Transcription
The Top 5 Vitamins To Reverse Hypothyroidism.
Hypothyroidism is a condition where your thyroid gland isn't making or releasing enough hormones (Underactive). This can slow down your metabolism, trigger weight gain, make you feel cold often, and you may start to lose your hair, amongst any other issues.
So what is really happening here? As you can see on this image, the thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland in your neck, that sits just in front of your windpipe (trachea). This gland is very important as it makes hormones (T3, T4, Calcitonin) that control many different parts of your metabolism, such as how you digest food, the beating of your heart, your breathing, body temperature, mineralization of your bones, and so much more.
However, when your thyroid stops working properly or it doesn’t release the right amount of hormones, you will begin to experience a range of different problems in your body. SYMPTOMS such as the thinning hair, especially on the outer parts of your eyebrows. You may struggle to handle cold temperatures. You may begin gaining weight all over your body. You may feel depressed, or very tired on a regular basis - feeling low. And some people develop deep vertical ridges along their nails.
If left untreated, an underactive thyroid (hypo) can start to form nodules and goitres, which give the appearance of a lump on your neck. And eventually, it can lead to a life-threatening condition (myxoedema coma) where the body's internal organs start to slow down and stop working properly.
Studies show us that 90% of the time, hypothyroidism is usually caused by Hashimoto's, an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the healthy tissues in the thyroid (by mistake). This happens because there is damage in the lining of your gut. Undigested proteins from your food, such as gluten, can start to leak into your blood, causing inflammation and an overactive immune system that starts to identify your thyroid as a threat by mistake. This triggers inflammation and damage in your thyroid gland. It can also happen when your liver isn’t filtering out toxins properly, or even a lack of certain nutrients in your diet like selenium or iodine.
Today we will be exploring 5 vitamins that can be used to help repair your thyroid gland and restore the normal hormone balance (T4, T3, Calcitonin). You'll also learn about some simple lifestyle changes you can make to fix the root causes of thyroid problems. I use the word "Vitamins" broadly to include minerals and nutritional supplements that you can use to restore your thyroid gland.
Just a quick reminder, this video is for educational purposes only, so do speak to your doctor if you have any medical concerns.
1. Selenium (200mcg)
You can take a supplement of 200mcg of selenomethionine or selenocysteine once per day to improve the health of your thyroid gland. Selenium is one of the most important trace minerals needed to convert the inactive thyroid hormone (T3) into the active version (T4). Taking a supplement can help to speed up the conversion process for people who have a slow thyroid (hypo). Studies show that taking selenium can also reduce thyroid antibodies (TPOAb & TgAb), to prevent your immune system from attacking the thyroid and causing further problems. Women in particular tend to suffer from hypothyroidism, especially after pregnancy, which may be caused by a hormonal imbalance of too high/low estrogen. Selenium can help to balance out these hormones by improving the health of the liver and boosting antioxidants in the body (glutathione).
2. Bile Salts
Many people aren't aware that 80% of thyroid hormones are actually converted inside the liver, not the thyroid gland itself. So, just taking thyroid medication often does not fix the root cause of the problem, which can be a problem in the liver/gallbladder. For example, you may have a fatty liver, gallbladder stones, or a build-up of toxins such as mercury in your body, which is causing inflammation and blocking the conversion of thyroid hormones. To improve the health of your liver, you may consider taking bile salts in the form of a supplement (2 capsules before each meal). This helps to thin out the liquid bile in your liver, to help activate the conversion of T4 to T3, help to remove toxins from your body like mercury, other heavy metals, and harmful chemicals from food that may be irritating your thyroid.
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3. Vitamin C (Complex)
90% of thyroid cases are caused by Hashimoto's, where your body is attacking itself because your immune system is overly active. This often happens because the lining of your gut has become damaged (leaky gut) from eating grains and flour like bread, pizza, popcorn, cereal, biscuits, cakes, pasta, etc… A protein called gluten found in these grains damages the intestines, causing holes to open up (intestinal permeability), which allow toxins to leak into the blood. Your immune system does not recognise these proteins, so it starts attacking them throughout your body, triggering inflammation and health problems. The tissues in your thyroid have a similar protein structure to gluten, so your body starts to attack the thyroid, thinking that it is a foreign invader like a virus or a pathogen. The real Vitamin C complex contains bioflavonoids which help to boost collagen in the body and heal the lining of your gut. If you’re looking for a boost, you can take 1000mg of Vitamin C in the form of acerola cherry capsules daily or any fruit powdered blend. However, don’t expect over-the-counter 'Vitamin C' supplements to work if they just contain 'ascorbic acid' on the ingredients list. This is only 5% of the true complex, and you need the whole Vitamin C in its entirety to help heal the gut. Some of the richest foods with the REAL Vitamin C complex include cabbage, sauerkraut, strawberries, bell peppers, and cruciferous vegetables.
