Natural Thyroid Healing
Usually one or two symptoms are common for thyroid issues. When people take thyroid medicine and have one or two lingering symptoms, “Those are things you should not be willing to accept. Those are the things that should improve for you,” says Dr. Alan Christianson, ND, a physician who focuses on natural endocrinology and author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Thyroid Disease (affiliate link).
Dr. Alan says what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. He says, “It’s a disease of hormone lack but it’s also a disease of hormone utilization. The good things we have from natropathic training and functional medicine helps the body utilize those hormones.”
The key is getting the information into the cells and when the body is not functioning properly it doesn’t always happen properly.
Certain factors shouldn’t be dealt with independently but as a whole. Dr. Christianson says weight is one of those factors saying, “The gut flora may be a bigger part of weight than anything.” This is clear through certain pathogenic bacteria and yeasts which cause swelling and bloating. “A well absorbable mineral supplement and trace minerals, are very critical,” he says.
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To learn how to potentially detect thyroid issues read here.
Absolute essentials are nutrient dense foods, probiotics (like this one) and minerals (like this one). Affiliate links like the ones listed on this page are to help you see what is available. Often times products do more harm instead of good, those linked are tested for those with damaged guts.
Dr. Cristianson recommends optimizing key proteins, eliminating toxins from your environment and personal care products and adding essential fats like coconut oil (like this one), animal fats and GLA (like this one). These aspects as well as monitoring hormones can point to optimal thyroid function.
Herbs, supplements and diet should be coupled with physical activity. Dr. Alan says, “Getting a brisk pace and essential fats can be very strong.”
The STAR*D trial showed optimizing the thyroid hormone worked better than depression medication. Dr. Holdorf did a study where they treated people who didn’t have thyroid disease with thyroid hormone. The result was astounding, their depression disappeared.
Herbs like St. John’s Wort for depression (like this one), ashwagandha for adrenals (like this one) and GABA for anxiety (like this one) are all recommended by Dr. Alan.
Good sleep is highly beneficial however, he is very against sleep medicine saying, “Mortality risks go up by 4.5-fold if you’re not obese and 9-fold if you are obese with sleep medications with intermittent use. Intermittent use is defined as 18 doses per year.”
Correcting sleep issues can be attacked with many small steps like avoiding blue light in the afternoon, caffeine, circadium rhythm correction and calming cycles before bed. Sleep supplements like glycine (like this one), valerian root (like this one), hops, chamomile tea (like this one) and melatonin (like this one) in micro-doses a few hours before bed are all helpful herbal aids. Too much melatonin can suppress the morning cortisol so it’s best to keep it to as little as needed, Dr. Alan says.
Dropping or limiting the caffeine is a key player in the role of thyroid healing. According to Dr. Alan, “Caffeine blocks our brain’s fuel. Our glands slow as we age, our liver slows too. A fair number of people reach a point where it might take them more than a day to get rid of a dose of coffee. If that’s the case but they have a dose every day they can start accumulating it. They can actually have a lot of coffee in their bodies 24/7.”
“Regular caffeine users don’t have performance gains over non-caffeine users. The people who do the very best are erratic caffeine users,” Dr. Alan says.
Dr. David Brownstein, a holistic medical doctor, is an advocate for supplementing with iodine for natural thyroid support. Click here to learn more about his findings and recommendations. Dr. Brownstein recommends this iodine added to your water under the care of a physician.
In correlation with natural thyroid supplementation like Nature-Throid, a dessicated natural compounded support for the thyroid, many holistic physicians are seeing success with their patients, specifically when the patient was continuing to suffer on synthetic alternatives.
Click here to find a natropathic doctor near you. It is important, as with all medical concerns, to consult with your doctor before undertaking any treatment.
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*Nourishing Plot is written by a mom whose son has been delivered from the effects of autism (asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia through food. This is not a news article published by a paper trying to make money. This blog is put out by a mom who sees first hand the effects of nourishing food vs food-ish items. No company pays her for writing these blogs, she considers this a form of missionary work. It is her desire to scream it from the rooftops so that others don’t suffer from the damaging effect of today’s “food”.
Other sources:
http://www.bulletproofexec.com/72-an-idiots-guide-to-thyroid-health-with-dr-alan-christianson-podcast/
http://www.drbrownstein.com/
https://www.madinamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/The-Star-D-Project-Results.pdf
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/funding/clinical-trials-for-researchers/practical/stard/allmedicationlevels.shtml
http://thethyroidsessions.com/dr-alan-christianson/
http://thethyroidsummit.com/alan-christianson-nd/
Tag:Disease, Food, Health Support
3 Comments
Dear Becky,
You know I asked a friend to send this to me. I am always disappointed with this type of article. It ALWAYS turns out a sales pitch for products.
You know I am an RN and truly would like to go to natural healing/preventable care. I am about to retire and have the time to do this, but refuse to go out and buy dozens of products to make someone else rich.
In my 30s’, a friend in Minnesota told me her husband died. He was taking 127 natural products at the age of 45 to “stay healthy”!! That is ridiculous!! So I never looked into homeopathic care again. Sad commentary, as now while I am relatively healthy, I need information and cannot find it unless I wade through all the ads and recommendations for all the products.
Anne Edwards
ann.taylor.texasnurse@gmail.com
Nutritionist ngw here, and just needing to alert you folks to the fact that if you take a synthetic substance, like synthetic ‘iodide’, the fact is that synthetic vitamins and other such non-food sourced supplements will be used ~ plugged into the cell ~ by a body that’s deficient in that substance, but at the cost of a shortened life in to the cell itself. If you plug in a chemical, you will have weak gland cell/tissue function and a shortened cell life. The chemical will cause the cell to break down before it’s time.
The only natural, food-based source of iodine is sea veggies. And yes, it’s not concentrated, so you need more daily than a potassium iodide dose. Compare results of each compound over a 12 month period and you’ll see a positive difference in the quality and strength of the natural therapy over the synthetic.