The thyroid is one of the most common areas of 'weakness' I see in my office... as well as the liver and the adrenal glands. The thyroid sits in the lower front part of your neck. It makes hormones that influence the entire body! It helps to control our metabolism, body temperature, hair/skin/nails, heart rate (people can get heart palpitations simply due to dysfunction in the thyroid), moods, energy levels (especially in the morning), and many other things!
Typically people with thyroid issues will present with one or more of the following things...
Inability to loose or gain weight, weak nails, brittle/dry hair, dry skin, heart palpitations, fatigue especially in the morning, brain fog, anxiety, depression, infertility, constipation or alternating constipation and diarrhea, acne, hot flashes, night sweats, high cholesterol (did you know the thyroid plays a part in managing cholesterol levels!!), menstrual issues and irregularities, as well as many other things!
I always check the thyroid function on each visit and here are couple things that can be done at home to help improve its function!
The 3 most important minerals the thyroid needs are:
1) Iodine
2) Selenium
3) Zinc
For each mineral I challenge you do the following things...
Iodine: Get tested in the office to see if you need iodine. This is something that can drastically help the thyroid, but adding it when it is NOT needed can do more harm than good. So in order to see how much you need AND IF you need it, stop by and get muscle tested! Great foods that contain iodine are seaweed, turkey breast, and eggs. And you may be thinking about regular table salt because it has iodine in it?!? Well yes it does but it is fortified and NOT naturally occurring in it. So instead make the switch to sea salt or even better Himalayan salt and get your iodine from naturally occurring sources. For more info on salt check out
http://products.mercola.com/himalayan-salt/.
Selenium: Selenium is the 2nd most important mineral for the thyroid. A way to simply get the needed amount is to eat 4 Brazil nuts a day... only 4! So go buy a bag of Brazil nuts and make this a daily habit.
Zinc: Lastly Zinc is very important for thyroid function and is linked to over 100 different enzymes in the body. Enzymes are what is needed to make the body function properly. When enzyme counts are low people get tired and sick... so why not do a simple check to see if you have enough zinc to make all the cells in your body work better. The test (called the Zinc taste test) can be done in my office for free, takes 10 seconds, and quickly allows us to see if you need to be supplementing with Zinc. The first time I did the Zinc taste test I failed miserably... so that makes me more passionate about it now. I try to make sure each patient does it and if we haven't let me know! If you are deficient like I was there is a supplement to take for only a month or 2 which increases your levels to normal.
I hope this has been somewhat informative and helpful for all you thyroid patients out there! Call the office if you need any help or have any questions! And eat 4 Brazil nuts a day :)