ALL THINGS THYROID

Thyroid issues have become an epidemic in our country. Why this epidemic? It’s a mix of environmental factors, our diets, and our lifestyles. The biggest culprits are our tap water contamination, flouride, pesticides, processed food and stress.

Some facts about the thyroid:

  • Thyroid regulates your health: regulates heart rate and blood pressure, affects bone health and growth and affects brain development.

  • Our pituitary gland produces TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) —> which then produces T3 and T4 (active thyroid hormones)

    • These guys go to work to regulate metabolism

    • Here’s the number of thyroid hormones (when you get bloodwork, check ALL of these!):

      • TRH

      • TSH

        1. T4 and T3

        2. calcitonine — involved in calcium absorption

        3. Free T3 (These are unbound (not attached to a protein)

        4. Free T4 (These are unbound (not attached to a protein)

        5. T4 has to be converted to T3

          • Some becomes T3 and some becomes RT3

          • in stressful environments more RT3 gets created

        6. Some level of RT3 is normal but high levels can represent thyroid issues

THYROID DISORDERS

  • Hypothyroid (TSH greater than 2, however some people are okay with certain ranges. Everyone is unique so consult with your doctor)

    • This means you have an under-active thyroid and are not producing enough thyroid hormone

    • TSH is typically high in bloodwork

    • Can lead to obesity, infertility, joint pain. You’ll find yourself with brittle nails, hair loss, and poor exercise recovery

    • Causes:

      • Nutrient and mineral deficiencies such as iron, selenium, iodine, or magnesium.

      • Flouride can strip your iodine, chemicals in water can attack your thyroid, stress can lead to poor nutrient absorption, poor diet can impact lack of minerals and nutrients as well.

      • Pregnancy can deplete you of nutrients.

  • Hyperthyroid (TSH below 1.5)

    • This is an over-active thryoid and you are overproducing thryoid hormone.

    • TSH is typically low in bloodwork

    • Symptoms include: weight loss, hair loss, bone loss, sweating. Exercise can also be difficult.

    • Causes:

      • Causes are similar for both issues.

MORE DETAILS ON CAUSES:

Nutritional Deficiencies that impact thyroid

  • Iodine deficiency

    • Eat more seaweed, salt, yogurt, cheese, eggs, and enriched grain products, fish

    • 150mg per day are needed

    • Use iodized salt

  • Selenium deficiency

    • brazil nuts, meat, poultry, and eggs

    • the amount depends on the soil — our soils have become depleted over the years as we haven’t taken regenerative approaches to farming. Our brazil nuts contain 50%+ less in selenium now than they did 100 years ago.

    • 55mg per day

  • Magnesium deficiency

    • This is widely available in food

      • leafy greens, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains

      • Eat 1 magnesium rich food at each meal

    • 320mg per day

  • Iron deficiency

    • Eat grass-fed meat. They say oysters have lots of iron but be careful because heavy metals are also a cause of thyroid issues! Stick to well sourced red meats.

    • Plant based forms include nuts, lentils beans and fortified grain products

    • 18mg per day



LIFESTYLE FACTORS THAT CAN LEAD TO THYROID ISSUES

HEAVY METALS

  • Ask doctor for test of heavy metals

  • Making an effort to lower exposure by being conscious of the seafood you eat

  • High mercury fish - consuming too much and higher in mercury

    • no more than 2-3 servings of fish

  • Sharks and Tuna, Mackeral, Swordfish all have higher mercury

  • Shellfish - keep to a few times a month

  • Rice has been found to have high levels of arsenic

    • Don’t make it the primary grain in your diet

    • keep rice intake to occasional

  • Excessive amounts of bone broth can lead to increases in lead

    • Occasional beverage is good

    • Drink bone broth less often

  • Phalates are in thousands of products and can cause toxicity. Number one thing to do is get a phalate free shower curtain



Water:

So many people tend to trust and drink tap water but the truth is, it’s not very clean and can contain many harmful chemicals to our hormones. Standard water-treatment plants cannot remove the chemical perchlorate from the water supply. According to one researcher, “There is a statistical association between low-level contamination with ammonium perchlorate and elevated or abnormal thyroid function.” Also, chlorine content in the water can displace the much-needed iodine. What to do about this?

  • Invest in a water filtration system for your home. AquaPure offers payment plans since it’s pricey. Berkey water filters are also great.

