pertain to autoimmune thyroid disorders, but pretty much any other condition.

Reason #2: They Were Referred By Someone Else. Many people who give natural treatment methods a try do so because they have a friend, family member, or co-worker who followed a natural treatment protocol.  When they speak with someone who went through a natural treatment protocol and realize how great the person looks and feels, many who don’t have a “natural attitude” will end up consulting with a natural endocrine doctor.  And upon experiencing the results of natural treatment methods, many will actually develop a “natural attitude”.

Reason #3: They Become Desperate. A number of people choose natural treatment methods because the thyroid medication doesn’t completely help manage their symptoms, or in some cases doesn’t help with their symptoms at all.  Other people have symptoms but negative lab results, and frequently under these circumstances their medical doctor won’t write a prescription, even if they are symptomatic.  As a result, many of these people will turn to natural treatment methods, and will often times become “hooked” once they begin experiencing the results.

Of these three categories of people, usually those with a natural attitude are the easiest to manage, as they  don’t have as much skepticism as the other two categories of people.  But on the other hand, I do enjoy helping people who were once skeptical, but after giving natural treatment methods a try realized that these protocols really do work, especially when under the guidance of an expert.  Many people who follow a natural treatment protocol actually wish they had tried it sooner, rather than managing their symptoms for many months and years.

So if you already have a natural attitude, then that’s great.  It probably won’t take too much convincing to get you to consult with a natural endocrine doctor.  If you don’t have a natural attitude (at least not yet!), that’s okay too, as the most important thing is to be both happy and comfortable with the choices you make, whatever they may be.

Just remember to keep an open mind, as while I’m obviously biased towards natural treatment methods, I do realize that there is a time and place for medical intervention.  And if you’re more “medically oriented” then there’s nothing wrong with this, but don’t immediately dismiss the possibilities of a natural treatment protocol restoring your health back to normal.  After all, many “skeptics” have come to realize how safe and effective they really can be.

Many people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis have difficulty obtaining quality sleep.  Quality sleep is of course important in the recovery process, especially when following a natural treatment protocol.  

Some have difficulty falling to sleep at night, while others have no problem falling asleep, but frequently wake up in the middle of the night and find it difficult to fall back to sleep.  Others have both of these problems.  And some people sleep throughout the night for seven to eight hours, but still wake up exhausted.

While there are numerous factors that can lead to sleep disorders, many times the problems are related to the adrenal glands, which is yet another reason why it is important to test your adrenals, which I spoke about in a previous post.  Regulating the adrenal glands can help a great deal when it comes to getting quality sleep, as well as overcoming cases of chronic fatigue.

But rather than get to the cause of the problem, what frequently happens is that when someone has sleeping difficulties their doctor will recommend medication to help them obtain quality sleep.  Or sometimes they will visit a health food or nutritional supplement store and purchase some “natural” sleep aids.  While these may help (although not always), you obviously don’t want to rely on taking medication or even supplements in order to get a good night’s sleep.

I’ve made a number of posts on adrenal health, so I won’t go into too much detail here on this topic.  But I will reinforce that much of these adrenal problems are due to chronic stress and poor eating habits.  So for anyone who thinks they can restore their adrenal health back to normal just by taking supplements, think again.  If you don’t manage the stress in your life and begin eating better, your adrenal glands will remain stressed out, and you will continue to have sleeping difficulties.

You might wonder how “stressed out” adrenals can cause sleeping difficulties.  To better explain this, let’s look at an example of how one’s cortisol levels should normally be throughout the day. 

Upon waking up in the morning (assuming you’re on a normal sleep schedule and not working a third shift), your cortisol levels should be at the highest levels.  Then throughout the day these levels should begin declining, and should ideally be at the lowest levels at the end of the day, which makes it easier to fall asleep.

This is the ideal situation, but some people have a reverse circadian pattern, where their cortisol levels are low in the morning, and high at night.  When this happens, frequently the person is tired throughout the day, and due to the high cortisol levels at night they usually have difficulty falling asleep. 

Keep in mind that these symptoms aren’t always immediate, as when I was first diagnosed with Graves’ Disease and had an Adrenal Stress Index done, my morning cortisol levels were low, yet I didn’t feel too fatigued.  In fact, I felt like I had a good amount of energy at the time. 

But had I not addressed the adrenal problem then there is an excellent chance that over time I would have become symptomatic with regards to feeling fatigued. Your body will do everything it can to adapt to the chronic stress in your life, poor eating, etc., but it can only do so for so long.

