Naturally Boost Thyroid Function – 7 Hypothyroidism Natural Treatments
There is nothing worse than not knowing why you suffer from various health issues. There are so many potential answers as to why you lack energy or can’t sleep, etc, but here is just one you must consider: you have thyroid problems. The good news is, you’ll soon learn how to boost thyroid function and should discover at least one hypothyroidism natural treatment that will work for you. Hypothyroidism is a condition where the thyroid gland lacks in producing the thyroid hormone. Don’t skip this, as it just could be the solution you’ve been searching for.
Your thyroid is a major part of your endocrine system. It and the hormones it produces are responsible for everything from a healthy weight to sexual function. When something is out of whack with your thyroid, you can experience a whole host of problems.
When the thyroid is in overdrive, functioning on high and producing too many of its crucial hormones, the result is hyperthyroidism. But when it’s not doing its job, and not producing enough thyroid hormones, you are said to have hypothyroidism. Fortunately, there are natural solutions for balancing your thyroid function.
Some Signs of Hypothyroidism
As with any other health problem, it’s possible that you show only a few signs of having thyroid issues and hypothyroidism. Further, the signs could be tied to another health ailment. Nevertheless, here are some signs of hypothyroidism.
- Weakness
- Sleeplessness, slow to rise
- Low sex drive
- Increased sensitivity to cold
- Low energy levels
- Inability to lose weight
- Aches and pains in your joints
- Poor hair and nail quality
- Premature graying or balding
- Constipation or hard stools
- Feelings of sadness
- Heart palpitations
Hypothyroidism Natural Treatment – 7 Natural Solutions
1. Adopt a Healthful Diet, Avoid Processed Wheat
As with the health of any body part, thyroid health is dependent on good overall health. So stick with whole, natural, and organic foods. Steer clear of processed foods, especially highly processed wheat (as in traditional breads and baked goods). This is because gluten can have undesirable effects on the thyroid, and this is especially true if you suffer from Hashimoto’s thyroiditis – a primary cause of hypothyroidism. About 30% of the people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis have an unrecognized autoimmune reaction to gluten.
If you can’t go without bread, there are numerous good recipes out there that use things like rice and coconut flour instead of wheat.
2. Avoid Soy
Also, forgo soy. Soy products, particularly when eaten in large amounts, may have hormone disrupting effects. Soy is also high in isoflavones (or goitrogens), which can damage your thyroid gland. Because the thyroid is such a major part of hormonal balance and production, staying away from soy can help your thyroid production normalize.
3. Iodine
Iodine is a very popular hypothyroidism natural treatment, with many traditional and natural health experts alike recommending a good source of iodine. While nascent iodine is most often recommended, Lugol’s brand is a fine alternative. Dr. Group’s iodine supplement is also a viable option. Vitamins C and E, D3, selenium and zinc, and omega-3s should be supplemented with your choice of iodine as well.
Some food sources of iodine include:
- Seaweed and sea vegetables
- Some yogurts (organic yogurt, Greek)
- Cranberries
- Strawberries
- Dairy products
Note: Many hypothyroidism cases are actually caused by Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. It was found in some research that increasing iodine intake could actually cause your thyroid issues to worsen if you have Hashimoto’s. Instead, reducing iodine intake may be the solution.
4. Consume More Antioxidant-Rich Foods
Antioxidants are also important in keeping your thyroid healthy. But rather than getting them from traditional multivitamins, that simply exit the body just as easily as they entered, obtain them from natural food sources. Load up on vitamin C from dark green vegetables and citrus fruits, Omega 3 fats from walnuts and flax seeds, and zinc from pumpkin seeds.
Here are 5 antioxidant-rich foods to get you started.
5. Reduce Exposure to the Chemical PFOA (Found in Non-Stick Cookware)
Finally, reduce your exposure to PFOA, found in common household products including nonstick cookware and waterproof fabrics. Researchers have found that people with higher levels of PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) have a higher incidence of thyroid disease.
6. Coconut Oil
Coconut oil has been used as just one hypothyroidism natural treatment passed on from person to person, and is one of the best foods you can eat for your thyroid. In addition to being made up of medium chain fatty acids known as medium chain triglicerides (MCTs), which help with metabolism and weight loss, coconut oil can also raid basal body temperatures – all good news for people suffering from low thyroid function.
