We grew up hearing that fish was “brain food”. It turns out that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may be very beneficial to the brain. Taking omega-3 fatty acids may have a beneficial effect on cognition, mood, learning, child development and even ADHD.

Research that appeared in the Journal of Child Health Care (e-published ahead of print Aug 9 , 2 0 1 1 d o i : 10.1177/1367493511403953) measured omega-3 fatty acid levels in children with ADHD and in children with ADHD coupled with a learning disability. Researchers found that children with learning difficulties tended to have lower DHA (an omega- 3 fatty acid) levels than children without learning difficulties. Students with high levels of DHA (measured in the red blood cells) tended to have less anxiety and better word recall than children with higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids. High omega-3 fatty acid levels also correlated with better reading and spelling ability.

Other research looked at the omega-3 fatty acid levels of 96 boys between the ages of six and 12 and the relationship between learning and behavior. The study appeared in Psychology and Behavior (1996;59(4-5):915-920). It found a relationship between low omega-3 fatty acid levels and problems with learning, behavior, and with health problems in general. Interestingly, more colds and antibiotic use was noted in children with low omega-6 fatty acid levels.  

Eating fish a couple of times a week will not get you enough of the omega- 3 fatty acids.   You will need to supplement your diet with omegas in order to get enough into your system. 

Some patients have complained that when they take fish oils they burp up the fishy taste.  This does NOT mean that you do not need them.  It means that you have either a low quality product, or your body is not allowing you to digest them.  If that is the case, put the fish oils on the shelf and get into a doctor that will be able to help get your digestive tract healed back up so you can take them without any problems. 

What’s the connection between your stomach problems, brain fog, and hashimoto’s? How are they related?

One of the most frequent questions I get asked by new patients suffering from low thyroid symptoms is why we do a functional neurological exam on them.  There are several reasons why we do this.  First, the brain directly communicates with the thyroid.  The brain tells the pituitary to talk to the hypothalamus to tell the thyroid to release hormones.  Kind of like a domino effect.

The brain also directly communicates with the stomach and intestines (which is what we call the gastrointestinal system) through the vagal nerve.  In previous posts I have talked about how important the gastrointestinal system is in patients with low thyroid symptoms.  If you have been reading or watching then you know the number one cause of low thyroid symptoms in the United States is an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.  85 to 95% of all low thyroid conditions in the United States as an autoimmune condition of the thyroid.

The liver and spleen have a huge effect on the immune system, and are also directly connected to the brain through the autonomic nervous system.   Researchers have known for years that if you damage the vagus nerve, you will have dysfunction of the organs that we talked about.  When those organs don’t function correctly, the thyroid health is directly and negatively impacted.

The gastrointestinal tract and liver also convert inactive thyroid hormones into active ones.  So if they are not functioning correctly, you will not have enough active thyroid hormone to bind to the receptor sites.  That will translate into low thyroid symptoms like brain fog, constipation, hair loss, weight gain, fatigue, insomnia, and all the other low thyroid symptoms.

Another important reason why we do function neurological exam on all patients complaining of low thyroid symptoms is because we want to check and see how the brain is functioning, particularly the cerebellum and the basal ganglia.  Research has shown that these two areas in the brain can also be attacked just like the thyroid is attacked in people with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.

If you are still suffering with low thyroid symptoms, make sure you find a doctor that knows we’ve just talked about.  You want to make sure that you get more than just your TSH and free T3 and free T4 checked when you are trying to find the cause of why you are still suffering with symptoms of hypothyroidism.

 Scottsdale Thyroid Doctor Explains:

I wanted to share a recent experience I had in the office with a patient that was trying to self regulate her thyroid medication.  A woman brought her mother into the office with complaints of brain fog, constipation, hair falling out fatigue, depression, and insomnia.  The daughter had also been diagnosed with low thyroid and was on Natur-Throid, the mother was on Synthroid.  Since the daughter was on a different medication and felt a little better than the mom did, the mom decided to just start taking some of her daughter’s medication.  It was a bad idea.

It is always a bad idea to take someone else’s medication. 

As you can imagine, she felt even worse.  I think it is a bad idea for anyone to self dose medications. If you feel the medication is not working, consult the prescribing physician.  If they change dosages and just can’t find the dosage that alleviates the low thyroid symptoms-like hair loss, fatigue, weight gain, mental fogginess, constipation…… then maybe it is time to take a different look at your low thyroid condition.

