Saturday, February 16, 2008

Energy production and nutrition

The two main energy producing systems of the body are the thyroid and the adrenal glands. A lot of folks have problems with these including myself. I've recently been reading on Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. This is low body temp usually related to low thyroid function. My body temp runs around 97 degrees F. Anyone who has studied chemistry knows that enzymes function best at a certain temperature and anything cooler greatly slows down reactions in the body. I've had low temp and low BP as long as I can remember. That means stuff isn't working properly. I'm going to attempt to fix that. I'm doing an adrenal hormone test and then will start a nutrition program to get my body working better.
A lot of folks, especially in the exercise community talk about will power. I would bet these folks have strong adrenal glands. Based on the work I do with with hair mineral analysis I see a lot of patients who have thyroid and adrenal glands each functioning at 25% efficiency, that's a 75 % energy loss. If you drive a 4 cylinder car unhook 3 of your spark plugs and go for a drive and let me know how that works out. Yes these folks have no ambition or motivation but in most cases it's not that they are lazy, it's that they are running on 1 spark plug. They are worn out. I'm in a similar category and know that things that seem like are chore are easy to accomplish when I am taking care of myself. If you are one of these people and have an extra dose of will power you may end up doing your body more harm than good in the long run. It's like whipping a horse, yes you will keep pushing and maybe achieve your goals but die as soon as you stop.
I will probably start an exercise program of moderate intensity for the next round. I would love to do a high volume routine with a bunch of swings and pressing but I'm not going to. I would probably get stronger but I think it would be counter productive to me getting my health and stamina back. It's difficult for me because I want to do a lot, because I don't want to be lazy but I think a little patience now will pay off big in 6 months to a year from now. I've attempted some nutritional stuff in the past and it worked some but no real big results. This time I'm getting a little more aggressive, addressing thyroid and adrenal with some herbs and possibly some hormone supplementation if indicated by the saliva tests. I hope to get my body temp up to 98.6 F and eliminate some fatigue and improve stamina and recovery. Wish me well in my endeavors.

1 comment:

Jason said...

Good point about people seeming to be lazy but actually suffering from adrenal/thyroid fatigue. Look at our lifestyles now. Its no wonder!

Am giving a workshop to 80 people on the 19th on Stress, Hormones and Disease. Your post is a fine example of this phenomenon. Good luck. Press on!