Tag Archive for: thyroid

Thyroid Function and Cruciferous Vegetables

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A long-time friend and Memo reader asked this question: “Some Internet health experts and websites say to avoid raw broccoli if you have an underactive thyroid; I did that and my scores improved. Why?” The answer is complicated, but here’s what I found.

Raw cruciferous vegetables contain phytonutrients that are important to our health. However, in people with iodine deficiency, those phytonutrients may interfere with the production of thyroid hormones. Cooking broccoli, even a quick steam, negates that impact.

If you’re concerned, here are three things to do. First, get your iodine levels tested to see your iodine status. Most multiminerals have iodine, but you may need even more and your doctor can help you decide that. Second, if your iodine or thyroid hormone levels are low, always cook any cruciferous vegetables you eat. They’re healthy for you, but maybe just not raw.

Finally, and I think this is the most important, always take your thyroid medication without eating for at least a couple of hours (a little cream in your coffee is okay, but not a meal). How do you do that? Most of us don’t have a couple hours to wait around to eat before the day begins. You can take it at bedtime, or you can put it next to the sink and take it when you get up during the night.

Most people avoid dairy because calcium interferes with thyroid meds, and I found after researching this, there are many others foods that also interfere. Just take the thyroid medication by itself. Check with your doctor about other oral medications that may have an impact as well.

If this is a reminder that you need to eat more cruciferous veggies, I couldn’t agree more. Here’s a way to eat more in a targeted way: get my book Real-Life Detox. It includes some tasty recipes, including “I Can’t Cook” Detox Cabbage Soup that requires nothing more complicated that opening bags and turning on the cooktop. You can get both the paper book and e-book for a special price at drchet.com; as always, Members and Insiders get their discount.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Food-Medication Interactions

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One of the questions I got after Saturday’s Memo was about how to take thyroid medication to maximize effectiveness. It was of those smack-your -forehead moments—how could I forget that? This week’s Memos will cover food interactions with the three most common medications. Your physician and pharmacist should handle the medication-to-medication interactions; I’ll stick to food, including supplements. Let’s begin with synthetic or natural thyroid medications.

In order to maximize absorption of thyroid medication, take it on an empty stomach, preferably in the morning. Wait about an hour before eating.

If you take a multimineral with calcium and iron or a stand-alone calcium supplement, wait at least four hours before you take it. The range of medication loss is 25% to 35% when taken with calcium. But even more important is to be consistent in when you take your medications, when you eat, and when you take your supplements.

Next I’ll cover blood thinners.

The next Insider Conference Call is Thursday might. If you want to attend as well as listen to prior Conference Calls, sign-up as an Insider before then.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Treating an Underactive Thyroid

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The treatment for an underactive thyroid is pretty simple. Levothyroxine is a prescription medication that will work for most people. It takes time to get the dosing adjusted to get the thyroxin blood levels into a normal range. After that, it’s monitored over time and the dose is adjusted when needed.

It’s a simple process, except for those who refuse to take the medication because it’s a chemical sold as a medication. Let’s take a look at that issue.

Levothyroxine versus Thyroxin (T4)

I check the chemical structure of the synthetic and natural forms of thyroxin: they’re chemically identical with the exception of a single ion. Instead of a hydrogen ion in one bond, a sodium ion is used. That’s it. The function is the same. Not similar—the same. Levothyroxine is processed and eliminated the exact same way. While it’s made in a pharmaceutical plant, there’s no substantive difference in chemical structure or function.

There’s no reason to fear taking this medication; I do and Paula does as well. While many medications are completely synthetic and do things the body does not do, this is not one of them. However, for some people, there’s a natural alternative as long as they have no objections to pork products.

Armour Thyroid

Before the invention of levothyroxine, physicians prescribed ground thyroid glands of cows and pigs; pig thyroid is the typical source. The difference between desiccated swine thyroid and levothyroxine is that Armour thyroid contains both T4 and T3 (triiodothyronine.) The problem is that they’re not in the same ratio as found in humans, and that can make regulating thyroid hormone levels tricky.

There is one exception, other than personal preference. I got an email from a long-time reader who said she takes the Armour thyroid because levothyroxine just didn’t work. Since taking the Armour thyroid, her hormone levels are all within range.

Why would that be? My guess is that some people do not convert T4 to T3 effectively; therefore they would need both hormones, and Armour thyroid supplies both.

The Bottom Line

Based on the chemical structure and function, levothyroxine is the logical choice to treat an underactive thyroid. As I stated earlier, one ion does not make this the typical pharmaceutical; it’s as close to nature as I’ve seen. However, for those who cannot get their thyroid under control, it’s nice to have Armour thyroid as an alternative.

If you want to treat an underactive thyroid, those are the choices. There are no dietary supplements that can replace thyroid hormones. The prescription synthetic will work for just about everyone, and it makes no sense to avoid it. The truth is in the chemistry.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Do You Have an Underactive Thyroid?

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The weather in Grand Rapids has taken a turn to winter: from 61 degrees on Tuesday to freezing today. It’s bone chilling with winds at 20 mph and can leave you feeling cold most of the day. But what if you were cold most of the time regardless of the outdoor temperature? That’s just one of the symptoms of an underactive thyroid, also called hypothyroid.

Before I met with a potential coaching client to discuss his nutrition and training, I asked him when he had his last physical and how his health has been. One of the things he mentioned was feeling more fatigued than he had in the past and that it took longer to recover. Fatigue and feeling tired are also symptoms of an underactive thyroid. Those symptoms aren’t always present, and there are other explanations for those symptoms, but hypothyroid is a possibility. Here are some of the other symptoms of an underactive thyroid:

  • Trouble sleeping
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Weight gain
  • Dry skin and hair
  • Depression, as I mentioned Tuesday
  • For women: frequent, heavy periods
  • Muscle fatigue and painful joints

There could be other explanations, but it’s a place to begin and it’s often part of a routine blood test. Schedule an appointment and have your thyroid levels checked. If your thyroid is underactive, the question I asked Tuesday applies: should you take the medication or are there alternatives? I’ll get into that on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

What Your Thyroid Does

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A common question: “I’ve just been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. What can I do? I don’t want to take medication. I want a natural solution.” Usually, there’s a spicy descriptor that precedes the word medication. In response, the Memos this week are about the thyroid: What does it do? What happens if it doesn’t function properly? What are the treatment options?

The thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped gland that resides on the front of the neck just above the collarbone. The best word to describe what the thyroid does: metabolism. How does it do that? By producing the hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). It’s actually an elegant process that includes the hypothalamus and pituitary glands. The hypothalamus monitors the blood for status reports. When it senses a need for an increase in thyroid hormones, it signals the pituitary and the pituitary releases thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), which tells the thyroid to increase the release of hormones.

Back to metabolism. That’s the rate at which cells function from calories burned, heart rate, muscle growth and repair, and many other processes. If the thyroid starts to fail, it can wreak havoc just about everywhere in your body. That’s what we’ll talk about on Thursday.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet