3 Foods to Avoid If You Have Hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism causes the thyroid gland to produce excess hormones, which accelerates the metabolism, in turn affecting the heart, bone health, and mood. The symptoms of hyperthyroidism include increased heartbeat, insomnia, anxiety, heightened hunger, and weight loss, all of which can be controlled via medicines and a healthy diet plan.

However, there are certain foods that can worsen the condition and lead to the severity of the symptoms. These should be avoided at all costs by anyone suffering from hyperthyroidism.

- Caffeinated drinks

Caffeinated drinks can worsen hyperthyroidism symptoms by aggravating palpitations, anxiety and insomnia. These include energy drinks, coffee, black tea, alcohol, soda. It is advisable to replace these drinks with healthy herbal tea or lemon water, which are apt refreshments with multiple health benefits.

- Foods with high glycemic content

Processed refined grains lose their nutrients like vitamin B and become not only useless but harmful to the body. The high glycemic content in refined grains can cause fluctuations in your blood sugar level, which can trigger terrible mood swings. It is advised to swap these with whole grains, quinoa, oatmeal and wild rice.

- Trans fat and hydrogenated oil

Trans- fat and partially hydrogenated oil are the culprits of heart diseases. To ensure the health of your heart and reduce the chances of hyperthyroidism, it is important to minimize the consumption of all the foods that list hydrogenated oil in their ingredient list. These are cookies, margarine, cakes, donuts, French fries, crackers and many others.



3 Foods to Avoid If You Have Hyperthyroidism

Simple sugar is also known as monosaccharide, is the basic unit of carbohydrates. The simplest forms of sugar are usually colourless and crystalline and exist in forms of glucose, fructose and galactose. Simple sugar is deemed to be a major concern according to all health nutritionists.

Here are five reasons why you should avoid them:

Sugar is the biggest cause of obesity: Sugar present in all kinds of junk food is considered to be the biggest cause of obesity as fructose easily converts into fat inside your body. Consuming too much sugar can put too much pressure on your liver as it is responsible for converting fructose into fat. Large amounts of sugar are directly converted into fat, thus, putting you at a very high risk of becoming obese.
Increases risks of contracting heart diseases: Consuming too much sugar throughout the day causes a hike in your insulin levels which can further affect your nervous system. An excess of sugar in your blood stream also causes your blood pressure to rise which makes you more likely to get a heart stroke. Thus, to avoid cardiac problems at a young age, you must cut down your sugar intake.
Weakens immune system: Sugar is a major reason for inflammation which affects the central immune system adversely. With an excess intake of sugar, the body becomes less effective in dealing with infection and common cold because phagocytes (white blood cells) cannot do their job properly of engulfing dangerous bacteria. Thus, you should aim at boosting your immune system by cutting down on sugar completely.
Sugar can make you age faster: The sugar content in your body creates molecules known as AGEs (Advanced glycation end products) which attack the fibres in elastin and collagen (the building blocks of the cells on your skin). A study also proved that consuming too much sugar can result in acne as the collagen in your skin weakens. Thus, to maintain youthful looking skin for longer, you should remove sugar from your diet completely.
Sugar can be addictive: Most people who consume too much sugar get addicted to it. According to a study, the addiction to sugar is very similar to addiction to tobacco and drugs. You might start craving sugar and depending on it to change your mood more often than required.

Sugar - 5 Reasons to Avoid It

Top 5 things all diabetics must do

As you are aware, diabetes is an increasingly common problem not only in adults but with children and young people too. Preventing or delaying diabetes is possible with a few lifestyle changes. And for those who have been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes, changes in lifestyle can prove beneficial to keep it under control. This is important and should not be taken lightly as diabetes can lead to other serious health complications. There are few simple things which if done regularly can keep you safe and absolutely fine.

5 ways to combat diabetes.

1) exercise - do minimum 45 to 30 minutes of exercise like brisk walking (for people with heart ailments make sure that you have done stress test/tmt). Keep yourself physically active all the time this will help you in losing weight, controlling blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol. It will also improve insulin sensitivity in your body. 
2) high fiber diet - include high fiber foods like fruits, vegetables, leafy vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, cinnamon, green tea in your diet. This will improve your blood sugar level and also reduce your risk of developing diabetes and helps you to lose weight. Do not get into fad diets and tv commercials as they are often misleading.
3) reduce stress - tension and worry releases certain chemicals (stress hormones) which can increase your blood sugar level. Try relaxation therapy like meditation, yoga, music and soundful sleep.
4) restrict intake of alcohol - alcohol increases body weight, triglyceride (cholesterol) level and blood pressure. They may make you unaware of symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar which may be dangerous). They are empty calorie with no nutritional value. Permissible limit is 2 drinks (60ml) a day for men and 1 drink (60ml) for women, it is also not advisable to smoke.
5) regular check-ups - make sure that you regularly check your blood sugar levels and modify treatment from your diabetologist doctor (if required.) your body and your friend/ relative / colleague's body are different, so is your need of medicine for diabetes as well. What works best for them may not be right for you. So it is my sincere request is to avoid any self medication as it can be dangerous. Regularly undergo screening for early detection of diabetes complications like eye, nerve, heart, foot, kidney.

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Top 5 Things All Diabetics Must Do

Thyroid is a gland which is located in the neck right beneath the Adam s apple. The hormone produced by it is called thyroxin and this hormone is responsible for controlling the body s metabolic rate. This gland works as a thermostat for the human body as it controls other hormones which are responsible for burning and using calories.

How does it affect your life?

