Thyroid - Master of Your Metabolism

The thyroid a butterfly shaped gland situated near your throat. It might be hard to believe that this tiny gland is the control center for your metabolism, and frankly almost every physiological process in the body. Your mood, digestion, sleep, sex hormones, stress hormones, and body composition all are going to be impacted by the health of your thyroid. In my last blog post I discussed potential symptoms of a sub-optimal functioning thyroid. If you haven't read that yet, I would take a look!

In today's blog post, I will be discussing how the thyroid is impacted by chronic under-eating and/or overtraining, or a combination of both. I will be giving you strategies of what you can do to support your thyroid and what you need to know about getting your thyroid levels checked. 

Let me share an all too familiar story. Jane has been on and off diets her entire life. She grew up in the era of "100 calorie packs" and "low fat everything." Whether she followed a 1200 calorie diet or Weight Watchers, Jane doesn't remember the last time she relaxed with her food choices. Jane would like to lose about 10-15 pounds, but feels stuck. Jane considers herself very active, participating in 60-90 minutes of moderate to high intensity exercise at least 6 days per week. Whether she is doing a bootcamp class, Orange Theory, Crossfit, or a long-distance run, Jane never misses a workout! Lately, Jane hasn't been following a specific diet, rather focusing on "clean eating," which she defines as eating primarily lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Jane also deals with some on and off constipation and bloating. Her energy plummets around 3 o clock in the afternoon, but she has told herself it must be because she wakes up to the use the bathroom each night. 

If Jane were to go to a typical "nutrition or health coach," they would most likely prescribe a 1200-1400 calorie diet, emphasizing high amounts of protein and vegetables. They would probably tell her to drink more water for the constipation and focus on fiber. Without even considering the deeper rooted problems in her physiology, most "diet coaches" would actually make Jane's health worse, ultimately making fat loss an even greater struggle for Jane. 

If Jane were my client (which I have seen this exact scenario numerous times), these would be my professional recommendations:

1. Get some baseline blood work completed that includes a full thyroid panel. Free T3, Total T3, Reverse T3, TSH, Free T4, Total T4, and thyroid antibodies all must be included for a full picture of thyroid health. Also understand that just because you are told that your thyroid function is "normal" that does not actually mean that it is "optimal." 

2. Support the thyroid with supportive micronutrients. Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals that are found within the foods that we eat. Thyroid supporting micronutrients include b vitamins, selenium, copper, iodine, vitamin D, iron, zinc, and magnesium. Even though Jane is "eating clean," she is most likely missing out on important micronutrients that are found in starchy foods like potatoes, root vegetables, and whole grains as well as red meat. By using a food tracking software like Cronometer, Jane can track her food to see what micronutrients are lacking with her current intake and make adjustments accordingly.

3. Eat enough macronutrients, especially carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are necessary for the conversion of T4 (inactive form of thyroid hormone) to T3 (active form of thyroid hormone.) By following a "clean eating" diet, Jane is most likely missing out on a lot of important nutrients that are necessary for a healthy thyroid. Based upon how active Jane is, she needs at least 45% of her calories coming from carbohydrates. After having Jane track her intake for about 1 week, I would develop a custom macronutrient plan to make sure that Jane is eating enough food to support her level of training and optimal hormone production. 

4. Put the breaks on the training intensity. There is such a thing as "too much of a good thing," especially with exercise. Often times we get told in order to lose weight, we need to eat less and exercise more. While this recommendation can be applicable for a large majority of inactive Americans, it is not a "one size fits all" statement. By continuing to train 60-90 minutes 6 days per week, Jane is putting more stress on her body, which translates to "emergency mode" for the human body. This means further decrease in thyroid function and pumping out the stress hormone cortisol. I would suggest that Jane transition into weightlifting 4 days per week, combined with yoga 1 day per week and focusing on getting 8-10k steps each day. By reducing her training intensity, Jane's body will move out of the "flight or fight response," which will do wonders for her thyroid. 

5. Establish some bedtime rituals to help with sleep. While a lot of people think that waking up to use the bathroom is normal, it actually isn't optimal. As the sun goes down, our body's natural production of melatonin starts to occur as well as a decrease in cortisol (our body's natural caffeine.) Blue light from electronics will impede with that process of melatonin production and potentially stimulate more cortisol. Higher levels of aldosterone and antidiuretic hormone, prevent us from needing to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. When a person is waking up to use the bathroom on a regular basis, this could be an indication that their hormones are not functioning optimally. Things like reading, meditation/prayer, epsom salt baths, and herbal tea can all be helpful strategies for getting better sleep. I would possibly recommend some ashwagandha and magnesium to help support Jane's adrenal glands while she sleeps as well. 

This is why it is so important to work with someone that is knowledgable not only in nutrition and fitness, but ALSO in metabolism. You can have the "perfect macros," but macros without metabolic considerations will only take you so far. 

Now, I want to preface that a lot of people use the excuse of "I must just have a slow thyroid," or "thyroid problems run in my family," in order to justify their lack of consistency with controllable lifestyle change (like nutrition and exercise.) While thyroid health is extremely important, if someone is making poor nutrition choices and isn't getting movement, before diving deep into their thyroid health, they should consider the foundational steps of improving nutrition and movement first. 

But, if you are someone who has a good grasp on foundational nutrition principles and exercise regularly, but are struggling with fatigue, poor sleep, constipation, difficulty building muscle and/or losing body fat, you might want to consider digging a bit deeper into your physiology with the help of a professional! 

If you are interested in working 1 on 1 with me, you can schedule a call here to chat through your goals and ideal outcome of working with a coach! Together we can develop a nutrition plan that supports your unique hormonal and metabolic needs!