Whenever you start thinking about hormones, you have to consider the thyroid. These three; thyroid, adrenals, and ovaries are vital to each other’s proper function.
The thyroid is the master controller of every cell and how fast (or slow) it is working. When people talk about their metabolism, the thyroid is a key player here. A sluggish thyroid can cause a host of symptoms from weight gain, fatigue, constipation, cold intolerance and puffiness to name a few. Unfortunately in Canada, our metabolism is struggling. – approximately one in every 10 women between the ages of 25-79 is on a thyroid medication, which makes it among the top five prescription medications! Obviously, there’s a big problem with our thyroids.
So what’s going on here?
Like everything, there are a variety of things that can impact the thyroid. When looking at your labs, TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is the marker most commonly measured. It is what the brain pumps out to stimulate the production of T4. T4 is a thyroid marker found in the tissues, however, this is our inactive form. T4 needs to be converted to T3 before we get the full thyroid function but as you can see, a variety of factors can impact that conversion rate.
Poor diets that are low in trace minerals such as zinc and selenium make it hard for the thyroid to be as active as it would like. As well, things such as autoimmune diseases, high stress levels, and low progesterone also slow the function of the thyroid.
What can I do?
Firstly, having a full lab work up is important. For my patients struggling with weight gain and fatigue, having an underactive thyroid can sometimes answer a lot of questions but isn’t always the only thing going on – sometimes it’s high stress levels or low progesterone. Especially in my patients with heavy periods or those who are vegetarian, I’ll also look for iron deficiencies as these can cause a host of thyroid dysfunctions.
Secondly, make sure you’re getting a healthy dose of trace minerals including zinc, iodine, and selenium. Dark green veggies are an absolute pack-house of nutrition and minerals, but including things like seaweed (for iodine) and shellfish for that zinc (yummy oysters!) are also important.
12 Foods high in Zinc:
- Oysters
- Chicken
- Cheddar Cheese
- Cashews
- Watermelon Seed
- Almonds
- Milk
- Red Meat
- Yogurt
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Salmon
- Cacao/Cocoa/Dark Chocolate
And lastly, working on sleep and stress are always key. If you haven’t read my blog on The Dreaded Adrenals, check it out for ideas on balancing that cortisol.
To happy hormones!
Dr Chanel Cressman, ND
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