Hypothyroidism, also known as the  underactive thyroid disease , is a disorder which causes the thyroid to secrete insufficient hormone, thus causing the body s metabolic rate to slow down, and in turn affecting the heart rate and body temperature.
The people who suffer from hypothyroidism often experience weight gain and sensitivity to cold. Weight gain in case of hypothyroidism occurs despite having a low appetite. This is because the calories consumed are not burnt and used appropriately.
Fatigue is another major issue associated with hypothyroidism. Individuals suffering from hypothyroidism usually become tired after the first half of the day.
An underactive thyroid also causes drowsiness and depression. These may initially not seem to be major problems but in the long run, both the quality of life and overall health are usually negatively affected by it.
Thyroid related issues have become more common nowadays. Research shows that an unhealthy lifestyle is one of the major reasons behind this. Sedentary lifestyle involving little physical movement coupled with consumption of an unbalanced diet has led to surge in the number of such cases.
Doctors prescribe medications in case of hypothyroidism. But apart from medicines, simple modifications in lifestyle can go a long way in addressing this disorder. Research shows that consuming a healthy diet rich in iodine and comprising of sea food and green leafy vegetables, can increase the production of thyroxin in the body. Regular exercises must also be coupled along with following a proper diet.

Hypothyroidism - How It Affects Your Lifestyle?

What complications are associated with diabetes?

Diabetes is a serious disorder which happens when your body has an unreasonably high level of blood sugar, which further leads to harmful effects. Diabetes has a wide variety of complications associated with it, and they start to build up slowly and gradually. Some of the common complications are:

Retinopathy

In simple words, diabetes leads to eye damage by making the eye exposed and prone to severe eye disorders like cataracts and glaucoma. If you have retinopathy, then you may also have face the consequence loss of vision or permanent blindness.

Skin conditions

During diabetes, your skin health is bound to degrade to a large extent. Your skin will become thin in texture and more prone to cuts and breakages due to internal skin cell damage. Thus, the skin gets more exposed to the bacterial and viral infections and its healing process also slows down as the cell division takes longer than usual.

Nephropathy

Nephropathy refers to kidney damage which is caused due to diabetes. The kidneys act as a filter system to the body and they filter out waste materials from the blood. Diabetes causes damage to the blood vessels of the kidneys which may further result in serious kidney disorders and may increase the risks of a sudden kidney failure.

Cardiovascular diseases

This means that if you are having excessive diabetes, then you are at a risk of having a major heart attack or a heart stroke. Additionally, increased blood sugar levels also lead to other heart-related diseases like chest pain, narrowing of arteries etc.

Neuropathy

It is a complication related to the nervous system of your body. The complication generally occurs in the legs as there is a numbness, burning or tingling sensation in the legs. This happens due to the extra sugar in the body, which damages the walls of the blood vessels. In the worst case scenario, you can lose sensation in the legs.

However, it is always desirable that you go and visit a doctor if the conditions persist for a longer time. Additionally, you can also depend upon some domestic care measures to bring your blood sugar levels under control.



What complications are associated with diabetes?

Addison s disease is considered to be a life threatening and serious illness. When one suffers from this disease, the amount of hormones like Aldosterone and Cortisol reduces rapidly due to the poor functioning of the Adrenal glands. The hormones that the Adrenal glands produce are necessary for the body to function normally. To better understand what Addison s disease is all about, below are some basic facts.

Fact 1: Addison s disease is often confused or linked with adrenal insufficiency. However, Addison s disease is more of an autoimmune disorder that later leads to adrenal insufficiency, which is a hormone-related imbalance.
Fact 2: Addison s disease can happen to anyone regardless of their gender or age. However, genetics may also have a role to play here, as those who have someone affected with Addison s in the family, face greater risks.
Fact 3: While for someone it may take years for totally disrupting the hormone production, for some it may grow worse very quickly. Though it is rare, it is possible.
Fact 4: The symptoms of Addison s disease often get unnoticed or misinterpreted, as the disease is very uncommon. This is a rare disease that occurs in one in a million.
Fact 5: When suspected of having Addison s disease, the screening process doesn t take much time. Generally, a normal blood test showing the amounts of ACTH and cortisol hormone will confirm the diagnosis.
Fact 6: Some very common symptoms of this disease are mild to severe pain in the bones and in the abdomen, weight loss, nausea, forgetfulness, low blood pressure and lack of energy. It is these common symptoms that can point to numerous other conditions that make its diagnosis a tricky one.
Fact-7: Sometimes, Addison's disease may cause the skin tone to become darker due to the hormonal changes. It is probably the only disease that can cause such darkening or skin discolorations of the otherwise normal skin.
Fact 8: People who have Addison s disease generally become dependent on the daily intake of cortisol medications or steroids. Without Cortisol, the stress hormone, the body may go into serious adrenal crisis.
Fact 9: When overlooked for a long time or not provided with the treatment and medication when needed, Addison's disease may lead to sudden organ failure. Therefore, understanding the symptoms and opting for a blood test is essential if this disease is suspected.
Fact 10: Lastly, Addison's disease can be easily cured and treated by introducing a few serious lifestyle changes and hormonal therapies. Sometimes when oral hormone supplements fail to get properly absorbed, injecting the supplements becomes necessary.
Studies have shown that around 140 people approximately suffers from Addison's disease out of every million. Therefore, knowing the above-mentioned facts becomes necessary for have a clear understanding of the disease which may help in dealing with it in the best way possible.

Addison's Disease - 10 Interesting Facts You Must Know!

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