11 Natural Treatments for Hypothyroidism
Poofff, 32 pounds automagically appeared. I became extremely fatigued, brain fogged, full of digestive issues and my hair started falling off!
As I went out and started researching, I became aware that most resources talking about hypothyroidism are not only confusing, but often times point people in the wrong direction.
It all starts with the definition of hypothyroidism which basically implies that it’s only an underactive thyroid problem. It essentially puts all the blame on the thyroid when in my experience the adrenals, liver and gut (digestive issues) also play a role on thyroid function.
That being said, here’s a list of the natural remedies I used for my own hypothyroidism[/text_block]
- Saturated fats
- Intermittent Fasting
- Vitamin D
- Selenium
- Bioavailable Protein
- Probiotics
- Matcha Green Tea
- Turmeric
- Lemon
- Coconut water
What I found through research and personal experience is that sugar and digestive issues is the real enemy here, not so much healthy fats.
When people ask me for something for thyroid hormones here’s what I understand:
The vitamins the body needs to produce hormones are fat soluble, which means that in order for your body to absorb them and use them you need more fats in your diet (opposite of what most professionals tell you). The body uses cholesterol and fats along with selenium and vitamin D to make pretty much every hormone including thyroid hormone.
Cholesterol to the body is like sheet metal to a steel shop. It’s the raw material. You give it the raw material and it makes you pretty much anything.
One of the things it helps you produce is vitamin D. Vitamin D is one of the main raw materials your body uses to make hormones.
When I checked my Vitamin D levels I realized mine were low. Most people I come across who also have hypothyroidism are in the 20-39 ng/mL…
So here’s what I personally used to increase and regulate my hormones and at least make sure my body had the raw materials it needed to make hormones.
Fermented Cod Liver Oil + Vitamin-Rich Butter Fat – 2 capsules upon waking and 2 before bed
1 Capsule of Selenium upon waking and 1 before bed
1 mL of Suntrex (Vitamin D) upon waking and 1mL before bed*****
***** Only supplement Vitamin D until you reach blood levels of 55 ng/mL of vitamin D
Like I said, sugar and digestive issues inhibit this protocol, so you’ll have to avoid sugar as much as you can.
I know getting off of sugar is not easy. Crazy to look back and realize how addictive it is!
To help with sugar cravings and digestive issues I turned to juicing and intermittent fasting[/text_block]
Green Juice and Intermittent Fasting for hypothyroidism
Greens do a lot for your health. One of the most important is that they help clean and detox your liver and gut, which is important because they work together to convert the thyroid hormone T4 into T3. I believe green juice was key for both fatigue and to flatten up your belly.
Greens also give you chlorophyll which turns your skin into a solar panel-like machine that allows your skin to produce sulfated vitamin D from the sun, which is the best way to get vitamin D long term.
You can also add powdered greens like chlorella, spirulina and wheatgrass to your juices to get the amino acids your body needs for functions like T4 to T3 conversion.
How does it work?
In the morning, on an empty stomach, I drink green juice as my “breakfast” and a lot of water with it afterwards. The KEY thing is that the green juice I drink has NO SUGAR!
Because this is pure liquid that requires virtually no digestion, the body stays in a fasted state. When the body is in a fasted state it cleans itself up, regulates its own hormones, blood sugar levels, not to mention it turns into a fat burning machine!
In fact, when people ask me, “how do I get rid of my belly?”… I did it by drinking green juice while intermittent fasting and probiotics.[/text_block]
Because of this my Vitamin D levels dropped.
Vitamin D is crucial to stimulate hormone production so it’s important to get out on the sun.
There are two reasons why the skin burns, it’s toxic and it lacks the right pigments like chlorophyll.
To rephrase that, you need two things to be able to get Vitamin D from the sun… you need clean skin, cholesterol and chlorophyll.
You can get chlorophyll from green juice.
To clean my skin I used this solution
Skin cleaning solution[/text_block]
- 1.5 L Vodka
- 1 tbsp Baking Soda (aluminum free)
- 1 tbsp Fossil shell flour
- 1 tbsp MSM powder
- 1 tbsp living silica
- 1 tbsp Ionic magnesium w/trace minerals
I shake the bottle and then I wet a towel with it and lather up. I apply on the skin first just to get it wet and let the skin soak it up a bit. Then I do a second application where I take that same towel, add more vodka and scrub/exfoliate my skin.
This is not an overnight process, but with time (usually a couple weeks to a month) you’ll notice not only your skin look younger, but you’ll notice when you step out on the sun your skin won’t burn as much.
My skin used to hurt after just a couple minutes under the sun, but now I can stay out longer and not get burnt… that allows me to get vitamin D, which is crucial to stimulate hormone production.[/text_block]
When I first started I was just eating foods rich in selenium like mushrooms, brazil nuts, etc.
Those worked okay, but there are many things to consider.
I had a lot of food allergies when I started so eating Brazil nuts was not easy for me. I had to find raw Brazil nuts that I could soak overnight.
