IMBALANCES THAT CAUSE WEIGHT AND PERFORMANCE ISSUES:
Thyroid
Why essential organ—master gland especially for metabolism
The thyroid is the gland that sets metabolic rate and influences baseline caloric expenditure. If not balanced can work on body fat, muscle mass, etc without success. The gland is also very easily influenced by outside factors—the adrenal must be supported or the thyroid hormone cannot get intracellularly. You must have the proper nutrition including high enough intake of selenium and iodine. Toxins from the environment also often resemble thyroid tissue and the gland becomes targeted/attacked. Therefore the gut always has to be addressed to be certain to get optimal function of both the gland and the cellular responses to the hormone. The thyroid is like the gas pedal but if there is no gas in the tank (the adrenal) then the car will actually drive worse as you push the pedal.