The Greek word hormon means to urge or excite and came about after it was realised hormones were responsible for exciting us in relation to the 3 S's, safety (flight-or-fight), satiety (hunger and nourishment), and sex (reproduction) which naturally have to be accounted for in that order. If your not safe, your hunger will diminish, if your not safe or well nourished your libido will plummet. No point in eating if your being chased by a lion, and theirs no point in reproducing if you can't support yourself nutritionally. Its our bodies inbuilt protection mechanism. Hormones work as messengers and regulators of metabolism. Thyroid Hormone (TH) and TH imbalances are a huge problem in the modern world.

TH is major biochemical molecule which contains iodene, a substance that is essential to the structure of TH, and iodine deficiency is the leading can cause hypothyroidism. TH is produced by the thyroid as a response to thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) from the pituitary gland.

TH has two main components T4 (Levothyroxine) that has 4 iodine atoms per molecule and can also be converted into T3. T4 is produced in the Thyroid gland. T3 (Triiodothronine) naturally has 3 iodine atoms per molecule and is far more powerful than T4 (eight times more effective than T4). It can be converted from T4 in the thyroid, brain, liver, and the bloodstream, as well as in various tissues of the body.
TH helps to convert food into energy and heat. T3 works to increase energy metabolism in the mitochondria which is the cells powerstation. T3 causes the breakdown of proteins, an increase in free fatty acids, and increased oxygen use. TH also raises heart rate and increases oxygen to meet our needs.

TH regulates body temperature, which should be obvious given the recent posts and the stuff many of us (ye olde clients from back in the day) covered in 2003. TSH stimulates the thyroid to produce TH and then also stimulates brown adipose tissue which is rich in mitochondria, to boost heat production. Maybe it now makes sense why I always want you to record your temperatures. TH fluctuates dependent upon our caloric intake and external temperature. As I keep telling you all, during starvation and semi-starvation, the body naturally lowers TH. This reduces your energy requirements (i.e your metabolism and caloric needs go down which is NOT what any of you ever want). It also does so to prevent ketone bodies (yes the very same thing you get encouraged to get on certain low calorie/low carb diets) from building up in the blood and kidneys. Ketones can cause damage to the kidneys and other part of the body, as many of you know I've spent many years treating former lighterlife clients who have built up ketones (at lighterlifes request) and seriously damaged their kidneys to the point that they've lost hair and mental stability. Injury normally lowers TH levels as I can testify, but it will return as I heal.

TH is incredibly sensitive to the levels of other hormones besides TSH, estrogen for instance can block the efficiency of TH. As such women compensate by producing greater amounts of TH than men. Women tend to have larger thyroids than men, and see higher incidences of thyroid disorders. 

I see a lot of people who are mildly hypothyroid and my wife used to suffer until we modified her diet. One of her worst symptoms was fatigue, I've never met anyone who could sleep so easily. Despite her claims of liking the fact that she fell asleep so easily I knew that she did not get full refreshment from her sleep. During the day I saw her showing signs of fatigue, apathy and attention problems.

T3 influences levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter linked to both mood and behavior, as such low levels of T3 are linked to depression. Anti-depressants often make hypothyroid patients worse as they lower T3 levels even more. Alcohol and opiates can actually increase T3 levels as they can slow the breakdown of T3 in the brain, this tends to temporarily lead to a better mood. All thought the improved mood won't last it is a factor in why alcohol and opiates are addictive, users continually chase the initial improvement. I'm not too sure serotonin is the wonder substance its made out to be and Ray Peat agrees, check out his article here.

As mentioned above low TH leads to fatigue, onset of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), impaired food digestion (constipation is often the case). A huge sign that I frequently get asked to help with is infertility, it really is the age of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). If your TH is low then your struggling with your own metabolism so you aren't really in a fit state to support another life, hence the lack of fertility.

As we've mentioned before, TH help to control your heart rate and blood pressure. When we become hypothyroid our heart rate can fall quite dramatically to as low as 30 heart beats a minute (BPM) and develop arrhythmia. Remember my days as a spin instructor when I was down at 28 BPM with serious adrenal issues. Hypothyroidism effects our muscles and leads to weakness. One particular symptom I notice is impaired breathing due to a weakened diaphragm, I have many sleep apnea clients who are seriously hypothyroid. Breathing labored and snoring is often present. This leads to further fatigue from the effects of hypothyroidism coupled with poor sleep and poor oxygen supply. This also causes muscles and joints ache. Impaired breathing and lack of oxygen makes exercise a complete waste of time as the body, and muscles do not strengthen in response to exercise and stamina decreases.

