Why detoxing is so important in thyroid conditions

Did you know that detoxification can make a huge impact on your thyroid health?

In my decades of experience, the best results I have achieved with my thyroid patients occurs after I have put them through a comprehensive 6-week detoxification program. A comprehensive detox plan will remove common dietary triggers, heal damage to the intestinal wall and restore liver function - all of which is needed for thyroid management and healing.

Why is the liver so important for thyroid health?

Thyroid health depends upon your liver because 60% of the conversion of the thyroid hormone T4 into its active form that the body can use, T3, occurs in the liver. If your liver is sluggish or you have a fatty liver, this conversion won’t be effective.

Even if you are taking the synthetic thyroid medication thyroxine, it still needs to be converted to T3 in the liver. Adversely, it seems that a low or sluggish thyroid increases your risk of Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Thyroid hormone influences the way that cholesterol and other fats are broken down which happens in the liver. This process is often slowed down in hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s resulting in high cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides. I see this commonly in thyroid patients and elevated cholesterol and coronary risk markers.

Another reason is that thyroid hormones affect the detoxification pathways in the liver. This influences the enzymes needed to break down and metabolise drugs and environmental toxins. Often in thyroid disease, the ability to detoxify is compromised. Liver enzymes are often raised in thyroid disease.

So the liver needs to be working optimally for the thyroid to work optimally and vice versa. A detox can achieve this and set the stage for greater thyroid health.

What does a thyroid detoxification plan look like?

The detox I personally use is gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free. I also employ a food intolerance test to rule out individual food sensitivities and the eating plan is adjusted to accommodate.

For 6 weeks all dietary triggers are removed from the diet, giving the immune system a complete rest and antibodies are reduced. By following a 6-week meal plan, the patient gets a taste of easy to prepare, gluten, dairy, sugar-free meals and feels so much better from the removal of dietary triggers.

Gut inflammation is decreased by the removal of these inflammatory foods, which means less inflammation in the body and less inflammation affecting the thyroid gland.

During the detox, the gut gets a clearing of dysbiotic bacteria and microbes and undergoes re-seeding of beneficial bacteria. The liver is supported and toxins released so that at the end of the detox, the liver is metabolising well and so is the thyroid gland. Toxins have been released, the body and mind are cleared and the thyroid functions well.

At the end of 6 weeks, the diet is continued to further support thyroid health. I recommend an annual repeat of the detox plan to keep thyroid and liver health in optimal function.

Looking for more information on how to support your thyroid naturally?

Make sure you grab a copy of one of my ebooks for plenty of actionable content and helpful advice! If you have hyperthyroidism or Graves’, check out this ebook here. If you have hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s, this is the ebook for you.