Good read on T3 Cytomel and long term weight loss
As already stated, we tend to put on weight as we grow older, in part because aging impairs our ability to metabolize carbohydrates. Because most food is eventually broken down into glucose (blood sugar), decline in our ability to metabolize glucose is a significant cause of degenerative disease and excessive weight gain associated with aging. One cause of impaired carbohydrate metabolism is subclinical thyroid deficiency.
Blood tests are not always reliable to diagnose subclinical thyroid deficiency. A study found that 14% of elderly people who were initially diagnosed as having normal thyroid levels were later found to have significant thyroid deficiency after undergoing extensive testing. Some physicians believe that most people over 40 have a subclinical thyroid deficiency that contributes to their weight gain (Bemben et al. 1994; Samuels 1998).
The thyroid gland secretes hormones involved in cellular energy expenditure. When an individual diets, the enzyme 5-monodiiodinase that is necessary to convert the thyroid hormone T4 into metabolically active T3 is reduced. T3 deficiency results in a slowing down of the body's metabolic rate and less food is metabolized as energy. This decrease in metabolic rate occurs because your body thinks you are starving and tries to conserve energy until more food is found.
Most of those who diet know about the "rebound effect"--the body resists losing weight while you "starve yourself," but then puts the weight back on with devastating speed when you begin to eat a little more. This is why dieting is such a miserable way to try to lose weight. But now you know why--it is because low T3 levels fight you all the way by reducing your energy efficiency to keep you from losing weight. This biological mechanism involving thyroid hormone conversion, evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to counter starvation, is a sabotaging factor even when you deliberately eat less in an attempt to lose weight.
To illustrate how thyroid hormone status dictates body weight, consider the fact that when the thyroid produces too much thyroid hormone, the most common clinical symptom is significant weight loss. Hyperthyroidism is the name of the condition caused by an overactive thyroid gland. In 76-83% of cases, patients' first complaints to their physician are about how much weight they have lost (Anon. 1973).
On the other hand, clinical studies have shown that dieting produces a decline in the conversion of T4 to T3, resulting in a severe reduction in resting energy expenditure. This reduced metabolic rate prevents cells from burning calories to produce energy. If the cells do not take up glucose to produce energy, sugar is stored as fat within the body. The only way dieting can produce significant long-term weight loss is for the cells to take up glucose for conversion into energy rather than into body fat. This is why thyroid hormone supplementation is so important to many people seeking weight loss through dieting. Not only does thyroid hormone replacement maintain healthy thermogenic activity, but it helps fight fatigue, depression, and other common disorders associated with calorie restriction. Individuals who have thyroid hormone deficiency should be prescribed a drug such as Cytomel or Armour (only under supervision of a physician).
While there are studies showing that thyroid supplementation promotes weight loss in some individuals, thyroid supplementation should only be used when there is evidence of a thyroid hormone imbalance, either decreased secretion from the thyroid gland or decreased conversion of T4 to the metabolically active T3 in the peripheral tissues. It is important to remember that as the body attempts to slow the metabolic rate to conserve body mass, many individuals become thyroid deficient in response to dieting.
Therefore, an individual with normal thyroid status before dieting may become thyroid deficient as a result of reduced intake of calories. Thyroid deficiency may also occur when avocado sugar extract supplement is used and carbohydrate cravings disappear. For optimal fat-loss effects, an individual may require Cytomel or Armour drug therapy if they expect that eating fewer calories will result in significant long-term weight control.