When the thyroid is dysfunctional you tend to find that muscle fibers  change from fast-twitch to slow-twitch fibers to help cope with the starvation. With hypothyroid and low calorie, low glycemic (semi starvation) diets we know that blood sugar is low, consequently fast-twitch muscle fibers which require high levels of glucose to operate adapt to become slow twitch. This leads to fatty acid levels in the blood becoming elevated as fuel for the slow-twitch muscles. Sadly the previously mentioned low oxygen in the blood due to slow heart rate and respiratory problems limits the slow-twitch effectiveness.

Ask any PT and they'll claim strength training will boost the metabolic rate and improve muscle tone and fitness. Huge FAIL, it simply isn't possible with out addressing the problems mentioned above. Its no wonder their are so may PT's struggling to have any effect on their clients long term as both aerobic and anaerobic exercise are just worsening an already serious problem.

If you suffer some of long list of symptoms: 

• Weight gain and an increased inability to lose weight (often weight loss 
• Metabolic Syndrome
• Altered appetite
• Abdominal bloating
• Decreased Body temperature
• Temperature intolerance (both cold and hot)

• Cold extremities
• Hypothermia
• Cold hands
• Clammy palms
• Fatigue
• Slowed reflexes (particularly achilles, check out my blog about my achilles rupture for more info)
• Frequent illness such as colds, flues, infections etc.
• Candida (yeast)
• UTI's
Related autoimmune or endocrine diseases:


• Celiac disease
• Diabetes
• Addison’s disease
• Reynaud’s syndrome
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Multiple sclerosis
• Psoriasis


• Difficulty swallowing and feeling of lump in the throat
• Sensation of lump in throat
• Enlarged thyroid (Goitre)
• Swollen tongue
• Increased incidence of cavities
• Receding gums
Ears:


• Oversensitive hearing
• Noises in ears (hissing, ringing) / Tinnitus
• Internal itching of ears (I suffered this as a child so the signs were there from an early age)
• Excess earwax
• Vertigo
• Dry gritty eyes
• Droopy eyelids 
• Light sensitivity (I suffer this when I'm ill and my thyroid is struggling)
• Dark rings under eyes (for years I blamed this on gluten and grain)
• Puffy eyes
Hair:


• Hair issues (loss, dryness, baldness, greying and loss of outer third of eyebrows (during my Paleo years my eyebrows looked ridiculous)
• Ingrown toenails and in particular brittle nails that struggle to maintain their shape.
Skin:


• Dry itchy and often flaky skin
• Heels that are dry and cracking (we were taught at CHEK that this was a protein deficiency, mine were fine pre MT but got worse during my massive protein intake).
• Boils
• Hives and rashes
• Tingling and nerve pain
• Tendonitis
• Heel spur
• Plantar fasciitis(every Sunday post competition I suffered night cramps)
• Muscle cramps
• Aching muscles and joints
Digestion:


• Hard stools
• Constipation
• Food allergy
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Gluten and Lactose intolerance
• Celiac Disease and Colitis
• Colitis
• Abdominal distention
• Diverticulosis
• Excess gas
• Flatulence
• Nausea
• Ulcers
Menstrual disorders:


• Cessation of periods (amenorrhoea)
• Scanty (light) periods (oligomenorrhoea)
• Heavy periods (menorrhagia)
• Irregular periods
• Very short cycles
• Very long cycles
• Severe cramping
• Failure to ovulate
• Constant bleeding
• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
• Premenstrual tension (PMT)
• Extreme bloating and water retention
• Premature or delayed puberty
• Premature or delayed menopause
• Difficult menopause
• Hysterectomy
• Endometriosis
• Ovarian fibroids
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
Reproductive disorders and pregnancy:


• Infertility
• Miscarriage
• Still birth
• IVF failure
• Donor egg failure
• Oestrogen progesterone imbalances
• Erectile dysfunction
• Loss of libido
• Painful sex
• Difficulty breast-feeding
• Low breast milk supply
• Premature birth
• Low birth weight
• Long gestation
• High birth weight
• Newborn with deficits in intellectual development
• Newborns with jaundice
• Autism (my Aspergers is greatly improved by proper thyroid function)
Emotional:
• Desire to be alone (my Aspergers again)
• Adrenal fatigue (otherwise known as starvation)
• Dizziness
  
• Fainting episodes
• Restless Leg Syndrome
• Rhabdomyolysis (destruction of skeletal muscle)
• Scoliosis
• Depression
• Panic attacks
• Hallucinations
• Delusions
• Mania
• Phobias
• Obsessions
• Alcohol & drug addiction
• Rage
• Suicidal tendencies
• Dementia
• Parkinson’s Disease
Kidney and bladder:
• Urinary incontinence 
• Frequent need to urinate
Gallbladder:


• Gallstones and gallbladder pain
• Liver issues (enlarged, poor function, hypoglycaemia etc).
• Air hunger
• Pleural effusion (fluid around the lung)
• Shortness of breath
• Tightness in chest
• Pneumonia
Heart:


