On Your Feet, Thyroid?

If you have a thyroid condition, you probably wish you could  whip it into shape in a few weeks of hard work, like a Boot Camp. But drill sergeants and obstacles courses are not what your thyroid needs. Think of your thyroid gland as your friend who cries at movies and hems and haws over rather small life changes. It is, like your friend, sensitive to feedback. 

When the thyroid is screaming for trouble, don't forget about its compadres (other organs) that offer direction and guidance to the thyroid gland.

• Gall bladder function impacts the thyroid gland because poor gall bladder function keeps the all important fat soluble vitamins from working. (Lots of thyroid sufferers have had gall bladder surgery). The gall bladder secretes bile, a necessary substance to take in vitamins A, D, E, and K.  If your gallbladder is bile deficient or you have had it removed, you may not be absorbing enough fats resulting in a lack of fat soluble vitamins like Vitamins A, D, E, and K. Your thyroid and adrenals needs vitamin A to work correctly and efficiently. Not just beta carotene but good old-fashioned, preformed vitamin A! Check your multivitamin as to the source of its Vitamin A. Post-surgically, I recommend micellized forms of vitamin A, D, E, and K.

• Digestive function modulates thyroid function as well as it is intimately involved with the immune system (lots of gluten sensitivity in thyroid sufferers). If you have any type of digestive dysfunction from heartburn to gas, diarrhea or constipation, addressing the root cause of it is important. Oftentimes, a pH balanced diet, probiotics, and stress reduction are the first steps to fixing a busted digestive system.

• Hormone balance is also key in both men and women with thyroid dysfunction. Low progesterone can actually hide the fact that a sluggish thyroid is actually a more sinister form called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. As estrogen declines so too does thyroid function. So much so that a reported 30% of postmenopausal women suffer from hypothyroidism.

• Belly fat. That's right, fat is an organ too. Extra weight around the middle negatively impacts thyroid function. The more fat you have on your frame, the more inflammatory signals you release to the rest of your body. 

So where do you start? Well, you can't send your friend to Boot Camp and yell at them to be tough....you have to strengthen them. Revolution Macalibrium for men and Femmenessence for women are ideal foundational products to strengthen the stress response system in addition to meditation, proper sleep, and a diet rich in plant nutrients. Femmenessence has specific formulations for perimenopausal women and reproductive-aged women as well. These products help your thyroid gland but supporting a myriad of hormones in the body. Every hormone imbalance including stress hormone imbalance directly impacts thyroid function.

Realize that this is a place to start with thyroid conditions. Reducing fat through a primarily plant-based diet, resistance training, and supporting all organs through stress reduction and proper supplementation are all pieces to a potentially complex puzzle. For more information about these products or concepts, contact corey.schuler@naturalhi.com

Updated evidence on menopause hormone therapy

A recent panel has re-evaluated the scientific literature since  the 2001 publication of the Women’s Health Initiative in order to determine if hormone replacement therapy is safe long term and for chronic conditions such as bone loss, cardiovascular risk, and / or mood health. The results of this panel are from critical review of 51 published articles and will guide the standard of care for postmenopausal women. Frankly, we’ve learned a lot in the last 11 years and I think this panel did an excellent job of culling the data albeit falling short of offering reasonable and safe solutions to the challenge of increased risk of chronic disease beginning at menopause. But that's okay. It wasn't their goal. 

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/05/28/hrt-update-therapy-may-reduce-fractures-boost-some-risks