Here is just one experience someone had on EarthClinic:
If you are feeling exhausted…. Coconut Oil & Iodine is AMAZING! I am 39 and mom of two. I have been feeling mildly flu-like for months not to mention beyond lethargic… I went to a naturalpath who did some kinseology tests and said it was my thyroid. He gave me some liquid iodine derived from dulse(seaweed). I then started taking coconut oil topically and internally. … In ONE WEEK, and I am not exagerating, I feel 85 to 90% better. My brain fog is gone. Even when i am not able to get a lot of sleep I don’t feel that heavy tired anymore!!!!
7. Natural Hormone Balancing
One approach to fixing thyroid issues and hypothyroidism is the use of hormone therapy. Most often, synthetic hormones like Synthroid, Levoxyl, or Levothroid are used, which contain only the T4 hormone and no T3 – two hormones produced by the thyroid gland.
Instead of turning to these synthetic hormones, it is recommended to try a ‘natural’ hormone balancing treatment. Armour Thyroid is one treatment that some recommend if you’re going to go the hormone therapy route. But be sure to do further research before making any decisions, and consider trying other solutions or supplements beforehand.
Thyroid conditions can be serious. You may need to see a doctor for some additional insight, but be very wary of the medications they suggest. Let them know you prefer natural solutions, or see a naturopath first whenever possible. Be sure to pass on which hypothyroidism natural treatment works for you.
Additional Sources:
Yea Ill pass on the dessicated pig thyroid thank you very much
Contradiction: Avoid veggies with thiocyanate in it ex. broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, rutabaga, turnips, bok choy, and Chinese cabbage. This can cause hypothyroidism, also perchlorate which is found in drinking water also causes hypothyroidism because these ions inhibit iodine uptake making one hypothyroid.
Welcome to 2013, Armour Thyroid is not as good as it sounds, a lot has been discovered since 1999. The human body was not designed to extract anything valuable from dessicated porcupine, or a mixture of beef or pork thyroid. For one it is cruel, nasty, and not kosher! Armour misses a crucial step in the T3, and T4 synthesis and can produce unwanted chemical byproducts when it is broken down, which leads to lots of allergic reactions in patients. Also Armour does not correctly release the correct ratio of T3, T4….only T3 is active, a specific breakdown of T4 to T3 needs to occur inorder to make the correct levels. This is one example of where synthetic is safest and most efficient way of regulating the body.
I'm not a big fan of trying to heal one's self naturally for the most part. Especially when it comes to my thyroid. I was diagnosed with genetically passed hypothyroidism when I was 8 years old and have been on Synthroid my entire life. The thyroid is the bodys master gland, and it's function affects EVERY single function of EVERY single molecule in your body. It's important to get it right. While I agree with some of the following tips, one should NEVER go it alone. The supervision of an Endocrinologist is essential to getting and keeping your thryoid under control.
While I support your right to express your viewpoint on this matter, the fact still remains that M.D.s are chemists, not healers. They rely too much on lab tests and numbers and I've had thyroid symptoms my entire adult life. I wasn't officially diagnosed until my early 30s when the "labs" changed their numerical values of "normal." Turns out, I WAS hypothyroid all along and numerous doctors wouldn't listen to me even though I LIVE in this body all day every day. Proof that everything can look great on paper, but when my quality of life was non-existent because I was still experiencing debilitating symptoms…i.e. depression, fatigue, hair loss, painful, dry skin cracking open & bleeding, weight gain, etc…it wasn't until I ADDED organic, whole food supplements to my synthetic thyroid hormone prescription did I start to get long-awaited relief. Doctors are very knowledgeable, but you have to remember who teaches them & who pays them. There's no money to be made on healthy people.
Our grandparents had a better diet, but they were already exposed to crap on some levels(cancer is not new in this or last century) as were our parents (remember nuclear testing in Nevada desert? guess what direction the wind blows…), so even all organic, raw food with clean water (chlorine, fluoride-free) and stressless life will not be enough for our generation to stay healthy. It would take the whole not even the country, but the world to change things around. And the first thing we should do is get rid of money…. Ha ha ha…
I trust cows, not chemists, so if hyperthyroidism is going to kill me, so be it, I will not take pills for high blood preasure either. Being well is not being disease-free.
i watched a show about fasting and it seems to help with the production of cancer causing IG-1 as well as lowering bloodsugar levels and such
My own experience is that my thyroid levels didn't even out until i started taking the "dessicated pig thyroid". Until i got on Armour/Westhroid i was *severely* ill with extremely low thyroid levels. I was losing hair, incredibly sick with flu symptoms all the time and bedridden for about a year.