• High blood pressure
• Low blood pressure
• Slow/weak pulse (under 60 bpm)
• Fast pulse (over 90 bpm at rest)
• Arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)
• Skipped beats
• Heart flutters
• Heart palpitations
• Chest pain
• High cholesterol
• High triglycerides
• High LDL (“bad”) cholesterol
• Mitral Valve Prolapse
• Atherosclerosis
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Elevated C-Reactive Protein
• Fibrillations
• Plaque buildup
• Fluid retention
• Poor circulation
• Enlarged heart
• Congestive Heart Failure
• Stroke
• Heart Attack
Cancer:


• Skin Cancer
• Thyroid Cancer
• Prostate Cancer
• Endocrine Cancers
• Lung Cancer
• Breast Cancer

Get checked out, your GP may ignore the symptoms and you may fail to show up on the tests they have (which are poor), so be persistent. However you can easily restore function by altering diet and lifestyle factors and will help start your the right direction towards a healthy thyroid. If you have symptoms then you have nothing to loose from changing your diet around.

January 1940 saw the UK tighten it's belt and enter rationing.

Every week housewives would queue with their ration books at the shops they had registered with, so they could buy an allowances of groceries.

Lord Woolton, a department store boss was brought into government as minister of food, in order to implement the rationing.

During World War I people were very aware that some were doing very well out of the conflict, whilst others struggled (war profiteering is alive and well today). So, during World War II rationing attempted to create a more equal system, although I'm sure those with riches and power didn't really suffer much hardship.

As you can see many of the foods we restrict nowadays were the foods that we ate more of back in 1945, yet we didn't have the obesity and disease rates that we currently suffer. 

What would surprise most, is that according to the government's National Food Survey, the amount of calories each person consumes a day has steadily declined since the rationing era. Yet we are constantly bombarded with advice to cut our calories from government policy, the media and naturally those with a vested interest in selling lower calorie lifestyles. 

In 1942 we ate 2,269 kcal yet by 2000 the figure had dropped to 1,750 kcal. Yes thats right, we now eat less, yet are fatter and unhealthier than ever. Like I've said countless times cutting back on calories is not the way to a healthy existence.

Despite this, Dr David Haslam, chairman of the National Obesity Forum still thinks that overeating after the end of rationing in the 1950s and our current plentiful food supply is responsible for obesity.

"We have a situation where food is available everywhere, open round the clock - cheaper, poor quality, bigger portions - a situation where food is ubiquitous. It is the first time really in history where food is limitless."

Food might be abundant, but I would suggest that it is the cycles of binging followed by guilty dieting, foods that lack nutrition and the ever increasing prominence of polyunsaturated fatty acids in our food that plays a bigger factor in our current obesity crisis.  

Haslam states; "We haven't developed an instinct that tells us when not to eat. Our strongest instincts tell us to eat." 

However, he is wrong. We do have this instinct, it's called Leptin, it just won't respond if we indulge in a low calorie existence. If we don't eat enough how can we receive a signal to tell us to stop eating? Sure I hear you muttering about people consuming McDonalds mega meals, but these highly processed foods consisting of soy derivatives, corn syrups, laced with unsaturated oils, along with semi starvation/binge cycles may cause a situation in which the body becomes malnourished. So would it not seem obvious that the body would continue to signal us to eat? You're starving your body of nutrients.

Should we bring back rationing?

The Calorie was defined in the 1800's as the energy needed to heat 1kg water by exactly 1°C. 

In the 1880's, Wilbur Atwater used a 'bomb calorimeter' to calculate the change in heat in a closed container in order to measure the energy contained in different foods. The theory was, if you eat fewer calories than your body burned up, you would lose weight. 

This formed the basis of the western worlds obsession with cutting calories. We do know that cutting back does cause weight-loss, but that it is unhealthy (see my previous post). The theory does work, but sadly it's not as simple as it sounds. The trouble is, when you cut your calorie below the amount you actually need your metabolism slows down so you burn up less energy. Makes sense doesn't it, you eat less than you need, so your body goes into a conservation or starve mode. Now that specifically isn't a problem, well it isn't if you know what signs of metabolic damage to look out for. If one wants to work on a deficit it makes sense that at first sign of metabolic damage (cold hands and feet, lowered libido, fertility problems, hypoglycaemia, hormonal issues etc) you would cease the diet and repair your metabolism. It isn't the diet that always causes the problem, but the amount of time someone tries to engage in it or the high percentage deficit they attempt. Its the biggest thing I struggle with in my work, it seems so simple yet people really do always fall back into the "must burn more calories and eat less" mantra. The mechanism is there to help us survive starvation so we can't beat the system. 

