If you’ve been diagnosed with either celiac disease or thyroid disease but continue to experience symptoms like fatigue, digestive issues, or unexplained pain, a co-existing autoimmune disorder at play. If you’ve been feeling “unwell,” especially for a prolonged period of time, it is important that all your body systems are carefully examined to determine if deficiencies are preventing you from getting better.
At The Kaplan Center, we prioritize your overall health, not just the symptoms. We provide a comprehensive and holistic approach to testing and treatment to ensure an expedited and accurate diagnosis, addressing all factors contributing to your condition. If you’ve struggled with chronic issues and haven’t found relief despite seeing multiple doctors, contact us today. Speak with one of our nurses to explore how we can help you on your path to better health.
Signs and symptoms of celiac disease
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which your body attacks and damages the lining of your small intestine when you consume gluten. Even the smallest amount can trigger an inflammatory response that targets and damages the villi, fingerlike projections whose job it is to absorb nutrients from the digested foods you eat. When villi become damaged, your body is no longer able to absorb nutrients it needs to stay healthy and malnutrition and other serious health conditions become a serious risk. Long-term consequences of celiac can include infertility and pregnancy complications, developing other autoimmune disorders, and cancer. Common symptoms of celiac disease include diarrhea, weight loss, nausea, bloating, and abdominal pain.
Because celiac disease can lead to other serious health conditions early diagnosis is key. But, because celiac shares symptoms with many other conditions, it may be years before it is detected.
Signs and symptoms of thyroid disease
If you’re diagnosed with autoimmune thyroid disease, your immune system attacks and damages the tissues of your thyroid gland, causing it to produce either too much or too little thyroid hormone. Because of the major role your thyroid gland plays in regulating your body’s mechanics, like how quickly you burn calories, your heart rate, and other vital functions, any breakdown of the thyroid gland can cause a cascade of symptoms to appear. The signs and symptoms associated with thyroid disease vary depending upon whether your thyroid is under-producing or over-producing thyroid hormone.
Hypothyroidism: Too little thyroid hormone, or hypothyroidism is the most common type of thyroid disease. It’s most often caused by the autoimmune condition Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, but it can also be caused by other factors, such as iodine deficiency. If you have hypothyroidism, your symptoms may include fatigue, a general sense of feeling cold, and dry skin and hair. You may also have elevated cholesterol levels, experience weight gain due to a decrease in metabolism, have difficulty with mental concentration (“brain fog”), or have irregular menstrual periods. People with an underactive thyroid often experience many other problems associated with weight gain including insulin resistance and diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Hyperthyroidism: Symptoms of hyperthyroidism, too much thyroid hormone, include weight loss, enlarged thyroid (goiter), nervousness, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems, and a rapid heartbeat. Hyperthyroidism is most often caused by the autoimmune condition, Graves’ disease, accounting for between 60-80% of cases.
Both types of thyroid disorders may cause you to experience sleep disorders, severe fatigue, and changes in bowel habits, ranging from constipation to diarrhea. Pregnant women, whose hormone levels change dramatically to accommodate the growing fetus, may experience a variety of problems due to untreated thyroid conditions.
Co-occurrence of thyroid disease and celiac disease
Generally speaking, if you have an autoimmune condition, you are predisposed to developing other autoimmune conditions. Studies have shown that people with celiac disease are more likely to develop ATD than the general public, and the reverse is also true. This research suggests that considering and possibly testing for thyroid disorders in patients with CD – and vice versa – should become routine.
Too often medical providers become focused on one symptom or one disease process to the exclusion of other important medical evidence. In fact, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study suggesting that the #1 mistake most doctors make is narrowing the differential diagnosis – or list of possible conditions – too quickly, which limits what we’re able to see, never mind accurately diagnose and treat. It’s critical to cast a wide net in the process of diagnosing a patient, and this takes time.
Our functional medicine approach involves looking at all areas of your health to uncover imbalances or deficiencies that may be contributing to disease. When deficiencies are identified we’ll spend time talking with you about your diagnosis and working with you to create an integrative treatment plan that addresses not only your immediate symptoms but also any possible underlying or co-existing conditions that may be causing or aggravating them.
Does a gluten-free diet help thyroid antibodies?
When you have celiac disease and you remove gluten from your diet, your autoimmune antibodies return to normal, as expected. Medical research also suggests, however, that when people with celiac and thyroid disease adopt a gluten-free diet, not only do their celiac-related antibody levels improve, but often their thyroid antibody levels also decrease. This suggests that a gluten-free diet improves thyroid function, and it may mean that people with celiac who are gluten-free require less thyroid medication.
