Did you know that 1 in 3 women are estimated to have a thyroid disorder such as hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s?
According to the American Thyroid Association, “more than 12% of the U.S. population will develop a thyroid condition during their lifetime. An estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease and up to 60 percent of those with thyroid disease are unaware of their condition.”
Those are some alarming numbers. You could be sitting here reading this right now and not even realize that you could be part of those statistics. This statistic hits close to home for me as one of my close friends was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's back in 2016. Her diagnosis somewhat came as a shock since she was one of the healthiest people I knew; She ate healthy, exercised daily and her doctor always commented about how she was the picture of perfect health.
But when I look back now, I can see the subtle signs that started to surface indicating something was up with her thyroid …
● She slowly started putting on weight despite eating healthy and exercising
● She felt sluggish during my workouts and struggled to recover after
● She wasn’t as efficient at work and got easily overwhelmed with tasks
● She was cold all the time when others weren’t
She simply didn’t feel like herself.
Initially she thought she was “just getting older.” However, there was a little voice inside her head saying something wasn’t right. She ignored it at first, but eventually got to a point where she was so uncomfortable in her body that she couldn’t stand it anymore. She went to various doctors and health professionals seeking insights and not a single one checked her thyroid. She finally decided to become a client of mine and that’s when she got the answers she was looking for.
And now I’m grateful to say that within 6 months of her being diagnosed, her Hashimoto’s is in remission and her recent thyroid test results couldn’t have been more perfect.
Unfortunately, not all women or men, who are diagnosed with thyroid disorders, are provided the right lab tests or resources to get their thyroid issues under control as quickly as she did, or ever. Most people who are diagnosed are immediately prescribed a thyroid medication, which can provide immediate relief for those who are suffering, but medication is not necessarily a long-term solution and it certainly does not solve the root of the problem. In fact, medication can become less effective over time as the thyroid continues to deteriorate as a result of the root cause not being addressed, and over-medicating can trigger secondary hypothyroidism. Medication doesn’t address why you might have low thyroid hormone in the first place, and if you have an autoimmune disorder it doesn’t stop the body from attacking healthy tissue; that’s simply not the mechanism of thyroid medication.
The good news is, there are natural ways to support your thyroid health, to prevent thyroid issues from happening and even reverse an existing thyroid disorder.
Although the statistics for being diagnosed with a thyroid disorder are high, it’s not a death sentence.
The majority of thyroid disorders are a result of your lifestyle choices or factors such as:
● Foods you choose to eat
● Quality and quantity of sleep
● Frequency and intensity of the exercise
● How you deal with stress and emotions
● Toxins you’re exposed to and your body’s capacity to detox them
● Other underlying hormone imbalances, a sluggish liver, poor digestion and an overwhelmed immune system
Often it’s not just one thing that triggers a thyroid issue, it’s a combination of factors over a period of time that disrupt the natural balance of your body and ultimately your thyroid.
At first the list of contributing factors might seem daunting, make you feel guilty about the choices you have made, or leave you wondering where to even start; BUT the silver lining is that with a little education, the right lab tests and resources, you can step-by-step take back control of your thyroid health.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to break down the 3 main steps you can take to support and heal the thyroid naturally.
Step # 1 - Know Your Numbers
To really evaluate your thyroid health you need to know all of your thyroid numbers NOT just TSH and parts of T4 or T3. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) is produced by the pituitary gland to “stimulate” the thyroid. It tells you if the pituitary is having to work hard or not to kick the thyroid into gear, but leaves a lot to be wondered about what is actually going on with thyroid function. Thyroid hormone T4 is produced by the thyroid and then converted into T3 primarily in the liver and gut, and then in various other tissues. Total T4 and T3 represent bound hormones (not available for use) versus Free T4 and T3 represent the unbound or active forms available for use. Thyroxine-binding hormone (TBG) binds to your thyroid hormone so it can move through through the bloodstream, and Reverse T3 prevents Free T3 form attaching to your cells (inhibiting its effects). Thyroid antibodies, Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO Ab) and Thyroglobulin (TG Ab) indicate if the body is attacking its own thyroid tissue known as an autoimmune response.
Can you see why it’s important to know all of these numbers to fully understand the big picture of what is going on with your thyroid and not just a few of them?
And don’t be fooled by conventional thyroid test reference ranges that were established based on people with existing thyroid disorders. Back in 2002 the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry even acknowledged that thyroid reference ranges were probably “skewed by the inclusions of persons with occult thyroid dysfunction,” - yet little has been done to update them.
Conventional ranges are very wide, and optimal ranges are much lower. In the functional medicine world, optimal thyroid reference ranges look something like this:
● TSH: 1-2
● Total T4: 6-12
● Free T4: 1.1-1.8
● Total T3: 120-180
● Free T3: 3.2-4.4
● Reverse T3: <15 or < than 10:1 ratio of RT3 to FT#
● TPO Ab: < 10
● TG Ab: < 20
Ask your doctor to run a full panel to include all of these markers, and if they won’t, find someone like me who will.
Stay tuned for Step # 2 next when I address controlling the thyroid affecting factors you can, and what to do about the ones you can’t.
Disclaimer: This post is intended for inspirational and informational purposes only, is not a substitute for medical advice, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. Consult with your healthcare provider before making any changes to your routine.