In full disclosure, I’m an advocate of natural products so my first inclination is the cheer the panel’s recommendation. It has been my read of the last decade of literature as well. However, it is oversimplified to come to the conclusion that HRT is good or HRT is bad. That binary way of thinking is ruinous. I strongly believe there is a definite place for Hormone Replacement Therapy. I also believe it cannot be used as the panacea it once was thought to be. In the case of bone health, we must be ever mindful of the complete physiology. Sure, estrogen inhibits osteoclastic activity and helps to maintain bone mineral density, but other hormones have a role in osteoblastic activity such as progesterone and testosterone. Growth hormone and cortisol have their own effects partially independent of sex hormones and partially dependent on their levels.  Furthermore, we now have evidence that bone morphogenetic proteins, progenitor cells for bone, have cross talk with estrogen and there may be other unknown interactions to other hormones and signals. Some authorities now place osteopenia and osteoporosis, especially precocious bone loss in the inflammatory disease marker, causing us to work through the contribution of cytokines and prostaglandins whose pathways are influenced by estrogen levels. And this is just bone health, not to mention cardiovascular health and other quality of life issues that are also influenced by hormone status. Why is this important to say? Because, we haven’t heard the last of HRT. We will likely come to understand a further undeclared subpopulation that has little to no risk of cancer and cardiovascular incident. However, we aren’t there yet and we have patients in front of us that need our help. This panel’s recommendation brings us one step closer to the truth. What is missing from the conversation and really outside the scope of this article is the reason for hormone imbalance and potential less risky recommendations that clinicians can make today to support not only the symptoms of menopause but also the long term consequences of hormone loss. Personally, I’ve been involved in understanding this exact mode of action. That is, improving the function of what has become known as the HPA or hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. In fact, there are several axes that we should be aware of that are influenced by an aging hypothalamus. These axes, but particularly the HPA, when supported can stimulate the body’s own production and balance of hormones. In essence, improving this system allows the feedback and control of hormone production to be self-regulating without the burden to liver biotransformation that exogenous hormones appear to have. When a post-menopausal woman can improve her ability to produce her own hormones with changes in menopausal symptoms, bone mineral density scores, and cardiovascular support, then we have something to write about. This approach can be used in conjunction with hormone therapy in order to be in line with the recommendation of smallest dose, shortest duration of time. This is the question that should be asked. “What can we do, today, for women to be on the smallest dose of hormone replacement for the shortest amount of time and still retain quality of life?” The question should not be “is HRT good?”. More research into patient selection criteria is warranted. However, what I’m afraid will happen, at the expense of quality patient care, is disregard for these recommendation with some clinicians refusing to prescribe and others continuing to over-prescribe. We want something with a broad therapeutic window with no history of safety concerns. Something that supports endogenous hormone production so that lowest dose, shortest duration can be honored. We want something that has clinical trials that support efficacy in a broad spectrum of conditions the way HRT does. What we want exists and is available on the market as a natural product. Femmenessence (Maca-GO®) is that commercially available natural product. The following is a technical/ White Paper on the evidence of Femmenessence (Maca-GO®) http://naturalhi.com/downloads/WhitePaper_MacaGO.pdf and links to the abstracts of the peer-reviewed journal articles referenced http://naturalhi.com/Post-Menopause.aspx

Maca - as posted on the forum What Nobody Tells You About Maca Root Powder – Dangers And Side Effects

Firstly thank you for your input Nan and Tim. Also I want to make a disclaimer that I am the CEO of Natural Health International www.naturalhi.com and we produce Maca-GO which is the ingredient in Femmenessence our women’s product and Maca-OG the ingredient in Revolution Macalibrium our men’s product. FYI these are NOT normal maca products they are concentrated, pre gelatinized and specific phenotype combinations of maca.

I think this blog is very interesting as it taps into all the good, bad and ugly in our industry in one. The below is not meant to be an advertisement for NHI but instead giving you some real insights into our industry and what we do, to try and do everything right. Our products only cover certain areas of health so I am a consumer just like you and I pick companies apart before I buy their products because I know what they can do if they chose to and are willing to go the extra mile. I am also going to post this on our blog http://naturalhealthint.blogspot.com so please feel free to ask me additional questions there.

The first point I would like to address is that statistically in medicine they estimate that no matter what product you use around 5-10% of the population will either have no reaction or an adverse reaction. So straight away even the best product on the planet 1 out of 20 people or even slightly higher it wont work. What we see with many products is even lower - say for example looking at women’s health – Black Cohosh (60% success rate), Red Clover and Soy (45%-55%) and many others which are even lower. Also these success rates fail to point out that while they may be 60% effective (ie 6 out of 10 women they work for) but they may only reduce symptoms statistically significantly eg 50%-60% instead of highly significantly. As an aside Hormone Replacement therapy has a 90% success rate and 80%-100% reduction in symptoms which is why so many women use it. Obviously it has lots of risks but when you see those statistics and understand how people can play with them it gives you an idea of the huge variance between natural products and pharmaceutical products. In relation to Femmenessence (Maca-GO) we had an 84% success rate and highly significant reductions over 80%. The other aspect that isn’t pointed out is which symptoms? Black Cohosh, Red Colver and Soy we see reduce hot flashes and night sweats but in Bio identical and Femmenessence we see changes in mood, vaginal dryness, mood and many other areas of health which relate to hormones.

