Your thyroid plays a crucial role in the release of hormones into your body to help regulate body temperature, metabolism, heart rate and blood pressure [1]. If the thyroid glands are not functioning properly, then these body systems will become inefficient and as a result, you will feel unwell.
An underactive thyroid is called Hypothyroidism and it’s mainly caused by auto-immune dysfunction where the immune system attacks the hormone thyroxine. [2]
Let’s take a closer look at the thyroid glands.
The thyroid glands are located in the neck. They look like a butterfly shape and release two hormones called thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) [3]. The hormone thyroxine is converted into triiodothyronine which is responsible for regulating the body’s metabolism [4]. This is very important because when a thyroid gland becomes underactive, releasing less of the hormone triiodothyronine, the metabolism slows down. The metabolism of our body is the speed of chemical reactions in which the breakdown of food happens and is then converted to energy. You may have heard someone say that they have a fast metabolism, well this simply means that the body can break down and convert energy much quicker than someone who has a slower metabolism. Having a slower metabolism usually results in weight gain, particularly if the person is not doing very much physical exercise. The body’s metabolism speeds up when someone exercises frequently, thus helping to convert food to energy much quicker, therefore resulting in weight loss.
So why is that? Good question. Some health professionals believe that it’s linked to oestrogen. Women who often have an underactive thyroid will also present as having oestrogen dominance but did the oestrogen imbalance cause the thyroid problems, or did the thyroid problems cause the oestrogen problems? What if hypothyroidism was linked to the health of the gut? We already know that hypothyroidism is caused by auto-immune dysfunction, and we know that most auto-immune diseases are caused by harmful bacteria and gut inflammation [6], so surely we should be looking more at the gut, rather than our oestrogen levels. Because if we look at the gut, and get that right, then oestrogen will surely naturally balance itself. As we begin to understand more and more about the function of the gut, it makes sense that chronic conditions should relate to the gut. We know that without food we cannot function, so if the digestive system isn’t able to break down food efficiently then how can we expect the rest of us to function properly?
At the moment, the current treatment on the NHS for hypothyroidism is a tablet called Levothyroxine. [7] This hormone tablet helps to replace the lower levels of thyroxine. The idea of taking this medication is to help balance the hormone levels produced by the thyroid glands. In many cases, taking Levothyroxine has helped many people who suffer from hypothyroidism. However, my question would be how long do you take a pharmaceutical drug for? Not only is it costing the NHS a lot of money, but it could also be completely unnecessary if you turn your attention to the health of your gut.
The idea of looking after your gut health is that you aim to remove pharmaceuticals completely from your life. Pharmaceutical drugs can help short-term, there is no denying that, but as a long-term solution, drugs are not the answer.
If you have hypothyroidism or even hyperthyroidism, then you might want to look at your diet first and look at food initially to help improve your symptoms. I mentioned previously that we are learning that most auto-immune diseases are a result of poor gut health (this makes sense seeing as the prevalence of auto-immune diseases has risen in the last few decades). The human body needs some basic tools to function; the first is complex carbohydrates, proteins, fats vitamins and minerals. This is basic stuff but our body simply cannot function without carbohydrates these are not carbs that you will find in refined sugars, these are carbs you will find in vegetables and grains. I won’t even mention fruit, wheat or potatoes because many of these are known to irritate the gut, if someone has poor gut health, so, therefore, you need to go back to basics.
In my opinion, you have three main focuses on bringing back some health to your gut.
1) REDUCE INFLAMMATION. Gut inflammation can happen for many reasons; too much sugar, too many pharmaceutical drugs, stress, and harmful bacteria. The best way you can reduce your gut inflammation is by introducing bone broth. Boil and Broth beef bone broth contains high levels of protein and collagen. Protein is important, they are the building blocks of life (see my blog here); collagen is a protein and plays a major role in the repairing of damaged structures such as an inflamed gut lining.
2) TAKE A DIGESTIVE ENZYME SUPPLEMENT. Enzymes are needed for chemical reactions such as the digestion of food. Without enzymes, food structures cannot be broken down and the nutrients will not be released from the food. Digestive enzymes do not cope well in hot temperatures, their shape can change and they will no longer fit the lock and key style to release the nutrients. Anything to do with inflammation involves heat. As we know digestive enzymes change in heat which therefore means that many of the enzymes will simply not be able to break down food, the result is symptoms that can be anything from bloating through to gas after meals and discomfort. Taking digestive enzymes with meals (as long as you are including bone broth in your diet), should have an immediate effect on the digestion of food, meaning that the important nutrients within the food are unlocked and delivered appropriately in your body.
3) INCREASE YOUR FRIENDLY BACTERIA. I have written a blog about this here, but with an inflamed gut, then you are likely to be deficient in important beneficial bacteria. The symptoms of an inflamed gut are usually related to an overgrowth of harmful bacteria. If you are not eating enough vegetables (plant-based food is rich in prebiotics, prebiotics help encourage the beneficial bacteria to grow), then you will be low in beneficial bacteria. If you’ve also taken antibiotics without taking probiotics, then this allows harmful bacteria and yeasts to grow out of control. Taking a strong probiotic first is a good way to get some beneficial bacteria into your gut. I’d highly recommend including very small doses of water kefir juice in your diet (even as small as a teaspoon is enough to begin with). Introducing probiotics into your diet should be done alongside, or after you have started to include bone broth into your diet.
As well as doing the above, you should also consider including more of the following foods in your diet:
– IODINE. Iodine is important for the function and production of the thyroid hormones. It can be found in these foods. [8]
– Seaweed (kelp, wakame, nori)
– Cod (buy from a fishmonger, not the supermarket)
– Dairy (yoghurt contains high levels of iodine, it is also fermented milk so comes into the fermented family)
– Iodized salt (this is different from table salt)
– Shrimp (prawns)
– Tuna
– Eggs
– Dried prunes