Additional therapies that focus on improving your digestive health and lowering inflammation, include
If you need a mid-afternoon pick-me-up in the form of a sugary snack or coffee boost to get you through the rest of the day, that’s a good indicator that your blood sugar level is out of balance.
Stabilizing blood sugar is one of the easiest steps you can take to feel more energetic throughout the day, avoid unpredictable mood swings, and most importantly lower your risk of developing chronic medical conditions such as insulin resistance, pre-diabetes & type-2 diabetes.
Here are 6 simple tips to help curb your afternoon cravings and more importantly, stabilize your blood sugar:
1. Eat balanced meals that contain fat, protein, carbohydrates, vegetables, and fresh herbs. Eating regular meals throughout the day will help keep your blood sugar in check. When blood sugar is balanced -and your meal is satisfying, you are less likely to have cravings or need snacks.
2. Keep carbs to 15 grams per snack – maximum. Carbohydrate containing foods are not just grains, beans and legumes, but also include dairy, fruit, peas, potatoes, squash and sweet potato. Try these great snack combinations!
3. Always combine carbohydrates with a fat to help balance blood sugar. Fat slows the absorption of carbohydrates so try not to have any carbohydrate-containing foods without fat and protein.
4. Stay hydrated throughout the day with water and herbal, unsweetened teas. Tulsi, ginger turmeric, lemongrass, and lemon balm are all anti-inflammatory and great for the immune system.
5. Plan ahead. If you do feel the need to snack, prepare a few healthy options ahead of time using the tips above. Make individual servings to help keep portions in control and are easier to take on the road, if necessary.
6. Practice Mindful Snacking. Snack when hungry, traveling, trying to gain weight or low blood sugar vs snacking when bored or emotional. Making a list of other things that help you de-stress can shift the focus away from food.
It cannot be overstated, food is medicine. What you eat today is contributing to the shape of your future. If you would like to discuss strategies on how to improve your nutritional intake and overall health, please give us a call today at 703-532-5892; our nurses are ready to talk to you.
At the Kaplan Center, we use a functional medicine approach to treatment; our goal is to treat the “whole you” so that all areas of your health are improved.
We are here for you, and we want to help.
Our goal is to return you to optimal health as soon as possible. To schedule an appointment please call: 703-532-4892 x2
Despite medical advances, heart disease remains the number one cause of death for both men and women in the United States. This is a startling reality, especially given how preventable it is for those of us that are not genetically predisposed. Stress, along with smoking, sedentary habits, and a poor diet are some of the main lifestyle-related risk factors that increase your chance of developing the condition.
This article looks specifically at stress as a risk factor for heart disease, and meditation as a natural and proven method to mitigate its effects.
How The Stress-Response System Works
Whether it’s related to work, health, money, relationships, or some other life event or situation, stress eventually finds its way into your life. Thankfully, your body is well equipped to handle stressful situations thanks to the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS is dedicated to regulating processes such as increased heart rate and shallow breathing, which kick in when you begin to experience stress or anxiety.
The stress-reaction process is truly an amazing and efficient one: when your body is under stress the amygdala in the brain fires up and sends an alert that there is a stressor, then the sympathetic nervous system is activated and prepares your body to “fight or take flight.” Your adrenals then go to work, supplying your body with cortisol and adrenaline, completing the trifecta of the stress-response process.
Typically the stress-response system is self-limiting, and when the stressor is gone, cortisol and adrenaline levels subside, and allostasis or stability is restored to your body. However, when the stress-reaction process is repeated multiple times over a relatively short period, stress becomes chronic, and the system breaks down. This is called “allostatic load,” which often results in an increase in physiological issues that compromise your immune system, inducing illness, and even accelerating disease processes such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
The practice of meditation for stress relief has become more widely accepted as a complementary treatment to conventional medicine. As research affirms its positive psychological and physiological effects on the body, the attitude of “it can’t hurt” has shifted to “it can help.” According to an NIH survey done in 2017, next to yoga, meditation is the second most used mind-body therapy in the U.S.
How Lowering Stress Promotes Heart Health
A regular meditation practice can play a role in reducing cardiovascular disease by:
Lowering blood pressure. When left untreated high blood pressure can lead to stroke and heart disease. In 2021, a systematic review and meta-analysis that looked at six studies concluded that Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) contributed to a reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive and prehypertensive participants.
Releasing feelings of stress and tension. Meditating quietly even for just a few minutes a day can restore feelings of calm and peacefulness. In a 2021 study on nursing students, researchers reported a significant reduction of anxiety and stress after engaging in mind-body techniques such as meditation over a period of time.