While high cortisol levels are frequently responsible for sleeping difficulties, a person waking up at night can have either a high or a low cortisol level, which is why Dr. Janet Lang (a natural endocrine expert) suggests that a person who has difficulty sleeping throughout the night receive a one-sample cortisol test.  The reason for this is because there are different natural treatment protocols for high and low cortisol levels, and you don’t want to give someone with high cortisol levels the wrong protocol, and vice versa.

Once again, adrenal problems aren’t the only reason why people have sleeping difficulties.  But it is one of the most common reasons, if not THE most prominent reason why  people can’t get quality sleep at night.  So if you aren’t getting quality sleep each night, then I highly recommend that you get your adrenal glands tested, as this very well might be the reason behind your sleeping difficulties.

Recently I made a post that spoke about eliminating blood sugar cravings, and although you really don’t need to understand the physiology of what’s going on to achieve this, I thought it might interest you to know some of the basics of what’s going on when you eat refined foods.  As a reminder, I’m not expecting anyone to eat a perfect diet, as I personally don’t eat a perfect diet. 

One thing I don’t like is a healthcare professional telling their patients to do something that they personally don’t do.  So I’d be a hypocrite if I told you to never eat refined foods, when occasionally I’ll eat them.  But I do eat healthy most of the time, and don’t have any cravings towards sweets and carbs, which wasn’t the case a few years ago.

Anyway, insulin is secreted by the pancreas when the blood sugar becomes too high, while cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands when your blood sugar gets too low.  Let’s look at a common situation where a person eats a lot of refined foods throughout the day, and also goes more than a few hours without eating.  When this person eats a refined food, it gets absorbed into the bloodstream pretty quickly, which spikes up the blood sugar levels.  This causes a surge of insulin to be released from the pancreas, which in effect lowers the blood sugar levels.  If the blood sugar levels dip too low, such as when someone goes a long time without eating anything, then cortisol will be released to raise the blood sugar levels.  So for someone that eats refined foods and skips meals frequently, this creates a viscous cycle that puts a lot of stress on their body.

What are the potential consequences of eating this way?  Well, let’s first take a look at how this can affect the adrenal glands.  Constantly having this up and down activity in blood sugar levels will cause the adrenal glands to frequently secrete cortisol, which over time will stress out the adrenal glands.  Eventually this can lead to adrenal fatigue. 

Now this of course isn’t the only factor that affects the adrenals, as there are other lifestyle factors that can negatively affect the adrenal glands, such has having a lot of stress AND not doing a good job of managing it.  Not getting quality sleep can also stress out the adrenals, as is the case with many people who stay up late watching television, and then need to wake up early to get to work.  So eating poorly plays a big role in adrenal health, but it isn’t the only factor.

Now let’s take a look at the effect of secreting all of that insulin by frequently eating refined foods.  What happens is that over a period of time, the cells don’t become as sensitive to insulin, which can lead to insulin resistance.  Once again, I’m just covering this on a very basic level, and not trying to get too deep into the physiology.  If you really want to learn more about the physiology there are numerous books and resources on the internet you can check out. 

What is also important to understand is that the cells only have room for a small amount of glucose, so when you eat a lot of refined foods, most of this gets converted to triglycerides, which of course can lead to weight gain.  All of this really has a big effect on the entire endocrine system, and affects numerous hormones.   And this is one of the reasons why it can be difficult for people to lose weight, as sometimes it’s not just about eating well and exercising, but balancing the hormones of the endocrine system.

Don’t get me wrong, as it is important to eat well and exercise.  But if you are overweight, and diet and exercise doesn’t seem to help much, then this very well can be the reason why.  Dr. Janet Lang, who is also a chiropractor and teaches others about natural endocrine methods, talks about how “hormones are stronger than diet”, which is definitely true.  In other words, if you have an imbalance in your hormones, you can eat a perfect diet and exercise regularly and you won’t be able to lose weight. 

I’ll talk more about weight loss in the future, as I know this is a popular topic.  I just wanted to go over some of the basics as to what happens when a person eats refined foods frequently, and/or skips meals on a regular basis.  It takes years for the body to begin breaking down in someone with these habits, and is a big reason why many people will develop conditions such as Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.

The good news is that eating healthier and on a regular basis (about every two hours after eating breakfast) will help prevent this viscous cycle, and will greatly reduce the likelihood of developing adrenal fatigue and insulin resistance.  And if you already have these conditions, then eating right, along with following the other factors of health I mentioned in a previous post, will help a great deal in restoring your health.