  • Don’t drink tap water at restaurants. Always ask for bottled water. If you like your lemons, squeeze the lemon juice and throw the lemon away, don’t put it into your water.

  • Get a shower filter as well. Your body absorbs so much through the scalp. You’re also breathing in whatever is in the water, especially if you’re taking a hot shower.

Let’s talk about fluoride. It is an enzyme poison which accumulates in the body. Since the body can only eliminate 50% of its total fluoride intake, this build-up can cause harm to the thyroid by blocking the use of iodine. We are inundated with flouride in our water. A filtration system will help remove this. Flouride free toothpaste is also a great idea.


ORGANIC vs. NON-ORGANIC

Pesticides are used without abandon in the United States. These include sumithrin (Anvil) and resmethrin (Scourge). We’re slowly starting to see how harmful these are to our health (ugh, I hate that it took us getting our country super sick to realize) but there is legislature coming out to help eliminate the uses. Specifically, these particular pesticides are coming under considerable criticism for their adverse chronic effects on the thyroid.

What can you do about it?

  • Befriend your local farmer at the farmer’s market and get to know their practices. See if they use these pesticides and if their practices are regenerative and organic

  • Buy organic whenever possible. If you can’t afford to buy everything organic, buy the Dirty Dozen organic ALWAYS.


GUT HEALTH
Gut health is CRITICAL to thyroid function.

  • Food allergies and intolerances. If you have any of these and are on a strict diet, you may want to consider the following:

    • If you don’t get enough healthy fats (i.e. are on a low fat diet), this an cause issues with your menstrual cycle and hormonal balance

    • If you have lots of food restrictions, this can impair your absorption of nutrients which play a role in thyroid function

    • Prioritize healthy fats

      • Salmon

      • Avocado

      • Olive Oil

  • Thyroid & Gluten — not a good pair!

    • The processing of gluten requires bromide which requires lots of iodine — therefore if you’re eating gluten, drinking water with flouride, brushing your teeth with flouride toothpaste, your iodine is basically non-existent

    • Iodine which is needed for thyroid function

    • If you have thyroid issues, go gluten free until they resolve themselves.

  • Candida overgrowth can also impair the thyroid. It can stem from:


DOCTORS AND NUTRITIONISTS

WHO UNDERSTAND THYROID ISSUES BEST

Dr. Taz Bahtia

A holistic doctor who understands women’s hormones and the power of both eastern and western medicine.

Tara Thorne FN

A functional nutritionist that loves science and loves getting to the root cause of your hormonal issues. Tara is a powerhouse.

Alissa Vitti

Alissa is the hormone whisperer. Her program, FloLiving, changed my life and my thyroid health.



HELPFUL FOODS & RECIPES

  • Ginger Water

  • Golden Turmeric Mylk (helps reduce inflammation)

  • Kefir (great for gut health)

  • Green Tea - lots of polyphenols - but don’t consume too much as it may block iodine absorption.

  • Brazil nuts

    • packed with selenium

    • 6-8 nuts = 544mg of selenium

    • Stick to a small serving a few times a week

  • Seaweed and Kelp

    • natural source of iodine

  • Black beans

    • Rich in iron

    • half cup provides 10% of your daily needs

    • Also a great source of fiber

  • Salmon

    • Omega 3 fatty acids which help fight inflammation

    • Go for wild always!

THYROID FRIENDLY RECIPES

Thyroid Trail Mix

  • Himalayan Sea Salt

  • Brazil Nuts

  • Cacao Nibs

  • Almonds

Quinoa Buddha bowl:

  • Quinoa (rinse or sprout before cooking and cook with cumin)

  • 1/4 cup of Black beans

  • Seaweed or Kelp sprinkled on top

  • Add 1 or 2 poached eggs

  • drizzle with a little Tahini (healthy fat)

Avocado Egg Salad

  • Salt

  • teaspoon of chopped Dill

  • Add two ripe avocados

  • add half a stalk of chopped celery

  • add a little onion (optional)

  • add 2 chopped hardboiled eggs

Sources:

This guide has been created using information presented in (1) mindbodygreen’s Functional Nutrition Program, specifically information provided by Dr. Amy Shah and Dr. Taz Bahtia (2) Tara Thorne’s functional nutrition guide, specifically Tara’s thyroid protocol, and (3) Alissa Vitti’s Floliving protocol.