Factors That Support Thyroid Health | Naturally

February 10, 2020
Korey DiRoma, ND

Natural ways to support thyroid health.

In the previous article I explained how the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis functions. In this article I will discuss natural ways to support thyroid health and testing to evaluate thyroid function.

Nutrients and vitamins can provide improved thyroid function just as servicing your heater and getting new filters can improve performance and life of the heater. Nutrients such as iodine, tyrosine, zinc, antioxidants, and vitamins E, B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), and B6 (pyridoxine) assist are factor needed for THYROID HORMONE PRODUCTION. Factors that REDUCE thyroid hormone production include stress, infections, radiation, some medications, fluoride (antagonist to iodine), toxins such as pesticides, and inflammatory conditions such as Celiac disease and chronic infections.

There are two types of thyroid hormone, thyroxine or T4 and triiodothyronine or T3. When hormones are being transported through the blood stream they are bound to proteins and therefore inactive. When they are released from proteins they are considered to unbound or FREE. Unbound hormones are considered ACTIVE because they are ready to bind to cell receptors and get into cells.

In the previous article I used a central heating system analogy to help explain the complexities of the thyroid hormone system. If you did not read it you can refer back to that article for the full analogy. In that analogy thyroid hormone was the actual heat being produced by the heater. But once the heat is produced it must go through the vents and get into the house. To maximize the amount of heat getting into the house, you would want to make sure your vents are open, clean, and free from obstruction. Exercise and vitamin A, and zinc are factors that improve cellular receptivity to thyroid hormone and help to maximize the amount of thyroid hormone into the cell.

Thyroid conversion is also important. Above I mentioned that there are two types, T4 and T3. T4 must be converted into T3. In fact, T3 is what actually gets into the cells and therefore is considered ACTIVE. T4 is relatively inactive, but serves as a reservoir for T3 production. But not all T3 is considered active. Sometimes T4 can be converted in REVERSE T3 or RT3. Reverse T3 is like T3 structurally, but is actually the reverse mirror image of T3 and is therefore INACTIVE at the cell receptor. Increased RT3 and low free T3 could cause someone to still have symptoms of hypothyroidism even if the TSH is in the normal range.

Factors that may influence an increase of RT3 include stress, trauma, inflammation, infections, toxins, liver or kidney dysfunction, and low zinc and selenium levels. Since the pathway for T3 is dependent on selenium and RT3 pathway is not, then it is important to have enough selenium to maximize T4 to ACTIVE T3 conversion.

Hormones are bound to protein when circulating in the blood. When they become unbound to protein they are “free” and are now able to bind the cell receptor. Therefore, “free levels” of thyroid hormone are considered to be ACTIVE. Total levels give an indication of overall production, but not necessarily what is ACTIVE. This is why it is important to test free levels of thyroid hormone to assess thyroid function.

Thyroid antibodies such as anti-thyroid peroxidase and anti-thyroglobulin can cause inflammation to the thyroid gland impairing thyroid function. Evidence of high levels of these antibodies are indicative of an autoimmune thyroiditis called “Hashimoto’s”. It is not exactly known what causes Hashimoto’s, but some associations include gluten sensitivities, chemical exposure, and certain chronic infections such as Epstein-Barr virus also known as mono virus.

A full evaluation of thyroid function, immune function, GI function including food sensitivities and nutrient and vitamin levels can help determine a comprehensive treatment approach to hypothyroidism.

Stay tuned for next month’s article as I will discuss thyroid hormone replacement options.

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