Thyroid disorders are very common and it is estimated that 10% of the world's population suffers from some kind of thyroid disorder.
Hypothyroidism is the most common disorder of the thyroid gland and levothyroxine is the only hope for some patients.
The underlying reason for hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid damage but conventional medicine often doesn’t have any answer to improve this autoimmune process.
Symptoms associated with low thyroid
● Mental Slowing or Brain Fog,
● Fatigue or Tiredness,
● Depression,
● Dementia,
● Weight Gain,
● Constipation,
● Dry Skin,
● Hair Loss,
● Cold Intolerance,
● Hoarse Voice,
● Irregular Menstruation,
● Infertility,
● Muscle Stiffness, and
● Body Pain or Headache, a wide range of not-so-fun symptoms
DO YOU HAVE HASHIMOTO’S DISEASE?
Hashimoto’s Disease is the most common autoimmune disease in the world. And it is also the most common reason for hypothyroidism.
Hashimoto disease is an autoimmune disease where your body starts producing auto-antibodies which starts destroying your own thyroid cells.
In Hashimoto’s the antibodies that are produced are Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) and Thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies. These antibodies ultimately destroy the thyroid gland and cause low thyroid hormone production which leads to the symptoms of hypothyroidism as mentioned above.
You might not even know that Hashimoto’s is the reason for your Hypothyroidism
Most of the physicians will only check TSH to evaluate your thyroid. They don’t even check the antibodies for Hashimoto’s disease, the reason being they don’t have any medicine to give to fix Hashimoto’s disease.
In regular medicine, currently, the recommendation for people with Hashimoto’s disease is to check for TSH, and if the levels of TSH indicate low thyroid then supplement with thyroid medicine.
But the root cause of the problem is the antibodies which will continue to damage the thyroid gland. This is frightening and that’s the reason a significant number of people do not feel their symptoms are controlled just by taking thyroid medicine.
ARE YOU GETTING THE RIGHT THYROID TEST?
Most commonly if you have been to your local doctor the only test they order is the TSH to check for your thyroid.
But TSH is not enough to evaluate your thyroid completely and other tests need to be done along with it for detailed analysis of your thyroid.
I recommend getting the following tests for my patients as a part of the Complete Thyroid Dysfunction Evaluation Panel.
● TSH
● T3 free
● T4 free
● Reverse T3
● Thyroid peroxidase antibodies
● Thyroglobulin antibodies
● Iodine levels
● Zinc levels
● Magnesium levels
● Vitamin D levels
● Vitamin B12 levels
● MMA
● CRP
● EBV testing
WHY DO YOU HAVE UNRESOLVED THYROID SYMPTOMS?
IS THERE A HIDDEN ROOT CAUSE?
Thyroid diseases are the most poorly managed health condition presently.
Several females have symptoms related to thyroid but they have been told multiple times that it’s not their thyroid. Others have been on thyroid medicines for decades now but still suffer from dreadful symptoms.
The worst part is that they have been told there are no solutions for their symptoms.
But in reality that is a big lie.
I have spent years now researching thyroid disorders and have figured out that the traditional approach to managing thyroid disorders is completely wrong.
Regular Medical Training feels that thyroid disorders are deficiency of levothyroxine. And that just giving levothyroxine will take care of symptoms.
But in reality, Levothyroxine alone doesn't help with the symptoms.
THE REASONS FOR YOUR UNRESOLVED THYROID SYMPTOMS
There are 4 major reasons for unresolved thyroid symptoms that I have deciphered in my work!
What this means is that thyroid hormone production is a complex phenomenon. To understand this better we need to understand the thyroid gland and hormone physiology a little.
The production and control of thyroid hormone is complicated, it starts all the way in the hypothalamus.
Hypothalamus which is located in your brain secretes a hormone called TRH, this TRH then goes to the pituitary your master endocrine gland.
The pituitary secretes TSH hormone which then goes to the thyroid gland and causes it to secrete T4 hormone.
Now, this T4 hormone needs to be converted to T3 hormone which is the actual hormone that your body can utilize.
This is a very simple depiction of thyroid hormone production and it is much more complicated.
But even in this simple picture, you can see that treating your body with just one kind of thyroid hormone might not work.
And this is exactly what is happening, the Levothyroxine medicine given to you is just T4 hormone Although most of the time it is thought that there should not be any problem in the conversion of T4 to T3, it can be possible.
A research study looked at patients treated with T4 alone and saw that the ratio of T3/T4 was lower as compared to the healthy population. So that means that high T4 doses do not generally lead to high T3 levels.
So it might be a good idea to use a combination of T4 and T3 medicine to see if that balances the thyroid hormone status.
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is defined as the interaction between the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal gland.
This is a very specialized neuroendocrine system that controls your stress response, various other hormones in the body, and energy, and also impacts mood changes.
Often there is dysfunction of this pathway in patients with thyroid dysfunction and thyroid hormone replacement alone doesn't treat this dysfunction.