Improving sleep. Evidence shows that mindfulness meditation can be successfully used for the treatment of insomnia.
Improving the response to emotional stimuli. After an 8-week period, the researchers in this 2016 study reported “…MBSR led to changes in the amygdala consistent with improved emotion regulation.”
Reducing inflammation. Inflammation plays a major role in heart disease. Chronic inflammation is involved in all stages of atherosclerosis, the process that leads to cholesterol-clogged arteries. Practicing a mind-body therapy such as meditation, in adjunct with dietary and exercise programs, can help reduce underlying inflammatory processes.
The bottom line: Meditation is a practice that you can do anywhere at any time, alone in the privacy of your own home, or in the company of others. As with many things in life, getting started is the hardest step. Private consultations with a trained practitioner can be a wonderful way for you to take that first step or to enhance an existing practice.
Below you’ll find some additional studies that demonstrate the positive effects of meditation, as well as yoga (which incorporates many of the wonderful elements of meditation), on cardiovascular health.
In the battle against stress and even heart disease, there is a lot you can do! By being proactive now, you can bring about changes that can make a significant difference in how you feel, both physically and emotionally, in the very near future.
We are here for you, and we want to help.
Our goal is to return you to optimal health as soon as possible. To schedule an appointment please call: 703-532-4892 x2
Common Links Between Thyroid Disease & Celiac Disease
/in Conditions/by Gary Kaplan, DOIf you’ve been diagnosed with either celiac disease or thyroid disease but continue to experience symptoms like fatigue, digestive issues, or unexplained pain, a co-existing autoimmune disorder at play. If you’ve been feeling “unwell,” especially for a prolonged period of time, it is important that all your body systems are carefully examined to determine if deficiencies are preventing you from getting better.
At The Kaplan Center, we prioritize your overall health, not just the symptoms. We provide a comprehensive and holistic approach to testing and treatment to ensure an expedited and accurate diagnosis, addressing all factors contributing to your condition. If you’ve struggled with chronic issues and haven’t found relief despite seeing multiple doctors, contact us today. Speak with one of our nurses to explore how we can help you on your path to better health.
Signs and symptoms of celiac disease
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which your body attacks and damages the lining of your small intestine when you consume gluten. Even the smallest amount can trigger an inflammatory response that targets and damages the villi, fingerlike projections whose job it is to absorb nutrients from the digested foods you eat. When villi become damaged, your body is no longer able to absorb nutrients it needs to stay healthy and malnutrition and other serious health conditions become a serious risk. Long-term consequences of celiac can include infertility and pregnancy complications, developing other autoimmune disorders, and cancer. Common symptoms of celiac disease include diarrhea, weight loss, nausea, bloating, and abdominal pain.
Because celiac disease can lead to other serious health conditions early diagnosis is key. But, because celiac shares symptoms with many other conditions, it may be years before it is detected.
Signs and symptoms of thyroid disease
If you’re diagnosed with autoimmune thyroid disease, your immune system attacks and damages the tissues of your thyroid gland, causing it to produce either too much or too little thyroid hormone. Because of the major role your thyroid gland plays in regulating your body’s mechanics, like how quickly you burn calories, your heart rate, and other vital functions, any breakdown of the thyroid gland can cause a cascade of symptoms to appear. The signs and symptoms associated with thyroid disease vary depending upon whether your thyroid is under-producing or over-producing thyroid hormone.
Hypothyroidism: Too little thyroid hormone, or hypothyroidism is the most common type of thyroid disease. It’s most often caused by the autoimmune condition Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, but it can also be caused by other factors, such as iodine deficiency. If you have hypothyroidism, your symptoms may include fatigue, a general sense of feeling cold, and dry skin and hair. You may also have elevated cholesterol levels, experience weight gain due to a decrease in metabolism, have difficulty with mental concentration (“brain fog”), or have irregular menstrual periods. People with an underactive thyroid often experience many other problems associated with weight gain including insulin resistance and diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Hyperthyroidism: Symptoms of hyperthyroidism, too much thyroid hormone, include weight loss, enlarged thyroid (goiter), nervousness, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems, and a rapid heartbeat. Hyperthyroidism is most often caused by the autoimmune condition, Graves’ disease, accounting for between 60-80% of cases.
Both types of thyroid disorders may cause you to experience sleep disorders, severe fatigue, and changes in bowel habits, ranging from constipation to diarrhea. Pregnant women, whose hormone levels change dramatically to accommodate the growing fetus, may experience a variety of problems due to untreated thyroid conditions.