Secondly who’s research. Let me assure you 99% of ALL research is paid for either directly or indirectly by a company. The question is who conducted the research? Was it a doctor in a clinic who works for the company or was it done by a third party who does not have a financial interest in the success of the product and has their own credibility to consider like a University. How many people was it done on? Did they do pharmacology and toxicology? Was there an ethics commit and credible board determining the methodology? What was the methodology of the trial and was it not just subjective like many herbal clinical trials are – by that I mean was there actually something tangible that we could measure like cholesterol, hormones, bone density instead of just how do you feel? Also was the research actually done on that exact product or someone else’s and they used it. And most importantly where was this research published? Was it in a peer reviewed credible medical journal or just written up by the company. Which third party doctors have then reviewed the research and given positive comments or even use the product with patients? What you will find with maca is nearly all the research was done on someone else’s product and companies are piggy backing off that research. The credible research you will see has been done by Dr Gonzales in Peru primarily on men and Dr Meissner on women. This research has been published in international medical journals. As an aside we had an ethics commit of over 12 experts in Europe, our trial was conducted by the Institute of Medicinal Herbs in Europe and our double blind placebo controlled clinical trial was conducted on hundreds of women measuring every hormone from estrodiol, progesterone, LH, FSH, thyroid etc to lipid, cholesterol, bone density and all menopausal symptoms. It was conducted at three geographically displaced hospitals with different socio economic groups. The research has been published in Menopause (which is published by the North American Menopause Society and group funded by mainstream and pharmaceutical companies which as you can imagine would be very discerning of natural products like ours) also Pharmacology and Toxicology and the International Journal of Biomedical Science. Taking it even further some of the most influential doctors in women’s health in the world have reviewed it and written about it such as Dr Christiane Northrup (Oprah’s Women’s Health expert), Dr Tori Hudson regarded as the top Naturopathic Doctor in the US for women’s health, Dr Toru Tabei in Japan, Dr Maryon Stewart in the UK and Jan Roberts best selling author, practitioner and expert in fertility in Australia.

Thirdly as Tim has emphasized where do the companies get their products? Most of the companies in our industry are marketing companies. They don’t do their own research, don’t have their own manufacturing and don’t grow their own herbs. Know who you are getting products from and where they get their products. Also are they organically certified, kosher, GMP, fair trade etc. depending on your beliefs and what is important to you. Natural Health International is vertically integrated in that we have our own fields, manufacturing and control the whole process. We are USDA, European Union and Japanese Organically certified as well as GMP, Kosher and Halal. We have joint ventures and mutually beneficial relationships in every country where we co own with the local people all operations. We value add in each country instead of exporting simple raw materials which increases the revenue into those countries and creates industries not just trade.

And finally what are the claims companies made based on? Which products, what research or what anecdotal evidence. In relation to maca anecdotally we have seen that if Peruvian’s with their genetics and gastro intestinal profile consume cooked, high quality maca, in food amounts (ie higher doses) for extended periods of time ie years - yes their hormones will be in balance (although there is no scientific evidence of this), they will experience improved fertility, energy and health. What we have seen with American’s is that generally they will see the same benefits (if they take it longer term as mentioned above) with the caveat that SOME will have gastro intestinal reactions, some will have other adverse reactions, some need much lower doses, many have other conditions which need to be addressed first. The important fact to point out is NO research on normal maca has been able to prove scientifically effects on hormones in peri and post menopausal women, increases in bone density, improvements in cholesterol and lipids except Maca-GO (Femmenessence). Why? We believe that to date the combinations of maca types used have been focused on men’s health, low concentrations and low bio availability. This doesn’t mean that we wont have research from other companies in the future like ours, it is just to date no one has been able to mirror our results which is why we have doctors, pharmacists and medical groups talking about and using Femmenessence and such mixed results with normal maca. But again as mentioned Femmenessence is only 84% effective which means 3 women out of 20 it doesn’t work for or have reactions.

