Low Thyroid Function Lifestyle Tips
Do you have a low thyroid function, underactive thyroid or otherwise known as hypothyroid? Let’s discuss today some crucial lifestyle tips that you should be doing to keep your thyroid happy.
Hello, I am so thrilled to be here.
For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Michelle Cooke, Period & Hormone Naturopath, Menstrual Cycle Charting Educator & Emotion Release Technique (ERT) Practitioner. I help women struggling with their menstrual cycles, have easy, pain-free periods, balanced hormones & emotional wellbeing. I’m the Founder and Director of Reproductive Wellness. I see patients online and face-to-face.
What is a low functioning thyroid?
This is when your thyroid is under-functioning and working slower than it should. The technical medical name for this is Hypothyroid.
What is your thyroid & what does it do?
Your thyroid is located in the neck, below the Adam’s apple. It is a little butterfly shaped gland. It is a part of our endocrine system (glands that make & secrete hormones). The hormones that are made include: T4 (thyroxine), T3 (triiodothyronine), rT3 (reverse triiodothyronine) & calcitonin.
T4 is the non-active thyroid hormone that converts into T3 which is the active thyroid hormone which primarily does the jobs below.
rT3 is produced to conserve energy during particular situations and puts the breaks on metabolism.
Calcitonin regulates calcium levels in the blood
It regulates metabolism
The process of breaking down food & drink we consume into the energy we need for several processes to happen in the body. All your cells in the body require energy to function.
Involved in weight management
If your thyroid is underactive (hypothyroid) you will have a tendency towards weight gain
Regulates body temperature
Individuals with low thyroid function, will tend to feel the cold more (cold hands & feet are typically an issue)
Vital organ function
Involved with heart rate (cardiovascular function), breathing (lung function), & circulation
Digestive Capacity
Individuals that have an under-functioning or a low thyroid function tend to experience constipation because the bowel motility (wave like motion that moves your food through the digestive tract) is slower.
Brain Function
It is involved in brain development, cognitive function (memory, concentration, attention, problem solving), regulates neurotransmitters which are involved in mood. It is common for people with underactive thyroid to experience things like depression and poor memory and concentration.
Reproductive Function
Thyroid is crucial for reproductive health including fertility (poor sperm quality issues, issues with implantation), pregnancy (foetal development), menstrual cycle regulation (can cause irregular periods), whether ovulation takes place or not and your period flow.
Bone Health
Particularly bone density can be impacted by your thyroid health. Because remember that your thyroid also produces calcitonin that regulates calcium in the blood.
Low Thyroid Function Tips
There are a couple of important lifestyle tips that I would recommend for Hypothyroid. These really can’t be underestimated and need to be a part of your treatment plan. Two big factors in thyroid health are halide exposure. Halides include fluoride and chlorine. If you look these up on the periodic tablet elements you will find them in the same column as iodine.
Halides decrease production of T4 & T3 (your thyroid hormones). Plus, they also block iodine from being absorbed by competing with it for uptake into the thyroid cells. If we don’t have enough iodine the thyroid will operate slower than it should, you won’t produce enough T4 & T3, which contributes to your hypothyroid state.
Fluoride
Fluoride is found in toothpaste and unfiltered water.
If you use toothpaste that has fluoride in it, I suggest switching it for one that doesn’t contain fluoride instead. You can find this toothpaste at supermarkets or health food stores. If you are in Australia, there is a good brand called ‘Grants’ that you can generally find very easily.
We get more than enough fluoride from lots of different sources already like certain foods. We don’t need huge amounts from toothpaste. I find in clinic this is one thing that really assists with increasing my patient’s iodine levels.
Chlorine
Chlorine is found in unfiltered water and swimming pools.
All water that passes your lips needs to be filtered. This includes drinking water, water used to make a tea, water used for cooking your meals. But it is important to note that not all filters are created equal and they don’t all remove fluoride and chlorine. If you have one that attaches to your tap, generally they will have a double cannister to remove both these halides. The single cannister ones don’t typically remove halides, they just remove some heavy metals & other nasties. Otherwise, if you are using a water jug, please make sure that these halides are being removed.
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