Your thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of your throat, just above the hollow in between your collarbones. Although it is small, the thyroid drives your health either toward dysfunction or balance, because thyroid hormone - the powerful chemical that the thyroid produces - affects every cell in your body. In order to lose weight, look beautiful, and live the life you imagined, you need to keep youthful levels of thyroid hormones. You'll be so happy you learned about this little gland once you experience how good it feels to have it working optimally.
The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction
An estimated 20 million Americans suffer from low thyroid hormone production, known as hypothyroidism. Yet 60% of people are completely unaware they have it. Women are dramatically more prone to hypothyroidism. Some experts estimate that women are five to eight times more likely to develop it compared to men. You can see the effects of dysfunctional thyroid in a woman's countenance at a glance when you know what to look for.
- Thin, dry hair
- Eyebrows may curve straight down or get very sparse on outer edges
- Lower eyelashes missing or sparse
- Cystic acne around mouth or chin
- Darkness on the inside corner of the eyes
- Dry skin
- Puffiness around the Adam's apple
Even if you don't meet the clinical criteria for hypothyroidism, there are so many parts of modern life that are antagonistic to a healthy thyroid - including a diet high in sugar and refined grains, a non-stop lifestyle, chronic stress, and exposure to environmental toxins such as chlorine and fluoride, which are in the water supply - that pretty much everyone could benefit from learning more about their thyroid and taking better care of it. And if you are a woman who wants to age gracefully and beautifully, it's even more relevant because your thyroid really rules so much of how you look and feel, how thick and shiny your hair is, how strong your nails are, your energy levels, your weight, your mood, your ability to think clearly.
How the thyroid works
The pituitary gland, which is about the size of a pea and is attached to your brain, is the master gland of your body, meaning it regulates the function of other glands in your body, including your thyroid. The pituitary gland signals the thyroid gland to make thyroid hormones by releasing thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). When things go off without a hitch, your thyroid produces a form of thyroid hormone called thyroxine (T4), which then gets transported into your cells and turned into the active form of thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3). While you need T4 to make T3, T4 doesn't actually do the magical things that thyroid hormone can do for you. It's T3 that does the following:
- Regulates your heartbeat
- Warms you up
- Speeds metabolism so you lose weight
- Improves muscle strength
- Replenishes dying cells with healthy ones
- Grows your hair and nails
- Relieves constipation
- Improves your ability to conceive
- Reduces sensations of pain
- Makes you feel happy and content.
T3 is the hormone you want in all your cells.
What happens when your thyroid gets out of whack?
What this also means is that if you have any issue with either manufacturing T4, converting it into T3, delivering T3 into the cells, or the cells being able to use it, you've got a problem. There are a lot of links in the chain, and if just one of them is weak, you'll feel it. To become activated, T4 must morph into T3, and this in turn must find its way into the cells so that it can do its work. On top of that, each cell needs to have healthy functioning receptors to absorb and use the T3. Many things can go wrong with this process. A deficiency in B vitamins, vitamin D, or minerals can make the conversion process less effective. Some people have a genetic mutation that causes either low production of T4 or impairs conversion to T3. A lack of beneficial bacteria in the bowel, which plays a role in converting T4 to T3, can impair T3 conversion by as much as 20%, which is certainly enough for you to feel like you're just not your best. Inflammation and stress can halt the conversion of T4 into T3. If you have diabetes, fibromyalgia, depression, or leptin resistance, or you're overweight or diet a lot, certain enzymes in your body are negatively affected, enzymes responsible for thyroid production and conversion at the cellular level. Inflammation can also impair your cellular receptors, essentially locking T3 out of the cells.
Cells are like Restaurants Waiting for Delivery
Imagine your body as a bustling city filled with restaurants—each one representing a cell. Your T4 hormone is like a delivery truck driving around with all the supplies, while T3 is the chef who actually cooks the food and brings the restaurant to life. But just having trucks on the road doesn’t mean the restaurants are open. The delivery still has to reach the right alley (your hormone transporters), the back door has to unlock (your cell receptors), and the kitchen staff must be there to unpack the boxes and turn T4 into T3 (your conversion enzymes).
If any of these steps break down, the restaurant stays dark, cold, and closed—even if the city is full of delivery trucks. In your body, that looks like fatigue, weight gain, feeling cold, brain fog, and sluggish metabolism. This is why simply taking T4 medication like Synthroid doesn’t automatically fix the issue—you’re increasing the number of delivery trucks, but not necessarily opening the doors or hiring the chef who actually gets the job done.
There is good news in all this, however. I don't want you to think it's all doom and gloom. Your diet, your lifestyle, and your vitamin and mineral intake all have tremendous power to either make your thyroid healthy or thyroid sick. First, we have to test, which I outline in > How To Assess Your Thyroid - Part 2
