The Secret to Maintaining Your Energy Levels as You Age
You may not have heard of your thyroid but you will probably have heard of either goitre, cretinism, Grave’s disease or Hashimoto’s disease –– all of which are caused by irregularities in the thyroid gland. The thyroid is a butterfly- or bow-shaped organ that sits in the front of the neck, nestled on either side of the windpipe and below the voice box.
The thyroid is part of the body’s hormone system and produces thyroxine, which sets the rate at which our cells convert nutrients and oxygen into energy: our metabolic rate. When not produced in the correct amounts, thyroxine can wreak havoc on your health.
Too much thyroxine (Grave’s disease or hyperthyroidism) revs your body up with rapid heart rate, high body temperature, feeling jittery, and weight loss despite increased appetite. It feels like a caffeine overdose and the gland itself may become enlarged, known as goitre.
On the other hand, too little thyroxine (hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s disease)...
Leaves You Feeling Sluggish, With Symptoms Such as Tiredness,
Constipation and an Inability to Lose Weight
Your body might feel in shut-down mode. Hypothyroidism is thought to affect about 6–10% of women and its prevalence increases with age. Up to one quarter of women over the age of 65 years may be affected. Hypothyroidism is the most common thyroid disorder.
Obviously energy and thyroxine production is a fine balance. It is also highly dependent on other hormone levels, as they all act in concert. For instance, the pituitary gland produces a hormone that stimulates the thyroid to produce thyroxine.
To nourish the hormonal system as a whole, Thyroid Support therefore features whole raw glandular tissue from bovine. Bovine thyroid, pituitary, thymus and adrenal hormone production sites have been freeze-dried at or below
–5°C to preserve the naturally occurring vitamins, enzymes, nucleotides, lipoproteins and all other cellular components.
Siberian ginseng, a root used by the Chinese for over 2000 years to increase vitality and energy and more recently by Russian cosmonauts for improving alertness and adaptation to life in space, is added to Thyroid Support. Siberian ginseng works by improving our normal response to stress, which involves the hormonal system, which is why it was used by Soviet athletes before international competitions.
Seaweed kelp, rich in iodine required for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland, is another important component of Thyroid Support, along with the homeopathic tissue salts familiar to the VitaSource range.
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