In this episode, you will learn about why that pesky thyroid isn't doing its job and how you can fix it.

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

7 Day Spark

Eating with Intention

Wellness Circle

Meditation Guide

Essential Oils 101

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Natural Help for Hypothyroidism

What is hypothyroid or hypothyroidism (aka low thyroid)?

Hypothyroidism is frequently called low thyroid. About 20 million people in the US have diagnosed thyroid troubles, and about 60-70 million people have thyroid troubles and they don’t even know it!  There are 2 main categories of thyroid troubles, hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) and hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). There are other types of thyroid issues of course, but those 2 are most common. Hypothyroidism occurs more frequently than the overactive thyroid.

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which your thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough of the crucial hormones like T3 and T4. These two little hormones can have a big impact on all functions of your metabolism, your vital function control, mental health, fertility, and many other issues.

One of the main functions of T3 and T4 is to travel through your bloodstream and convert oxygen + calories into energy. This energy is critical for mood regulation, cognitive functions, digestive processes, and a healthy sex drive. Underactive thyroid often goes undetected in the early stages, for lots of reasons, but we will dig into that in a minute.

What are the symptoms of hypothyroidism?

Hypothyroidism literally causes the body to slow down. The result is generally weight gain, brain fog, and some serious sluggishness come into play. There are lots of symptoms of hypothyroidism, but here are few of the common ones:

Lethargy (call it lethargy, call it fatigue, it's very low motivation - especially for movement)

Moodiness (anxiety)

Always feeling cold

Dry skin (sometimes hair too)

Brain fog (difficulty concentrating/forgetfulness)

Unexplained weight gain

Digestive troubles

Generalized weakness

With all these symptoms...why does underactive thyroid go undetected?

When you go to your allopathic doc and tell him you think you have a Thyroid problem, they generally run a TSH blood test. That’s all fine and good, but it's NOT enough to diagnose you accurately OR prescribe medication for thyroid OR determine the thyroid is or isn’t causing you grief. False negatives and positives can be caused by illness, anti-lipid drugs, antidepressants, caffeine (hello morning cup of joe), and NSAIDs. The tests you need to run to diagnose a thyroid disorder: TSH, Total T4, Free T4, Free and Reverse T3, AND Thyroid Antibodies. The Thyroid Antibody test is crucial, you can actually see changes about 10 years BEFORE physical symptoms.

What causes thyroid troubles?

In the simplest of terms, the thyroid just isn’t producing enough T3, T4, or both. Here in the states, the most common cause of hypothyroid conditions is called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. This is an autoimmune condition in which the body attacks the thyroid gland because it thinks its an invader. This is called an autoimmune response. This autoimmune response interferes with the normal production of T3 and T4 as well as the body’s ability to put it to use.

Worldwide, the number 1 cause of hypothyroidism is iodine deficiency. This is usually a result of not being able to absorb iodine in the body related to a damaged gut.

What that means for you, if you or one of your peeps is suffering from low t...