You all might have heard of adrenal fatigue or dysfunction and this is exactly what I talking about here.
Often this is an important system that is neglected and leads to people feeling fatigued and tired.
Most of the symptoms that are part of thyroid dysfunction actually happen because of underlying mitochondrial dysfunction.
Especially fatigue, brain fog, mood changes, pain, weight issues, and gut dysfunction now are known to have roots in mitochondrial dysfunction. Unfortunately, we still don't have the perfect test to check for mitochondrial dysfunction, but there are tests that can give us indirect measures of mitochondrial dysfunction by measuring intermediate metabolites.
This is a huge research topic currently and the pharmaceutical industry is trying to make medicines to help with mitochondrial dysfunction. With a functional medicine approach, we dig deeper into why the mitochondrial dysfunction is happening and then take relevant actions to improve it.
I have seen so many patients with thyroid illness-like symptoms which were actually mitochondrial dysfunction and after our protocols, they got better.
And the biggest reason for feeling tired and fatigued is because nobody is addressing the root cause.
The root cause that started it all, the inflammation. The inflammation in our body is destroying the thyroid gland, which is the reason our mito- chondria are being destroyed too.
Replacing the thyroid hormone with medicine does not reduce the underlying inflammation. So we need to work on that too to help improve our energy.
THE MISSING KEY TO THYROID HEALTH
After taking care of thyroid patients for several years, I realized there was a missing piece to this puzzle that we are all ignoring.
Even the most advanced functional medicine practitioners are not paying attention to this key and that's the reason people are not getting better.
This missing key is the Mitochondrial Thyroid Connection. There is a special connection that exists between mitochondria and the thyroid.
We have known about this connection for years now. But we were ne- glecting the importance of this connection for thyroid patients.
Recent research in mitochondria has given us more information about this special connection.
Mitochondria have been called different names including powerhouse of the cell, life source, anti-aging, and root cause of auto immune disease.
All the symptoms that are associated with thyroid disorder are actually because of underlying mitochondrial dysfunction.
You can compare this connection to a gas pedal and engine in a car. Where in the car the gas pedal is your thyroid and the engine is your mito- chondria. If there is a problem with the engine it doesn't matter how much gas pedal you push the car is not going to work properly So we need to fix the engine so that the car runs smoothly.
Similarly in our body, if you restore the connection between mitochondria and thyroid, the symptoms improve dramatically.
Now you might ask, why conventional medicine is not talking about this thyroid-mitochondrial connection?
So the reason is conventional medicine doesn't have any medicine at this point in time to fix this connection.
As regular medicine is only dependent on prescribing medications so the best thing they thought was to totally ignore this connection.
But in Functional Medicine we have been talking about mitochondrial dysfunction for a long time.
Several Functional Medicine Practitioners have been developing modalities to support mitochondria.
Yet in the Functional Medicine field too we don't have practitioners who are working with thyroid patients to fix the mitochondria.
Precisely for this reason I developed a protocol that focused on reestablishing this mitochondrial thyroid connection.
Since that time I have helped thousands of patients to recover from their thyroid illness.
Most of them feel improvement in their energy, mental clarity, was able to lose weight, and became pain-free.
The biggest achievement was that they got their life back.
3 STEP PROGRAM TO FIX YOUR THYROID
I have developed a simple 3 step program that helps you identify the root causes of your thyroid dysfunction.
And then takes you step by step to fix your thyroid gland.
This program not only takes care of your thyroid from the root but also helps you to eliminate symptoms.
The various root causes for this dysfunction are:
1 Poor diet which is high in processed simple carbs, trans fats, sugar, gluten containing, processed food
3. Infections particularly EBV and other viral infections
4 Everyday Stress + Trauma in Life
5. Nutritional deficiency
In this step, we start working on these root causes and start addressing them.
Following are things you can start doing now to start the healing process.
The most common food triggers that cause dysfunction of mitochondria are gluten, dairy, processed food, sugar, and simple carbs.
So these foods should be first eliminated from the diet completely in this first phase.
Stress reduction is very important so that there is no further mitochondrial damage going on. For reducing stress you should follow a self-care practice.
This is an important step to regenerate your brain and improve brain fog, but this is the very step that is most often overlooked. This can be as simple as deep breathing, yoga or meditation.
But something which you can do on a regular basis even though it is only for 5 minutes. There are various videos and apps available these days, start with guided meditation, deep breathing, or body scan meditation, and make it part of your routine.
A supplement to add during this time to help with stress and also help support your mitochondria and energy is Cortisol calm or vital adapt.
The rest of the triggers need advice from a trained functional medicine expert
In this step, we start working on regenerating mitochondria to start gaining energy, lose weight, and get mental clarity.
This is a special diet that focuses on the regeneration of the thyroid gland and mitochondria. Below are the principles of this diet.
• High-quality fat to support mitochondria like olive oil, nuts, seeds, coconut, some fish
• Antioxidant foods to reduce inflammation like low-carb vegetables, greens, and some fruits.