I hope this information helped. I am definitely trying to get our information out there because I too believe this is an amazing herb and don’t want people to be disheartened if they get the wrong product for them. Personally I believe any women wanting to use maca for women’s health issues should use Femmenessence (there is one for younger, peri and post menopausal women). Any woman or man wanting to increased energy and a general super food for smoothies look to an organic, gelatinized maca powder specifically black maca as Tim pointed out. Any man with low hormone levels and cardiovascular health – Revolution macalibrium.

Regards,

James Frame
CEO
Natural Health International

Are you using the right type of Maca

By Peter Bablis D.C., N.D., LAc, Dip. Medical Herbalist, Homeopathy, Dip. Clinical Nutrition, PhD
As a college lecturer, integrative doctor, and medical herbalist, I have used as well as keenly followed the research into the herb Maca (Lepidium peruvianum) over the past five years. In my practice, and in keeping with the research of the late nineties, my focus has always been Maca’s use for men in relation to fertility and energy. I used a standard Maca powder for this application with fair success but had never really seen strong or consistent results in women except for improved general energy and wellbeing. However over the last five years, the focus of my lectures and use of particular products has shifted as I have become aware that not all Maca is the same.

About Maca

Maca is an adaptogenic herb cultivated exclusively in the central Peruvian Andes at 12-14,000 feet under harsh natural growing and weather conditions. Adaptogens are an extremely rare class of herb that modulates the body’s response by supporting it in dealing with physiological, biochemical, and psychological stressors1. So rare in fact that Russian researchers studying the mode of action of over 4000 plants found only 12 true adaptogens amongst them. Other common adaptogenic plants include Ginseng, Ashwagandha, Eleuthero, Holy Basil, Licorice, Rhodiola and Schisandra.

Maca has a wide range of active constituents including amino acids, glucosinolates, phytosterols, and alkaloids. But rather than trying to break down and standardize individual active constituents within Maca, it is more interesting to investigate the full spectrum of active constituents of specific phenotypes (Phenotype: the observable physical or biochemical characteristics of an organism, as determined by both genetic makeup and environmental influences) and the natural synergies of all the active constituents that exist in the individual
phenotype. Research has demonstrated that there are in fact 13 different phenotypes within the species Lepidium peruvianum (Maca) that exhibit different colors, have different analytical profiles and even in some cases elicit different physiological effects on the body2.The Importance of the Phenotypes of Maca Dr. Gustavo F. Gonzales from the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru has published some very interesting research regarding different Maca phenotypes in relation to men’s health1. As an example, his research has demonstrated that while the red Maca phenotype will reduce the size of a prostate, other phenotypes won’t, or may even increase the size, while black Maca is considered the strongest in energy-promoting properties3. In addition, Dr. Henry Meissner (Director of Research and Development at Natural Health International San Francisco CA) has published some potentially ground breaking papers on specific, concentrated Maca phenotype combinations. Known as Maca-GO® (or commercially
as Femmenessence), these combinations specifically affect hormone levels in post menopausal women4,5. In the double blind, placebo crossover human trials conducted by Meissner, he found that specific phenotype combinations and concentrated levels of all the active ingredients are critical to ensuring actual, measurable physiological effects on hormones, lipids and bone density6,7. Meissner’s research has further evolved this concept of different phenotypes by introducing three concentrated phenotype combination products for women depending on their stage of life. The Femmenessence MacaPause phenotype combination is designed to improve a
post menopausal women’s hormone production. This combination has resulted in statistically significant increases in estradiol (P<0.001), increases in progesterone and reductions in FSH (P<0.05), with highly significant reductions in menopausal symptoms as well as increases
in HDL “good cholesterol”, reductions in LDL “bad cholesterol”, triglycerides and body weight as well as increases in bone density8. The Femmenessence MacaLife phenotype concentrated combination is designed to reduce menopausal symptoms and modulate mood associated with peri menopause and the fluctuation of hormones during this stage of life and Femmenessence MacaHarmony is for younger women to address hormone imbalance and PMS and improve fertility9,10,11,12.

My Clinical Experience

In my clinic, I have seen first-hand the effect of using specific Maca phenotypes for specific populations. As opposed to just “feeling better”, my female patients have experienced actual physiological changes in hormone levels after using the different Femmenessence phenotype combinations. Addressing conditions ranging from amenorrhea, PMS and adrenal fatigue to menopausal symptoms and heart and bone health6. It is within this range of benefits, derived from combining individual phenotypes in specific ratios and concentrating the full spectrum of active constituents, that I have found surpasses normal adaptogenic Maca products, which are generally random combinations of the different phenotypes mixed together. Furthermore they are not concentrated, which may be beneficial for general wellbeing and energy but not for specific clinical uses. Alternatively, I have also used a different phenotype combination in men to reduce prostate size and another combination to counter adrenal fatigue2.

