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| The above photo was obtained from stopthethyroidmadness.com. |
Thyroid hormones work in a feedback loop with your brain – particularly your pituitary and hypothalamus – in regulating the release of thyroid hormone. Your pituitary makes TRH (thyroid releasing hormone), and your hypothalamus makes TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). If everything is working properly, you will make what you need and you’ll have the proper amounts of T3 and T4.
Those two hormones – T3 and T4 – are what control the metabolism of every cell in your body. But their delicate balance can be disrupted by nutritional imbalances, toxins, allergens, infections, and stress.
If your T3 is inadequate, either by insufficient production or not converting properly from T4, your whole system suffers.
You see, T3 is critically important because it tells the nucleus of your cells to send messages to your DNA to crank up your metabolism by burning fat. That is why T3 lowers cholesterol levels, regrows hair, and helps keep you lean.
SYMPTOMS of HYPOTHYROID
Sometimes people with hypothyroidism have significant fatigue or sluggishness, especially in the morning. You may have hoarseness for no apparent reason. Often hypothyroid people are slow to warm up, even in a sauna, and don’t sweat with mild exercise. Low mood and depression are common.
Sluggish bowels and constipation are major clues, especially if you already get adequate water and fiber.
Are the upper outer third of your eyebrows thin or missing? This is sometimes an indication of low thyroid. Chronic recurrent infections are also seen because thyroid function is important for your immune system.
Another telltale sign of hypothyroidism is a low basal body temperature (BBT), less than 97.6 degrees F[4] averaged over a minimum of 3 days. It is best to obtain a BBT thermometer to assess this.
Mercola says to look to family history. Do you have any of these markers?
Some of the family history that suggests you could have a higher risk for hypothyroidism includes:
- High or low thyroid function
- Goiter
- Prematurely gray hair
- Left-handedness
- Diabetes
- Autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sarcoidosis, Sjogren’s, etc.)
- Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Elevated cholesterol levels
It might be useful to take an online thyroid assessment quiz, as a way to get started. Mary Shomon has a good one. Some of the classic symptoms are mentioned above, but there are many more – too many to list here.
If you suspect you might be hypothyroid, you should see a health care provider who can evaluate this, including ordering the basic lab tests for thyroid function.
SUGGESTIONS
Coconut oil is one of the best foods you can eat for your thyroid[11]. Coconut oil is a saturated fat comprised of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), which are known to increase metabolism and promote weight loss.
Coconut oil is very stable (shelf life of 3 to 5 years at room temperature), so your body is much less burdened with oxidative stress than it is from many other vegetable oils. And coconut oil does not interfere with T4 to T3 conversion the way other oils can.
Here are some suggestions that can be used for general support of your thyroid, as well as treating an under-performing one:
- Eat plenty of sea vegetables such as seaweed, which are rich in minerals and iodine (hijiki, wakame, arame, dulse, nori, and kombu). This is probably the most ideal form of iodine supplementation as it is also loaded with many other beneficial nutrients.
- Eat Brazil nuts, which are rich in selenium.
- Get plenty of sunlight to optimize your vitamin D levels; if you live where sunlight is limited, use vitamin D3 supplementation[18].
- Eat foods rich in vitamin A, such as dandelion greens, carrots, spinach, kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, and sweet potatoes.
- Make sure you are eating enough omega-3 fatty acids.
- Use pure, organic coconut oil in your cooking – it’s great for stir fries and sautéing many different meats and vegetables.
- Filter your drinking water and your bathing water.
- Filter your air, since it is one of the ways you take in environmental pollutants.
- Use an infrared sauna to help your body combat infections and detoxify from petrochemicals, metals, PCBs, pesticides, and mercury.
- Taking chlorella [19] is another excellent detoxification aid.
- Many women suffering from hormonal imbalances report significant benefits from the South American herb maca. For more information, please review this article by thyroid expert Mary Shomon, or her Q & A session with Dr. Viana Muller on this topic.
- Take active steps to minimize your stress ... relaxation, meditation, hot soaks, EFT, whatever works for you.
- Exercise, exercise, exercise!
The list above are all Mercola's recommendations. I am not listing them here as a substitute for medical advice or expertise. See your doctor whenever seeking medical advice. This post is designed to give you information that you can share with your doctor and discuss the best options for yourself. Read on. Then check out his video on the topic.
Mercola is excellent at diagnosing problems . . . within limits. But if you want a thorough going over of an issue, followed by targeted remedies, then I recommend you start with this Bill Sardi article. Here is the ending excerpt, but be sure to read the entire article(s).
And you may find, through further self-investigation, that part of your thyroid problem may be rooted in adrenal fatigue. A licorice root extract may be in order.
If you are reading this report and you have unexplained, insidious irritating dry skin, agonizing thinning and loss of hair, worrisome fibrillation of the top (atrial) chambers of your heart, or an unexplained slow heart rate, or severe unremitting bloating, unremitting fatigue and sleeplessness, chronic constipation, loss of eyebrows (alopecia), elevated cholesterol (for which your doctor will inappropriately prescribe a statin drug), anxiety, slowness of speech, sensitivity to cold, weight gain, joint pain, muscle cramps, forgetfulness, muscle weakness, you may have joined the low thyroid club. Worse yet, many of these same symptoms are associated with thyroid hormone replacement itself.
My report posted at Knowledge of Health today may help you find your way of the thyroid treatment maze. (No advertising, no membership requirement, no placing your email on a list to receive unwanted email.)