Most nuts like Brazil nuts, almonds, etc., are often sold labeled “raw”, but they have been radiated to kill the enzymes which increases the shelf life. Soaking nuts is done to activate these enzymes, but if the enzymes are dead, then that defeats the purpose.
If you go the Brazil nut route, make sure you get the raw, non-radiated kind.
So I now do a combination of food and every now and then I supplement with Selenium if I start to feel slugglish.[/text_block]
Bioavailable Protein for Hypothyroidism
A protein is like a brick wall where every brick is an amino acid. The body is not designed to absorb protein. So when you feed it protein, that’s like giving your body a wall where the body has to break down the wall into single bricks, then turn around and build its own wall.
I had a lot of digestive issues so I had a lot of undigested protein lurking around my body. On one hand that caused inflammation. On the other hand, it meant that the liver wasn’t getting enough protein.
I was eating a lot of protein, but because I wasn’t digesting it (making it bioavailable) it was almost as if I hadn’t eaten any… worse cause now I had undigested protein which the body sees as an intruder and attacks it creating inflammation and all kinds of allergies.
So instead of eating proteins that are hard to digest like gluten and conventional meats I opted for more bioavailable proteins like bone broth protein, chlorella, spirulina, etc.
That’s another reason why adding spirulina to my green juice helped me out so much![/text_block]
I remember being on a weight roller coaster, my weight going up and down.
No matter what I did, what I ate, if I exercised or not (I actually couldn’t exercise, my muscles were achy without me even doing anything)… but no matter what I did I couldn’t lose weight.
It turns out it all started with digestive issues. I talk a lot about having digestive issues. Probiotics are what digest food in your gut.
If you have digestive issues you have an imbalance in your gut flora meaning you probably have a lot of bad bacteria growing in your gut. This is especially true if you have a sweet tooth. I come across a lot of people who have yeast overgrowth because they eat too much sugar.
As I was doing research I read Maureen’s hypothyroidism success story. Maureen has hashimoto’s and she accidentally lost 100 lbs by learning how to make simple, probiotic promoting healthy meals for hypothyroidism. *results may vary from person to person
One way I balanced my gut flora was by doing intermittent fasting and juicing. The other was by taking more probiotics which are the friendly or good bacteria that you want in your gut.
This is possibly one of the best, though long term solution to many of the problems we face because of hypothyroidism.
The most important thing about probiotics is the variety of strains. Most probiotics only come with 3-6 maybe 10 strains at most. You want at least 40 different strains and you want to “activate” the probiotics before taking them.[/text_block]
Matcha Green Tea, Turmeric and Ashwaghanda for Hypothyroidism
When the liver doesn’t get the bioavailable protein it needs to convert the thyroid hormone T4 into T3, the adrenal glands step in and they try to get this protein for the liver. The way the adrenals source protein is they release the STRESS HORMONE cortisol which breaks down muscle to get amino acids/protein for the liver.
This increase is stress hormones is the stress we are talking about. It’s what causes things like hair to fall off, nails to become brittle, skin to get dry, etc.
To balance out this stress hormone and reduce its levels, I found Matcha green tea, turmeric and ashwaghanda to be very helpful.
I drink these with my green juice every morning, but I also make a Lemon + MSM + Turmeric drink[/text_block]
There has been times when I stand up too fast and I get lightheaded. I’ve even “blacked out” where I don’t pass out, but my vision goes dark and then comes back.
To help stabilize blood-sugar I used lemon.
I actually like to make this drink
750 mL Clean drinking water
2 Organic Lemons (juice only)
2 tsp MSM Powder
2 Capsules of Turmeric
1/4 tsp Nutmeg (optional)
MSM powder is very bitter, but the lemon neutralizes that flavor. Turmeric has been an amazing anti-inflammatory food I’ve added to my diet to help get rid of undigested proteins. Nutmeg is just something I add for more flavor, but it tastes fine without.
You may add more lemon if you find the MSM too overpowering, but about 2 lemons is what I’ve found works well to neutralize the MSM flavor and get a little lemon flavor which makes this quite refreshing and something I drink after my green juice.[/text_block]
Coconut Water for Hypothyroidism
I once heard the saying “you’re not hungry, you are thirsty”… and it’s true. Dehydration is possibly one of the biggest diseases and it’s not even considered one.
I understood this concept when I was brewing beer. The power of the minerals in water is pretty tangible.
Put it this way, if the water lacks certain minerals a brewer can not make beer. These minerals are ionic minerals.
The best way I can describe it is, think of your body cells as mini batteries (which they are). They store energy just like a battery. A battery stores energy and is useless otherwise, until you connect a CONDUCTOR that touches negative to positive, then the conductor is able to distribute the energy stored by the battery.
Well the body is the same way. Every cell is like a mini battery. Ionic minerals are the CONDUCTORS that allow you to use the ENERGY stored in your body cells.
If more energy sounds good, then theres’ no reason for me to keep talking about hydrating. Coconut water is one of my favorite ways to stay hydrated. Lemon water and green juice are good too!
There you have it 11 natural treatments for hypothyroidism battle tested and proven by truly yours…[/text_block]