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Low Thyroid? The Symptoms and the Top Recommended NATURAL Steps to Overcome It

“My get up and go got up and went!”

Does this sound familiar to you? Are you feeling energized or tired these days? If you’re feeling more sluggish than usual and it just seems to be getting worse, it could be a sign that your thyroid needs tender loving care.

Just below your Adam’s apple sits your thyroid, a small gland that secretes hormones that directly affect your metabolism, energy, hormones, weight loss and gain, cholesterol levels, skin, heart rate, eyesight and even memory.

When your thyroid is functioning properly, you look and feel great. But if it’s not doing its job, you’ll know. The most common thyroid condition is hypothyroidism, or low thyroid.

Hypothyroidism occurs when your thyroid makes less thyroid hormone than your body needs or if your thyroid makes the adequate amounts of TSH, T4 and T3 but something (including your diet, and toxins) are preventing these hormones from metabolizing properly.

Low thyroid is increasingly common and symptoms can include:
  • sluggishness
  • low energy
  • decreased body temperature
  • dry and coarse skin
  • always feeling cold
  • insomnia
  • constipation
  • depression
  • poor memory
  • low libido
  • tingling in your wrists and hands
  • bruising and clotting problems
  • ruddy complexion
  • low immunity
  • nervousness and tremors
  • poor flexibility
  • high cholesterol
  • heavy menstrual flow
  • puffy around the eyes and face
  • sparse outer eyebrows

Some people have lots of these symptoms while others may just have a few.

If you experience even a couple of these symptoms, it might be wise to get your thyroid hormone levels checked. (Keep in mind that sometimes your levels might be in the “normal” range, even if your thyroid is under-functioning. In fact, hormone testing is notoriously inaccurate.) A simple test can be done at home using a thermometer. Just as you are waking up take your temperature. If it is low you have an excellent clue that an underactive thyroid is playing a major role in your fatigue, dry skin, constipation, weight gain, etc.

Symptoms are your body’s way of communicating that something is wrong, but it does not mean you need thyroid hormone. First and foremost, make a few simple diet and lifestyle adjustments. Give it a week to ten days and see if your symptoms start to disappear.

Simple, Natural and Safe Solutions to Try First

Many of us can get our “get up and go” back with simple changes in:

  • Nutrition
  • Exercise
  • Stress Management

These three components for good health can also drastically improve your thyroid function. Here are some guidelines:

mom and daughter

Satisfy your sweet cravings without harming your thyroid! You can eat delicious, nutritious sweets when you use Lakanto. This amazing natural sweetener tastes like sugar, but has zero calories and does not feed candida. Try Lakanto to make your favorite recipes or try one of our Lakanto recipes.

  1. Nutrition
    1. Eliminate processed foods and carbohydrates, including sugar. These nutritionally-void foods actually harm your health by chronically elevating your blood sugar and robbing your body of much-needed minerals. Cut out processed foods and carbohydrates and your thyroid will thank you. If you need a sugar fix, try yummy recipes made with Lakanto, a calorie-free all natural sweetener.
    2. Eat certain thyroid-boosting fats.

      Coconut oil – is especially good for warming your thyroid. According to Dr Ray Peat, an expert in coconut oil research, coconut oil added regularly to a balance diet, lowers cholesterol to normal. It does this by converting cholesterol into pregnenolone…the “grandmother hormone” made in our adrenals that is the precursor to DHEA and progesterone, estrogen and testosterone. Both pregnenolone and progesterone are anti-oxidants, anti-toxin, anti-clot, anti-cancer, and anti-seizure. They both also improve memory and concentration. They are also very important for preventing osteoporosis in our bones.

      Here’s a special tip: If you currently suffer from a congested liver and/or gall bladder and do not digest oils efficiently, rub it generously on your skin and it will by-pass your liver doing all the wonderful things coconut oil can do… like warming up your thyroid.

      Other important fats for your thyroid are: raw butter and ghee, cod liver oil, red palm oil and egg yolks.

    3. Incorporate thyroid-boosting fermented foods and drinks.

      Cultured Vegetables – Your thyroid loves vitamin C and cultured vegetables made with cabbage are a great way to boost the benefits of vitamin C by hundreds of times.

      Dong Quai – The herb, dong quai, has been used in China since ancient times and has been called the “premier woman’s herb” because it helps balance female hormones. However, it is great for improving quality of sperm as well. It is an excellent blood builder for both men and women increasing energy. It helps lift depression.

