Thyroid Health: Making Your Thyroid Thrive
The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland sitting on the front of your throat that’s in charge of your metabolism. Most people know your metabolism as the way you utilise food and energy but in fact your metabolism controls every single chemical reaction in your entire body to ensure everything runs smoothly and on time. This why your thyroid health is very important and one of our Naturopaths should be seen if you are experiencing the symptoms below.
Your body works best when the thyroid is operating in the ‘goldilocks zone’, not too much and not too little.
Thyroid dysfunction can look and feel different for everyone as the thyroid can start over or under-reacting depending on a variety of factors.
What are the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction?
The thyroid function spectrum
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Hypothyroid Underactive Thyroid |
← → Goldilocks Zone Everything is just right! Thriving without symptoms! |
Hyperthyroid Overactive Thyroid |
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Getting the whole picture
Unfortunately when you go to the doctor they very rarely get the full picture of thyroid function. That’s because they only test one component of thyroid function, TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). Your thyroid could be running a muck causing you a myriad of symptoms before TSH starts to show up as abnormal. Our blog post ‘Why your thyroid test is wrong’ is a great resource to learn about thyroid testing and understanding your results.
An expert Naturopath can order a full panel of thyroid pathology that includes TSH as well as the other thyroid hormones so you can get the whole picture.
Nutrition for an optimal thyroid
The thyroid requires building blocks in the form of minerals to create thyroid hormones and having healthy functioning tissue.
A diet rich in minerals like iodine, selenium, zinc and iron is essential.
Foods to include on a daily to weekly basis are foods like:
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Brazil Nuts
- Mushrooms
- Green leafy vegetables
- High quality meat
- Seaweed
If you do eat a variety of these foods and still feel symptomatic it’s best to speak with a Naturopath to run some nutrition panels or to prescribe you an individualised supplement. We stock practitioner grade nutrients that are proven to increase mineral status in individuals and therefore encourage your thyroid to function optimally.
Stress and the thyroid
I’m sure you are totally aware that stress is not great for the body but how exactly does it impact your thyroid?
If you have multiple or high-needs children or a lot of responsibility at work this would be considered chronic stress. Being exposed to chronic stress on a daily basis can significantly push your thyroid out of the goldilocks zone.
During the stress response your body releases inflammatory cytokines that can slow your thyroid function upstream, inhibit the steps needed for thyroid hormone synthesis, and make you resistant to the thyroid hormones you are producing (similar to insulin resistance). To understand more about the impact of stress on the thyroid check out our blog post, ‘The Adrenal-Thyroid Link’.
Looking after your thyroid health and getting your thyroid thriving doesn’t have to be hard!
A simple and free 15-minute phone consultation with our Naturopaths can radically transform your thyroid health! Our care assistants can also suggest the perfect practitioner for you, so give us a call on 02 4961 4075, and let’s get you feeling great!
