The topic of thyroid health has generated an overwhelming number of questions. You don’t need to be diagnosed with hypothyroidism to suffer from thyroid issues. I’ve discovered subclinical thyroid dysfunction in myself and many of my clients, impairing their ability to heal fully.
Your thyroid powers every cell in your body. It sets the pace for your body to function and operate. Like a car engine, it produces the needed amount of energy to move at whatever speed you want. Your thyroid gland produces enough thyroid hormones that prompt your cells to function at a specific metabolic rate.
Just as a car needs fuel, your thyroid needs “fuel” to make these hormones. The “fuel” is a combination of vitamins, minerals, glucose, and amino acids. Vitamins A, C, and B are essential for proper thyroid function. We also need glucose to convert T4 (inactive thyroid hormone) to T3 (active thyroid hormone). Minerals such as iodine, copper, zinc, magnesium, and iron also fuel the thyroid gland and conversion process.
Cars have accelerators that produce energy and control the speed. Our bodies also have an “accelerator” that controls how fast it goes. Our “accelerator” is the pituitary or master gland. It is located at the base of your brain and regulates your thyroid function and other glands and parts of the endocrine (hormone) system. The pituitary and thyroid glands work together to put hormones into the blood. These hormones are then carried to different organs to allow them to function correctly. There is a thyroid receptor on every cell in your body!
How do thyroid hormones function in the body?
I tried to choose the symptoms that I see most often in the image above, but here are other common symptoms:
Just because you have a lot of these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean you have a thyroid issue, but it’s 100% worth looking into. The biggest problem I see is that there is thyroid dysfunction, but your thyroid levels are considered “normal.”
A few thoughts on this:
As mentioned above, TSH isn’t the only marker for thyroid health. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked a client if they’ve had their thyroid tested, and they come back with “Yes, it was normal.” I then proceed to ask about the actual results, and most don’t even have them. Their doctor called to tell them their TSH was normal, and that was that. The problem with this is that understanding how your thyroid is functioning is so much more than TSH. TSH is telling you how much your pituitary is talking to your thyroid and demanding that it make more hormones.
If you suspect thyroid dysfunction, I recommend getting the following tested:
This gives you a much more complete picture of your thyroid function and where you may need support.
When we think of thyroid testing, we often think of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), but as mentioned above, that’s just one marker of thyroid health. One of my favorite thyroid markers to look at is free T3. Why? Because it shows you how your thyroid hormone conversion is.
Free T4 is the inactive form of thyroid hormone, and T3 is the active form. Our bodies naturally convert free T4 to free T3. When we have a poor conversion of free T4 to free T3, it can lead to hypothyroid symptoms. Free T4 is what is in thyroid medication, like levothyroxine, so whether you are taking medication or suspect a thyroid issue, it’s essential to know what your free T3 levels are. That is why some women taking that type of thyroid medication still don’t feel like themselves and often do better on a combined medication or thyroid gland. They need that free T3 (or they are on the wrong dosage)!
Many things can lead to poor conversion–I often see nutrient deficiencies as a big one. Still, before you start supplements with zinc or selenium, I recommend getting your levels tested. Why? Because minerals are complex. They need to be in the right balance, or they can lead to imbalances in other minerals. I use an HTMA test to evaluate minerals with my clients. It’s especially great for those who struggle with thyroid dysfunction, hormone imbalance, post-birth control, and more!
Having thyroid dysfunction isn’t a life sentence. Just like other hormone imbalances, you can support your body and support thyroid function. It’s all about getting to the root of what’s contributing to the dysfunction.
If you look at the stress response and how the thyroid works, you can see they are in the same loop! The adrenals and thyroid are both controlled by the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland, in the brain. So, it makes sense that the adrenals have a big impact on thyroid function. The main way they impact the thyroid is through cortisol, our stress hormone.
If we have too much cortisol, it can disrupt the loop and inhibit thyroid function. Excess cortisol lowers thyroid-stimulating hormone production (TSH) and can even inhibit the conversion of the inactive form of thyroid hormone (T4) to the active form (T3) (see Part-1 for more on T3 conversion). This is why chronic stress can lead to an underachieving thyroid and why it can exacerbate conditions like hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s. When your body is under chronic stress it responds by dialing down thyroid function. If you are dealing with thyroid issues or suspect them, first look for possible stressor(s).
Contributors to Chronic Stress:
…to name a few!
Are you dealing with irregular cycles, amenorrhea, short luteal phase, and heavy or really light periods? If you answered yes, it’s worth looking into your thyroid function. Low thyroid function is what I deal with most commonly in the clients I work with.