      It is interesting that our thyroid plays an important role in normalizing our hormones and Dong Quai also helps regulate hormone imbalances. In fact, one of the thyroid’s most important roles in a woman’s body is to regulate the balance of estrogen and progesterone made in her ovaries. Women often report feeling happier with less mood swings when they take 2 – 3 ounces, 2 – 3 times per day.

      Body Ecology’s probiotic liquid, Dong Quai, gives you all the benefits of the herb dong quai, made more potent by probiotics.

      dong quai

      If you have hormone imbalances due to hyporthyroidism or hyperthyroidism, Dong Quai has been used for centuries to help regulate hormones AND provide you with immune and energy-boosting probiotics. Try delicious, convenient Dong Quai today.

    4. Use sea salt. Iodine deficiency is a common cause of hypothyroidism. If you’ve been avoiding salt because you’re afraid of high blood pressure, switch to healing Celtic sea salt. Iodine is a naturally occurring ingredient in Celtic Sea Salt ® and it is one of the healthiest salts available. Unlike common (poison) table salt Celtic Sea Salt is free of chemicals and additives. Many of the sea salts…even some at your health food stores…have been processed in some way, such as by heating, which removes minerals, including iodine. Drying agents are also usually added to keep sea salt from caking.
    5. Eat your sea vegetables. You’ve probably seen nori at sushi restaurants, and it’s just one of a variety of sea vegetables that can enhance the flavor of your favorite foods and boost your thyroid function. Sea vegetables should be at the top of your list of excellent foods for your thyroid. They contain iodine and have high levels of trace minerals, vitamins, healthy proteins and fats. Since our soils are so depleted, we drink coffee, soft drinks and alcohol, we live under so much stress, and eat refined, acidic foods including sugar, ocean veggies (like dulse, wakame, nori and kombu)  are truly a MUST in every meal. They Japanese eat it at every meal and we would be wise to follow them.
  2. Exercise to help detoxify
    • Find an exercise you like, and stick with it! All toxins including heavy metals are harmful to every organ in your body but they are especially disruptive to your endocrine system… including your thyroid.

      A favorite at Body Ecology is listening to great music while jumping on a mini trampoline or rebounder.Rebounding is truly the ideal exercise; it’s easy to do, enjoyable, and has many health and detoxification benefits. Aerobic exercise burns toxins even faster when you sweat.

    • Choose a variety of exercises that you enjoy and look forward to doing. Think fun not exercise. Three that can help bring balance into today’s stressful life are yoga, walking, and swimming.
  3. Stress Management

    • Sleep deeply like a healthy young child. Try to get in bed by 10 pm every night during the late fall and cold winter months. In the summer when the days are longer you won’t need as much sleep. (the hot months are great for sweating out those toxins, however.) The hours you sleep before midnight are valuable for renewal and repair. Read 10 Resolutions to Commit to Better Sleepto get some tips on hitting the hay.
    • Become a master of your emotions. You do not have to be a slave to a rollercoaster of emotions. In fact, you can choose your emotions moment by moment and day by day. If you want to live a happier, more relaxed and less stressful life, read 7 Resolutions to Commit to Greater Emotional Health. Also see the work of Darren Weissman and his “Lifeline Technique.” It quickly clears “core limiting beliefs” buried in your subconscious mind…so you can move onward to create the life you want with will power.

Low Thyroid also means your adrenals will need special attention.

In our modern world, adrenal fatigue is a common and undiagnosed condition just like hypothyroidism, and experts know that stressed adrenals affect your thyroid too.

Typically, your thyroid and adrenals team up to build energy in your body. But if one organ is compromised, then the other might be also, and adrenal fatigue frequently exhibits symptoms similar to thyroid disorders.

Learn more about your adrenals and how to nourish them in The Top 5 Natural Ways to Increase Low Libido (link to article not online yet). Whether or not you experience low libido, the natural solutions to nourish your adrenals can only help your thyroid too.

Boost Your Energy The Natural Way!

If you’re ready for your energy to skyrocket, follow these natural guidelines for nourishing your thyroid. You’ll see the effects in nearly every part of your body and feel more vibrant and healthy, naturally.

Sources:

  1. Pick, Marcelle, “Hypothyroid Symptoms,” WomenToWomen.com
    http://www.womentowomen.com/hypothyroidism/symptoms.aspx

  2. Signs & Symptoms: Adrenal Fatigue vs. Low Thyroid, DrRind.com. http://www.drrind.com/scorecardmatrix.asp
  3. What Causes Thyroid Dysfunction? SafeMenopauseSolutions.com
    http://www.safemenopausesolutions.com/thyroid.html
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