Our thyroid health impacts all systems of the body because it sets our metabolic pace. This means it controls how fast or slow our metabolism is working and how much energy we are burning. You can have a thyroid that slows down and isn’t functionally as optimally as it could be without having a hypothyroid diagnosis. I think a lot of people will skip over information on thyroid health because they think it doesn’t apply to them since they don’t have hypo or hyperthyroidism, but in reality, our thyroid function fluctuates throughout our life. I think understanding how the thyroid works, what impacts it, and how to support it is something every woman can benefit from.

If we take a look at the image below, this gives a great and simple breakdown of how our thyroid function is at the center of our overall health. All of our normal bodily functions require energy and since our thyroid dictates how much energy we are using, it impacts all of our systems. If our thyroid slows down, we make and use less energy, which means less energy for things like digestion. Stomach acid production slows down, which leads to poor breakdown of our food and slower digestion in general. Slower digestion and movement through the GI tract means more opportunity for bacteria to overgrow where it shouldn’t (hello SIBO!) and less elimination (pooping). This puts added stress on the liver, which is already busy doing hundreds of other things like converting thyroid hormone, detoxing hormones and toxins, storing glycogen and balancing our blood sugar, and so much more. This eventually leads to unwanted symptoms and is often why women show up in my community looking for help.

Say someone gets to this place where they have some bloating, maybe inconsistent bowel movements or digestive concerns, PMS or period pain, fatigue, hair loss, and just overall not feeling like themselves. So they start investigating and ask their doctor to test their thyroid since when they ask Dr. Google all of their symptoms fall under hypothyroidism. Their doctor runs TSH, which is testing thyroid stimulating hormone. This is actually released by the pituitary gland and tells your thyroid to make more thyroid hormone. The results come back within the “normal” range and you think the thyroid door has closed and it must be something else. Not so fast! Our stress hormones can impact TSH and a full thyroid panel tells us a lot more.

How Stress Impacts Thyroid Labs

When our brain is alerted of a stressor, it goes through a number of steps with our hypothalamus and pituitary that lead to the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Our hypothalamus is also responsible for sensing whether or not there is enough thyroid hormone in our system. When there isn’t, it signals to our pituitary to make TSH. This tells our thyroid that the body needs more thyroid hormone and to get to work. The issue with cortisol is that it inhibits TSH and then our thyroid doesn’t get the message that it needs to make more thyroid hormone. This leads to TSH levels looking falsely “normal” or sometimes even optimal because it’s not being produced, but in reality, our thyroid isn’t making enough thyroid hormone.

If someone is dealing with a lot of stress and consistently making cortisol, their TSH will look normal despite them not feeling good because their body doesn’t have enough thyroid hormone. This is where I see many women start the healing journey. They are symptomatic, know something is wrong, but when they get their thyroid labs done (usually only TSH), their doctor says everything is normal and it’s not their thyroid that is the issue. If they took it one step further and testing free T4 (inactive thyroid hormone) and free T3 (active thyroid hormone), they’d likely see that this person is not making enough thyroid hormone, despite having a normal TSH and this could in fact be why they aren’t feeling well.

Thyroid Shifts Throughout Healing

When someone finds my work they start shifting their mindset around dieting and begin incorporating more nourishing foods and eating enough. This typically starts to lower their cortisol levels. So many of us are constantly in fight or flight and are addicted to stress hormones. We get addicted to being stressed out—everything from rushing through our meals to continue checking our phone to feeling like we need intense workouts. We are craving the cortisol. This is the most significant sign that you need to slow down and that stress can be impacting your thyroid function. When we are used to being in fight or flight all of the time, it can be really hard to slow down and tune into the needs of your body, but that is the goal on the healing journey. For some, this can actually make them feel worse at first. Some people experience fatigue while others experience anxiety. Both are common with suboptimal thyroid hormone levels. Supporting blood sugar balance, eating consistently, and slowly learning how to not be in fight or flight all helps.