When i get my levels checked now, my doc is grudgingly shocked and pleased by my now normalized levels. Synthroid never did that for me.
I'm also back to my normal size 2 – 4 clothing size and i have the energy and can think clearly enough to run a successful business.
I've also cut out gluten, which has pretty much helped rid me of my constant stomach issues and weird weight fluctuations as well as lethargy.
And i think it's pretty obvious that if we eat more healthily and mindfully we'll feel better.
(I'm also diabetic and don't have to use insulin because of a massive overhaul in my diet. It works.)
This was after using Levothyroxine for more than a year with less than desirable results.
Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.
My thyroid didn't magically level out by itself. Even my doctor has to concede to that.
Thytrophin PMG made by Standard Process is an excellent healer of thyroid problems. Start out 3 per day and can take up to 6 per day.
I tried a iodine supplement from Kelp in addition to levothyroxine, and a few days later I started feeling hyper and moody with uncontrollable teeth grinding. After that I stopped taking it, and then my hypothyroid symptoms came back. I would like to try Dr. Group’s iodine supplement, Detoxadine, but I worry I will go hyper again. My doctor doesn't think I have a autoimmune disorder like Hashis even though I never had a blood test to check my thyroid antibodies.
Your Dr isn't psychic. I have Hashis, I only know because I insisted on all AB tests. I react badly to iodine, my throat becomes tender and feels strange and I get a bit hyper. It is good to know why. If I were you I would push for tests because 1 AI disease means a possibility of others.
when i was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, i was starting to get horrible anxiety attacks too. i still have both years later. did this happen to anyone else? i read a great book by Dr. Brownstein on iodine. i have cut my prescription in half by using iodine and drinking pure water. fluoride is horrible for thyroid, also bromine in baked goods. they don't tell you that they put bromine in most breads or baked goods. i will have to try the coconut oil next.
Yes anxiety is very common in thyroid disease and other hormonal illnesses. Check out http://www.drrichardhall.com/anxiety.htm
'Nuked' by the [sic] 'conventional' medical mafia? You are not alone. Everyone in our family has suffered from a thyroid disorder. My youngest sister died from the chemotherapy, a result of excess RADIATION, which was considered an absolute necessity by some quack with a degree in BS.
Naturethroid is awesome! –You could soon be as 'level' as everyone else, if you'll switch from synthroid to the naturally obtained version. No, I can't speak for weird complications from OTHER disorders, but I must add that the sole purpose for 'bile' in your system is that it sweeps through the entire body collecting nasty chemicals and a lot of dead cells, and oxidized metals. Clear your throat, and blow your nose often, that's the MAIN resource mankind has of 'clearing' out wastes.
Folks may say to avoid soy or milk, or chicken, but you must first learn to think of certain food groups by the amount of mucous they contain. For instance, a child with asthma doesn't need ANY additional mucous, and may well benefit from some of those 'not recommended' foods. Chicken soup may be found to be MORE harmful to their health 'appearance' than gluten-rich breads, if the parent continues to administer some nasty 'cold & flu medicines,' as opposed to forcing the child to expel their excess mucous, as everyone does when they undergo a 'fast.'
hi my name is lilli, I had my thyroid removed in 2006. I am taking 65mg of nature throid, still have no energy,anxiety, and gaining lots of weight, what is the correct dosage of nature-throid?
Forgot to mention red miso which the Japanese used after Hiroshima to recover from radiation sickness. Also medicinal mushrooms are good .
All the info above is really good, I may add that one of the substances that really affects the Thyroid is Fluoride. Fluoride is added to the water in most cities. As long as you are drinking or getting Fluoride, you can not have a healthy thyroid. It's very important to find out if your city adds fluoride to the water. You can buy a water filter for this. I got mine here: http://shop.friendsofwater.com/Fluoride-Water-Fil….
Also radiation affects the thyroid. Spirulina and Chorella help with this, protects the thyroid from radiation and detoxifies your body in a regular basis. The best spirulina that I know is BioLumina USA.