4. Iodine & Zinc (Trace Minerals)
Trace minerals are essential nutrients that we need in very tiny amounts but help other enzymes in your body to perform thousands of chemical reactions. Selenium helps to remove free radicals that are created when your body makes thyroid hormones, in order to lower inflammation and help with conversion. Zinc is another mineral that plays a key role in helping the thyroid synthesize new hormones. Iodine is one of the raw materials that makes T3 and T4, the thyroid hormones. To get more of these into your diet, simply start eating seafoods like sea kelp, nori, kombu, Irish moss, mussels, clams, crab meat, and oily fish 2-3x per week. You can also take liquid trace mineral drops (20 Drops Daily) in a glass of water and take sea kelp capsules to boost the amount of trace minerals in your body. These also contribute to healthy skin, hair, eyes, and nails as they support the thyroid in controlling cell growth, division, and collagen production.
5. Vitamin D3 (& K2)
Consider taking 10,000iu of Vitamin D3 per day, along with 100mcg Vitamin K2 (Mk7), to help balance hormones and lower inflammation in your thyroid gland. Vitamin D helps to modulate and control your immune system to prevent it from attacking your thyroid by mistake. Studies show that people who have a hypothyroid are also often deficient in Vitamin D, because they do not get enough sunshine, or their body isn't making enough. Higher doses of Vitamin D3 are often prescribed by functional doctors to treat autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto's. As a bonus, Vitamin D also improves the function of the liver in balancing out hormones and detoxifying harmful substances from your body (that may be triggering inflammation in the thyroid).
Speak to your doctor about using some of these natural remedies before you make any changes to your diet or medication. If you have concerns that you may have an underactive thyroid, and you'd like to know for definite, there are blood tests available that you can do at home.
Today's video sponsor is LetsGetChecked, a company that specialises in test kits that you can use at home to check your thyroid hormones. These kits are very useful as you can take a few drops of blood from your finger at home and send it off to the lab for analysis. In 2-5 days, you'll get your thyroid test results in the app or online account. We've teamed up to bring you a 25% discount on any of the different home-test kits that you order. Just use the link below the video and use code: RyanTaylor25 at checkout.
Now that you've learned about some of the nutritional supplements that can be used to treat hypothyroidism and how you can test for it, let's explore what causes this problem in the first place.
Causes Of Hypothyroidism
1. Grains & Gluten, Leaky Gut. As I mentioned earlier, eating too much gluten or grain-based foods tends to damage the lining of your gut, triggering an autoimmune reaction in your thyroid gland.
2. Vegetable Oils. Another cause is eating too many deep-fried foods and inflammatory vegetable oils, as these damage the intestines and the liver, causing inflammation and toxins to build up in the body.
3. Liver Disease. 80 percent of thyroid hormones are converted inside the liver, so liver disease can also slow down thyroid function, especially if you are overweight.
4. High Cortisol. Prolonged mental stress, overtraining, or menopause can cause your cortisol levels to become too high, which signals the thyroid to make less hormones.
5. Iodine/Selenium Deficiency. And simply not getting enough iodine or selenium into your diet from healthy foods may also be preventing your body from synthesizing thyroid hormones.
6. Medications. And also certain medications like statins, diuretics, or antibiotics can also cause hormonal changes that weaken your thyroid.
Lifestyle Tips To Overcome Hypothyroidism
Now that you know all these, let's explore X lifestyle tips to improve the health and function of your thyroid.
1. Cut out all grains, vegetable oils, and gluten from your diet, including bread, popcorn, canola/soy/corn oil, cereal, biscuits, pasta, tortillas, rice, etc. Do this for at least 90 days. You can help restore the lining of your gut by consuming bone broth, raw garlic, kefir, sauerkraut, and low glycaemic berries.
2. Eat anti-inflammatory organic foods such as steamed broccoli, cauliflower, leafy greens, radishes, celery, and Brazil nuts. Eat pasture-raised eggs, wild salmon and sardines, grass-fed beef, organic pork, and shellfish rich in trace minerals.
3. Don't go on a low-fat diet; your body requires certain fats to make hormones. Virgin cod liver oil, pasture-raised egg yolk, and grass-fed butter are excellent sources of Retinol (Active Vitamin A), which activates certain thyroid receptors.
4. If you suffer from a lot of mental stress and you feel tense, consider taking ashwagandha capsules and drinking lemon balm tea. These are natural ancient adaptogen herbs that help to lower cortisol, stress, and estrogen levels that may be causing a hormonal imbalance.
5. Use some of the supplements in today's video, especially the bile salts to improve the conversion of T3 to T4 inside your liver. Look for a product that contains 'bile acid factors', 'bile salts', 'ox bile', or 'tudca'. These help to clean the liver and intestines by eliminating toxins and undigested proteins.
6. Very important, start 'timed eating'. Eat all of your daily calories in a 6-hour window, allowing your body 18 hours to fast. You can still eat the same amount of calories, just limit your eating to this window of time. This triggers autophagy, which helps to lower inflammation, calm down an overactive immune system, and prevent further thyroid problems.
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Thank you so much for watching my video today, and as always, I wish you great health, wealth, and happiness.