Co-occurrence of thyroid disease and celiac disease
Generally speaking, if you have an autoimmune condition, you are predisposed to developing other autoimmune conditions. Studies have shown that people with celiac disease are more likely to develop ATD than the general public, and the reverse is also true. This research suggests that considering and possibly testing for thyroid disorders in patients with CD – and vice versa – should become routine.
Too often medical providers become focused on one symptom or one disease process to the exclusion of other important medical evidence. In fact, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study suggesting that the #1 mistake most doctors make is narrowing the differential diagnosis – or list of possible conditions – too quickly, which limits what we’re able to see, never mind accurately diagnose and treat. It’s critical to cast a wide net in the process of diagnosing a patient, and this takes time.
Our functional medicine approach involves looking at all areas of your health to uncover imbalances or deficiencies that may be contributing to disease. When deficiencies are identified we’ll spend time talking with you about your diagnosis and working with you to create an integrative treatment plan that addresses not only your immediate symptoms but also any possible underlying or co-existing conditions that may be causing or aggravating them.
Does a gluten-free diet help thyroid antibodies?
When you have celiac disease and you remove gluten from your diet, your autoimmune antibodies return to normal, as expected. Medical research also suggests, however, that when people with celiac and thyroid disease adopt a gluten-free diet, not only do their celiac-related antibody levels improve, but often their thyroid antibody levels also decrease. This suggests that a gluten-free diet improves thyroid function, and it may mean that people with celiac who are gluten-free require less thyroid medication.
Additional therapies that focus on improving your digestive health and lowering inflammation, include
When a thyroid disorder is confirmed, hormone replacement may also be discussed as part of your treatment.
Original publication: August/2010; updated January/2017 & April/2024
We are here for you, and we want to help.
Our goal is to return you to optimal health as soon as possible. To schedule an appointment please call: 703-532-4892 x2
References
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8541-thyroid-disease
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15244-graves-disease
Ashok T, Patni N, Fatima M, Lamis A, Siddiqui SW. Celiac Disease and Autoimmune Thyroid Disease: The Two Peas in a Pod. Cureus. 2022 Jun 23;14(6):e26243. doi: 10.7759/cureus.26243. PMID: 35911325; PMCID: PMC9312543.
Cojocaru M, Cojocaru IM, Silosi I. Multiple autoimmune syndrome. Maedica (Bucur). 2010 Apr;5(2):132-4. PMID: 21977137; PMCID: PMC3150011.
Ventura A, Ronsoni MF, Shiozawa MB, Dantas-Corrêa EB, Canalli MH, Schiavon Lde L, Narciso-Schiavon JL. Prevalence and clinical features of celiac disease in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis: cross-sectional study. Sao Paulo Med J. 2014 Dec;132(6):364-71. doi: 10.1590/1516-3180-2014-1326725. Epub 2014 Sep 2. PMID: 25351758; PMCID: PMC10496779.
Dore MP, Fanciulli G, Rouatbi M, Mereu S, Pes GM. Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders Are More Prevalent in Patients with Celiac Disease: A Retrospective Case-Control Study. J Clin Med. 2022 Oct 12;11(20):6027. doi: 10.3390/jcm11206027. PMID: 36294348; PMCID: PMC9605329.
Sun, X., Lu, L., Yang, R., Li, Y., Shan, L., & Wang, Y. (2016). Increased Incidence of Thyroid Disease in Patients with Celiac Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLOS ONE, 11(12), e0168708. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168708
Pobłocki J, Pańka T, Szczuko M, Telesiński A, Syrenicz A. Whether a Gluten-Free Diet Should Be Recommended in Chronic Autoimmune Thyroiditis or Not?-A 12-Month Follow-Up. J Clin Med. 2021 Jul 22;10(15):3240. doi: 10.3390/jcm10153240. PMID: 34362024; PMCID: PMC8347530.
6 Tips to Avoid Cravings, Stop Mood Swings and Boost Your Energy
/in Nutrition/by Kaplan CenterIf you need a mid-afternoon pick-me-up in the form of a sugary snack or coffee boost to get you through the rest of the day, that’s a good indicator that your blood sugar level is out of balance.
Stabilizing blood sugar is one of the easiest steps you can take to feel more energetic throughout the day, avoid unpredictable mood swings, and most importantly lower your risk of developing chronic medical conditions such as insulin resistance, pre-diabetes & type-2 diabetes.
