Managing Hypothyroidism & Hashimoto's - The Natural Approach
Have you been diagnosed with hypothyroidism? Looking to manage your condition naturally?
Managing hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's can feel overwhelming at times. But if you take a holistic approach, you can reduce your symptoms and flares.
You may even be able to halt the disease process and prevent further damage.
Let's take a closer look at how you can start to address your hypothyroidism naturally.
What is hypothyroidism?
Put simply, hypothyroidism is when your thyroid is not producing enough hormones for your body to function optimally.
This can lead to a variety of symptoms, including:
• Weight gain or difficulty losing weight
• Fatigue and lethargy
• Feeling cold
• Constipation
• Dry, flaky skin
• Dry, thinning hair
• Fertility issues
• Sore, painful or tender muscles/joints
• Brain fog
• A hoarse throat
• Puffy, sensitive face
In some cases, people may experience unusual and less common symptoms as well.
It's important to note that these symptoms can be caused by different health concerns. That's why your best bet is testing and evaluation from an experienced health practitioner to confirm if hypothyroidism is the cause of your concerns.
What causes hypothyroidism?
There is not a sole cause for hypothyroidism. In fact, there are dozens of potential factors that can cause or contribute to the disease process. As it’s relatively rare for just one cause to be behind your thyroid issues, it can take time to get it under control.
Some of the common contributing factors for hypothyroidism include:
Inflammation
Autoimmunity (leading to Hashimoto’s disease)
Nutrient deficiencies
Hormone imbalances
Within these problems, there are further factors that feed into the disease process such as:
Diet
Impaired gut health
Intolerances and allergies
Environmental pollutants
Chronic/elevated stress
Poor sleep
Chronic diseases
Gene mutations
To bring your hypothyroidism under control, you’ll need to take a holistic and integrative approach and address each relevant factor.
The natural approach to managing hypothyroidism & Hashimoto's
Looking to manage your hypothyroidism using holistic tools? You've come to the right place. Here are some tips for taking a natural approach to your Hashimoto's.
Address underlying inflammation
Unfortunately, inflammation is part of everyday life. Acute inflammation is actually good for us, but the danger lies in chronic inflammation.
The thyroid is particularly vulnerable to chronic inflammation. For example, inflammation plays a significant role in poor gut health and autoimmunity – two common contributors to hypothyroidism. As if that wasn't enough of a problem, thyroid disease itself causes inflammation.
Inflammation is often behind the triggers we commonly see with thyroid conditions. Poor sleep, high stress, dietary triggers and environmental factors all lead to inflammation in the body.
So if you want to get a handle on your flare-ups, tackling inflammation is a must.
Eat a nutrient-rich diet
The thyroid and immune system both rely on good levels of nutrients. The easiest way to boost your nutrient intake is by eating plenty of wholefoods.
Wholefoods include:
Meat and poultry
Fish and shellfish
Eggs
Fruit
Vegetables
Nuts
Seeds
Legumes
Wholegrains
Herbs
Spices
You’ll also want to remove any food intolerances, as they can trigger the immune response and cause inflammation. Gluten is often a big problem for Hashimoto’s thanks to molecular mimicry.
If you’re not sure whether you have food intolerances, testing may help you to identify potential problems.
Support your gut health
Inflammation typically begins in the gut, so supporting the gut is an important way to cool inflammation down. Our gut microbes produce either pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory compounds, depending on how healthy and balanced they are.
A well-maintained gut lining will prevent particles from entering the bloodstream and setting off inflammation. But a weak gut lining can lead to intolerances and trigger the immune system. To reduce the risk of thyroid flares and address the underlying disease process, looking after your gut is essential.
So how can you swing your gut towards happy and balanced? Start with these tips.
Get a good amount of sleep
Both sleep quantity and quality play a vital role in immune and thyroid health. Poor sleep is a source of physical stress, and leads to more inflammation and dysregulation of the entire body.
If you struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up feeling unrefreshed, it’s a sign that your sleep needs to be improved.
Looking to optimise your sleep? Check out some helpful tips here.
Consider if supplements are right for you
In many cases of hypothyroidism, there are nutrient deficiencies to consider. Correcting these with supplements may help to alleviate your symptoms.
The major nutrient the thyroid needs to thrive include:
Zinc
Iodine
Selenium
Tyrosine
To learn more about the nutrients needed for thyroid health, check out this previous article.
It's important to note that the right supplements are unique to your health status and situation. The best way to add supplements into your regime is with the guidance of an experienced thyroid health practitioner.
Ready to start the journey of managing your thyroid health naturally? To get started, book an appointment with Tara here.