A sluggish thyroid affects much more than just your weight: it plays a role in managing body temperature, metabolism, and libido; regulating fluid balance and bowel transit time; and maintaining everything from healthy hair and nails to brain function to the female hormone cycle.
Hypothyroidism is when your thyroid is sluggish, or functioning suboptimally. It’s an extremely common condition that affects millions of Americans, and it can be detrimental to your quality of life. However, by making modifications to nutrition and lifestyle, you can make a huge difference in healing an imbalanced thyroid.
If you’re interested in checking your thyroid, you can get the whole picture by asking your practitioner to look at all of these levels: TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, and Thyroid Antibodies.
If you have an imbalanced thyroid, think about taking the following six steps to support healing:
- Soy, sugar, and gluten are the most common food sensitivities that affect the thyroid. Consider elimination for at least six weeks.
- Keep your blood sugar stable by eating meals rich in good fats and proteins and low in processed carbohydrates.
- Manage stress! Adrenal function is closely linked to thyroid function, so if you support your adrenals, you lend support to your thyroid. Never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep!
- Talk to your practitioner about iodine supplementation. This may offer good support for the thyroid, though some people don’t do well with iodine. It’s also important to eat foods that provide important nutrition for the thyroid.
- Eat Brazil nuts! Three to five Brazil nuts per day is equal to supplementing with selenium, a nutrient your thyroid needs to function optimally.
- Dig for the triggers! Looking at the root cause of your thyroid imbalance and correcting it is the foundation of healing.
Photo from iStock/AlexRaths