What does this look like on blood work? Typically TSH goes up. Why? Because there is less cortisol inhibiting TSH. This is a good thing! It means the thyroid is getting the message that it needs to make more thyroid hormone and can begin doing so. Some see the shift and think “oh no, why is my thyroid health getting worse if I’ve been less stressed and more mindful with my nutrition and lifestyle?” but it’s not a bad thing to see TSH increase especially when you know you’re reducing stress. Don’t panic! Using other tools like measuring your basal body temperature is a great way to have another marker to compare to. Labs are helpful, but they are not the end all be all and they can’t tell you how you feel. How is your mood, appetite, energy, sleep, digestion, skin, and cycle? You will typically start to see positive changes in these areas before you see a ton of movement on your labs. Checking in with yourself regularly can go a long way and avoid unnecessary lab testing that may not give you the answers you’re looking for.

What Else Can I Do To Support My Thyroid?

Healing takes time, especially when your body has been under chronic stress. This doesn’t mean you have to sit around and do nothing, but I before you start digging into every area I outline below, ask yourself if you are doing the basics like eating enough, getting good sleep, getting outside, and prioritizing time for things you enjoy. It can be tempting to want to do all the things and check things off your list, but sometimes all our body needs it a little more time and patience. Doing more isn’t always better, especially if it’s adding to your stress.

Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis

Understanding and assessing your mineral status is incredibly helpful for your thyroid health. The best way to do this is through hair mineral testing. You get a look at what is going on inside your cells (where your minerals are) rather than what’s in your blood. Blood levels of minerals are tightly regulated, which means it can take years for them to get out of balance. When a mineral in the blood is low, we take it from the tissues to bring it back in range. When a mineral is too high, we will excrete more through stool and urine. Looking at your mineral status via hair mineral testing can help you see imbalances way before blood work would change. You also get to see a wide variety of minerals to give you the full picture.

Here are just a few highlights of some of the most crucial minerals for thyroid health that you can also see on a hair mineral test.

Calcium

When calcium is in excess, it can slow down how long it takes to get thyroid hormone inside the cell. We also need adequate calcium for insulin release. If we don’t have this, it can lead to high and low blood sugars, which causes imbalances in stress hormones like cortisol. This negatively impacts thyroid health.

Copper

Copper stimulates the production of the thyroxine hormone T4 and helps to maintain optimal thyroid function by supporting energy production in the body. Copper also regulates iron, which is important for thyroid hormone conversion.

Magnesium

Protects against oxidative stress and inflammation which damages the thyroid gland. Essential for making ATP that powers the sodium-iodide symporter to transport iodine into thyroid cells.

Selenium

Helps initiate the creation of thyroid hormones, activates thyroid hormones, and helps to convert T4 to T3. It also helps to support the recycling of iodide to make more thyroid hormone and protects against damage by reducing oxidative stress and heavy metal contamination.

Sodium

Transports iodide into thyroid cells in order to make thyroid hormones via the sodium-iodide symporter. Also supports insulin sensitivity, which can impact micronutrient status and thyroid function.

Iodine Testing

Another crucial mineral for thyroid function is iodine. Without iodine, we cannot produce thyroid hormones T4 and T3. A root cause for many with hypothyroidism is an iodine deficiency. So why don’t I recommend starting with iodine? There are two main reason:

1. Iodine has cofactors. This means there are certain nutrients that you have to take with (ideally before) iodine in order for our bodies to use it properly. These cofactors are magnesium, vitamin C, and selenium. If we take iodine without the cofactors, we may not tolerate it and it will likely cause more harm than good.
2. Iodine increases our metabolism. If we are able to make more thyroid hormone, our metabolism increases. This is a good thing, but only if your body can handle the increase in demand for energy. Most people are not in a good position for iodine right when they start their healing journey. It’s best to optimize your minerals first and ensure you’re eating enough before you rush into iodine. It is a great second or third step on the healing journey though! Many find this an essential part of supporting their thyroid. I personally found iodine incredibly helpful.

The best way to test iodine is through iodine loading urine testing that takes place over a 24 hour period. This helps you see how much iodine is leaving the body after consuming an iodine tablet. The more that leaves, the better. Remember, if our body has mineral reserves it will excrete excess levels of those minerals in the urine in order to keep them tightly regulated. The lower the iodine level, the more your body needed at iodine and the more deficient you are.

If you want to nerd out more about thyroid health and get nutrition tips and go through lab testing in more detail, check out my free thyroid training. It’s packed with helpful information to support you as you dive into your thyroid health.

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!