A Thriving Thyroid, the secret to good health?

Did you know that the thyroid affects literally every cell in your body? If you think that makes having a healthy, functioning thyroid incredibly important when it comes to optimizing your overall health and well-being....you’re right.

Unfortunately, an estimated 20 million Americans don’t have a healthy thyroid gland, and to make matters worse, over half of those don’t even know it.

Conventional medicine’s approach to a dysfunctional thyroid is to jump straight to medication. While medication or even surgery can be necessary for some (very few) thyroid issues, it turns out there are a lot of other things you can do to ensure your thyroid is in tip-top shape. But this requires a baseline understanding of the role the thyroid plays in the body, signs it may not be functioning optimally, and how to ensure yours stays healthy.

Understanding the Thyroid Gland

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland that sits directly under the larynx. Its job is to release specific hormones into the body—mainly T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine). These hormones are so critical for the body, in fact, that every cell has a receptor for T3 and T4.

You can imagine the function of the thyroid by thinking about it like a power regulator. When T3 and T4 production is within a normal range, they keep your organs powered up and your metabolism at the right level. But if the thyroid’s hormone production is off—releasing either too much or too little—everything in your body starts to suffer the effects.

Having an underactive thyroid (one that doesn’t produce enough T3 and T4) is called hypothyroidism. One of the symptoms of an underactive thyroid is a slower metabolism, which can lead to issues like weight gain or trouble losing weight, low energy levels, poor circulation, low sex drive, and depression.

Conversely, when the thyroid makes too many hormones, it’s referred to as hyperthyroidism. An overactive thyroid can lead to issues such as losing weight without trying, a fast or irregular heartbeat, increased hunger, more-frequent bowel movements, and sleep issues.

Factors That Affect Thyroid Health

Clearly, neither hypothyroidism nor hyperthyroidism is ideal. But what causes thyroid dysfunction in the first place?

It would be great if there were just one reason for thyroid gland issues, because then correcting them would be easy. As it turns out, there are many different causes of thyroid dysregulation.

Just a few of the things that can cause thyroid issues are

• Long-term elevated levels of cortisol in your body as a result of stress

• Blood sugar imbalance or insulin resistance

• Environmental toxins

• Nutrient deficiencies

• A poor gut microbiome

In addition, one of the most common causes of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disorder in which your own body attacks the thyroid, thinking it’s an outside invader.

As you can see from the above list, there are a lot of reasons why a person might be suffering from a dysfunctional thyroid. Since root causes will vary from person to person, this means improving thyroid function needs to be individualized as well.

The Functional Medicine Approach to Thyroid Health

If you see a Functional Medicine doctor for possible thyroid issues, they would likely look at TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone, which is produced by the pituitary gland); total T3 and T4; free T3 and T4; reverse T3; and thyroid antibodies (which helps identify autoimmune thyroiditis) at a minimum. Running these labs helps to give a much more accurate look at your thyroid function.

With that information in hand, you would then work to address the underlying causes. Some of the actions that you might take depending on your test results would be doing an elimination diet to see if a certain food might be causing chronic inflammation or performing additional testing for heavy metals or other toxins in your system.

Tips for a Healthy Thyroid

The good news is, even without going to a doctor, you can do plenty of things to help ensure a healthy thyroid—and, therefore, a healthy reset of your body.

First, if you think you might have a thyroid issue or are experiencing any symptoms of an under- or overactive thyroid, you can start by focusing on your diet. Are you eating a well-balanced diet with high-quality protein and colorful, leafy greens? Like everything else in your body, your thyroid works much better when your diet is high quality—remember, food is medicine!

You can also consider removing gluten from your diet. A survey by Dr. Izabella Wentz of over 2,000 of her Hashimoto patients showed that a whopping 93 percent of them felt better on a gluten-free diet. Dairy may also be a contributing factor, as the same survey reported 75 percent of patients felt better after going dairy free.

Supplements can also be a simple way to improve thyroid health if you can’t get what you need from diet alone (and given today’s farming and food-transportation practices, that’s, unfortunately, all but guaranteed to be the case). Zinc, selenium, and iron are critical minerals your thyroid needs to produce hormones; other essential nutrients include vitamins A, B, and E. Supplementing with any or all of these can contribute to a healthy thyroid.

And because chronically high levels of cortisol can be a root cause of thyroid dysregulation, focusing on stress-reduction techniques like exercise, mindfulness, and meditation can also help rejuvenate a worn-down thyroid.

There are always a ton of natural things you can do to support your thyroid health, and in turn your overall health. By and large, most of these things will help you live a healthier life in so many other ways, too, so there’s literally no downside.

That being said, if you do suspect you might have a thyroid issue (or have a family history of hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism), I would highly encourage you to find a Functional Medicine doctor who can order a set of lab tests and get to the bottom of any thyroid issues you might be experiencing—especially any that need more specialized treatment. When it comes to your thyroid health, there’s no reason to go it alone.

Do you have diagnosed Thyroid issues or any of the above symptoms resonate with you?

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