Quality Matters

Another factor in relation to Maca is the bioavailability and concentration of the active ingredients required to elicit physiological effects4,5,13. Quality of seed sources and soil content, as well as organic or biodynamic growing strategies and drying methods, all play a part in maximizing the quality of all active constituents. Interestingly, the higher elevation, region-specific quality soil (not necessarily from certain regions of the depleted Junin Plateau), and traditional sun-drying the crop at elevation over a period of three months (not in tobacco dryers in Lima), have all been shown to contribute to the highest quality raw material. In relation to manufacturing, Maca is a tuber and is naturally hard to digest raw. For that reason the native Peruvians traditionally cooked Maca the same way we would a potato. Scientifically this process of improving bioavailability has been addressed through gelatinization, with Meissner (Natural Health International) and La Molina University being the leaders in developing their own processes. Meissner has perfected the process to such a degree that Maca-GO® (Femmenessence) is 99.9% water soluble4.

As the natural products industry continues to evolve, it is critical that we combine the best of traditional knowledge, organic and biodynamic-type farming practices with the highest levels of science, manufacturing and quality control. All herbs are not created equal therefore it is important to investigate them in detail, support their use with pharmacology, toxicology and human placebo controlled clinical trials and use efficacious products with therapeutic levels that elicit real health benefits.

Reference:
1 Winston D, et al. Adaptogens. Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief. Healing Arts Press 2007
2 Gonzales GF, et al. Red Maca (Lepidium meyenii) reduced prostate size in rats. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 2005, 3(5) 14
3 Skyfield Tropical: Free Online Botanical Encyclopedia Maca (lepidium peruvianum): Botanical Characteristics
4 Meissner H.O., Mrozikiewicz P.M., Bobkiewicz-Kozlowska T. et al. Hormone-balancing effect of pre-gelatinised organic Maca (Lepidium peruvianum Chacon):
(I) Biochemical and pharmacodynamic study on Maca using clinical laboratory model on ovariectomised rats. I. J. B. S., 2006; 2: 260
5 Meissner H.O., Kapczy_ski W., M_cisz A. et al. Use of Gelatinised Maca (Lepidium peruvianum) in Early--Postmenopausal Women - a Pilot Study. I. J. B. S., 2005; 1: 33
6 Carter R. Clinical Effects of a Proprietary, Standardized, Concentrated, Organic Lepidium Peruvianum Formulation (Maca-GOÆ) as an Alternative to HRT 2007
7 Meissner HO, et al. Use of Gelatinized Maca (Lepidium peruvianum) in Early Postmenopausal Women—a Pilot Study. IJBS 2005, 1(1):33-45
8 Meissner HO, et al. Hormone-Balancing Effect of Pre-Gelatinized Organic Maca (Lepidium peruvianum Chacon): (II) Physiological and Symptomatic Responses of Earlypostmenopausal
Women to Standardized Doses of Maca in Double Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Multi-Centre Clinical Study. IJBS 2006, 2(4):360-374
9 Gonzales GF, Cordova A, Gonzales C, et al. Lepidium meyenii (Maca) improved semen parameters in adult men. Asian J Androl 2001, 3(4):301
10 Obregon LV. “Maca” Planta Medicinal y Nutritiva del Peru. 1 Edition Lima: Instituto de Fitoterapia Americano. 2001, 1-182
11 Chacon de Popovici, Gloria. Maca (Lepidium peruvianum Chacon), Millenarian Peruvian Food Plant, With Highly Nutritional and Medicinal Properties. 1st Edition.
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Lima, Peru. 2001, 1-337
12 Chacon G. Pytochemical study on Lepidium meyenii. PhD Thesis. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Lima, Peru. 1961, 1-46
13 Meissner H.O., Kedzia B., Mrozikiewicz P.M., et al. Short- and Long- Term Physiological responses of Male and Female Rats to Two Dietary Levels of Pre-Gelatinised Maca
Lepidium peruvianum Chacon). I.J.B.S., 2006; 2: 15