The research shows the number one reason people have low thyroid symptoms in the United States is due to an auto immune condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.  An auto immune condition means that the body has lost its ability for self tolerance.  Meaning, the body cannot tell the difference between its own tissue and foreign invaders.  The body actually attacks itself.  In the case of Hashimoto’, it attacks the thyroid.  It also has a propensity to attack the brain, pancreas, and gut in Hashimoto’s.

Taking thyroid hormones only replaces the hormones that are not being produced due to the destruction of the thyroid gland.  It does nothing to stop the attack of the immune system on the body.  It also does nothing to reduce the cytokines that block the thyroid receptor sites.  When the immune system attacks the body cytokines are released and they block the thyroid receptors.

Here is something to remember:

Every cell in the body has a thyroid receptor site.

Can you see why you can feel so crummy when you are not receiving the proper management of your thyroid?

So now you know why it is important that you don’t self dose your thyroid medication, even if it is natural or bio-identical hormone replacement.  Talk with your doctor before changing dosages.  If you have tried this and you are still suffering with low thyroid symptoms, find a doctor that understands what we just talked about and get the help you need.

Dr. Chris Heimlich DC, DACNB, Scottsdale Thyroid Doctor Comments:
It seems like every other new patient that comes in to our clinic asks me why they were prescribed antidepressants by their doctor when they went in for a thyroid problem.   Often the patient will tell me that they are not even depressed, just frustrated and tired of chasing the other symptoms of hypothyroidism.

You know what I am talking about.  Symptoms like being tired, sluggish, needing excessive amounts of sleep, weight gain, difficult bowel movements, hair loss, dry skin and mental sluggishness.

If you have been watching my videos and following the blog then you know the number one reason for low thyroid is an auto immune condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.  (Check out my other posts if this is new information to you)

Here is an excerpt from a recent study that I found on medscape titled “Antidepressants Given With No Psychiatric Diagnoses”:

August 5, 2011 — Antidepressant prescribing by nonpsychiatrist providers in the United States has increased substantially in recent years, according to a report released today.

What’s particularly “worrisome,” say the report’s authors, is that a “large and growing” proportion of antidepressant prescribing by nonpsychiatrists happens without an accompanying psychiatric diagnosis.

“Many of the patients who are receiving these medications are dealing with the stresses of life or physical illness, and there is no evidence that antidepressants are effective in these groups of patients,” lead author Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD, MPH, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, said in a statement.

They went on to say that the percentage of visits at which antidepressants were prescribed but no psychiatric diagnosis was noted rose to 72.7% in 2007.

So to answer the question of why you were prescribed antidepressants if you were not depressed is “I don’t know.”  It appears from the research that it is a growing trend.

What about the patients that are depressed, have low thyroid symptoms, and are already on antidepressants?   Should they be on antidepressants?  If they are on them then they should NOT stop taking them without the guidance of the prescribing physician.

Some of you may be scratching your head wondering why I would recommend to keep taking your meds, especially after watching the testimonials of our patients that no longer have to take them after starting care with us.  Sure many antidepressants have side effects, but coming off of them without supervision from the prescribing physician could be disastrous.

I am not anti-meds.  I am anti-medications if you don’t need them.  Our country is over medicated.  I tell all of our patients that the power that created the body can heal the body.  We just have to find out what is keeping it from doing its job.

That’s why we get the success we do here in the clinic.  We look at the body as a whole and gather all the pieces of the patient’s health puzzle to determine how we can get their body to heal itself through natural methods.

Check back soon because I will be starting a mini-series soon expanding on my previous post concerning the connection between the brain and the thyroid.

As many as 73% of people aged 55-64 take at least one prescription drug.   And as we know, medications produce side effects if we take them long enough.  One of the reasons they produce side effects is because prescription drugs can deplete essential nutrients.

 Are you aware that the drugs you are taking are depleting essential nutrients?

Although It’s pretty common knowledge that statin drugs deplete CoQ10, I bet only 5% of the new patients I see that are on statin drugs are supplementing with the CoQ10.  Most people are not aware that statin drugs also directly or indirectly deplete other nutrients like beta-carotene, B vitamins, magnesium, calcium, folic acid, phosphorous, vitamin A, B12, vitamin E, vitamin K, zinc and vitamin D. Coenzyme Q10 is famous for its role in the mitochondria and energy production. But minerals and vitamins are necessary for energy production as well, especially magnesium which is deficient in most Americans and is a major influence on heart function.

