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?

Schedule a FREE discovery call and let’s talk about simple ways to improve your Thyroid and overall health today!

Stress and Food: What you need to know.

When it comes to stress, most people focus on things like therapy, meditation, movement, or getting better sleep.

And while those are powerful tools for improving your relationship with stress, there’s another stress-management tool that doesn’t get talked about as much—nutrition.

Here’s 3 ways nutrition impacts your stress levels—and what you can do about it.

1: The truth about calorie restriction and stress

Here’s something the diet ads don’t tell you: Restricting calories can cause stress. 

Yes, most people can get away with eating a little less than their bodies need (which can help them lose weight and body fat without sacrificing performance or wellbeing). 

But eating a lot less, especially for a long time, and especially when you have major recovery needs—like hard athletic training or recovering from surgery—can start to cause problems. 

An excessive or chronic caloric deficit can impair performance, decrease lean muscle mass, and lead to a host of other issues ranging from hormonal imbalances to immune deficiencies. 

This can happen when people:

• Are often “on a diet” and purposely eating less
• Have very high energy demands and find it hard to eat enough to support their physiological needs (example: athletes) 
• Don’t eat enough due to other stressors (travel, high workload, or grief)
• Take certain types of medications
• Experience changes in their eating habits or nutrition due to aging

Sometimes, even when you have a weight loss goal, it may be better to focus on stress management or sleep habits firstbefore eating less calories.

Because if you are already quite stressed, adding to that stress with a calorie deficit could actually backfire.

That’s not to say you can’t work on the nutrition front at all. But maybe it’s a time to focus on eating slowly, or eating more whole foods, instead of eating smaller portions.

2: Foods that stress you out 

Highly-processed foods get a lot of bad press. So maybe it’s no surprise they can be a nutritional stressor.

These “junk” foods tend to be high in sugar, chemical additives, and other substances that can contribute to health problems—for instance, by harming the microbiome, or the delicate balance of microorganisms in the gut. 

Highly-processed foods are also associated with increased systemic inflammation.

Importantly, this isn’t just about the occasional slice of pizza or dish of ice cream. Those may actually relieve stress in other ways—for example, by socializing with friends and family,

Rather, the nutritional stress comes from: 

• Eating a lot of highly-processed foods in total
• Having those foods make up a large proportion of our diets (that is, more than an occasional treat)

It is especially important to eat whole, minimally processed foods more often than not!

You don’t have to demonize tasty treats. It’s all about maintaining balance, having a plan for success, allowing for some flexibility, and having self compassion.

3: Sneaky nutrition stressors 

The way you think about food can affect your stress levels, too; “cognitive dietary restraint.” 

Cognitive dietary restraint, involves a constant preoccupation and worry about eating less, even if you aren’t actually eating less. 

Thanks to the close link between body and mind, even just thinking about restricting food—especially if anxiety goes along with those thoughts—can result in the body behaving as if a person were really deprived.

I say it over and over again:

The goal is to eat in healthier ways more consistently.

By applying nutrition principles around how to eat, rather than rigid dieting “rules”, you’ll be able to make lasting changes—and less likely to binge eat or restrict calories because you “fell off the wagon.”

Stress plays a crucial role in our overall health and in maintaining a healthy weight long term. 

Need help creating a plan that doesn’t stress you out and that you’ll find long term success with?

Book your FREE discovery call below and let’s get started!