Question by meeeohmyyyy: Does coconut oil increase your metabolism and does it help you lose weight with Hypothyroidism?
Best answer:
Answer by drslowpoke
No, it does not improve your metabolism. It will however lighten your wallet. It has no positive effect on hypothyroidism.
There are several studies which are cited that are purported to show how great it is. These are often pointed to by the marketers. In the abstract one of them states “Coconut oil is indistinguishalbe from placebo”, which means that it and a sugar pill had the same effect.
The real proponents will tell you that only virgin coconut oil works, not the ordinary stuff. They sell that at an even higher price.
My guess is that the bottle they will sell you is at between 10 and 200 times the actual market price for coconut oil. If they are charging more than about .00 per gallon, then you are being taken for a ride. That would come to about .50 per pound.
There are no natural botanical solutions to hypothyroidism, but there are some things to avoid:
1. Kelp: It is loaded with iodine and is often cited for helping the thyroid. If you have a goiter, it might do some good, but if not, then you could end up overdosing with iodine, which may block further thyroxine production. That would make you more hypo
2. Soy products: They tend to eat up the thyroid hormone and lower the levels
3. Certain other vegetables ( I think broccoli is one)
if you are hypo, then you should see a doctor ( a real one) and get a few blood tests: TSH, FT3, and FT4. The doctor may have some other ideas, but they will largely follow these.
The TSH is the thyroid stimulating hormone. It is made by the pituitary and it tells the thyroid to get its little tail in gear and make thyroxine (the t4 form). If it is high, that is over about 2 or 3, then the thyroid can’t keep up.
The FT4 or free t4 is the amount of the inactive storage form of thyroid hormone in your blood. There is also a total t4 which includes the t4 that is bound up by other proteins and is no longer available.
The FT3 is the free t3 level in the blood. T4 is converted by the liver and other organs to t3. T3 is the active version of the thyroid hormone, but it doesn’t last long, perhaps a few hours only. The t4 has a half life of about a week.
Your doctor might also order an antibody test to see if you have an autoimmune thyroid disease. He or she may also look at TBG, or thyroid binding globlins, which basically measures how fast proteins are sopping up the thyroid hormone in your body. He could also ask for total t4 or t3.
What’s next?
After looking at the tests, you’ll be started on either a synthetic t4 preparation, or Armour, which is I think dessicated pig thyoid. Some people also go for synthetic t3. You’ll probably start on the synthetic t4. It will take several months and blood tests (6 weeks apart) to get the dosage right, and that will have to be monitored about every 6 months.
Do not try to self medicate on this one. It is very difficult to get it right, and getting it wrong does damage. Because the t4 is in your body a long time (weeks), a dose which makes you feel good today could make you unpleasantly hyper in a few days or weeks. This is also not the a disease for alternative medicines. The body needs thyroxine.
Incidentaly, there are also thyroid support formulas available for sale at the local nutrition store. Don’t bother with them. They won’t help in the long run.
If you get on internet newsgroups, then alt.support.thyroid is a very good one to look at. There are also some yahoo throid support groups.
Good luck.
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