Think about it, doctors give statins to reduce cholesterol yet statins deplete the nutrients that are needed for healthy muscle function.  (Remember, the heart is a muscle.)

Another group of nutrient depletions are caused by diuretics. It makes sense that diuretics as a group will deplete minerals like magnesium, potassium and calcium as forced increased urination is the goal of the drug. Increase urination and we will have a loss of minerals, probably all minerals. However, an important nutrient lost with diuretics is B1. B1 is essential for healthy sugar metabolism. Many people are not aware that B1 is a huge deficiency and should be supplemented with anyone who is taking diuretics.

Let’s look at another class of drugs, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs. NSAIDs used for pain and inflammation can cause stomach bleeding. In fact over 16,000 people die every year from NSAID use. Several gastroenterologists are aware of this phenomenon and routinely use a product by to heal the gut as long as patients are using NSAIDs for pain.

Oral contraceptives are another class of drugs that deplete nutrients. It is very common for families to take oral contraceptives and plan a pregnancy only to find they can’t conceive. I often wonder if it is the lack of depleted nutrients that causes the systemic or metabolic inflammatory problems that prevent conception. The deficiencies caused by oral contraceptives are beta-carotene, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, biotin, B5, vitamin C, magnesium, zinc, tryptophan and  tyrosine.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs, a type of antidepressant medication, deplete the B vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid. They also deplete vitamin D and sodium. Even if they don’t deplete essential fatty acids directly, we know that anyone who is depressed can benefit as essentials fatty acid have been shown to reduce inflammation.

Antidiabetic medication will also reduce Coenzyme Q10, folic acid and B12. Antibiotics obviously call for a need for flora replacement, but do your patients know that antibiotic use will cause depletions in biotin, inositol, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12 and vitamin K?

These and many more drugs are used commonly and cause nutrient depletions. You need to be aware of them and their dangers; and if you take pharmaceuticals, especially long term, you should at least compensate by taking the nutrients that will be depleted by these drugs.

Dr. Chris Heimlich DC, Scottsdale Thyroid Doctor Comments:

I read an article yesterday from Biotics Research that I just have to share.  Many dieters, in their quest to consume fewer calories, often opt to drink diet soda instead of sodas with sugar in them. It turns out that drinking diet soda may not be a very good strategy for losing weight.

Research was performed at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio (and presented at the June 25, 2011 American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions) found a connection between diet soda consumption and girth. The researchers monitored 474 subjects between the ages of 65 to 74 years for nearly a decade. They measured the weight, height, and waist circumference of the subjects every 3.6 years. They also kept track of diet soft drink intake.

They found that the weight and waist circumference of the subjects increased proportionally to the amount of diet soda consumed.

“On average, for each diet soft drink our participants drank per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years, and 41 percent more likely to become obese,” said Sharon Fowler, who was a faculty associate in the division of clinical epidemiology in the Health Science Center’s department of medicine at the time.

The fact that something that does not have any calories can actually cause weight gain may change how we think about calories and weight loss. Another study, presented at the same meeting by Sharon Parten Fowler, Ganesh V. Halade, and Gabriel Fernandes showed a connect ion between aspartame consumption and weight gain in mice. Mice fed food that was high in aspartame (an artificial sweetener sold under the brand name Nutrasweet) actually had higher blood sugar levels than mice not fed aspartame. Fowler postulated that aspartame could trigger an increase in appetite, but it does nothing to satisfy it. It can also interfere with the body’s ability to feel full and can cause overeating. The taste buds may perceive that the drink is sweet, but the brain knows the difference.

One study found that women could not tell the difference between sugar and Splenda in taste tests. When the brain was viewed with functional MRI scans, it was determined that the brain’s reward center responded more completely to sugar than to artificial sweetener.

“Your senses tell you there’s something sweet that you’re tasting, but your brain tells you, ‘actually, it’s not as much of a reward as I expected,’” stated Dr. Martin P. Paulus, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego and one of the authors of the study.

Even if  you don’t have a chronic health problem like Fibromyalgia or Hypothyroidism, you should not be putting artificial sweeteners into your body.