Here are 6 simple tips to help curb your afternoon cravings and more importantly, stabilize your blood sugar:
1. Eat balanced meals that contain fat, protein, carbohydrates, vegetables, and fresh herbs. Eating regular meals throughout the day will help keep your blood sugar in check. When blood sugar is balanced -and your meal is satisfying, you are less likely to have cravings or need snacks.
2. Keep carbs to 15 grams per snack – maximum. Carbohydrate containing foods are not just grains, beans and legumes, but also include dairy, fruit, peas, potatoes, squash and sweet potato. Try these great snack combinations!
3. Always combine carbohydrates with a fat to help balance blood sugar. Fat slows the absorption of carbohydrates so try not to have any carbohydrate-containing foods without fat and protein.
4. Stay hydrated throughout the day with water and herbal, unsweetened teas. Tulsi, ginger turmeric, lemongrass, and lemon balm are all anti-inflammatory and great for the immune system.
5. Plan ahead. If you do feel the need to snack, prepare a few healthy options ahead of time using the tips above. Make individual servings to help keep portions in control and are easier to take on the road, if necessary.
6. Practice Mindful Snacking. Snack when hungry, traveling, trying to gain weight or low blood sugar vs snacking when bored or emotional. Making a list of other things that help you de-stress can shift the focus away from food.
It cannot be overstated, food is medicine. What you eat today is contributing to the shape of your future. If you would like to discuss strategies on how to improve your nutritional intake and overall health, please give us a call today at 703-532-5892; our nurses are ready to talk to you.
At the Kaplan Center, we use a functional medicine approach to treatment; our goal is to treat the “whole you” so that all areas of your health are improved.
We are here for you, and we want to help.
Our goal is to return you to optimal health as soon as possible. To schedule an appointment please call: 703-532-4892 x2
Updated April, 2024.
Why Meditation Is One of The Most Important Things You Can Do for Heart Health: A Doctor Explains
/in Meditation/by Gary Kaplan, DODespite medical advances, heart disease remains the number one cause of death for both men and women in the United States. This is a startling reality, especially given how preventable it is for those of us that are not genetically predisposed. Stress, along with smoking, sedentary habits, and a poor diet are some of the main lifestyle-related risk factors that increase your chance of developing the condition.
This article looks specifically at stress as a risk factor for heart disease, and meditation as a natural and proven method to mitigate its effects.
How The Stress-Response System Works
Whether it’s related to work, health, money, relationships, or some other life event or situation, stress eventually finds its way into your life. Thankfully, your body is well equipped to handle stressful situations thanks to the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS is dedicated to regulating processes such as increased heart rate and shallow breathing, which kick in when you begin to experience stress or anxiety.
The stress-reaction process is truly an amazing and efficient one: when your body is under stress the amygdala in the brain fires up and sends an alert that there is a stressor, then the sympathetic nervous system is activated and prepares your body to “fight or take flight.” Your adrenals then go to work, supplying your body with cortisol and adrenaline, completing the trifecta of the stress-response process.
Typically the stress-response system is self-limiting, and when the stressor is gone, cortisol and adrenaline levels subside, and allostasis or stability is restored to your body. However, when the stress-reaction process is repeated multiple times over a relatively short period, stress becomes chronic, and the system breaks down. This is called “allostatic load,” which often results in an increase in physiological issues that compromise your immune system, inducing illness, and even accelerating disease processes such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
Questions? Give Us a Call!
703-532-4892 x2
Why Meditation Can Help Your Heart
The practice of meditation for stress relief has become more widely accepted as a complementary treatment to conventional medicine. As research affirms its positive psychological and physiological effects on the body, the attitude of “it can’t hurt” has shifted to “it can help.” According to an NIH survey done in 2017, next to yoga, meditation is the second most used mind-body therapy in the U.S.
How Lowering Stress Promotes Heart Health
A regular meditation practice can play a role in reducing cardiovascular disease by:
The bottom line: Meditation is a practice that you can do anywhere at any time, alone in the privacy of your own home, or in the company of others. As with many things in life, getting started is the hardest step. Private consultations with a trained practitioner can be a wonderful way for you to take that first step or to enhance an existing practice.
Below you’ll find some additional studies that demonstrate the positive effects of meditation, as well as yoga (which incorporates many of the wonderful elements of meditation), on cardiovascular health.
In the battle against stress and even heart disease, there is a lot you can do! By being proactive now, you can bring about changes that can make a significant difference in how you feel, both physically and emotionally, in the very near future.
We are here for you, and we want to help.
Our goal is to return you to optimal health as soon as possible. To schedule an appointment please call: 703-532-4892 x2
This article first appeared in Dr. Kaplan’s column on MindBodyGreen.com. Reviewed and updated April, 2024.