How does thyroid function impact your hormones/cycle?
You will notice that the symptoms of under or overactive thyroid can be similar. That’s why it’s always best to test and not guess. You will need a full panel: TSH, Free T4, Free T3, and both antibodies.
How does the pill impact the thyroid?
I’ve done lots of Instagram posts on the pill and so, I couldn’t leave it out of the thyroid deep dive because it can have a huge impact on thyroid health. Listed below are ways in which the pill affects your thyroid:
It is important to be aware of these impacts if you have a history of thyroid issues or suspect that you might. There are non-hormonal options that you can choose from. Check out my Instagram for more information.
Certain chemicals, in specific, those chemicals from the halogen group, compete with iodine, which is also a halogen. Why? They have similar chemical structures and this allows them to interfere with thyroid function since we NEED iodine (check out the podcast I shared below).
The Halogen Group
What are some changes to consider if you are struggling with thyroid health?
Remember, the amount of exposure you have to these chemicals matters. Don’t stress about swimming in a pool every once in a while if you have a shower filter. If you’re minimizing exposure in most areas, you’re supporting thyroid health. Reducing your stressors and evaluating your menstrual cycles are essential to balancing thyroid hormones. Speak with your doctor about alternative non-hormonal pill options.
How does your gut health impact your thyroid health? The gut-thyroid connection is often a vicious cycle since hypothyroidism causes poor digestion, which can contribute to poor thyroid function. We also convert some thyroid hormone in the gut, which is why poor gut health can lead to low free T3 levels. The main ways in which your gut health can impact your thyroid health are:
90% of individuals with hypothyroidism have an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s, meaning their immune system is the root of their thyroid condition. Can you guess what affects your immune system? YOUR GUT! An essential step in any thyroid condition is to address your gut health.
Another piece of the thyroid health puzzle is conventional treatment. Once individuals get treatment, their symptoms don’t always improve or only improve for a short period. Why does this happen? There is so much more to thyroid health than having enough thyroid hormone; that’s why I believe a functional approach gives the best results since you cover all of your bases.
The bottom line of the functional treatment for thyroid health is to find someone that will work WITH you on finding what moves the needle most for your thyroid. Listed below are some of the functional approaches:
Another vital factor of thyroid health and function is nutrition. Listed below are essential nutrients for thyroid health. Check out the image for where to find them!
One of the best ways to support thyroid health is to ensure your minerals are well-balanced. When it comes to the thyroid, much of the focus is on iodine and selenium, which are essential but are not the full picture.
Calcium and your thyroid. 95% of calcium is in the bones and teeth. When calcium starts to move out of the bones and teeth, it causes problems. The main issue is that calcium binds to iodine receptors and impacts the use of thyroid hormones in the body.
I see high calcium on many HTMA tests, which means calcium isn’t where it should be (in the bones and teeth) and is leaving through your hair–showing us that it’s likely binding to iodine receptors slowing down your thyroid function.
Symptoms of high calcium include:
Potassium and your thyroid. Potassium is such an important mineral. It regulates blood pressure, maintains fluid balance and pH of the body, impacts nerve conduction of the heart, and dilates arteries. Potassium also has a significant impact on thyroid health because it sensitizes our cell to thyroid hormone. When we don’t have enough, this can also impair thyroid function.
Symptoms of low potassium include:
The best way to see if you have an imbalance is to do a hair mineral analysis or HTMA test. I do these with almost all of my clients since they are helpful for many reasons, especially those struggling with thyroid health or suspected thyroid dysfunction.
Thyroid dysfunction used to be thought of as requiring medication to fix either an over- or under-achieving thyroid. (I am not against medication–many of my clients use it). Luckily, now we have a better understanding of why the thyroid becomes dysfunctional and how to support it better. Nutrition, lifestyle (particularly stress), and gut health are what I believe have the most significant impact on thyroid health and toxic exposure. Let’s dig into each area!
As always, you don’t need to make a ton of changes at once to support your thyroid. Ideally, we are learning and digesting the information and then deciding where it makes the most sense to start. For some people, they may relate to the gut health section and consider slowing down at meals or adding in apple cider vinegar to help support digestion. For others, they may relate more to the stress section and want to work on managing their day-to-day stress and addressing their schedule. Sit with this information and think about what makes the most sense for you, then take one action and continue to chip away. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.
I have a free thyroid mini course that you can get here if you want to learn even more about your thyroid and how to start improving its function.
reminder: i’m currently taking on 1:1 clients. if you’d like to explore what it would be like to work together and if we are a good fit, fill out this form to get more details!
