Poor thyroid function has been linked to serious health conditions like fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, acne, eczema, gum disease, infertility, and autoimmune diseases.
The thyroid is one of the largest endocrine glands in our body and influences almost every cell and function in our body. It regulates metabolism and weight by controlling the fat-burning process.
Thyroid hormones are involved in growth and development and in nearly every physiological process in your body. If our thyroid levels are out of balance, so are we.
The Thyroid Gland: The thyroid is responsible for producing the master metabolism hormones that control every function in our body. It produces three types of hormones:
· Triiodothyronine (T3)
· Thyroxine (T4)
· Diiodothyronine (T2)
Hormones secreted by our thyroid interact with all your other hormones, including insulin, cortisol, and the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. To drive home this point, if your thyroid is out of balance, you are out of balance.
Almost 90 percent of the hormone produced by your thyroid is in the form of T4, the inactive form. Your liver then converts the T4 into T3, the active form, with the help of an enzyme. This is why liver health is so important for thyroid function. So is the gut, because some conversion takes place there also. T2 is the least-understood component of thyroid function and the subject of a number of ongoing studies.
If everything is working properly, you will have the correct amounts of T3 and T4, which control the metabolism of every cell in your body. If your T3 is inadequate, either by scarce production or not converting properly from T4, your entire health and wellness suffers. T3 is critically important. One of its functions is to tell the nucleus of the cells to send messages to your DNA to increase metabolism by burning fat. This is how T3 lowers cholesterol levels, regrows hair, and helps maintain a proper weight.
Your T3 levels can be disrupted by nutritional imbalances, toxins, allergens, infections, and stress, and this lead to a series of complications, including thyroid cancer, hypothyroidism, and hyperthyroidism, which today are three of the most prevalent thyroid-related diseases.
Hypothyroidism occurs when your thyroid produces too little thyroid hormone, a condition that is often linked to iodine deficiency. David Brownstein, MD has been testing the thyroid and iodine for the last two decades. He states over 95 percent of the patients in his clinic are iodine deficient.
Many people are hypothyroid and go untreated because of misinterpretation and misunderstanding of lab tests, particularly TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). Physicians are taught if your TSH value is within the “normal” range, your thyroid is fine. More and more physicians are now discovering that the TSH value is grossly unreliable for diagnosing hypothyroidism.
Many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism are subtle and overlap with other conditions. Taking of the temperature is one way to access basal body temperature and general metabolism. The axillary temperature is taught to be the most reliable for thyroid function. Baroda Barns MD taught 97.8 – 98.2 is optimal. Less than that is thought to be hypothyroid. Iodine and thyroid nutritional support should be considered if low, along with detoxification and liver support.
Let’s look at some of the other symptomatic expressions of low thyroid:
· Lethargy and Fatigue and a general lack of energy are typical signs of thyroid dysfunction. Depression has also been linked to low thyroid function. Anyone diagnosed with depression should be tested for hypothyroid.
Not all tiredness or lack of energy can be blamed on a dysfunctional thyroid gland. Thyroid-related fatigue begins to appear when you cannot sustain energy long enough, especially when compared to a past level of fitness or ability. Other areas of possible thyroid dysfunction are listed below.
• Feeling like you…
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