Evidence suggests that women’s hormones are sensitive to energy availability, meaning that too few complex carbs can cause imbalances. These imbalances can have very serious consequences, including impaired fertility, low mood-depression, thyroid issues and even weight gain.

THYROID AND LOW-CARB:
Your thyroid gland produces two hormones: thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), these two hormones are necessary for a wide range of bodily functions, including breathing, heart rate, the nervous system, body weight, temperature control, cholesterol levels and the menstrual cycle, so an absolutely vital gland for your well-being.

T3, the active thyroid hormone is very sensitive to low carb intake. If complex carb intake is too low, T3 levels drop and reverse T3 (rT3) levels increase. Reverse T3 is a hormone that blocks the action of T3.
Some studies have shown that ketogenic diets also reduce T3 levels.

STUDY: One study found that T3 levels dropped by 47% over 2 weeks in people consuming a VL-Carb diet: Effect of caloric restriction and dietary composition of serum T3 and reverse T3 in man

Low T3 and high rT3 levels can slow your metabolism, resulting in symptoms such as weight gain, fatigue, lack of concentration, low mood, hypothyroid, and more.

This ongoing pressure of Low Carb may eventually lead to HPA axis dysfunction (Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Axis), sometimes referred to as “adrenal fatigue”.
Symptoms include fatigue, a weakened immune system and greater risk of long-term health problems such as hypothyroidism, inflammation, diabetes and mental health disorders. In addition, some evidence suggests that low carb diets can cause increased production of cortisol (“the stress hormone”), messing with our coping factor and ability to deal with stress, making the problem much worse.

One study found that, regardless of weight loss, a low-carb diet increased cortisol levels compared to a moderate-fat, moderate-carb diet.

Conclusion, a plant based diet rich with all your complex carbs, including vegetables, starches, grains, beans and legumes, will nourish your thyroid hormones allowing them to regulate and thrive once again, do not settle for – ‘There’s no cure’, or ‘Once your on medication you’ll never get off it’, or ‘Its all in your head, you’re fine’, or ‘you need a body part taken out’, remember the possibilities are endless when you start working with natural medicine, with the correct lifestyle, nutrition, mindset and support if you feel it will help you get there faster, saving you months, even years of research, its been proven, and I’ve seen it in my own clinic, everything can change in a matter of a few short weeks, even chronic disease of 5-10 years plus, I’m seeing it being healed and reversed in my practice in 8-12 weeks.

I would love to hear your comments and questions below,

To your health,

Arianna X

Nutritionist | Healer | Researcher | Health Coach | Up Coming Author

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