But, there's another reason, one you've probably never heard about, to lose weight...
Your stem cells.
When they work optimally, they can divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues. This makes stem cells powerful tools in keeping you healthy and fit. New research shows that being overweight could be doing serious damage to these powerful little cells.
Let's take a look...
Your bone marrow and obesity
Scientists at the Cincinnati Children's Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute conducted a study on obese mice, to determine what if any effects obesity has on the hematopoietic stem cell compartment — the blood-making factory in our bodies.
According to the researchers, "Keeping this compartment healthy is essential to human health. This includes maintaining the diverse pool of blood-making stem cells needed to produce blood cells the body needs to function properly."
In other words, your body needs those stem cells in your bone marrow in order to remain healthy.
Here's what the study found...
Not only did the scientists discover that obesity related stresses alter the stem cells in your bone marrow and reduce their long-term fitness, the study also showed that these effects are progressive and that some of the harmful effects of obesity on stem cells persist even after you lose weight.
According to the researchers, this is because being overweight results in "oxidative stress" — basically an imbalance of antioxidants and the damage-causing free radicals in your body that leads to chronic inflammation and illness.
To put it simply, being overweight can significantly impact your stem cells and blood formation, leaving you to get sicker and sicker.
Reduce weight to keep your stems cells working for you
If you want to maintain the optimal health of your body, it begins with taking care of your stem cells by losing those extra pounds.
A little known secret to drop extra weight, increase energy and improve your total body health is to concentrate on optimal thyroid health.
Your thyroid gland is responsible for not only your energy levels, but also for your metabolism. In other words, a sluggish thyroid leads to a sluggish metabolism and extra pounds that you don’t need. And the opposite is also true… when your thyroid is functioning optimally, so is your metabolism.
Many mainstream doctors ignore the thyroid until there’s a problem, and then simply prescribe you a synthetic drug that will be detrimental to your stem cell function, and weight. Before that happens, I urge you to use these four keys that will help your stem cells and your thyroid do the work to keep those extra pounds off:
Get nutty — To boost your thyroid health, add Brazil nuts to your diet. These are the richest dietary source of selenium, which is essential in converting thyroxine to its active form, T3 so snack on three Brazil nuts a day to get the selenium your thyroid needs.
Think green — Sea vegetables are another vital source of nutrients for your thyroid since they are rich in iodine. Iodine attaches to tyrosine (an amino acid) to form thyroxine. If you have insufficient levels of iodine, it becomes a rate-limiting step in the production of thyroid hormones and you'll inhibit your thyroid function. So, try a snack of nori dusted with sea salt or make a nori wrap for your lunch.
Go gluten-free — Avoiding gluten is another way you can improve your thyroid health as gluten can increase thyroid antibodies (cells that can attack your thyroid and ruin its function). To go gluten-free:
• Avoid wheat, barley and rye and any foods that contain these grains.
• Choose naturally gluten-free foods such as beans, vegetables, fruit, nuts, milk, yogurts and cheeses, vegetable oils and avocados.
• Opt for gluten-free grains and grain-based foods such quinoa, kasha, millet, rice and potatoes.
Support system — Supplementing with nutrients essential to support your thyroid is a great way to optimize its function. One I like that not only provides necessary selenium and iodine, but also L-Tyrosine, an amino acid that partners with iodine to create the T3 and T4 hormones that can help the body metabolize calories more efficiently, is my good friend Virginia Tims-Lawson's product called Peak Thyroid Support™.
If you've made a resolution to lose weight, be sure to focus on boosting your thyroid health.
Bob Livingston
Editor, The Bob Livingston Letter™
Bob Livingston
Editor, The Bob Livingston Letter™
Sources:
healthtalk.
stemcells.
sciencedaily.
ncbi.
amymyersmd.
healthguides.
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