cover image The Thyroid Solution Diet: Boost Your Sluggish Metabolism for Optimal Weight Loss and Lifelong Health

The Thyroid Solution Diet: Boost Your Sluggish Metabolism for Optimal Weight Loss and Lifelong Health

Ridha Arem. Free Press, $26 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4516-9951-7

In this follow-up to The Thyroid Solution, endocrinologist Arem, clinical professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Texas Thyroid Institute, presents a detailed diet plan to rebalance the hormone systems and speed up metabolism. Arem says cutting calories doesn’t work; instead, his method ramps up thyroid hormone activity, lowers ghrelin levels (the hormone that stimulates appetite), and boosts leptin sensitivity (the hormone that limits food intake). In Part I Arem explains how hormones and a sluggish metabolism can lead to weight gain. He also reveals how stress can result in overeating, and delves into the importance of sleep and its effect on hormones. Part II zeros in on an adapted combination of the Mediterranean Diet and the PRO Diet (Protein-Rich Oriental Diet), featuring foods that maximize metabolism efficiency with an emphasis on timing and scheduling meals to work with the body’s natural rhythms. The third section presents a step-by-step weight-loss program as well as a “20/10” exercise program (20 minutes of cardio-focused high intensity interval training plus 10 minutes of strength training). Readers seeking a quick fix won’t find it, but those who are willing to work a little harder and dig into the scientific underpinnings of weight loss may be fascinated by the connections to hormones. (Feb.)