Your thyroid is a key player in your hormone health, our stress hormones and sex hormones are intertwined with our thyroid function.
The thyroid is a gland that controls the metabolism of all cells in the body, meaning the speed at which they work. It makes thyroid hormone AKA thyroxine (T4), this then gets converted into active thyroid hormone T3, which is then able to bind to your thyroid hormone receptors all over your body. When it comes to dysfunction we can have an under or over functioning thyroid, both of these patterns can exist as subclinical issues, meaning that thyroid function has started to change but results are not significantly outside of range and therefore no medical support can be provided. Today we will explore, what we need to be looking for from a thyroid test, which symptoms would point to a possible thyroid issue, what our hormones are made up of, what can impact our thyroid function, nutrients that support thyroid function and how to identify an autoimmune thyroid issue.
When we think we have a problem, we go to the doctor and ask to have our thyroid checked (or we say, I'm tired, I'm cold and my hair is falling out, and hopefully they check our thyroid). The problem is that we rarely, if ever, have a full thyroid panel done. Often, the only hormone that is checked is TSH – thyroid stimulating hormone - this doesn't actually tell us what is going on with thyroid hormones. This is a message from the brain to the thyroid. When investigating our thyroid function, we need to know:
Is our TSH in range?
Are we making enough T4?
Are we converting our T4 effectively into T3?
Do we have any antibodies being produced against our thyroid/ thyroid receptors that are interfering with function?
If we have the answers to some of these questions, we can start to put an action plan together to get you feeling better and addressing what's going on in your body. We then need to figure out what has thrown off any or all of the above.
What Symptoms Should I be Looking out for?
It is important to note that withy any symptoms mentioned in this post, as well as any significant changes in symptoms generally, should always be mentioned to a doctor, we should be working alongside our doctors with food and lifestyle interventions to get the best results.
Low thyroid function (hypofunction):
Fatigue
Weight Gain
Cold intolerance
Hair loss
Constipation
Dry Skin
Depression
Forgetfulness
Overactive thyroid (Hyperfunction):
A swelling on the neck
Anxiety
Difficulty sleeping
Unexplained weight loss
Sensitivity to heat
Diarrhoea
Irregular heart rate
What is TSH?
TSH = thyroid stimulating hormone – this is made by your brain and tells your thyroid to make TSH. It doesn’t tell us much about the levels of T4 or T3, it can tell us whether general thyroid function is struggling – however, this is more linked to the brain’s perception of danger (stressors).
What is T4?
T4 is thyroid hormone, main predominantly by the thyroid. It is made up of the amino acid tyrosine and the mineral, iodine.
What is T3?
T3 is your active thyroid hormone, it is converted from T4 in various tissues in the body.
What Can Negatively Affect our Thyroid?
Any sort of stress has a negative impact on thyroid function. As a reminder, this could include psychological, physical or physiological stress. It is also incredibly sensitive to chemical exposure, this would fall under physical or physiological stressors. What kind of chemicals, I hear you cry? Well, that is a tricky one as we are all very different and have different levels of sensitivity. Some people will be sensitive to toothpaste, hair dye and cleaning products (you probably already know you who are, we’re like canaries in the coalmine), whereas others would need to be exposed to some sort of industrial level of chemicals before their health is affected.
Low Nutrient Levels + Thyroid Function
We need the raw materials to make thyroid hormone, these are an amino acid (building block of protein), tyrosine, and iodine. So we need to ensure that we get enough sources of complete proteins in the diet (email me for my protein pointers recipes), and good sources of iodine (seafood and seaweed are some of the best dietary sources of iodine). As with everything though, we need to be careful not to overdo it with these as nothing functions in isolation. Also, people with autoimmune thyroid issues could be triggered by too much iodine. This is why it is important to test your antibodies before you go in with some sort of super supplements you buy off the cuff. Of course, you ALSO need to make sure your digestion is working well in order to break down and absorb your nutrients well but we’ll save that post for another day.
What nutrients do you need for thyroid conversion?
Nutrients needed for conversion of T4, thyroxine, to T3, your active thyroid hormone. We need sufficient levels of zinc, iron, and selenium.
Another important factor to ensure that our thyroid is functioning well is considering the sites of conversion of T4 into T3. This happens in peripheral tissues including the gut and liver so healthy function of these organs is also key.
Autoimmune thyroid conditions
A statistic that is regularly thrown around is that up to 90% of hyothyroidism is linked to autoimmunity. A large-scale population study in Denmark found that 85% of cases of hypothyroidism were autoimmune.
Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune condition where antibodies against thyroid tissue, or against enzymes that support thyroid function are produced by the immune system. When this happens we know that the immune system is recognising this tissue as ‘foreign” and could mount an immune response against it causing tissue damage. Hashimoto’s can result in both hypo (low) and hyper (over) functioning thyroid.
There is another part of the autoimmune thyroid puzzle, which is called Grave’s disease, this is a lot less common than Hashimoto’s and is characterised by the production of antibodies that stimulate the thyroid hormone receptors.
If the underlying thyroid issue is linked to autoimmunity, this needs to be addressed before considering nutrients for thyroid function. This involves identifying the trigger or triggers that are impacting the immune system, as well as considering interventions that will reduce antibody production in the body.
Questions on Interventions for Thyroid Health:
I had some excellent questions put to me by my community around thyroid health so I thought I would answer some of them here:
If my thyroid is low functioning and slowing my metabolism – will strength training improve my thyroid by improving metabolism?
Strength training improves our metabolism by increasing muscle mass, which supports our body to metabolise glucose better, it will also increase ATP production, which is our cellular energy, so can overall contribute to improved energy. Strength training also puts our body under “good stress”, which involves some cortisol production, we need adequate cortisol levels to support conversion of T4 into T3, making more T3 available to bind with receptors in the body. In addition, if we are increasing muscle mass, we are increasing possible sites of conversion of T4 into T3, again, improving hypothyroid symptoms.
Creatine is some sort of wonder supplement – can it help my low energy linked to my low thyroid function?
Creatine can support the muscles to produce more ATP (our energy molecules) through improved recycling of it. It doesn’t technically directly improve thyroid function but can support overall cellular energy.
My GP told me my thyroid was fine but I’ve checked online and it isn’t optimal, what should I do?
As mentioned previously, we often do not have access to a full thyroid panel via the GP. They will check your TSH and maybe your T4, but you are unlikely to have your T3 checked and they normally don’t run a test for antibodies. This is partly because they are limited by the interventions they can recommend.
The parameters used by the GP are to decide whether to prescribe thyroid replacement hormone (T4). The reference ranges are designed to ensure that the benefits of prescribing the medication outweigh any risks associated with medication use. As the GP is limited by a lack of impactful interventions, they often need to wait until thyroid function gets bad enough to justify medication use. If your results are out of range, you will be referred to endocrinology for further assessment.
It is always important to have any health concerns checked by your GP but if you are told “everything is fine”, you can influence your thyroid function through lifestyle interventions.
This is still only scratching the surface, if you have questions about the blog, feel free to drop me an email: marjolein@hormoniously.com