How to Holistically Support Your Thyroid
If you have been experiencing stubborn weight gain, constipation, fatigue, brain fog, dry skin and nails, short luteal phases, or recurring miscarriages, this blog post might change your life.
No. I'm not being dramatic. And because it is SO important I’m dedicating an entire blog post about a tiny little butterfly-shaped endocrine gland that is often overlooked by doctors worldwide.
Have you guessed what it is yet? If you guessed the thyroid, then well done.
In this blog post I'll be breaking down:
1. What the thyroid is
2. Why an imbalanced thyroid could be causing your symptoms
3. How to test your thyroid
4. Action plan to bring your thyroid back into balance
Thyroid 101:
Your thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland that powers every cell in your body. It sets your metabolic rate. Like an engine, it produces the needed amount of energy to move at whatever speed you want—and it does this by producing thyroid hormones that initiate your cells to function at a certain metabolic rate.
In summary, if your thyroid is too low, then you can't burn calories like you used to, you can't keep your body temperature regulated, you're not able to digest your food and eliminate regularly, you may have difficulties producing adequate levels of progesterone, and all of the above can cause stubborn weight gain, irregular cycles, fatigue, subfertility, and more.
Thyroid's Job:⠀⠀⠀
✅ Affects production of follicles and ovulation⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Controls metabolism⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Necessary for progesterone production
✅ Can raise or lower body temperature⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Affects how fast food moves through the digestive tract ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Symptoms of low thyroid hormone
✅ High cholesterol
✅ Hair loss
✅ Cold hands and feet⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Low libido⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Subfertility⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Insomnia⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Frequent colds/infections⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Muscle weakness⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Nerve pain⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Swelling/puffiness around eyes⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Weight gain⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Basically, your thyroid is kind of your body’s CEO!
Thyroid imbalances are on the rise and it's estimated that 20 million people in the US suffer from a thyroid disorder. Today, 1 in 4 women in perimenopause are diagnosed with hypothyroid and women are 8 times more likely than men to have thyroid problems.
That's why when I hear clients tell me they are feeling "lazy" and don't have the energy to do things like they used to or that they are unable to lose weight, even when they're exercising and eating healthy, I always run a thyroid test.
You see, if your thyroid is off then you WILL NOT be able to generate the energy you need and you will not be able to lose weight! Other signs of low thyroid are constipation, dry skin and hair, infertility, and constantly being cold.
Before we go over the best way to test your thyroid, let's meet the thyroid team.
The Thyroid Allstars
✅ Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)- This is the signal from the brain telling the thyroid gland to make thyroid hormone
✅ Free T4- The more abundant, inactive thyroid hormone
✅ Free T3- The less abundant and active hormone
✅ Thyroid Peroxidase and Thyroid Antibodies- elevated levels point to autoimmune thyroiditis
You can see that there are many more thyroid biomarkers than simply the TSH that your doctor runs on your routine blood panel.
It's imperative I make it clear that a "TSH" test does not give us an accurate representation of your thyroid.
Why TSH is not enough
Conventional vs Functional ranges: most docs are not even using functional ranges, so they don’t even give a red flag to their patients until caca has really hit the fan. In conventional medicine only TSH over a 5 mIUL is flagged. But in functional medicine we want it under 2 mIUL. Remember conventional ranges are used to diagnose disease. Functional ranges are used to assess risk for disease before disease develops.
Leaves out FT3, FT4- Guess what? You can have normal TSH but abnormal FT4 and FT3. T4 is important because it’s converted into T3 which is the active thyroid hormone. You can also have normal TSH, normal FT4, yet low FT3. Mind blown huh? This is why I’m not a fan of T4 only thyroid medication and much prefer a combo T4 & T3 thyroid medication.This is due to the fact that if your body is getting enough TSH and FT4 but can’t convert it to FT3 then a T4 medication will not help. And hint...most of this thyroid conversion happens in the gut which is why optimizing gut health is so important.
Doesn’t rule out Hashimotos- it’s estimated about 80% of hypothyroid cases in the US are actually autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimotos). This is why it’s imperative to test antibodies. And yes, you can have a normal TSH, FT4, FT3 and still have elevated antibodies. I see it in my practice ALL.THE.TIME.
How to test your thyroid
I also realize it can sometimes be very difficult to get your doctor to run a fully thyroid panel, which is why I'm a huge fan of Paloma Health’s at home full thyroid panel test. It's delivered straight to your door and you get the results in just a week, making the whole process super simple. When ordering your test, make sure to choose the one with antibodies, and use code PERIODGURU for a discountThe cool thing about this at home test is that you get a free call with a nurse practitioner to go over your results with you!
