hashimoto's thyroiditis

Many patients experience low thyroid symptoms long before they are diagnosed with thyroid disease.

This is because the medical field uses lab averages as the standard for what’s considered “normal” bloodwork.

Lab averages are based on the average ranges of people who get their blood work done.

The problem with using lab averages is that it’s typically people who are sick that are getting their blood work done...

so if you are in the “normal range,” it just means that you are in the same range as other people who are sick.

At Premier Health Care, we use functional lab ranges, which are based on healthy people - which is why our patients finally start to feel better once they start our treatment plan.

To learn more about our approach, click here to download my free Natural Approach Series, in which I explain the causes and treatment of thyroid conditions.

To see if you qualify for a free consultation, call 314-647-1384.

The number one cause of primary hypothyroidism in the United States is a condition called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is an autoimmune thyroid condition. To understand autoimmune, you first need to understand the immune system. The immune system is the body’s defense system. Eighty percent of the immune system lives in the gut.

To illustrate how a properly functioning immune system works, let’s say you go to a party and someone at that party is sick. You are exposed to a bacteria or virus. If your immune system is strong, you’ll fight the bacteria or virus, you’ll win the fight, and you won’t end up sick.

Now let’s say it’s holiday time - you’ve been busy, stress is high, maybe your diet hasn’t been great and you’ve been eating a few too many desserts. Sugar suppresses the immune system; you’re exposed to that same bacteria or virus at the party, your immune system fights it and loses the fight, and you end up sick.

Both of these are examples of a normally functioning immune system.

In an autoimmune situation, the immune system is no longer functioning properly...

...and it’s not even attacking the bacteria or virus anymore. Instead, it’s turned on your own body and is literally attacking and destroying (in the case of Hashimoto’s) thyroid tissue.

The reason Hashimoto’s patients are in a low thyroid situation is because there’s less thyroid tissue than what’s needed to meet the hormonal demand. The standard of care for low thyroid function in the United State is to put the patient on thyroid hormones, regardless of the cause.

A patient who is only given thyroid hormones and has Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is literally being ignored, because they’re treating the wrong thing. Thyroid hormones do nothing for the cause of the problem, which is the immune system.

This explains why a patient that has Hashitmoto’s may get a little bit better initially after starting thyroid hormones...

...because you’re giving them a boost; but the cause is not being treated, and the symptoms come right back. As the symptoms come back, they are prescribed a higher dose of medication, and the cycle continues to repeat.

At Premier Health Care, we treat the causes of your illness. We do comprehensive testing to uncover the cause of your illness, and create a diet and treatment plan customized to each individual.

Patients who have been sick and tired for years get their lives back; they lose 30-50 pounds on average; they go off many or all of their medications; they have energy to do things they never thought they’d do again.

If you’re interested in learning more about how we treat thyroid conditions, download my free Natural Approach Series here.

To see if you qualify to become a patient, give us a call at 314-647-1384.

Why is gluten such a problem and why did we not hear about it 20+ years ago?

Gluten is a term that encompasses a lot of different proteins that are found in grains. The primary grains that it’s found in are wheat, oats, barely, and rye.

Prior to 20 years ago when we were not genetically modifying grains, the amount of gluten found in grains was so low that it was almost imperceptible on liquid chromatography. Now with the genetic modification of grains to make them herbicide resistant and pesticide resistant, we’ve altered the genetic makeup of those proteins. The amount of gluten that’s in these grains is over 200 times higher than it was about 20 years ago.

The human body was not designed to digest gluten.

In every single person, gluten creates an inflammatory reaction and an immune response. For someone that has a gluten sensitivity, that reaction can be life threatening and hospitalize the patient. Gluten is not good for anyone, whether you have a sensitivity or not.

In the commercial food industry, gluten is used as a binder and preservative.

Almost everything processed that comes in a box or a can contains gluten - salad dressings, condiments, soups, cereals, the list goes on and on.

Even if something is labeled “gluten free,” that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gluten free.

The FDA sets the definition for labeling food items gluten free, and the FDA’s definition is “less than 20 parts per million.” This means that companies can legally label their foods as gluten free, even if there are small amounts of gluten present; as long as it remains under 20 parts per million.

The best way to ensure you’re eating gluten free is to stick to fresh fruits and vegetables, high quality meat, beans that come in a bag, and nuts and seeds that are not cross contaminated with gluten grains.

To learn more about the effects of the Standard American Diet on the body, download my Natural Approach to Digestive Disorders Series here.

If you’d like to talk about a custom meal and treatment plan, give our office a call at 314-647-1384.