If you’ve ever had blood panels done to check your thyroid function, you may be all too familiar with results that say, 'You're lookin' good!' though you’re barely able to drag yourself through your day. Chances are, when you were first told there was no problem, you even crossed thyroid off your list and kept looking for reasons to explain why you felt so foggy and sluggish.

If you belong to the millions who know something is wrong, despite tests that pronounce you healthy, it can be discouraging. The 'Take a Test, Pop a Magic Pill, and All is Right with Your World' scenario doesn't fit everyone. The situation isn't as simple and straightforward, as black and white, as either your thyroid works right or it doesn't. The more determined you are for answers, the more you’re bombarded with sly implications that it’s all in your head.

If you've been forced into the role of being your own personal health investigator, it may be time to rethink your alternatives.

You Didn't Know There Were Alternatives?

Why not consider a holistic approach that is giving hope to hundreds?

It's not new; in fact, it has been around for thousands of years. Traditional Chinese Medicine tells us that long ago the Chinese used to make thyroid soup as a tonic for people who struggled with energy and malaise. But just try dropping in at your local grocer and asking for a thyroid to throw in your won ton soup. Substituting another gland doesn’t get the job done. What if you were able to capture the goodness of that ancient soup recipe in a more convenient form?

Actually, you can. It's not a prescription but simply the whole raw gland, desiccated, with all factors and ratios intact, in easy to take tablets or capsules. Is there any real advantage in choosing a whole gland?

Consider for a moment parallels we can borrow from eating whole food as opposed to adding a vitamin to a junk food diet and thinking you made up for the deficiency: You can eat an orange or you can choose a Vitamin C tablet, but take a look at the extra nutrients incorporated in the whole-food choice. One single nutrient—the bioflavonoid, so richly abundant in oranges—was long overlooked as having no merit. Do you remember meticulously picking off the white membrane web from your orange as a child? The bioflavonoids are what you were throwing away. Now laboratory studies demonstrate they have the potential to stop or slow the growth of malignant cells, protect against cancer-causing substances, help maintain capillaries, prevent cellular damage, and act as antioxidants. That's a wide scope of influence for an element once considered worthless. Research has now progressed to studying the citrus seeds and peel as well, with similar remarkable results.

Some herbalists are even speaking out concerning the standardizing of herbs according to their active ingredient. There is only so much room in a capsule; if one standardized ingredient is increased, another ingredient needs to be diminished, changing the ratio of the whole product in the capsule. What if the discarded fraction turns out to be a major contributor to maintaining health? The only way to know is research; we can't reasonably expect that to be applied in depth to everything we eat. We can, however, gain some insight into the value of a holistic approach to diet and nutrition.

A New Look at an Old Approach

The same principal can be applied to glandulars. While certain thyroid factors have long been identified as metabolically active, others have been deemed unnecessary. Research is now proving the impact of including these overlooked fractions.

The recognized thyroid factors include T0 through T4. Prescribed drugs address the T3 and T4, but studies are only beginning to look at the potential of T2 as well.

Perhaps the most astonishing lab results come from studies at the Universiti di Napoli in Italy that proclaim unequivocally that T2 is metabolically significant! This is counter to all previous thyroid dogma.

T4 is converted to T3 by an enzyme (5 deiodinase) found in the liver and kidneys. Guess what is responsible for stimulating the production of that critical enzyme? None other than the previously disregarded T2!

If that were not enough, add these amazing discoveries:

• T2 is comparable to T3 at lipid metabolism
• The mitochondria, the energy center of every cell, is regulated both directly and indirectly by both T3 and T2
• T2 dramatically increases the energy expenditure and oxidative capacity of brown adipose fat, skeletal muscle, the liver, and the heart—four very metabolically active tissues.
• T2 is used to produce ATP, the fuel our cells use to function.

What does all this boil down to? When it comes to a holistic approach, the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts.

Fitting How You Feel Into the Puzzle

There are a number of signs and symptoms that may point to thyroid challenges, but two are overriding, and easy for the average person to assess the possibility they might benefit from whole-thyroid glandular supplementation. One is objective: What is your basal temperature? It is essential that that be measured under your arm since it can register up to a degree higher if taken orally. Taken first thing in the morning, a normal temperature would register from 97.8F to 98.2F (36.6C to 36.8C). If it is lower than that, you have your first clue. Realize that if you have slept under an electric blanket in an effort to stay warm, your temperature can actually drop when you get out of bed. Factor that into your evaluation.

The second consideration is more subjective: How well do you feel? Since the goal is to feel better, why not start with that as a defining assessment?

There is a checklist that helps with specifics, but if you have always functioned with your body the way it is now, you may view that as normal. If you see recent changes in the way your body functions, it may be easier to pinpoint abnormalities. A good question to ask yourself is, 'If I could make a change, I would rather have my body do this instead.' Make a list—and hang onto it so you can track your progress.
These are some of the items you might find on your list when your body could profit from some support:

• Feeling exhausted and listless - Are you always wishing you had more energy?
• Feeling chilly all the time - Are your hands and feet always cold; does a sweatshirt always feels good?
• Hair loss- Do you wish your hair was thicker? Have you lost the outer third of your eyebrows?
• Constipation – Do you have one easy bowel movement for every meal you eat?
• Slow-growing, brittle fingernails – Do you wish your nails were longer and stronger?
• Slow pulse – Do you get weak or dizzy when you stand after lying down?
• Depression - Does it feel as though you’ve lost your enthusiasm and initiative?
• Heavy periods and other menstrual irregularities – Do you consider cramps and menstrual problems normal?
• Weight gain, even just a few pounds that stick like barnacles despite all your efforts to shed them. Can you not lose weight no matter how little you eat?

Getting to Your Goal

Consider that how well you feel is not incidental—it’s not OK to not feel good!--it's a primary concern. Arm yourself with some feedback tools: a tracking journal, a thermometer, and tests that make sense to you. Then, if you want to try a natural approach, you need a safe, reliable source of nutritional glandulars to provide support.

One of the best sources is www.Nutri-Meds.com, who offers whole-gland nutritional thyroid—not prescription products—in both bovine and porcine. Most customers choose the products in capsule form because absorption is usually more complete, but tablets allow you the option of cutting them in halves or quarters for incremental doses.

How well does this whole-gland approach work? One customer included this note when he reordered:
If I didn't believe in miracles before, I sure do now! What a difference! Pain is reduced 90%—losing weight—up to exercising every day.
(M. Browne, Santa Rosa, CA)
Thyroid and adrenal health is Nutri-Meds' primary focus; their goal is to provide effective products with proven support. But whatever path you choose to feel healthier and better about yourself, remember—ultimately, you are in charge. Don't settle for less than you want to be. Choose to be positive and proactive!

Marisue Venables
CEO/ Nutri-Meds, LLC
www.nutri-meds.com