Dr Raymond Peat, Ph.D is an expert on Thyroid, here is an interview with him: http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/ray-peat.htm
I hope this helps, blessings
Wow, the interview with Dr. Raymond Peat that Helena suggested is really in-depth and helpful. Here's the link she posted: http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/ray-peat.htm
Lot's of great info about thyroid here: http://www.iodine-resource.com. I started taking Lugol's 5% iodine solution a year ago and my menopause symptoms have reduced dramatically. Off the ERT, sleeping through the night, energy level up (now running ~10mi per week), brain fog gone. Unless you're going out of your way to get iodine, you're not getting enough (at least in the USA).
Thanks for this article. I recently Tested high for TSH and might have hypothyroidism. What is your opinion on iodine supplements and kelp supplements? I've heard that thyroid issues can be a result of poor iodine absorption rather than overall deficiency. I want to avoid taking TSH Rx drugs and am hoping to bring my number down by eating more foods with iodine .
Hi, just wanted to tell you, I loved this article.
It was helpful. Keep on posting!
What the heck is wrong with your typing? Did you look at your comment before posting it?
Doc, say what you will about Armour but the synthetics did nothing for me. My doc and I tried them all. I will stick with Armour. it seems my body could not convert the synthetic T4 to anything useful.
I wish you had explained exactly what this missing crucial step in Armour is. Never heard of such a thing and I’m curious.
Regarding the comments about the veggies. These are all members of the Brassica family of vegetation. While it is best to avoid them raw, cooking them will reduce or eliminate their goitrogenic properties. No need to cook them to mush but certainly past the stage where it’s like raw but heated. I keep my consumption of these to a few servings per week which is easy since there are so many other delicious veggies to put on my plate or salad bowl. 🙂
And dessicated porcupine? I’m hoping you meant porcine (pig) as I doubt natural thyroid manufacturers deal with road kill. The porcine product is pretty clean since my digestive system cannot tolerate pork including anything it has touched. (I can’t pluck off the pepperoni on a pizza and just eat the cheese–bad things happen and fairly quickly). I can however use Armour thyroid with no ill effect whatsoever from a porcine product.
Hi,
I had such a difficult time this year with Hypothyroidism. My periods where out of control, so much so I almost died from hemorrhaging. I gained a ton of weight and was so miserable! I ended up having a hysterectomy ( a medical necessity). But I changed some major things. I stopped using toothpaste. I make my own with coconut oil, calcium carbonate, tee tree oil. It works great! I only use store bought deodorant if I will be in a particularly hot situation…otherwise I use coconut oil with arrow root (it really works for odor). I add iodine to my water every morning and take selenium. I do other things but I really feel these changes helped so much. I lost 10 lbs, I have more energy and my complexion is glowing. Best to all of you. Hypothyroidism can really reek havoc on your life!
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yes Sibylle A, fluoride is a problem, but mostly because it blocks the receptors for iodine so you can’t absorb it, but also it is a poison. And regarding the article itself, it is important to balance iodine with selenium, if they are out of balance either way it can be more of an issue…. and selenium is very short in soil in many areas now, so we don’t get it much from our diet any more.
Lugol’s isn’t just a “fine alternative” to nascent iodine, IMO. It’s better than nascent because it contains both iodine and potassium iodide–both of which are needed by different parts of the body. Iodoral also contains both, but it’s in a pill form rather than liquid.
The thing is that the label only says it contains “iodine”, so that leads me to believe that it’s not the potassium iodide/iodine combination that is present in Lugol’s or Iodoral. And don’t be fooled by the lower price. If you look at the label, the Atomidine is only 600 mcg per drop. When you buy the Lugol’s 5% solution (for about $25), you’re getting approximately 6.5 mg per drop. That’s a *huge* difference. My bottle of Lugol’s lasts me for almost 2 years at one drop per day. If you’re looking for higher doses, closer to what the Japanese eat every day (about 13 mg through their diet), the Lugol’s is more cost effective.
i bought “atomodine” thinking i was getting the original formula like it states,but it isnt,its iodine trichloride ,its clear and smells like chlorine.i am not happy with it
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Thank you so much for being so brave and sharing this valid information with us.
I have hypothyroid and I didn’t realize I had it until a stranger who happened to be a doctor, who I randomly met told me to get it checked out. I was so happy to realize that there was some kind of deficiency because before that I thought there was something inherently wrong with myself. I was tired all the time and getting emotionally distressed. So after I was diagnosed and put on the appropriate medication, it was a slow process to recover, until I discovered some of these natural remedies. It was a few simple things that I need to alter in my diet, be more physically active and incorporate yoga into my lifestyle.