Sunscreen, Vitamin D, Thyroid, and Exercise

excited babyI’m so excited!  I have a Diabetes, Thyroid, and Cholesterol lecture this Saturday from 9 – 5, in Richmond Va, that promises to be fantastic:)  I also have the Ancestral Health Symposium in 2 weeks.   In light of this,  I think it’s time for me to offer more classes.  I’ve had a LOT of response/questions/comments on the Digestion/Blood Sugar classes I did in June, and feel the need to repeat – in a condensed version – these subjects and show their connection to Weight Management/Loss, Diabetes, Thyroid, and Cholesterol.  Hint:  it’s all about the Food.

I wanted to do a Question and Answer post today, as I’ve had some great questions.  There will be NO theme to these questions whatsoever.

1. What’s the best Natural sunscreen?

You’re going to have to go on-line or to your local health food store to get “natural” sunscreen.  If it’s from the drugstore, it’s probably loaded with cancer causing chemicals.  Go on the EWG (Environmental Working Group) site to get specifics on the products you’re using, and specifics on the products they recommend. They do a “Best Sunscreen” list every year.   This is a free site that’s LOADED with information, most of it from the FDA, on the specific chemicals in sunscreens, makeups, foods, body products, etc. If you click on their Skin Deep Page, you’ll get specifics on your exact make-up, hair, and beauty products/brands/colors, plus a safety rating somewhere between 1 and 10.

2. Best Vitamin D supplement? 

Hmmm.  We can take Vitamin D orally, and I do in the winter.  I use Biotics products, and also Green Pastures Fermented Cod Liver Oil (loaded w very usable A and D, plus Omega 3s). cat sunbathing However, oral Vitamin D is DIFFERENT than the D our BODY MAKES FROM THE SUN.  (I didn’t even know about that until a lecture last year, I thought it was all from food – it’s not).  Here’s how it should work:   we eat healthy foods containing Cholesterol (shrimp, liver, eggs, meats), and our body uses that cholesterol to send to our skin (if we don’t eat enough cholesterol, our liver makes it).  When we go out in the sun, the UVB rays interact with this cholesterol to form/produce Vitamin D ON TOP OF OUR SKIN.  According to Stephanie Seneff, MIT researcher, this is a different D than anything in a supplement; it’s called Vitamin D sulfate, which is ONLY created w the interaction of sun and bodily cholesterol.  This particular D possesses unique health-promoting properties including skin and immune health promotion.  It also has antibiotic and cancer-preventative properties.

Here’s a blurb from Mercola/Seneff:

  • When you expose your skin to the sun, your skin also synthesizes high amounts of cholesterol sulfate, which is very important for heart and cardiovascular health. In fact, according to research by Dr. Stephanie Seneff, high LDL and subsequent heart disease may in fact be a symptom of cholesterol sulfate deficiency. Sulfur deficiency also promotes obesity and related health problems like diabetes
  • When exposed to sunshine, your skin also synthesizes vitamin D3 sulfate. This form of vitamin D is water soluble, unlike oral vitamin D3 supplements, which is unsulfated. The water-soluble form can travel freely in your bloodstream, whereas the unsulfated form needs LDL (the so-called “bad” cholesterol) as a vehicle of transport. According to Dr. Stephanie Seneff, there’s reason to believe that many of the profound benefits of vitamin D are actually due to the vitamin D sulfate. As a result, she suspects that the oral non-sulfated form of vitamin D might not provide all of the same benefits, because it cannot be converted to vitamin D sulfate

 3.  I can’t lose weight.  Should I have my thyroid tested?

I get asked this all the time.  You could have a slow thyroid, and addressing thyroid issues is important; but it’s probably NOT the reason you can’t lose weight.  Sorry. In all likely-hood your weight issue is due to food. cat:thyroid Let me take just a minute to address thyroid issues:  if you have a leaky gut due to years of grains, sugars, and foods that you don’t digest well, your immune system could be attacking your thyroid (hashimoto’s).  If you eat a lot of bread and soda, the Bromide compounds in them could be slowing your thyroid;  if you don’t eat enough Iodine containing foods, that could be slowing your thyroid. Soy is a huge thyroid disrupter.  If you’ve had a test that just looked at your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), and it says “normal”, that’s inadequate.  You need to have your T3 and T4 looked at specifically.  Doctors and insurance companies are slow to do this, but the American College of Endocrinologists has been trying since 2003 to make testing those hormones the “norm” as they say that’s a better reflection of thyroid activity and health.  My TSH was normal, but my T4 and T3 were low.    More on Thyroid after this weekend:)

4.  What’s the best exercise to get the fat off my stomach/thighs/arms/butt?

Every single form of exercise if good for you; do what you like or love.  The ONLY thing that will be fat off of you, is changing your diet.  Exercise has so many benefits: improved cognition, better balance, better insulin uptake, stress reduction, endorphin production, pretty muscles, etc etc etc.  Weight loss is NOT one of it’s benefits.  I know I know, we’ve all been told for years that to lose weight we need to eat right and exercise – that’s because exercise is a healthy, why we get fatNATURAL state for our body.  We’re supposed to move. Exercise is a gift from God.   But ask yourself this:  if you’ve been a regular exerciser for years, have you whittled away to nothing yet?  Have you been to a half or full marathon and looked at the participants?  You can be a GREAT athlete/runner, and still carry fat on you.  Our weight is about the food we eat and the hormonal response it induces.  Have you read Gary Taubes book, Why We Get Fat?  It’s a must-read for anyone who’s struggling to lose weight.

That’s a wrap for now.  Plan your week, get organized, shop/prep/cook/pack Real Whole Food for yourself and your family.

Comments are closed.