Getting your thyroid tested at least once a year is imperative for your health. It's shocking how many of my clients have come to me and their doctors have neglected their thyroid for years, and even worse, I've had many clients who have been to prestigious IVF clinics who have also had their thyroid dismissed. This is a crime considering how expensive IVF is and considering that low thyroid makes it difficult to maintain a pregnancy past the first trimester. This is because progesterone and thyroid hormones have a symbiotic relationship as the body needs adequate amounts of thyroid hormone for your ovaries to make progesterone and you also need adequate amount of progesterone for optimal thyroid function.
What to eat for your thyroid
Your thyroid requires certain minerals and amino acids to help produce thyroid hormones. A deficiency in these nutrients can lead to health concerns such as hypothyroidism and subfertility.
In order to make enough T3 and T4 you must be getting enough zinc, selenium, iodine, tyrosine, and magnesium. These are also very crucial for your ovarian health as well. You also need adequate levels of Vitamin D (you want over 50 on a blood test)
Here is how you can get these in your diet: 🙌🌱
✨Iodine- salt, fish, seafood, seaweed, eggs
✨Tyrosine- spinach, eggs, spirulina, wild caught salmon, avocado
✨Magnesium- pumpkin seeds, oats, almonds, dark chocolate, avocado, spinach, and taking epsom salt baths (foot baths are great if you don't have a bathtub). I also like to supplement with magnesium glycinate in the morning and evening.
✨Zinc- oysters, chicken, pumpkin seeds, cashews, red meat
✨Selenium- brazil nuts (3 a day will do it!), fish, turkey, beef liver, eggs, spinach
I also see a lot of my clients who are suffering from low thyroid and fatigue come back with low levels of sodium and potassium. That's why I recommend adding a 1/4 tsp of sea salt to each litre of your water!
One of the best ways to get ALL of the above ingredients is by taking these Organ Complex supplements daily by Paleovalley. They are a mix of beef liver, kidney, and heart, and are nature’s best multivitamin! You can get yours for 15% off by clicking here.
Optimizing liver and gut health for better thyroid levels
Most of your T4 hormone is converted to T3 (your active hormone) in your gut and your liver. This event can only take place if your liver is working properly, and if your gut microbiome has a healthy diversity of bacteria.
How to support your liver and your gut:
Take a quality probiotic. I like Microbiome Lab's Megasporebiotic because its spore based and survives digestion, making it to your GI tract where it belongs. You can get yours for 10% off by clicking here. You will need to create an account under my practitioner account, but it only takes 30 seconds.
Castor oil packs- those of you who work with me know how much I praise castor oil packs. When worn over your liver at night they stimulate blood flow to the liver which supports liver cleansing and microbiome balance. They are also great for breaking up scar tissues, ovarian cysts, fibroids, and for lightening heavy periods. I wear mine 4 times a week while I sleep. You can order a reusable and mess free one here, or you can make one DIY by applying castor oil to your liver and abdomen, placing a towel on top, and then a heating pad or hot water bottle over it. Keep on for a minimum of 1 hour.
And last but definitely not least...let's talk STRESS.
Stress and the thyroid are closely connected. When you are stressed your body releases cortisol. And excess levels of cortisol can inhibit the secretion of TSH, suppress the conversion of T4 to T3, and it can suppress thyroid receptor site sensitivity. It can also promote autoimmunity by weakening immune barriers.
I have breaking news for you. There will always be stressful events in our lives. But 99% of life is in how we respond. Thankfully there are tools in our reach to calm our nervous system and turn on the parasympathetic (rest and relax) branch of the autonomic nervous system.
My favorite stress reducing techniques:
Mindful breathing like Box Breathing
✅ Inhale 3 seconds
✅ Hold 3 seconds
✅ Exhale 6 seconds
✅ Hold 3 Seconds
✅ Repeat up to 5 times
Cold water therapy
End your showers with 1 minute of cold water. Come on, you can do it! The cold water will tone your vagus nerve and calm your nervous system. It also boosts levels of dopamine! If you're feeling adventurous, try an ice bath! But please do not practice cold water therapy while menstruating as we are trying to promote heat in this phase of our cycle.
Walks in nature
Go outside once a day for a walk in nature. Place your bare feet on the earth if you can!
I hope this thyroid blog post was helpful for you!
And if you haven't yet, don't forget to grab your at home thyroid test from Paloma so you can get the answers you deserve as soon as possible. Don't forget to use the code PERIODGURU for your discount.