How to Make Your THYROID and/or Medication Work BETTER

Todays tips are pertinent to everyone, whether they know they have a thyroid issue or not.

Did you know that your diet has a dramatic impact on how your thyroid medication works?

Or that toxins can block the absorption of vital nutrients, so even if your diet is excellent, your nutrient status may still be poor?

Today let’s have a look at what you CAN do to protect and improve your thyroid function.

The standard approach to diet to support thyroid health is this:

“Eat a healthy, whole-food diet, including fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and fish. Eliminate all processed, refined foods and foods high in fat, sugar and salt.”

While this approach will go a long way to better health, it may not be enough to really create a healing response in the body to fix a slow thyroid.

In fact, we see it most days in the clinic.

People come in who have been following an amazing diet, not drinking alcohol, they avoid sugar and refined food, eat heaps of vegetables, exercise daily – yet they are fatigued, stressed, shedding hair, gaining weight, and overly cold!

These people generally have 3 things going on:

Toxin load. If there is a toxin load in the body, they cause a blockade which means that nutrients can’t get into the tissues. A good example is aluminum. We are constantly exposed to aluminum in cooking, food packaging, anti-perspirants, medications, and treated water. If you have too much in your body, it blocks selenium uptake. As you will learn in a moment, selenium is essential for a good metabolism, and doses of selenium can be tricky to navigate for people.
Chronic inflammation. This can be driven my many different factors, but the top ones we see in the clinic are food intolerances, pain, gut issues, and autoimmune disease.
Poor gene synthesis. You may or may not have a genetic disorder affecting nutrient conversion (such as MTHFR, COMPT, PAX8) but you can still have poor genetic health. Stress, poor diet, low quality oil consumption, high sugar/carb diet, toxin load, parasite load, immune system status, and body composition are all factors that can affect how our DNA operates. Why is this important? The enzymes that convert T4 to the active T3 is actually done by enzymes!

T4 is converted into T3, the active form of thyroid hormone, by two enzymes called deiodinases. People with hypothyroidism are treated with a synthetic T4 hormone, which the enzymes convert to T3. This treatment is usually effective, but some people continue to have symptoms even after treatment. These people generally have a nutrient deficiency, as selenium is used by these enzymes to work – but sometimes enzyme production is simply not adequate. These people require a detoxification approach that will work INSIDE the cell. Most detoxes you do over a short period of time detox what’s called the extracellular matrix – the area OUTSIDE the cells. For more chronic conditions, you need to also detox INSIDE the cell – because that is where your DNA is replicating.

This level of detoxification is quite specialised, and will take time. But the benefits can be enormous!

Potential benefits of a specialised detox approach:

Great energy and vitality
Bright clear eyes
Strong hair and nails
Healthy skin, reduction in melasma, dullness and wrinkling
Weight management without severe calorie restriction
Improved mood – no anxiety, depression, irritability, crankiness
Reversal of many symptoms from pain, to snoring, to skin rashes
Improve digestion, bowel health, nutrient absorption
And often a lot more!

Would you like to know more?

Book a consult and talk to one of our naturopaths 🙂 CLICK HERE

Selenium – How Much?

Selenium is quite the controversial nutrient!

Selenium concentration is higher in the thyroid gland than in any other organ in the body, and, like Iodine, Selenium has important functions in thyroid hormone synthesis and metabolism. Although it is understood that Selenium deficiency does not cause illness directly, its absence leaves the human body more susceptible to illnesses given that it plays a vital role in hormonal and immune regulation.

Australia has low selenium in our soils, and while much progress has occurred in fertilising livestock pastures to prevent deficiencies in animals, the same level of research has not yet been done on human food production. Therefore, it is likely that many Australians are low in selenium.

If you are reading articles that warn that you can get too much selenium, check the source. Many American articles warn of overdoing selenium because they have good levels of selenium in the soils, therefore, it is more likely that people living there require little or no supplementation.

To give you an idea, a reported toxic dose was 200 times the RDI taken for an undisclosed amount of time. This particular incident was caused by an incorrectly manufactured American vitamin product! This is a great example of why we recommend specific products with stringent testing and quality control.

Selenium deficiency is most common among individuals with digestive health issues, such as Crohn’s disease and coeliac disease, and those affected by severe inflammation as a result of chronic infection.

Dosing guidelines

In supplements, dosing ranges may go from 26mcg in a multivitamin to 400mcg in health treatment protocols, so checking in with your Naturopath is important to monitor your intake. The recommended daily intake may not be sufficient for optimal health, and dietary intake or poor digestive health affecting Selenium levels are likely to require supplementation.

Selenium food sources

Tuna
Sunflower seeds
Brazil nuts
Octopus/squid
Chicken
Eggs
Salmon
Mushrooms
Prawns or shrimp

If you are on thyroid medication and don’t feel full of vitality, then these above factors apply to YOU. Addressing the real reason behind the symptoms is why and how our clients get such great results in such a short time…

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

“I would highly recommend … the Lucy Rose Clinic for anyone who is wanting answers and help with their health. I have struggled with constant exhaustion and gut issues for some time now and it got to the point that I just started to think that they were just ‘normal’ for my body. Well I was wrong! I have never felt so good since diagnosing and starting treatment for my gut and thyroid along with multiple deficiencies and intolerance’s I never knew I had! Gone are the days of pure exhaustion, 2 hour daily naps and a bloated, irritable stomach! I won’t sugar coat it, the supplements and consultations are pricey, but they work. My mum and my friend also go to Kylie, and their results are incredible. If you’re stuck and over being told your healthy by your GP, but you really don’t feel that way, … book an appointment! You won’t regret it :)” – J.T.