Hormonal and nutritional imbalances can make us fat

A fascinating case history from the clinic of Dr Sandra Cabot

I am currently looking after an absolutely delightful nurse who has finally found the hidden causes to her chronic weight problem. She is 41 years of age, highly intelligent and works in an academic highly demanding career in which she excels.

For anonymity let’s call our nurse Julie, as although she has allowed me to use her case history, I don’t think she wants everyone to know how much she has suffered.

For many years Julie has suffered with excess weight (120 kilograms), fatigue and depression. Julie puts on a brave front and works very long hours caring for all those around her in her family and work; but nobody knows how bad she feels deep inside.

Julie was diagnosed with the hormonal imbalance of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) twenty years ago and has been prescribed what I consider to be absolutely the wrong treatment; thus she has continued to gain weight and become more depressed. Unfortunately 20 years ago she was prescribed the oral contraceptive pill (OCP) to control the hormonal imbalance of polycystic ovaries. Julie did not need contraception at this time, as her excess weight made her too embarrassed to seek out a sexual relationship.

Most women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) have a problem with their metabolism called insulin resistance (also known as Syndrome X) and this makes them gain weight easily and prone to diabetes. Syndrome X leads to high insulin levels and this makes them store carbohydrates as fat instead of burning them for energy. Syndrome X also leads to fatty liver – no wonder they struggle with excess weight!

The OCP makes the Syndrome X worse so it was no wonder that Julie experienced increased weight gain after starting the OCP. She became more depressed and the doctor prescribed anti-depressant drugs, which enabled Julie to keep functioning, albeit “in robot mode” as she said!

By the time Julie came to see me she had been on the OCP and anti-depressant drugs for many years and she was desperate to find the cause of her health problems.

I ordered a whole range of blood tests and the results gave me the information I needed to overcome the causes of her health problems.

Let’s discuss these results –

• Low iron stores – this is measured as ferritin levels
• Low levels of all her sex hormones, which was due to being on the OCP, which suppresses the ovaries’ production of sex hormones
• Normal blood sugar levels – thankfully she was not yet diabetic
• Very low levels of vitamin D which could lead to depression, cancer and osteoporosis; this was not surprising as her body did not get exposed to much sunlight
• High levels of fasting insulin, which was due to her Syndrome X; this kept her overweight because insulin is a fat storing hormone.
• Raised liver enzymes which were due to a fatty liver caused by a diet high in sugar and grains
• Low levels of urinary iodine proving that she was deficient in the mineral iodine, which would cause sluggish thyroid function leading to further weight gain.
• A test for gluten intolerance showed that her genotype carried the genes that predisposed to gluten intolerance. Julie was consuming a diet high in gluten containing foods such as wheat, rye, barley and oats. She was eating way too much carbohydrate and not enough protein. Her gluten intolerance damaged her small intestines reducing the absorption of iron from foods. Her low iron levels were making her tired.So what did we need to do to overcome the hormonal and nutritional imbalances that were keeping her overweight and depressed? Well we needed a plan that attacked these causes to restore an efficient metabolism and healthy liver function.

This is what I did –

• Stop the oral contraceptive pill (she did not need contraception)
• Begin using natural progesterone cream in a dose of 100mg daily – women with PCOS do not ovulate regularly and are thus progesterone deficient. Progesterone deficiency leads to depression and heavy menstrual bleeding as well as immune dysfunction.
• Give her a supplement called THYROID HEALTH CAPSULES which contain correct doses of vitamin D, selenium, zinc and iodine. This would get her thyroid gland working efficiently which would restore energy levels and a faster metabolic rate
• Put her on a liver tonic to help her liver burn fat and detoxify her body
• Put her on a grain free diet which excluded gluten. I asked her to follow the eating plan in my book titled Fatty Liver – You can reverse it

Julie had been taking a multivitamin-mineral supplement and eating plenty of food however she still had serious vitamin and mineral deficiencies! I see this all the time and it often takes a specific supplement to overcome these problems.

Julie was a smart lady as well as a nurse but she could not find the solution alone. She had seen hormone specialists (endocrinologists) over the years but they had not been able to help her! – Why?

• They did not understand the importance of food intolerance and nutritional deficiencies as a cause of obesity and depression.
• They did not understand the importance of the liver as the major organ of fat metabolism in the body.
• They did not understand the powerful balancing effect of natural progesterone in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome

Julie has started losing weight ever since I started this program and she is losing weight at a rate she could never have imagined. She is amazed that it is not difficult and that she is not hungry and has lost her cravings. Her hormones are back in balance and her metabolism is firing on all cylinders simply because we have found all the missing parts to her jig saw puzzle of poor health.

When it comes to weight control you have got to get all the missing parts of the jig saw puzzle together and then you see the big picture. Believe me the big picture is clear and beautiful and gives us direction and motivation in our lives.

For more help email me [email protected] or see my books

• Fatty Liver – You can reverse it
• Hormones – Don’t let them ruin your life
• Your Thyroid Problems Solved