Your Thyroid Is the Regulator of Your Entire Existence
The word “hormone” derives from the Greek word “hormon,” which means “to excite” or “set in motion.” They have shaped your life ever since you were an embryo. More than 80 human hormones have been identified, all with distinctly different roles.
Each hormone acts as a chemical messenger and is aimed at a specific target cell and has no effect on any other cells as it washes past them. When a hormone acts on its specific target cell, it can change the way it behaves to make it perform a specific task.
Hormones exert their influence in very small concentrations; every molecule packs a punch. This is also why endocrine-disrupting chemicals are so dangerous even in tiny amounts.
Your Thyroid Is a Master Regulator
Of the many hormones in your body, thyroid hormones are perhaps the most important, as they regulate your metabolism and are required for nearly every physiological process in your body. When your thyroid levels are unbalanced, it can spell serious trouble.
An imbalance can lead to significant health issues, including fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, gum disease and autoimmune disorders, just to name a few. This is because the thyroid impacts various parts of the body, making the symptoms of dysfunction diverse.
Fortunately, thyroid hormone imbalances are often treatable, and can potentially reverse symptoms of related health conditions. As explained by Nate Lawrence, a bioenergetic medicine coach, in the featured video:
“The thyroid gland regulates metabolism, which can really be seen as systemic energy production. If you aren’t producing energy efficiently, this is where we find all of the problems of life.
When your hormones are properly balanced and you have enough thyroid [hormone], this is when life comes natural, action comes from second nature and the flow of energy is not only maintained but expanded upon with adequate stimulation.
Thyroid is synthesized to increase the metabolic rate. In deprivation stress, hormones rise to oppose the thyroid and lower the metabolic rate. This is an adaptive mechanism, but if upregulated chronically will lead to decay. Essentially, low thyroid function can be seen as an impaired flow of energy at all levels of life.
The main role of thyroid is to allow your cells to convert glucose into ATP, CO2, heat and water in the presence of oxygen. Thyroid also helps to convert cholesterol into the downstream steroid hormones, most notably pregnanolone, progesterone and DHEA, which are three youth hormones that reinforce energy.”
How Your Thyroid Works
Your thyroid gland is shaped like a butterfly on your neck just under your voice box and secretes four hormones: T1, T2, T3 and T4. The number indicates the number of molecules of iodide attached to the hormone. These hormones interact with other hormones, such as insulin, cortisol and sex hormones.
Your hypothalamus secretes thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) that triggers the pituitary gland to release thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) that then causes your thyroid to release T4.
Nearly 90% of your thyroid hormone is released in an inactive form of T4. Your liver then converts T4 to T3 with the help of an enzyme. T2 is currently the least understood form of thyroid hormone and is the subject of ongoing studies.
When everything is working properly, your body makes enough T4 that is converted to T3 to control the metabolism of every cell in your body. T3 is critical in the communication of messages to your DNA to increase your metabolism by burning fat. In this way, it helps keep you lean.
Nutritional imbalances, toxic exposures, allergens, infections and stress can disrupt this hormonal balance, leading to a series of health complications including hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer.
As noted by Lawrence, hypothyroidism (low thyroid function) is a downstream effect of inefficient oxidation of glucose that leads to inflammation, insulin resistance, cholesterol buildup, soft tissue calcification and “an overall inability to oppose stress.”
The most common symptoms of hypothyroidism are fatigue (low energy), feeling cold regardless of the ambient temperature, dry skin, hair loss, constipation and/or diarrhea, edema (water retention), brain fog, anxiety, depression and weight gain.
Simple Way to Assess Your Thyroid Function
One simple way to evaluate the health of your thyroid is to measure your body temperature first thing in the morning, upon waking. The reason this works is because when your tissue level of T3 is high, you’ll have a higher metabolic rate, and hence, higher body temperature and pulse rate.1
Having a body temperature right around 98 degrees Fahrenheit upon waking is a sign of healthy thyroid. Around midday, you want a temperature of about 98.6 degrees F. Your pulse should also rise between morning and midday and be between 60 to 100 beats per minute.
If your temperature and pulse rate are consistently low, then you have low metabolism. If your temperature and pulse fall after eating breakfast, that’s another bad sign, as this indicates you’re running on stress hormones, which is anything but healthy.
Oftentimes, people with subclinical hypothyroidism will have normal lab work, but if your body temp and pulse rate are off, that’s a tipoff that your thyroid is not functioning properly. Also, even if your TSH is low (whi
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