• Foods that help regenerate your thyroid gland like brazil nuts, oysters, fish, seaweed, chia seeds, and flax seeds.
This diet is the single most important thing in this plan and if executed in a proper fashion can change your life. It has helped so many of my patients to get rid of their tough symptoms.
Supplements To Support Mitochondria And Thyroid
The right supplements can make a big difference in supporting thyroid and mitochondria function and reducing symptoms. Here are four key supplements that help boost energy, balance hormones, and support overall mito-thyroid health.
● Thyroid Balance: A blend of essential nutrients to support thyroid hormone production and balance, helping reduce fatigue and brain fog.
● Magnesium Complete: Vital for energy production, magnesium helps reduce stress and improve sleep quality, both crucial for thyroid function.
● Probio Restore: Supports gut health and immunity, which are key factors in reducing inflammation and improving thyroid health.
● Omega Max: Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, this supplement promotes hormone balance, reduces inflammation, and supports brain health.
These supplements are all part of the Thyroid Wellness Bundle, a carefully curated set designed to support those with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s.
You can get your Thyroid Wellness Bundle through the link here: https://functionalwellbeingshop.com/collections/bundles/products/thyroid-bun dle?variant=45279592972569
Or check the website: www.functionalwellbeingshop.com
We discussed before how so many environmental toxins can cause thyroid disorders. So it is important to have detox as part of the therapeutic plan. Below are a few simple ways to detox that can keep your thyroid healthy.
Supplementing your Body's Natural Detox Mechanism with Food and Water
Our Gut is an important route where we can get rid of a lot of toxins. Regular bowel movements are very important for these purposes.
If people have constipation, and the stool with toxins sits longer in their gut and some of these toxins can be reabsorbed and not eliminated completely.
So having regular bowel movements is very important to detoxify our body. Two easy ways we can help you achieve regular bowel movements are, making sure to drink enough water and eating lots of vegetables regularly to get enough fiber is important.
Adding a quality probiotic like Probio Restore supports gut health by promoting good bacteria, improving digestion, and helping maintain regular bowel movements which is essential for your body’s natural detox process
Now let's talk about our master detoxifier. Most of the time liver can handle huge loads of toxins but sometimes the liver is overburdened with toxins or there might be some genetic defects which can impair the detox process.
There are certain foods and spices which can help your detox through the liver.
Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts can help detox better. Artichokes are also good liver support food. Also spices like turmeric, and ginger also helps the liver detoxify. You can also add glutathione for liver support during the detox.
You can get this Lipo Glutathione supplement that offers antioxidant support for cellular health. It is a powerful antioxidant that helps combat oxidative stress, protect cells, and support detoxification for optimal well-being.
You can get your Lipo Glutathione supplement through the link here: https://functionalwellbeingshop.com/products/lipo-glutathione
Or check the website: www.functionalwellbeingshop.com
FINAL WORDS ABOUT IMPROVING THYROID DYSFUNCTION
Living with thyroid symptoms is not fun. People have suffered for years with dreadful thyroid symptoms which have affected their lives significantly.
Often their symptoms have been shunned by medical doctors as something that is “in your head”
Their blood test has been normal but they still suffer from relentless symptoms on a daily basis. The reason is thyroid dysfunction has been missed and misunderstood completely.
With the new research coming up it is clear that thyroid dysfunction is not just a deficiency of levothyroxine but it is much more than that.
New literature is pointing toward a disconnect between the thyroid and mitochondria. This disconnect is the main reason for the unresolved symptoms of patients.
Unfortunately, conventional medicine doesn't have any medicines to fix the mitochondria and that's the reason they have been ignoring it completely.
But with a functional medicine approach, we can help regenerate your thyroid and mitochondria which helps you regain your life back.
This is specifically the reason through my years of research I have developed a protocol that has changed the lives of thousands of people.
Hopefully, this book gives you an overview of this dysfunction of thyroid and mitochondria
In this book, I also describe a few things that you can do to get started to fix this dysfunction
But I understand it can be overwhelming and for people to completely resolve the symptoms they might need more help.
And you do not need to take the journey alone. If you ’ re ready to address the root cause of your thyroid dysfunction and take actionable steps toward better health, I invite you to work directly with me.
[https://www.anshulguptamd.com/work-with-me/]
With years of experience as a Functional Medicine and Integrative Medicine doctor, I specialize in helping people with Hashimoto’s and thyroid issues through personalized, easy-to-follow plans designed to bring lasting results.
To get a deeper knowledge on healing Hashimoto’s, check out my book "Reversing Hashimoto’s" , a step-by-step guide to help you address the root cause and reclaim your health.
Stay Connected
Website – www.anshulguptamd.com
Supplement Shop – www.functionalmedicineshop.com
YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/AnshulGuptaMD Reversing Hashimoto’s Book – www.reversinghashimotobook.com
I’m here to support you on your health journey. Let’s work together to reclaim your health and achieve the vitality you deserve!
