Thyroid?

Tell me, do you struggle with three or more of the following?

> Weight loss resistance

> Brain fog

> Tiredness or even lethargy

> Cold hands and feet a lot or most of the time

> Poor circulation

> Constipation

> Dry hair and/or skin

> Hair that grows very slowly

> Weak/flaky nails

> Low moods

> Muscle/joint aches

> Loss of get up and go / motivation

> Feeling puffy

If the answer is yes, (and even if you have been tested and told that your thyroid is 'normal'), you may still have an underactive thyroid system!

Hypothyroidism is one of the most underdiagnosed and mistreated conditions today.

It is estimated that as many as 30% of the population (with a heavy leaning towards females) have a low-functioning thyroid. I personally think that amongst women over 40, this number may be even higher.

The thyroid gland is the main metabolism gland in your entire body but (and this is where it gets confusing), it is part of a wider system.

Solely testing the thyroid gland is not enough to 100% determine whether someone has a sluggish thyroid system.

Suffice it to say, if the thyroid system is not working correctly, you will have a hard time losing weight...

But the thyroid gland does so much more than just helping us lose weight. It is required:

- By every cell in the body

- To help keep cholesterol and triglycerides optimal

- For good digestive function

- For healthy female hormones, especially sensitivity to progesterone

As you can see, the thyroid is an important gland!

It is a very sensitive one too, and can be easily affected by many things including stress, toxins like heavy metals, chlorine and fluoride (don't drink tap water!*), mineral imbalances and many more.

And as I said at the start, there are millions of women walking around with suboptimal thyroid 'system' function, that do not know it, because of a lack of understanding of thyroid physiology, and poor testing practices.

One of the biggest issues I see with underactive or 'hypo' thyroid symptoms is that the general medical testing offered is limited. ⁣

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Most will just test TSH (not a true thyroid hormone but a thyroid 'stimulating' hormone), occasionally T4, rarely T3, rarely antibodies (which indicate if there is an immune system issue going on) and never the other important markers that give the whole picture. ⁣

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On top of that, if the issue with your thyroid system is not a hormone production issue, none of these blood tests will indicate this either. ⁣

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Remember, producing thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland is just the start of the process. You might be producing enough thyroid hormone, but what happens afterwards? ⁣

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Can it be converted to its active, usable form?⁣

Can it easily enter the cells and latch onto receptors?⁣

Is there anything making it harder for it to enter cells? ⁣

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[That's why I love mineral testing because it can help identify cellular thyroid issues much earlier than blood work. More on this soon...] ⁣

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If you really want to find out what is going on with your thyroid, you have to do the following: ⁣

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1. You need to work out what imbalances or issues in YOUR body are driving the problem (aka the real root cause). There are many factors that can contribute to poor thyroid system function. ⁣

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2. You need a plan to address those imbalances and encourage the body to correct them ⁣

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It's not straightforward, but it is possible, with the right path and the right guidance.

I talked about the limited thyroid markers tested as standard on a thyroid blood panel, and I mentioned that there are other ways to indicate a sluggish thyroid system.... namely by testing minerals. ⁣

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So today I'm going to explain a bit about the differences between mineral testing and blood testing, for understanding thyroid status, and why both are important, but for different reasons. ⁣

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The simplest way to explain it is this... ⁣

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Detailed bloodwork (i.e. not just TSH and T4 markers, which is what is generally tested by medical practitioners) indicates how much thyroid hormone you are producing, and can indicate how well you are converting the 'inactive' form of the hormone to the 'active' (usable) form of thyroid hormone. ⁣

Note: You can't use the storage form, so conversion is critical. ⁣

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Blood work is a very important part of understanding thyroid health if suboptimal thyroid function is suspected. ⁣

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But it's only part of the picture. ⁣

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Mineral testing, on the other hand, shows us how well we are likely to be using our thyroid hormone. ⁣

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Mineral testing doesn't tell us anything about how much thyroid hormone we are producing from the gland, you have to look at blood work for that. ⁣

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But what it does give us is some key markers that are super helpful in understanding more about thyroid system health, including:⁣

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- Calcium⁣

- Potassium⁣

- Selenium⁣

- Calcium/Potassium ratio (known as the Thyroid Ratio. The higher the ratio, the slower the thyroid system is likely to be). ⁣

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I always like to run a mineral test first with clients and let that, plus a detailed health questionnaire, guide me on what other tests to run, including a full Thyroid Blood Panel.