My research shows that 1800 calories is technically semi starvation. Remember this figure and lower is often mentioned as healthy by diet clubs and I frequently consult with people eating far lower. In the year 2000, leaders of rich and poor countries set a target to end extreme poverty worldwide by 2015 by means of eight Millennium Development Goals. 

The first goal is: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

The benchmark for hunger is an average intake of 2,100 kilocalories a day, which is slightly higher than the recommended allowance for women in the UK. Absolute madness yet they go on to state that, "people who have less than this suffer symptoms of malnutrition, including impaired ability to learn or work, and reduced resistance to disease. So hunger is a cause as well as a consequence of poverty. "Even the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition think that our calorie recommendations are low, yet we continue to aim for a low calorie lifestyle. 

William Banting was originally an undertaker who retired in 1862, weighing 92kg at just 163cm tall. Given his career it was quiet approriate that he became involved in DIEt's. Allegedly he was unable to bend over to tie his own shoes, suffered knee pain and had to tackle stairs backwards. He wore a truss to hold in place an umbilical rupture that he had suffered. Mirroring todays modern efforts in gyms under the guidance of 'personal drainers' Zumba classes and Park Runs, Banting was unsuccessful at losing weight by rowing on the Thames and horseback riding. To this day it baffles me that people still sign up to gyms in the hope that pounding out the miles will beat the bulge.
 
Banting consulted William Harvey (an ear surgeon) due to deafness, and Harvey diagnosed that Banting's deafness was due to fat deposits in the eustachian tubes. He prescribed a weight-loss diet based upon Dr Claude Bernard's Diabetes diet, which cut out bread, butter, milk, sugar, beer and potatoes. 

Harvey believed the diet would reduce corpulence as well diabetes. And to some degree it worked for Banting, who reportedly who lost 46lb in under a year and regained the ability to descend stairs normally. He also gave up wearing his truss and his sight and hearing improved. How factual that is we'll never know, what we also won't find out is the long term issues he suffered due to the diet, or how long he maintained his loss for prior to his death in 1878. 

Banting was eager to share his success with others, and did so by publishing the short pamphlet, 'A Letter On Corpulence' [1] in 1863. Banting described obesity in much the same way that is viewed socially to this very day. 

"Of all the parasites that affect humanity…I do not know of, nor can I imagine, any more distressing than that of obesity."

In the pamphlet he describes the distress he suffered due to the, 

"...sneers and taunts that obese people suffer in public spaces." 

So it seems that like modern DIEt's, Banting's was simply attempting to escape the social stigma attached to obesity and conform to social expectations as well as regain his health. 

As I've discussed previously that diabetes is more to do with the inhibition of glucose via the randle cycle, due to excess of fats, particularly polyunsaturated fatty acids.

"More important than the physiological vacuity of a simple glycemic measurement was the ideology within which the whole issue developed, namely, the idea that diabetes (conceived as chronic hyperglycemia) is caused by eating too much sugar, i.e., chronic hyperglycemia the illness is caused by the recurrent hyperglycemia of sugar gluttony. The experiments of Bernardo Houssay (1947 Nobel laureate) in the 1940s, in which sugar and coconut oil protected against diabetes, followed by Randle's demonstration of the antagonism between fats and glucose assimilation, and the growing recognition that polyunsaturated fatty acids cause insulin resistance and damage the pancreas, have made it clear that the dietetic obsession with sugar in relation to diabetes has been a dangerous diversion that has retarded the understanding of degenerative metabolic diseases."​ [2]

Breads, other grain products tend to be more problematic than actual sugars (fruits, simple sugars etc yet despite this they continue to be promoted over sugars. It is no wonder Banting was successful, (depending on how you measure success) I have seen many people who have had great 'results' initially from cutting out potato, sugar, fruits etc (as I did myself in the paleo years). Only to suffer serious side effects as time passes and health declines. They also tend to realise that the weight loss was water and muscle, and the disasterous effect it has upon thyroid health, blood sugar regulation and immune function, to name but a few, just wasn't worth the quick 'fix' on the scales. We can learn a lot from these early pioneers, and I think Banting is a good example. He was passionate about his belief, wanted to help society and spread the word. Unluckily, he had no background in science so was not to know the damage his work would cause in the future. The money the pamphlet raised was donated to charity, which isn't the case for those that continue to profiteer of his work.

​References;

1. A letter on corpulence 

2. Glycemia, Sugar and Starch in Context. http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/glycemia.shtml

Whilst I wouldn't prescribed a diet like Harvey or Dr Claude Bernard's Diabetes diet, it would probably be beneficial to limit bread and beer like Banting. And based upon the work of Houssay, Randle, and Peat. it would be wise to limit polyunsaturated fatty acids. I'd suggest his benefits came purely from a lowered calorie intake, and that the maintenance of butter, milk, sugar, and potatoes in the diet would be somewhat protective for the metabolism.