Start slimming today!
A mind-body approach that dials down mental and physical stress is key to healing a sluggish thyroid and reversing the weight gain and fatigue it causes for 80% of women over age 45, asserts Taz Bhatia, M.D., author of The 21-Day Belly Fix. Her holistic threeweek plan includes satisfying foods, healing herbs and easy habits proven to heal the gland and melt fat fast.
One woman FIRST spoke to dropped 12 pounds in 7 days on the plan. “I want women to understand that their health is in their hands,” says Dr. Taz. “They don’t have to accept being in a sleepless, low-energy, gaining-weight state as a part of aging.”
Stress-induced, thyroid-slowing weight gain is only worsened by traditional advice to eat less and exercise more, asserts Dr. Taz. So on her plan, you’ll eat more: every three hours— up to 1,800 calories per day. This takes pressure off the adrenal glands, which release cortisol, the stress hormone known to block the thyroid’s metabolism-revving powers. When thyroid hormones are low, “the metabolism slows down as a protective mechanism, inadvertently telling the body we’re experiencing a famine and putting us into fat-storage mode,” explains thyroid expert Izabella Wentz, Pharm.D. “But eating frequent nutrient-dense meals sends ‘safety signals’ to the body that help boost the metabolism.”
On Dr. Taz’s plan, meals focus on fruits, veggies, legumes, fish and poultry. You’ll trade refined carbs for smart carbs like nuts and seeds and temporarily avoid inf lammationspiking dairy, red meat and gluten. “The one type of diet most systems of medicine—East and West—agree on is an anti-inflammatory diet,” she says. “Every Rx in my plan is designed to reduce inflammation.” Why that matters: “The inflammation triggered by long-term stress disrupts the thyroid most of all.”
Each day you’ll enjoy a fruit smoothie for breakfast, then a hearty lunch and dinner, plus two snacks, keeping total carbs under 100 grams and protein around 40 to 50 grams per day. For example, breakfast is a dairy-free blueberry and strawberry smoothie. (Dr. Taz likes adding in 2 scoops of Garden of Life protein powder since high-protein meals are linked to a healthier thyroid.) Lunch might be black bean soup and fish tacos, then coconut chicken and veggies for dinner and nuts or spicy bone broth as snacks. Then, to speed slimming, work in these strategies:
Down an AM shot. Stress doesn’t just stall thyroid function, it erodes the gut lining, slowing the thyroid even more, explains Dr. Taz. That’s why she suggests sipping a soothing “belly tonic” of 1 to 2 oz. of aloe vera juice (like Nature’s Way Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, SwansonVitamins.com) before breakfast to heal the gut lining and feed the “good” bacteria that support immunity and proper thyroid function.
Strike a pose. Instead of strenuous exercises that can tax the body, Dr. Taz suggests 20 minutes of yoga daily. Gentle poses are proven to lower stress hormones while boosting calming brain chemicals. “Allowing your adrenals to rest and heal this way is a key step to restoring energy if you’re under chronic stress,” confirms James L. Wilson, N.D., Ph.D., author of Adrenal Fatigue.
Sip this PM tea. “Because the adrenal glands and the thyroid work in tandem, treating low thyroid without treating the adrenals is one of the biggest reasons people continue to feel exhausted,” contends Wentz. That’s why Dr. Taz advises supplementing with an Indian root called ashwagandha, which helps heal the adrenal glands and reduce stress, improving thyroid function. In one study, people taking ashwagandha lowered their stress by 33% and dropped more than twice as much body weight as the control group in eight weeks. In a Japanese study the herb cut stressinduced fatigue by 80% in five days. In another, people who took ashwagandha experienced improvements in thyroid function that were up to 350% higher than those in a control group.
But as Dr. Taz explains, “Timing is important since ashwagandha can be stimulating. I recommend using it midday to help with the energy drop-off many people have in the afternoon around 3 or 4 pm.” Try
500 mg. in capsule form, like Gaia Herbs Ashwagandha, or sip a tea, like Organic India Tulsi Ashwagandha Tea (both available at iHerb.com).
End the day with a salt soak.
Taking a hot bath with 4 cups of Epsom salts for 20 minutes before bedtime can relieve stress, and it delivers a boost of thyroid-supporting magnesium. Women’s health expert Sara Gottfried, M.D., says, “Think of it as a hormone-balancing alternative to a cocktail—one that actually helps you relax while improving your sleep.”